The best of Computex Taipei 2012 – The Verge

AMD’s mountain: how the second-place PC chipmaker hopes to build cheaper, better laptops

2012-06-13T11:00:23-04:00

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"Think about the mountain," says AMD's John Taylor. He's talking about ultrabooks. "As you get up to $799, $899, $999, you've got 50 SKUs sitting up here, at this place. They're going to fall off." He shapes his fingers into a pyramid, so I can visualize the metaphor.

The fact that Intel has over 110 design wins for its proprietary laptop platform doesn't seem to phase AMD's director of product marketing very much. In his estimation, Intel's ultrabook initiative isn't just driving quality, it's forcing a homogenization of the laptop market that might leave their manufacturers out in the cold. "There's not room on the shelf to differentiate …

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Watch this in 1080p: the Asus Computex 2012 keynote

2012-06-07T09:21:22-04:00

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Computex might not be a trade show quite on par with January's gargantuan CES, but for the Taiwanese companies exhibiting their latest wares, it's arguably the most important week on the calendar. Asus didn't disappoint this year, bringing out a wide range of innovative new designs, highlighted by the eyebrow-raising Taichi, a dual-screened Windows 8 laptop that can also serve as a tablet. In the words of the always entertaining Jonney Shih, "the ultimate transformation is no transformation" at all. You'll find more such gems of wisdom from the Asus Chairman below, along with the first sightings of the company's Transformer AiO and Tablet 60 …

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An Ivy Bridge too far? AMD may have finally lost the battle against Intel’s juggernaut

2012-06-06T10:00:44-04:00

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Welcome to Computex 2012, the coming-out party for Intel's Ivy Bridge CPU refresh and Microsoft's Windows 8 operating system. The two halves of an irresistible hardware-software combination that has dominated the PC world for so long that it has its own nickname - Wintel - came together in Taipei this week to once again reaffirm their supremacy. And AMD just stood on the sidelines, watching and scratching its head.

Think about all the marquee devices launched by the likes of Acer and Asus at this show - were any of them AMD-based? The day-zero media blitz from the local Taiwanese vendors and their international competitors was almost exclus …

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NEC LaVie Z hands-on: an unbelievably light 13.3-inch ultrabook

2012-06-06T08:05:01-04:00

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The NEC LaVie Z isn't the lightest laptop ever made, but it's hard to believe that when you pick it up: the 2.2-pound notebook has a lithium-magnesium alloy frame that you'd swear was filled with air rather than the latest Intel Ivy Bridge silicon. We got our hands on the ultrabook at an Intel showcase at Computex Taipei this week, and we weren't just impressed by the lack of weight. The LaVie Z is also so thin that it can just barely house its full-size HDMI and USB ports, handsome, nicely rigid, and looks like it might come with a decent (and decently high-res) 1600 x 900 resolution screen. Things aren't completely rosy, though: the protot …

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Acer reveals sub-$200 7-inch quad-core Iconia Tab A110

2012-06-06T04:20:40-04:00

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Android's had a quiet showing here at Computex Taipei, but Acer just snuck out a new product that could well represent a breakthrough for the platform at large. The Iconia Tab A110 is at the company's booth without much fanfare, and on the face of it isn't particularly interesting - a 7-inch tablet with Android 4.0 that's powered by an Nvidia Tegra 3 processor. However, we spoke to an Acer representative who said that the A110 would be positioned as the company's main low-end device when it's released in the third quarter of the year, and that it will cost less than $200. If true, the aggressive pricing means it could well be the first benef …

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A closer look at the Asus Tablet 600 and Windows RT (video)

2012-06-06T02:51:58-04:00

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We just met with Nvidia here at Computex Taipei to take a more in-depth look at the Asus Tablet 600, the first Windows RT device to be announced. While no other OEMs have announced RT machines so far, Nvidia says its Tegra 3 system-on-chip will be powering each one at launch, and the company expects Microsoft's ARM-powered OS to be made available at the same time as Windows 8.

Nvidia wanted to emphasize the early state of the Tablet 600, but it looked about ready for primetime to us - it's an attractive device either by itself or when paired with the keyboard dock. Its plastic build doesn't feel quite as premium as something like the Transf …

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Acer Timeline Ultra M5 hands-on: game-savvy ultrabook gets sturdier construction

2012-06-05T20:42:11-04:00

Gallery Photo: Acer Aspire Timeline Ultra M5 hands-on pictures

Two months ago, we reviewed the Acer Aspire Timeline Ultra M3-581TG, a 0.78-inch thick laptop that (properly configured) could play Battlefield 3. If you went out and tried to buy one, though, you were probably out of luck, because Acer decided never to launch the laptop outside of its native Asia. Why? The company was waiting to introduce the Ultra M5. It's the spitting image of its 15.6-inch predecessor, to the point where you'd swear it sprung from the same mold, but this 15.6-inch laptop has far more solid construction.

Where the Ultra M3 was practically all plastic with some thin metal components here and there …

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Computex, day two: know your ultrabooks

2012-06-05T13:10:03-04:00

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While day one of Computex saw us buried under an avalanche of shapeshifting Windows 8 devices, day two was more grounded in the here and now. Intel was predictably keen to let us know that it sees the ultrabook as the future of traditional computing, showing off a huge number of models of which many are using its new third-generation Ivy Bridge processor design.

If you're wondering what on earth could set these machines apart from one another, we don't blame you - more than a few ultrabooks until now have followed Apple's MacBook Air blueprints a little too closely. Today, however, we saw quite a few new machines with standout features, and …

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Toshiba unveils first 21:9 ultrabook with 14-inch Satellite U845W

2012-06-05T01:00:22-04:00

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Today, Toshiba is announcing the Satellite U845W ultrabook with a surprising 21:9, 1792 x 768 display. The U845W's LCD is 14 inches when measured diagonally, and its wide and shallow dimensions give it a compact footprint. Toshiba is touting this unusual screen as being the first laptop display to play widescreen movies without black bars, plus that extra-wide aspect ratio should make fine use of Windows 8's ability to run apps side by side.

The U845W - known outside the US as the U840W - is an ultrabook, which means that it's supposed to be thin, fast, light, and have better-than-average battery life. At just under four pounds and 0.81 inc …

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Computex, day one: the search for the perfect Windows 8 form factor

2012-06-04T14:19:24-04:00

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Day one of Computex Taipei is over, and the biggest news has been the extensive lineup of Windows 8 machines from local heroes Asus and Acer. It's a dizzying array of devices that we don't mind admitting has been more than a little tough to keep track of, and while several of them are impressive a glaring question remains - just what will be the best way to experience Windows 8?

it seems that Acer and Asus are pondering the same issue

Microsoft's latest OS leads a double life. The sleek, touch-friendly design of Metro is perfect for tablets, but untested for productivity - the classic desktop remains bubbling under the surface, ready to cran …

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