ASUS today announced the SDRW-08U5S-U external DVD writer, a highly portable optical drive with the thinnest form factor in its class at just 13mm. Its design includes a built-in hidden stand that saves space and reduces clutter while enabling dual-stance horizontal and vertical placement. For data protection, ASUS integrates multiple security measures, with password controls and encryption alongside encoded file name functionality. The SDRW-08U5S-U ships in Mellow Metallic, Dusty Rose, and Bright Berry color options.

The SDRW-08U5S-U employs intricate engineering to achieve a very slender 13mm side profile. In addition to making it highly attractive, the form factor contributes to easy mobility and greater usability as the SDRW-08U5S-U can be effortlessly transported and placed, making it a perfect companion for Ultrabooks and other mobile devices.

The first casualty of ever-slimming Ultrabooks are big connectors, such as D-Sub and Ethernet, not to mention a severely limited number of USB ports. The GIGA LAN-GTJU3H3 and LAN-TXU2H3A (pictured in that order) take in one USB connection, which is split between three downstream ports, and an NDIS-compliant Ethernet connection. While the LAN-GTJU3H3 features an upstream USB 3.0 SuperSpeed connection, split between three downstream USB 3.0 ports, and a gigabit Ethernet connection; the LAN-TXU2H3A features just USB 2.0 and 10/100 Ethernet. The devices take both power and host connectivity from the single upstream port. Measuring about 80 x 60 x 20 mm (WxDxH), the two weigh around 50 g. Slated for late-March, the LAN-GTJU3H3 is priced at 5,133¥ ($53.8), while the LAN-TXU2H3A goes for 2,541¥ ($26.5).

In addition to its 2.5-inch SATA 6 Gb/s TLC NAND flash SSD, Plextor showed off its upcoming SSD in the NGFF form-factor, designed for next-generation Ultrabooks. Based on the same Marvell 88SS9189 processor and triple-level cell (TLC) NAND flash memory as its 2.5-inch cousin, the drive differs in being a 42 x 22 mm (LxW) NGFF module, with PCI-Express 2.0 x2 interface. The drives will be sold in 128 GB and 256 GB capacities, featuring 256 MB and 512 MB DDR3 DRAM caches, respectively. On offer are read speeds of up to 700 MB/s, writes of up to 550 MB/s, and maximum 4K random write performance of 100,000 IOPS. The NGFF drives should arrive around the same time as Ultrabooks based on 4th generation Core "Haswell" processors.

With consumers increasingly sharing and viewing content among different devices, Intel Corporation today introduced storage solutions based on the Intel Atom media processor CE5300 series. The new low power system-on-chip (SoC) enables high definition (HD) video to be simultaneously watched on smartphones, tablets and other smart devices, in real time, while also shared with consumer devices such as a Smart TV. "Streaming content across numerous mobile devices, not just from the cloud but locally, has become a common practice for today's consumers," said Bev Crair, general manager, of Intel's Storage Division. "New storage solutions based on the Intel Atom CE5300 series elevate this to a whole new level by making it simple to 'browse, click, and play'. The new SoC provides an excellent foundation for creating compelling entertainment experiences."

The powerful, dual-core Intel Atom CE5300 series delivers simple application and I/O support, making it ideal for synchronizing and streaming video content without compromising power for the performance necessary to allow seamless I/O and media transcoding. Storage solutions based on the Intel Atom CE5300 series allow consumers to easily set up all of their media in one place and avoid capacity limitations of mobile devices. They can use their storage system either as an iTunes server or DLNA (Digital Network Living Alliance) media server, and access that content from their mobile device of choice. Users can also simultaneously transcode 1080p video content to a smartphone, tablet, TV, Ultrabook or other smart device. The media processor system intelligently adapts to the screen resolution for each of these devices.

DisplayLink, the leading provider of USB Graphics Technology, today announced support for Microsoft's new Windows 8 Surface Pro tablets with DisplayLink enabled docking stations providing multiple displays, audio, full size keyboard and mouse, corporate Ethernet networks along with multiple USB ports for peripheral expansion, all via a single USB cable connection.

DisplayLink enabled docking stations fulfill employee requests for mobility and BYOD (Bring Your Own Device), and ease the challenges facing IT organizations struggling to support these trends. DisplayLink's goal is to eliminate connectivity barriers and enhance ease-of-use and deployment, while maximizing overall flexibility and productivity.

