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Win 8 Touch Ultrabook Makers Flirting With Form Factors

By - Source: DigiTimes | B 13 comments

Touch-based Windows 8 ultrabooks will likely feature non-traditional clamshell form factors.

As previously reported, notebook manufacturers plan to release Windows 8-based ultrabooks with touchscreens this year. The drawback is that the addition will not only increase the thickness by 0.7 to 1.5-cm, but also cost more to manufacture. Sources from the notebook supply chain are now claiming that vendors will launch touch-based ultrabooks in various form factors to combat this problem, or rather, use "transforming designs" which are slated for a July or August 2012 release.

The reasoning behind using different ultrabook form factors makes sense. If manufacturers simply stuck with the current clamshell design, the display panel will move when users maneuver through Windows 8 using touch. But if they strengthen the hinge's torque, the bottom part of the ultrabook could easily flip up. Thus to get the touchscreen functions to work without causing too much of a fuss, manufacturers are looking at different designs to bypass the issue.

One example we saw of this innovations was seen during CES 2012. Lenovo introduced its Yoga ultrabook sporting a 360-degree hinge (pictured). The device could pose like a standard clamshell ultrabook, be propped up like a tent, or closed shut to create a slim tablet. Other leading brand vendors like Asus and Acer are reportedly working on similar products. Lenovo's Yoga is slated to arrive on the market in the second half of 2012.

Sources claim that manufacturers won't necessarily copy Lenovo's Yoga form factor, but produce models featuring rotatable screens, converting the ultrabook into a tablet. Sliding screens, borrowing the form factor of many smartphones, only bigger, may also be one of the designs chosen to get around the hinge issue.

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Top Comments
  • 15 Hide
    Anonymous , February 18, 2012 5:41 AM
    Making them like the Asus Transformer Prime. Let the user decide if they want to add the keyboard/trackpad or if they just want the tablet portion.
Other Comments
  • 15 Hide
    Anonymous , February 18, 2012 5:41 AM
    Making them like the Asus Transformer Prime. Let the user decide if they want to add the keyboard/trackpad or if they just want the tablet portion.
  • 1 Hide
    mikenygmail , February 18, 2012 5:44 AM
    Ultralights > Ultrabooks
  • Display all 13 comments.
  • 2 Hide
    lahawzel , February 18, 2012 5:56 AM
    Yay for innovation!
  • 8 Hide
    Anonymous , February 18, 2012 12:21 PM
    Touch will "increase the thickness by 0.7 to 1.5-cm"?!? That can't be right. Maybe you mean mm.
  • 7 Hide
    JeBuSBrian , February 18, 2012 1:02 PM
    Watch out, Apple probably patented any touchscreen device that operates anything like a computer.
  • 4 Hide
    damianrobertjones , February 18, 2012 7:01 PM
    EnizagamMaking them like the Asus Transformer Prime. Let the user decide if they want to add the keyboard/trackpad or if they just want the tablet portion.


    You mean the HP TC1100 or Acer W500? History.. easily forgotten by people making posts
  • 1 Hide
    Anonymous , February 19, 2012 1:04 AM
    mikenygmail, all of your trolling for AMD has made me not want to ever buy one again. You are hurting them more than helping them. Maybe you are really an Intel troll and you are just trying to make AMD look bad by posting such stupid crap on every article. Whatever it is, please stop before you turn everyone off to AMD.
  • 0 Hide
    yumri , February 19, 2012 11:37 PM
    Metric GuyTouch will "increase the thickness by 0.7 to 1.5-cm"?!? That can't be right. Maybe you mean mm.

    hopefully they mean mm and not cm as that thing will be very thick and not even a ultrabook / ultralight anymore if it is 1.5cm but
  • 1 Hide
    cookoy , February 20, 2012 2:32 PM
    fold 270º and touch; unfold 90º and type, type, type; fold 270º touch; unfold ... this is going to make me ultramad
  • 0 Hide
    NapoleonDK , February 20, 2012 3:32 PM
    cookoyfold 270º and touch; unfold 90º and type, type, type; fold 270º touch; unfold ... this is going to make me ultramad
    Not to mention the wear and tear on the hinge. XD

    I agree with most others here, give us a thin and light portable tablet with ridiculously long battery life, and pair it with a decent docking keyboard that doesn't cost an additional $200.
  • 0 Hide
    eddieroolz , February 20, 2012 6:59 PM
    I think many of these companies have concept designs from years ago that envisioned these types of laptops. Maybe today's processor technology and Windows 8 can finally make it happen.
  • 0 Hide
    phamhlam , February 21, 2012 6:38 AM
    Everyone here is just asking for a Samsung 7 Series Tablet. That is the best Windows tablet in my books.
  • 0 Hide
    photonboy , February 22, 2012 2:13 AM
    I think a 12" transforming laptop/tablet would be an ideal size for a student.

    Fingerprints.
    I wouldn't use the touchscreen in laptop mode, only in tablet mode.

    Operating System:
    Hopefully the OS automatically switches from a traditional laptop screen to a tablet mode. For example, in laptop mode I'd like my e-mail to be something like Outlook, but in tablet mode I want a more simple interface and I want the program to be able to switch, automatically, while still ON and running.