Today's IT managers face a range of challenges from complex business processes to sophisticated security threats. Additionally, a number of industries such as retail, healthcare and industrial are turning to technology to develop innovative solutions to solve the unique challenges facing them in an increasingly connected world. To address these challenges, Intel Corporation has announced the availability of its 3rd Generation Intel Core vPro processor-based platforms for business and intelligent systems.

The enhancements to the Intel Core vPro processor platform provide a more secure platform for business computing and drive the next wave of innovation in intelligent systems. The Intel Core vPro processor-based platforms address the realities of today's business climate, where data integrity and organizational efficiency create a competitive advantage. New capabilities embed security at every layer, including the silicon, without compromising performance. Software innovation allows IT managers to set up and configure systems within minutes to quickly implement compelling solutions. Additionally, the enhanced graphics and secure manageability help accelerate the transition and growth in intelligent systems for the retail, industrial, and healthcare industries.

Once again Acer pushes the boundaries of mobile computing to the extreme and created a family of Ultrabooks that are destined to impress and leave a mark. The all new Aspire M5 series reaches unprecedented levels of performance, convenience, connectivity and battery life.

Simply thin and light and not compromising with 14" and 15" form factors, the Aspire M5 represents the new experience of instant use and anywhere mobility. The Aspire M5 series are stunning laptops from any point of view, starting from the ultra-thin and smart design all the way through the powerful processors and graphics, the advanced audio technology and the seamless connectivity.

In addition to the UX21A and UX31A models exposed a couple of months ago, the next wave of ASUS Zenbooks is set to include another unit, one called UX32VD which packs an Intel Ivy Bridge (3rd generation Core) processor, an NVIDIA GeForce GT 620M discrete graphics card, and a 13.3-inch IPS screen with a native resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels.

Showcased in Taiwan, this upcoming ultrabook also has up to 4 GB of RAM, a 500 GB hybrid drive, three USB 3.0 ports, an SD card slot, and both HDMI and mini DisplayPort outputs. The Zenbook UX32VD will run Windows 7. Its price tag and release date are still unknown.

HP today expanded its industry-leading computing portfolio with more than 30 new products engineered to address the design, reliability, security and performance demands of end users and IT departments across businesses of all sizes.

HP today expanded its award-winning notebook portfolio with thin and light Ultrabook systems and Sleekbooks packed with the latest technologies for both consumer and business demands. "Building on the success of the HP Folio13 and HP ENVY14 Spectre, we are now offering the most comprehensive Ultrabook portfolio in the industry," said James Mouton, senior vice president and general manager, Personal Computer Global Business Unit, HP. "Our expanded portfolio of HP Ultrabook systems and HP Sleekbooks for both consumers and businesses delivers uncompromised performance, quality and entertainment experiences within distinctive designs."

DisplayLink, the leading provider of technology for virtual graphics and USB-connected computing announced the introduction of the Fujitsu USB 3.0 Port Replicator PR08 powered by the latest DisplayLink's DL-3900 graphics technology IC, enabling the first USB docking station to feature DisplayPort connectivity, reaching resolutions of up to 2560x1600.

Leveraging the high demand for "hot-desking" and flexibility within corporations, Fujitsu's USB 3.0 Port Replicator PR08 extends the capabilities of PCs, notebooks and Ultrabooks for businesses, consumers and design professionals alike, facilitating the right ergonomics and providing the productivity benefits of a workspace with multiple displays by harnessing the dual-head video port power of DisplayLink's DL-3900 graphics technology.

In a bid to turn up the heat in the crucial $500-$1000 market segment, Apple is on the verge of launching a new $799 MacBook Air variant. The new variant's introduction is strategically timed to dampen Intel's Ultrabook platform launch. Despite high material costs, Intel is aggressively pushing for its Ultrabook ecosystem partners to come up with products as low as $799-$699. OEM majors believe that Ultrabook's success could be limited till the launch of Windows 8 operating system. Intel set aside close to $400 million to construct the Ultrabook ecosystem, including $100 million in setting up an application store. With MacBook Air being an already established brand, Apple is looking to capture the $799 price-point.