Micron Technology, Inc., one of the world's leading providers of advanced semiconductor solutions, and TE Connectivity (TE), a world leader in connectivity, announced today the availability of a Single-Sided SODIMM and a low-profile single-sided, double data rate 3 (DDR3) SODIMM connector solution to take advantage of the burgeoning market for Ultrabook devices, convertibles, tablets and other thin and light devices. Aimed at providing a reduced-height memory solution for the ultrathin computing market, the new Single-Sided SODIMM, developed by Micron, has components on either the front or back side of the module, but not both. When paired with the single-sided DDR3 SODIMM connector from TE, the total z-height of the overall solution from the motherboard is just 3mm, a 35 percent savings compared to 4.6 mm for a standard SODIMM solution.

Micron's Single-Sided SODIMM is available in a 4 GB, single-rank, x8 configuration. In addition to a reduced height, this new module is built using 30nm DDR3L-RS components that consume less power in standby compared to standard DDR3. Additionally, Single-Sided SODIMMs are pin-to-pin compatible with current DDR3 modules, making them backward compatible with existing DDR3 SODIMM connectors.

GIGABYTE announced the U2442 Extreme Ultrabook GeForce GT 650M and GT 730M graphics options. The U2442 is exceptionally designed with an elegant shuttle streamline design in a sleek form factor between 18.5 - 21mm and weighs in at just 1.59kg/1.69kg. Designed to bring you ultra-performance, it is powered by 3rd generation Intel Core processors and NVIDIA GeForce GT 730M / GT 650M discrete graphics. The U2442 Ultrabook is able to pack a 256GB mSATA SSD and a large 750GB/1TB HDD into its super slim body. The dual-storage system provides the user with speed and massive storage options. Do away with external storage with the Extreme Ultrabook.

Intel Corporation announced today the Intel Solid-State Drive 525 Series (Intel SSD 525 Series) in a small mSATA form factor with 6-gigabit-per-second (Gb/s) performance. The Intel SSD 525 Series gives OEM customers, channel and tech enthusiasts an ultra-portable, low-power storage solution in one-eighth the space of a traditional 2.5-inch hard disk drive (HDD) to drive innovative Ultrabook, tablet and embedded applications.

The Intel SSD 525 is the latest entry to the Intel 500 Series SSD Family aimed at higher-performance, enthusiast solutions. Measuring 3.7 mm x 50.8 mm x 29.85 mm and weighing 10 grams, the mSATA with PCI Express (PCIe) mini-connector delivers the performance of the company's Intel SSD 520 Series client drive. This makes the Intel SSD 525 suitable for All-in-One desktops, notebooks, Ultrabooks and workstation upgrades, as well as automotive, digital signage, embedded video and retail solutions.

MSI rolled out the S30 13.3-inch notebook, which misses Ultrabook fame by, well, a centimeter (thickness). Measuring 324 x 227 x 22.8 mm (LxWxH), it weighs 1.4 kg. Its 13.3-inch screen packs 1366 x 768 pixels resolution. Under its hood is an Intel Core i3/i5 "Ivy Bridge" dual-core processor (various options), up to 16 GB of dual-channel DDR3-1333 MHz memory (options), and Intel HD graphics. A 500 GB HDD is standard issue, but a 64 GB mSATA SSD can also be opted for. Connectivity includes USB 3.0, HD web-cam, THX TruStudio Pro audio, gigabit Ethernet, 802.11 b/g/n WLAN, Bluetooth 4.0, SD/MMC card reader, and HDMI display output. Windows 8 comes pre-installed. The S30 is expected to occupy a sub-$700 price-point.

Keeping up with an updated launch roadmap for Q1 2013 posted last November, Intel rolled out entry-level Celeron and Pentium dual-core processors based on its 22 nm "Ivy Bridge" silicon. All of the seven desktop and four mobile chips announced occupy price-points under $100. The desktop lineup begins with the Celeron G1610 (2.60 GHz, dual-core, 55W TDP), priced at US $42; Celeron G1610T (2.30 GHz, dual-core, 35W TDP) at $42; followed by Celeron G1620 (2.70 GHz), priced significantly higher at $52; Pentium G2010 (2.80 GHz, dual-core, 55W TDP) and G2020 (2.90 GHz), and G2020T (2.50 GHz, 35W TDP) at $64; and Pentium G2130 (3.20 GHz, dual-core, 55W TDP) at $86.

