Thin Tech Takes off In 2012

If there was any doubt, international CES 2012 confirmed that 2012 will be the year of thin technology. The focus of the industry has been shifting for some time. Now it appears that we have hit the critical mass point, where consumer demand is being matched by manufacturers supplying a steady stream of slim and sexy devices.

This year’s CES has featured a plethora of new devices that push the thinness envelope. The usual suspects — tablets and smartphones — were there. There was the Toshiba Excite tablet that was a mere 7.7 millimeters thick and claimed the title of the thinnest tablet of them all. There was also the Huawei Ascend P1 S which is a meager 6.8 millimeters and claims to be the slimmest of any smartphone on the market. It beats out the already insanely thin Motorola Droid 4 which is just 7.1 millimeters thin. What was more interesting is the way the thin theme has extended into almost every segment of the industry. Devices you would not initially think about are jumping on the thin bandwagon. Other devices like flat-screen TVs have become so thin they make even the thinnest tablet and smartphone want to run to fat camp.

Do you need a super-thin mouse? You are in luck, the MoGo Mouse TM100 is just 5 millimeters thick and is available right now on Amazon for the equally thin price of $19.95. The TM100 is a two button wireless mouse that is thin enough to fit into the PC Card slot of your laptop. You can use that slot to charge the mouse as well as to store it when its not in use. The mouse charges in about 30 minutes and a charge lasts for over 8 hours. The device is Bluetooth-enabled and has a range of 30 feet. If the profile of the mouse is too small you can flip out a small kickstand that elevates the device, making using it more akin to what you are used to with a standard mouse.

Some Unexpected Items Get a Thin Makeover

If you thought that a mouse was the most unlikely device to get a thin makeover then prepare to be surprised. Samsung has proudly announced that it now makes the world’s thinnest 3D Blu Ray player. The as yet unnamed device comes in at a very svelte 23 millimeters. And it has the ability to convert standard discs to 3D in real time. That’s not all, the device is also Internet-enabled and can access popular services such as Facebook and Youtube. For comparison, the ‘Slim’ version of the PS3 is well over 60 millimeters thick. Thin as it might be, what use is a thin 3D Blu Ray player without a big screen TV to match? LG will make that question moot with its new 55 inch OLED TV that is an astounding 4 millimeters thin.

Let’s put that into the proper perspective. The slimmest tablet on the planet is 7.7 millimeters thick. That tablet has a screen that measures roughly 10 inches. This new TV by LG has a screen that is five times larger yet the device is barely more than half the thickness of that tablet. What’s more, this isn’t a proof of concept build. Its a finished product that LG says it wants to deliver to a mass market audience. It also claims that it intends to price it so that it will be within the reach of wide cross-section of consumers.

How long our present obsession with thin technology lasts remains to be seen. . Right now though, and for the foreseeable future, it appears that you can never be too thin.

Iconia Tab A700 Debuts at 2012 CES

After a week of leaks, suggestions, rumors, and speculations, Acer is finally showing off its Iconia Tab A700 Ice Cream Sandwich tablet at CES. This is not your average tablet, be assured. It is a sexy beast that sports a full-HD, 10.1-inch screen and the brawn of a quad-core Tegra 3 processor.

Full HD is a rare feature in mobile devices. Even industry leader Apple does not have it on the iPad 2, which only has 1024 x 768 display. The Iconia Tab A700 features a screen that boasts a resolution of 1920 x 1200. That’s even higher than the 1920 x 1080 needed to qualify. In order to make full use of such a display, a device would need a behemoth of a processor. Acer delivers with a Tegra 3 quad-core powerhouse that is rated at 1.3 Ghz. Rounding off this fit-for-a-king meal is a serving of Ice Cream Sandwich as the shipping OS.

The Iconia Tab A700 will get its juice from a 9800 mAh battery that will be good for about 10 hours of video playback. The new tab will also support Bluetooth and has a HDMI port as well as the now standard microSD. You will be covered in the camera department by a 5 MP HD rear camera as well as a front camera that is said to be capable of 720p. Coming in at 9.8 millimeters and 1.43 pounds, it is not the most svelte tablet on the market. But with its extra HD and Tegra 3, it is sure to make up for an extra millimeter or two around the waist. This device is a serious step up from Acer’s A200, which is already on sale in the UK for around $462.