ORICO is working on a new line of slimline docks for Intel Ultrabook and Apple MacBook Air, which expand USB connectivity and provide an additional display output. Available in carbon black and white, the docks include a USB 3.0 hub with as many as five downstream USB 3.0 ports, a DisplayLink video adapter with DVI and HDMI output, and a gigabit Ethernet interface. The dock probably includes NAS functionality with mass storage devices attached to its USB ports. On top of all these, the dock includes fans to let it perform its primary function of cooling the Ultrabook or MacBook Air.

So thin, light and portable, the responsive new VAIO T Series is always ready for action - from campus and coffee shop to that crucial meeting.

Smartly styled in tough magnesium and aluminium, go-anywhere VAIO T Series is tailor-made to handle daily trips to the office or lecture theatre. Blending durability and performance, it's the first Ultrabook to proudly carry the VAIO name. Loaded with the latest technologies from Sony and Intel, VAIO T Series is crafted to help you get more done - and have more fun.

Available in 29.4 cm (11.6") or 33.7 cm (13.3") screen sizes, VAIO T Series slips effortlessly into your bag for easy carrying between home and work.

Connectivity and optical drives are some of the first casualties of Intel's notebook slimming operation to come up with the Ultrabook specification. As a result, a new market is created for external connectivity solutions such as docking stations, which give users additional connectivity when at their desk, while maintaining the added mobility of Ultrabook, when on the move. Japan's Apricorn introduced one such product. Called the NetDock, the device holds a slimline DVD writer drive (included), provision for a 2.5-inch SATA HDD/SSD, and a 4-port USB 2.0 hub.

The NetDock draws power from an AC adapter, and connects to your Ultrabook over a USB 2.0 connection. Its DVD writer is capable of writing discs at speeds of up to 8X. One of the four downstream USB 2.0 ports is a high-current port for charging other portable devices (such as smartphones, media players, tablets, cameras, etc.). Both drives (the DVD writer, and the added 2.5-inch HDD/SSD) are visible to the host as USB mass storage devices. The NetDock measures 158.8 x 146.1 x 54.0 mm (WxDxH), and supports Windows 7/Vista/XP, and Mac OS X. It will be priced at 7,980 JPY (US $99.99).

Apple wants to hold patents to the wedge-shaped design of its MacBook Air, and an interesting technique to adjust OLED display brightness. The application for this patent passed through USPTO, on Thursday. The application describes claims over "wedge shaped top case", with a lid hinged to a base. The wedge-shape contributes to the user's impression of a device, its lightness, and its durability. Apple's MacBook Air bears this design, and reports indicate that so will the upcoming MacBook Pro series. Wired.com opines that the move is to block out partners of Intel's Ultrabook ecosystem from imitating the design.

Another more interesting patent application for a technique to adjust brightness of OLED displays. None of Apple's products, not even the iPod Nano, feature an OLED screen, yet Apple is frantically applying for the patent. While conventional LCD panels use an augmented illumination source (such as LED or CCFL), in OLED displays, there is no external illumination, and hence adjusting brightness is very tricky from a technical standpoint. The method Apple described in its patent claim consists of converting an image (frame) on a logarithmic scale along the palette, dimming it, and then displaying that dimmed frame. This patent could prove valuable for Apple, as the industry is beginning to transition from TFT-LCD to OLED flat-panel displays.

Lenovo today launched its latest effort to eliminate slow boot up times with Lenovo Enhanced Experience 3 (EE3) for Windows 7. As the third version of an exclusive certification only available on Lenovo Think and Idea-branded PCs, EE3 certified products feature supreme Windows start-up performance and other optimization features. Lenovo EE3 will come standard on a wide range of Think and Idea-branded PCs shipping beginning in April.

Customers using traditional spinning disk hard drive (HDD) Lenovo PCs can start their PC on average 40 percent faster than typical Windows 7 PC1 users, thanks to Lenovo's RapidBoot technology, featured on all EE3 certified Lenovo PCs. RapidBoot uses optimized processes and hardware settings to allow Lenovo PCs to boot up faster.

HP's China online store listed out the company's new Envy 4 series that spans across six models occupying key price points starting at 5,499 RMB (US $872), and going up to 6,299 RMB (US $1000). The six models include relatively entry-level 1005tx and 1019tx, followed by 1004tx and 1021tx in the middle, ending with somewhat high-end 1006tx and 1021tx Ultrabooks. The slower models among these are driven by Intel Core i3-2367M, while the faster ones by Core i5-2467M. All six models are slim-category 14-inch notebooks.

