HP, fresh off keeping its PC-manufacturing division in-house, is busy releasing new laptops that take advantage of trends in ultra-thin hardware and sound technology.
Hewlett-Packard
is moving into the ultrabook game with its HP Folio, a super-thin 13.3-inch
laptop with an advertised battery life of nine hours and the newest Intel Core
processors.
Intel
remains an aggressive driver of the nascent ultrabook category, partnering with
a variety of manufacturers to issue devices that conform to the chip maker's
specifications for the products. At the recent CEATEC conference in Japan, for example, Intel
demonstrated ultrabooks with roughly similar design parameters from Toshiba
(with the Dynabook), Acer (the Aspire S3-1) and Asus (the UX21).
Ultrabooks
in many ways represent an attempt by Intel and those manufacturers to leverage
consumers' increased interest in thin and portable devices, which has driven
the tablet market to unprecedented heights. With its own TouchPad tablet plans
reduced to smoking ashes, and its anticipated tablets running Windows 8 still
some quarters away, HP is likely looking to remain a player in the more-mobile
segment by any avenues available. That means products such as the Windows
7-equipped HP Folio, which weighs 3.3 pounds and includes a solid-state drive
with 128GB of storage space.
But
HP also wants to market products to a more high-end portion of the PC market,
which is why it's also introducing a refresh of its Envy laptop line,
specifically the new Envy 15 and 17.
The
laptops feature Beats Audio technology, a part of an increasing number of tech
products, including the recently introduced HTC Rezound. In a nod to how highly
HP values the sound quality of its new laptops, the design features a prominent
volume dial with the Beats logo on the edge of the keyboard frame. HP has also
loaded the laptops with a backlit keyboard, with individual LEDs for each key.
HP
recently announced it would keep its Personal Systems Group, reversing an
earlier decision that would have potentially spun off the company's profitable
manufacturing division.
"HP
objectively evaluated the strategic, financial and operational impact of
spinning off PSG," Meg Whitman, HP's CEO and president, wrote in an Oct. 27
statement. "It's clear after our analysis that keeping PSG within HP is right
for customers and partners, right for shareholders and right for employees."
In
an Oct. 27 conference call, she told the media and analysts that HP's previous
decision had "confused the market pretty dramatically" but that the company was
moving to eliminate that uncertainty. "We're going to fight for every
order," she said, alluding to PSG sales.
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Nicholas Kolakowski is a staff editor at eWEEK, covering Microsoft and other companies in the enterprise space, as well as evolving technology such as tablet PCs. His work has appeared in The Washington Post, Playboy, WebMD, AARP the Magazine, AutoWeek, Washington City Paper, Trader Monthly, and Private Air. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.
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