Ultrabooks Take Center Stage at CES Day 1

Cnet: Day one of CES 2012 in Las Vegas saw several technology companies promoting new ultrabooks–ultra-thin, Windows-based laptops designed to compete with the MacBook Air. One standout was HP’s new Envy 14 Spectre, which Cnet called “a beauty of an ultrabook covered in more Gorilla Glass than we’ve seen in one device.” (Several devices at the show featured Corning Gorilla Glass 2, which allows touchscreens to be made 20 percent thinner.) Other ultrabooks on display included Samsung Series 5 and Series 9 products and two new Lenovo IdeaPads.

However, some observers say that consumers might be better off waiting for the next generation of ultrabooks to hit the market, because those will feature Intel’s faster Ivy Bridge processors and Microsoft’s Windows 8 operating system, which will be optimized for touchscreens.