Intel has two kinds of Celeron mobile processors, targeting the mainstream and Ultrabook-like notebook form-factors. Among the mainstream notebook processors are the Celeron 1000M (1.80 GHz, dual-core, 35W TDP) and Celeron 1020M (2.10 GHz, dual-core, 35W TDP). Among the Ultrabook-like form-factor models are the Celeron 1007U (1.50 GHz, dual-core, 17W TDP), and Celeron 1037U (1.80 GHz, dual-core, 17W TDP). Interestingly, all four mobile Celeron "Ivy Bridge" CPU models are priced at $86, in 1000-unit tray quantities.

According to the top ten Taiwan ICT market trend predictions of 2013 published by IDC, as reaction to the uncertainty of prosperity in the next year, the enterprises will continuously increase IT budget and expenditure with primary growth power from cloud computing, mobility and the market driven by massive data, and expects a robust growth of 3.9%. To respond to these trends and needs, the storage devices will definitely continue to develop toward energy-saving, high efficiency and compactness. Therefore, Apacer correspondingly launches three SATA 3.0 SuperSpeed transmission interface SSDs, including 2.5-inch SFD 25S-M, MO-297-compliant SFD 18S5-M and mSATA S1-M designed in compliance with MO-300, respectively applicable for cloud data center, various servers, embedded system, and compact Ultrabook and Networking devices, which meet different needs for cloud, massiveness and mobility.

Intel introduced a pair of new dual-core ultra-low voltage processors, the Core i5-3439Y and Core i7-3689Y, based on the current 22 nm "Ivy Bridge" architecture. The two feature a stunning 13W TDP, and are designed for cool Ultrabooks, with minimal cooling. The Core i5-3439Y features a nominal clock speed of 1.50 GHz, with 2.30 GHz maximum Turbo Boost, HyperThreading enabling four logical CPUs, 3 MB of L3 cache, and an SDP (scenario driven power) of just 7W. It is priced at US $250. The Core i7-3689Y, on the other side, features the same 1.50 GHz nominal clock speed, but a higher maximum Turbo Boost frequency of 2.60 GHz, and 4 MB of L3 cache. Other features are identical between the two. The i7-3689Y is priced at $362.

Intel Corporation executives held a press conference today to outline a plan to accelerate new mobile device experiences across the company's growing portfolio of smartphone, tablet and Ultrabook offerings.

The announcements included a new smartphone platform for emerging markets, details on a forthcoming 22 nm quad-core SoC for tablets, and more personal and intuitive Ultrabook devices in innovative convertible designs were outlined by Mike Bell, vice president and general manager of the Mobile and Communications Group, and Kirk Skaugen, vice president and general manager of the PC Client Group at Intel.

Lenovo today announced two new additions to its family of convertible laptop-tablet devices: the ThinkPad Helix, a premium convertible for business professionals featuring a "rip and flip" design - a blueprint for the next generation of laptop designs - and a more powerful and productive IdeaPad Yoga 11S, the first multimode mini Ultrabook equipped with powerful Intel processors and featuring Windows 8.

"Our unmatched family of convertibles gives consumers, students, business professionals, and everyone in between the opportunity to choose the convertible that's right for them," said Peter Hortensius, president, Product Group, and senior vice president, Lenovo. "The ThinkPad Helix gives business professionals two devices in one incredible form factor. It is a high performance, thin and light Ultrabook with a detachable Windows 8 tablet. We've also pumped more power and productivity into the new IdeaPad Yoga 11S mini-Ultrabook so it can handle whatever mobile computing tasks consumers throw at it."

Toshiba joined industry-wide efforts to bring the Ultrabook down to mainstream prices, by launching the Satellite U845t. The 14-incher features a lean feature-set to achieve its $799 price-point. It features 1366 x 768 pixels resolution, a Core i3 dual-core processor, up to 6 GB of RAM, 500 GB HDD-based storage with a 32 GB cache-SSD to speed things up, and connectivity that includes USB 3.0, HDMI, and SDXC. The Satellite U845t will be released to market on March 10th.