DisplayLink, the leading provider of technology for virtual graphics and USB-connected computing, today announced its support for 3rd generation Intel Core processors and supporting mobile Intel HM76 and Intel B75 express chipsets with SuperSpeed USB 3.0.

DisplayLink's DL-3000 chip platform with USB 3.0 is shipping today in adapters, monitors and docking stations from leading vendors. The broad availability of onboard USB 3.0 in systems using 3rd generation Intel Core processors means that a huge new segment of the market now has access to easy-to-use docking, and multi-display possibilities.

Come 2013, and PC consumers could finally break the shackles of regressive PC resolution "standards" such as 1366x768 and 1920x1080, if Intel has its way. At a presentation at IDF Beijing, Intel expressed its desire to see much higher resolution displays for all computing devices, not just PCs, which could in true terms be "retina-matched" display resolutions. At an optimal (comfortable) viewing distance, the resolution of a computing device's screen should match that of your eyes.

If Intel has its way, a 21" all-in-one desktop PC, and a 15" notebook PC screen will have a resolution of 3840x2160 pixels; a 13" Ultrabook PC could have a resolution of 2800x1800 pixels, a 11" Ultrabook and 10" tablet with 2560x1440, and 5" handheld/smartphone with 1280x800. Compare these to the $500+ 27" 1920x1080 monitors that are still sold in the market! A very bold proposal, but one only a company with the industry prominence of Intel can pull off.

At IDF Beijing, Intel showed off an almost unique new class of Ultrabook devices which could be sold by various notebook OEMs in the future, codenamed "Letexo". This is a tablet + slider ultrabook, similar in form (albeit larger) to the ASUS EeePad Slider, except that it has an Intel processor inside, and runs Windows 8 (the EeePad Slider was NVIDIA Tegra 2 and Android 3.0 driven). When slid down, Letexo is almost as compact and functional as a tablet PC, with its multi-touch screen, letting you take advantage of Windows Metro UI; when slid up, a keyboard and trackpad are revealed, letting you use it as just another laptop. Perhaps Letexo is intended to be a large-scale effort by Intel to bring about a transition between laptops and tablets, by shaping people's usage patterns towards more touch-based interface.A video presentation follows.

Custodian of the Ultrabook specification, Intel pushed the storage industry to churn out slimmer devices to go with increasingly slimmer Ultrabooks sold by the various partner ODMs in the ecosystem. Even as HDD and SSD makers have only just come up with 7 mm-thick storage devices, Intel has a fresh list of changes it wishes to see with storage devices in the very near future, to be able to make it to the constantly-evolving Ultrabook specification. Intel wants near-future storage devices (SSDs and HDDs) to be no thicker than 5 mm.

Further, it wants to see the standard SATA host interface changed from "around" (out of) form, to "along" (inside) form host interface, which further slims down the drive compartment. These proposals were floated at IDF, Beijing. While coming up with slimmer SSDs was never really a tough task for SSD makers, as SSDs are essentially just millimeter-thick printed circuit boards with millimeter-thick components (controller logic, NAND flash memory, and ancillaries), it posed a huge technical challange to mechanical HDD designers, who have had to slim down key components that work to maintain inertial motion of spinning platters. This new proposal for 5 mm-thick HDDs could pose a newer, tougher desgin challenge.

Western Digital, a worldwide storage leader, today announced it is shipping the WD Scorpio Blue 7 mm hard drive, the latest addition to its mobile hard drive family and the 2.5-inch drive with the lowest power consumption on the market today. Specified to a best-in-class 400Gs shock tolerance, the new single-platter WD Scorpio Blue small form factor hard drives are available in 500 GB and 320 GB capacities and the drives' compatibility with industry-standard 9.5 mm slots make them ideal storage options for mainstream notebooks as well as slimmer notebook and Ultrabook devices that require a 7 mm drive height.

"Consumers want thin and light personal computers, but the limited storage capacity of SSD-based notebooks forces them to pick and choose what files to bring from their library," said Matt Rutledge, vice president and general manager for WD client storage products. "With the release of the new WD Scorpio Blue 7 mm mobile hard drives, WD is able to offer capacity, reliability and data-protection features combined with excellent power management all in a slim form factor perfect for thin and light notebooks."

