U1 hybrid tablet/laptop

Back at CES 2010, we saw two parallel trends developing: a renaissance of touch-screen tablets and slates, and a series of smaller-than-Netbook laptops called "smartbooks" that promised to have automatic 3G, simplified operating systems and very slim profiles.

Well, so far one has come to fruition (thanks largely to the iPad), whereas the other has gone into a state of hibernation.

Lenovo's recent announcement that its "Skylight" smartbook and U1 hybrid tablet/laptop would be delayed underlines the sudden lack of momentum smartbooks have suffered. Lenovo claims it's due to an OS switch from proprietary Linux-based software to Android, but so far at Computex we've heard next to nothing about smartbooks, whereas last year there was a landslide of boasting on the topic.

Instead, even more tablet news abounds from all sectors.

Maybe we never (that is to say, "we" meaning the public) cared about smartbooks. They looked similar to laptops, particularly Netbooks, and what made them different was often hard to explain, even for the manufacturers of those prototypes.

It's enough to make us sigh. Not because an opportunity's been missed, but because we don't really see the point of smartbooks anymore.

* First, any smaller-than-a-Netbook device is bound to either have a compromised, uncomfortable keyboard, or a keyboard that's so big it makes the device's dimensions skew wide and shallow. The beauty of a tablet is that its dimensions can be flexible: a touch interface can adapt easily to any size device, from smartphone up to iPad.
* Second, any tablet with a keyboard can essentially become a smartbook. We've used Bluetooth keyboards with the iPad and enjoyed the combination. All someone needs to do is offer a thin (not giant) case with a lightweight, superthin keyboard attached and we'll be set.
* Third, it's not as if smartbooks had any significant OS advantage over tablets: most smartbook prototypes were running Android or some other smartphone-like closed OS that ran off apps or Web apps. Users would still be limited to the selection of software offered from the app marketplace.

Though we were excited about laptops that could detach from their keyboards back at CES, it now seems equally plausible that we'll simply see keyboard-free devices that can easily attach external keyboards. Same concept, different angle.

Intel challenges AMD 'Black' chips

Despite trailing Intel in chip-for-chip performance over the past few years, AMD has still kept a measure enthusiasts love with its "Black Edition" desktop chips. Unlike Intel's generally stand-offish stance toward overclocking, the Black Edition Athlon and Phenom chips have provided the DIY and boutique PC crowd with a cost-effective, user-friendly means to increase PC performance. Intel's new K-Series CPUs, announced today, show that Intel sees value in that same market, and wants a piece of the action.

The K-Series launches with just two desktop CPUs, the $342 2.93GHz Core i7-875K, and the $216 3.2GHz Core i5-655K. The 875-K CPU is a four-core/eight-thread chip (via HyperThreading), and the 655K is a dual-core/four-thread chip. Both fall under the Lynnfield class of Intel's Nehalem architecture, and as such work on the LGA1566 CPU socket, found on Intel's P55, H55, and H57 motherboard chipsets.

What the K-Series brings to these new CPUs is the ability to overclock the individual CPU cores and memory frequencies. This method allows for more granular control than the bus-overclocking method commonly used with older Intel CPUs, such as the previous overclocker's favorite, the Core i7 920. With bus clocking, you end up applying one change that affects all of your components. With unlocked core multipliers, you have far more control, and can build your system accordingly.

Intel isn't specifying exactly what clock speeds you should expect to hit with the new unlocked chips. As always, overclocking also voids the warranty, so tweak at your own risk. Given the auto-overclocking TurboBoost feature (which you can also overclock in the K-Series) already built into most Core i7, Core i5, and Core i3 CPUs, though, it's safe to assume they all have a decent amount of headroom. Top-end speeds will vary from chip to chip, but one indicator we have is a Falcon Northwest Talon we tested. Its Core i7 875-K came overclocked from 2.93GHz to just over 4GHz.

We certainly applaud Intel for finally embracing the overclocker market outside of its $1,000 Extreme Edition CPUs (the only other unlocked Intel CPU). We expect that the DIY crowd will embrace this news with enthusiasm, since Intel's CPUs tend to be faster out of the box than those from AMD of a similar price. It also puts a damper on one of the features AMD could point to that enthusiasts still appreciated. In our Talon review we found that though the overclocking was effective and stable, it didn't surpass the performance of PCs with older Intel CPUs overclocked via the old bus-clocking method. Even if overclocking doesn't provide dramatic performance gains to the boutique system builders, they, and their customers, will still appreciate the improved simplicity and stability gained from being able to manage the voltages, memory frequencies, and CPU clock speeds independently.

Sony VAIO Billabong

Sony release a new netbook join with Billabong called Sony VAIO W Series to match the Australian designer 2010 summer board. It’s called VAIO W Series Imperial Lime featuring 10.1-inch display with
1366×768 pixel resolution and Intel Atom processor.
The colors featuring lime-green, blue and black hand-drawn artwork to present the vibrant color pallete that helped define suft fashion in the 1980. Another features of Sony VAIO W Imperial Lime like Intel GMA 3150 integrated graphic card, 250GB of HDD, 1GB of RAM, 2x USB 2.0 ports, built-in webcam, express card slot and up to 8-hours battery life. The price around A$749.