Dell's XPS 13 Ultrabook is all set to get a 1080p (1920 x 1080 resolution) screen option, without changes in its size, later this month, according to a company spokesperson. The 13-incher has been sticking around with drab 1366 x 768 resolution, and will join several other Ultrabook manufacturers in making 1080p a norm for notebooks with over 11.6-inch screen size. It remains to be seen how the 1080p screen option is priced over the current base model's $790 price-tag.

Lenovo today announced its new lineup of consumer and business Windows 8 touch-optimized devices at the 2013 International Consumer Electronics Show. Headlining the collection are new additions to the ultra-portable IdeaPad U Series Ultrabooks and the multimedia intensive IdeaPad Z Series laptops as well as new models of IdeaCentre all-in-one desktops, from the sleek and stylish A Series to the affordable and space-saving C Series.

Lenovo also introduced an extreme performance gaming desktop PC, the Lenovo Erazer X700, designed for enthusiast-level gaming and graphics-hungry applications. For small businesses, the ThinkPad Edge E431 and E531 laptops introduce a unique Lenovo OneLink technology for new docking capabilities, and to complete the new range of Windows 8 touch devices, the ThinkPad Mobile Monitor makes a great companion as a second display, especially for complementing non-touch devices with touch functionality.

Intel's next-generation SSD 530 series, which sees a single product line covering 2.5-inch and compact form-factors, arrives in the second quarter of 2013. The new series is being designed to offer high-performance even at smaller card form-factors, which is particularly important for the ultra-thin/Ultrabook ecosystem. The drive has been pictured in the newer NGFF (next generation form-factor), which is designed to be even smaller than mSATA.

While mSATA drives typically measure 51 x 30 mm, NGFF measures 42 x 22 mm. NGFF is a single interface featuring pins for both SATA and PCI-Express x2 or x4, and cards designed around its specification can either be SATA SSDs, or other bandwidth-heavy devices (such as 802.11ac WLAN controllers). Cards can even be designed to have an SATA SSD subunit on one side, and a PCI-Express device on the other, saving swathes of PCB real-estate in the process. The form-factor even supports double-sided SSDs such as this one from Lite-On, which features an independent SSD subunit on each side, which is striped in RAID 0. The NGFF Intel SSD 530 family will be introduced in Q2-2013, in two capacities - 80 GB and 180 GB.

Velocity Micro, the premier builder of award winning enthusiast desktops, laptops, peripherals, and Cruz tablets announces several new products to be debuted at the 2013 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Products include the dual core D610 Cruz tablet, quad core Q610 Cruz tablet, and the 4" x 4" Edge Mini. Additionally, the recently announced NoteMagix Ultrabook devices and Edge AIO will be on display along with several Velocity Micro desktop skus and peripherals. All product demos for press and retail customers will be held via scheduled meetings in a private suite at Bellagio.

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd, a global leader in digital media and digital convergence technologies, today announced two additions to its high performance Series 7 PC lineup: the enhanced Series 7 Chronos, which delivers professional performance in a thin and light form factor, and the Series 7 Ultra, which takes Ultrabooks to the next level with enriched computing power, graphics and touch capability. The new Samsung Series 7 intuitive devices incorporate PCs into consumers' lives by enabling mobility and helping to keep them connected.

"2012 was a definitive year for Samsung's PC business - we expanded our lineup, taking advantage of the new form factors and consumer demand. This led to significant growth in the industry," said David Song, Senior Vice President of IT & Mobile Communications at Samsung Electronics. "In 2013, we will continue to focus on innovation delivering products that fit into customer lifestyles while maintaining Samsung's high-end design and performance standards. The new Series 7 Chronos and Ultra products are just two examples of what you can expect to see from us throughout the year."

Velocity Micro, the premier builder of award winning enthusiast desktops, laptops, peripherals, and the remarkable line of Cruz tablets announces the immediate availability of the NoteMagix U400 Series, a stunning line of Ultrabook devices. Featuring a solid aluminum chassis, integrated optical drive, 3rd Generation Intel Core Processors, and Intel 520 Series solid state drives, the NoteMagix U400 Series is a unique combination of muscle and style, starting at just $799.