Throughout Intel Corporation's developer forum that starts today, company executives emphasized the importance of collaborating with China's government and industry to help create new business and innovation opportunities for Intel and its 14 million developers worldwide. The management team detailed its vision of how such collaborations could potentially spawn the next-generation of advances in business, consumer electronics and many more industries around the globe.

"The impact of major global trends, such as the rapidly growing middle class as well as the explosive growth of connected, mobile Internet and cloud computing traffic, is playing out ten-fold in China," said Sean Maloney, executive vice president of Intel Corporation and chairman of Intel China.

Micron Technology, Inc., one of the world's leading providers of advanced semiconductor solutions, today announced a new solid-state drive (SSD) that broadens Micron's client product portfolio to serve the rapidly emerging Ultrabook category. The newly announced drive is based on the proven architecture of Micron's popular RealSSD C400 drives, providing the same high performance and reliability.

The C400 mSATA drive is designed to work in ultrathin, high-performance SSD-based systems and can also act as a cache drive in dual-drive systems. SSD-caching systems have both a hard-disk drive and a low-capacity SSD. These systems use software to automatically identify the most frequently used files and programs and then access those files from the SSD, providing greater performance than a hard-disk drive, but at a lower price point than a stand-alone SSD.

Lenovo, the world's second largest PC maker, is showcasing for the first time in the UK a whole range of desktops, laptops and All-in-ones at its stand D70 at the Gadget Show live at the Birmingham NEC.

The IdeaCentre A720 All-in-One takes touch experience in the home to the next level - the industry's slimmest 27 inch screen features an innovative screen hinge that allows a more widely adjustable angle from -5 degrees to 90 degrees that allows for a more comfortable use in any position. The A720 is an ultra-stylish and fun addition for the modern home entertainment centre with integrated entertainment features such as room-shaking Dolby Home Theatre V4 audio and Lenovo High-Sense Webcam and Lenovo IdeaTouch. It combines all this with a frameless display that supports 10-point multi-touch capabilities for a greatly enhanced multi-user experience.

Over the weekend, ASUS ran a special event in Japan to launch a hot-pink colored variant of the Zenbook. ASUS is known for launching variants of the Zenbook to suit localized markets. For example, in late-February, ASUS launched Zenbook Rose Gold at Milan Fashion Week. The hot-pink Zenbook, too, is targeted at the fairer-sex. The hot-pink variant of Zenbook UX21E will otherwise have the same hardware specifications, as the original. It is a first-generation Ultrabook, powered by Core i5-2467M processor.

Intel Corporation's biggest marketing campaign in nearly a decade kicks off this week with television commercials, online experiences and print ads that the company is hailing as "cinematic and epic."

The multi-faceted global campaign, called "A New Era of Computing," is aimed at marketing the Ultrabook experience in exciting and innovative ways to consumers. Valued at hundreds of millions of dollars, the campaign is the largest marketing spend for the company since launching Intel Centrino in 2003.

UK PC seller Novatech has officially entered the Ultrabook club by launching the nFinity family of 14-inch machines. These mobile PCs measure 333 x 229.5 x 18 mm, they weight just 1.65 kg, and have a 1366 x 768-pixel display, a Core i3-2367M/i5-2467M/i7-2637M processor, 2/4 GB of RAM, a 64/128 GB solid state drive, an Intel integrated graphics.

The nFinity also have a 1.3-megapixel webcam, WiFi, Bluetooth, a HDMI output, two 1.5 W speakers, a 3-in-1 card reader, and a 58.5 WH battery allowing for up to 7 hours of operation. Novatech's ultrabook line starts at £429.98 (~ $687).

Japanese company Green House introduced the PicoDrive Micro line of compact USB 2.0 flash drives. When inserted, the drives stick out just 9 mm from the port. These are available in capacities of 4 GB, 8 GB, and 16 GB. Measuring 22.6 x 14.9 x 8.5 mm, weighing 3.1 g. Green House emphasized the term "Ultrabook" in its press-release, indicating that it's the Ultrabook crowd it's trying to woo, although flash drives of this size (or even smaller) aren't entirely new. The 4 GB, 8 GB, and 16 GB variants are priced at 1,480 JPY (US $17.7), 2,980 JPY (US $35.6), and 4,980 JPY (US $59.5), respectively.