It seems that in the few short years since the iPad hit the market, tablets have captured the collective psyche of gadget geeks and the general consumer alike. Tablets are also shining at this year’s CES. What this points to is a continued period of growth and development for tablet divisions at all the major computer houses. We ain’t seen nothing yet. Indeed, the promise of such remarkable innovations is more than worth the double negative.

The Acer Iconia A700 is expected to go on sale during the second quarter of 2012. There is no official word yet on pricing.

Ultrabooks:  Is this what everyone’s been waiting for?

They say you can never be too rich or too thin. It’s an adage that’s as true today as it ever was, particularly the thin part, and especially when you’re talking about computing devices.  Case in point:  the super thin, unbelievably light and high performing ultrabook—one of the year’s most talked about computer products and a much anticipated highlight of the Consumer Electronics Show starting tomorrow in Las Vegas.

 Matching the Wish List of Consumers

The ultrabook is the result of a seven-year effort by Intel to develop a computing device that delivered all the features consumers were asking for. Research showed that users wanted technology that allowed them to do all the things they could do on a larger device, but with the portability of a smaller laptop. And they wanted to do that easily and comfortably, with a keyboard they could really type on and a screen they could really see.

They also wanted a battery that lasted longer than the movie they were watching; quick response times; and security that ensured the safety of their private information.  And they wanted all of this wrapped tight in one lightweight, sleek and attractive package.

And in 2011, combining the best of the notebook and the tablet, the ultrabook was born.

Ultrabooks are what some are calling the PC industry’s answer to the Apple’s MacBook Air.  As for Intel, stringent criteria must be met before it will call any device an ultrabook.  It can weigh no more than 3.1 pounds, be no more than 0.71 inches thick, and provide five or more hours of battery life. It must also have flash-based storage, and incorporate Intel ® Rapid Start Technology for lightning fast boot times, providing users with ultra quick access to their data and applications.

The Next Big Thing?

Intel unveiled the ultrabook in May 2011. The company called it a game-changer, bringing together the power of laptops and the convenience and power efficiency of tablets. According to Intel, ultrabooks are expected to make up 40 per cent of the consumer-PC market by the end of 2012.

Some say this is a highly ambitious prediction—the company sold only one million ultrabooks worldwide last year. But the firm continues to hold fast to its ultrabook sales projections for 2015, which assume a 342 per cent annual growth rate.

Again, some say it’s a highly ambitious forecast, especially when you consider that the entire PC market is projected to grow less than five per cent. Time will tell if we see these predictions come to fruition.

See It Tomorrow

What you can be sure to see is a whole lot more excitement about the ultrabook; much of it starting tomorrow at the Consumer Electronics Show. While some companies’ devices have already hit the market, other companies, including Dell, are expected to introduce models in Las Vegas.  In fact, you can expect to see 30 to 50 ultrabook models from Dell, HP, Toshiba, Acer, Asus and Lenovo.  A few of these already have ultrabooks in their catalogue of shipping products.

The general consensus among most analysts is that the ultrabook category has some staying power. For the most part, consumers are hungry for what Intel is promising: an emerging breed of no-compromise computers that will increasingly combine best-in-class performance, improved responsiveness and battery life, and built-in thin, elegant, must-have mobile design.

But most also agree that the device’s success may be determined by its price tag–many of next year’s ultrabooks will be in the $1,000 to $1,200 range, perhaps limiting their appeal to mainstream, price-conscious consumers. However, it’s also possible that the price could eventually come down, particularly in light of Intel’s $300 million investment in a fund to help lower the cost of the components that go into making the device ultra thin and ultra lightweight.

Will the ultrabook be ultra-successful?  Stay tuned.

And tune in right here tomorrow for a closer look at some of the ultrabook models that will be featured at this year’s Consumer Electronic Show.