"With the NoteMagix U400 Ultrabook devices, we wanted to design something that would appeal to both our enthusiast customers and mainstream customers alike," said Randy Copeland, President and CEO of Velocity Micro. "The end result outdid even our own high expectations. These are truly remarkable products, both inside and out."

It's no secret that nearly all Intel Core processors are carved out of essentially one or two physical dies, be it the "2M" die that physically features four cores and 8 MB of L3 cache, or the "1M" die, which physically features two cores and 4 MB of L3 cache. The two silicons are further graded for energy-efficiency and performance before being assigned a package most suited to them: desktop LGA, mobile PGA, mobile BGA, and with the introduction of the 4th generation Core "Haswell," SoC (system on chip, a package that's going to be a multi-chip module of the CPU and PCH dies). The SoC package will be designed to conserve PCB real-estate, and will be suited for extremely size-sensitive devices such as Ultrabooks.

The third kind of grading for the two silicons relates to its on-die graphics processor, which makes up over a third of the die area. Depending on the number of programmable shaders and ROPs unlocked, there are two grades: GT2, and GT3, with GT3 being the most powerful. On the desktop front (identified by silicon extension "-DT,") Intel very much will retain dual-core processors, which will make up its Core i3, Pentium, and Celeron processor lines. It will be lead by quad-core parts. All desktop processors feature the GT2 graphics core.

The Slidebook S20, the ideal mobile work station and leisure companion, just hit the market. Its elegant streamlined exterior, all-in-one design, Intel's third generation Ivy Bridge Core i5 processor, and all-weather, long-life battery meet are designed to meet your work and leisure needs and make the Slidebook S20 stand out from the crowd of other ultrabooks.

Another MSI ingenious design, the Slidebook S20 not only offers all the audiovisual, multimedia, reading, and gaming enjoyment of a tablet, it also sports a keyboard, USB, and HDMI capabilities of a mobile office notebook. This chicly mobile machine satisfies the needs of both on-the-go businesspeople and students and the extended battery power ensures that you have plenty of time to do what you're doing. Ideal for Internet browsing, social networking, and word processing, the Slidebook S20 is the perfect choice for anybody on the go. The S20's design with keyboard and sliding cover eliminates the limitations most people feel when they use tablets. MSI's innovative, user-friendly design have you the user in mind.

On taking apart the Acer S7 Ultrabook, The SSD Review discovered a strange new SSD form-factor, which bears the label of Lite-On, and carrying the model number "CMT-256L3M." This is perhaps the first mSATA SSD with two independent SSD subunits, one on each side. The mSATA interface itself is modified to have two SSD ports. The drive registers on the system BIOS as two individual drives, which is then run as a 256 GB (physical) RAID 0 volume by the BIOS and operating-system.

Each of the CMT-256L3M's two subunits feature a Marvell 88S9175 controller, which supports SATA 6 Gb/s interface, two 64 GB dual-channel 24 nm toggle NAND flash memory chips by Toshiba, and a Nanya-made DRAM cache chip. Putting the drive through sequential-friendly benchmarks such as CrystalDiskMark shows a sequential read speed of the drive (combined with its two subunits) to be around 877 MB/s, with sequential writes up to 672 MB/s. Multi-subunit SSDs aren't new, most high-end consumer SSDs from the pre-TRIM, pre-SandForce era used to be dual- to quad-subunit drives. The CMT-256L3M is the first one in the super-compact mSATA form-factor, and its performance numbers could impress more Ultrabook designers.

NEC Japan rolled out the world's thinnest Ultrabook, the 15.6-inch LaVie X (model: LX850/JS). It is just 12.8 mm thick (375 x 255 x 12.8 mm), weighing 1.59 kg. NEC achieved its thickness thanks to innovations in cooling that spreads cooling components apart. It features an LED backlit IPS LCD screen featuring 1920 x 1080 pixels resolution, Intel Core i7-3517U processor, 4 GB of RAM, 256 GB SSD storage, and Windows 8. Connectivity includes two USB 3.0 ports, 802.11 b/g/n WLAN, Bluetooth 4.0 +HS, HDMI display-output, SDHC/SDXC card slot, and a 2-megapixel web-camera. It is slated for market availability on December 27.