Windows 8 Devices Emerge At IFA 2012

IFA (pr. eefa) 2012 in Berlin is the place to be if you want to get the inside track on new Windows 8 devices. Announcements started coming out:

Samsung

They have revealed some Series 5 and Series 7 All-In-One PCs (AiOs) that are 27”, 23.6” and 21.5”.

Ubergizmo has a breakdown of the specs that I’ve not seen elsewhere since the model news broke earlier this week.

Asus

They have announced four new laptops. 

Zenbook U500VZ, a 19.7mm-thick 15-incher with a full HD screen, full-size keyboard, Intel i7 quad-core processor and the option for Nvidia GT650M graphics and up to 512GB of SSD storage

There’s a UX21A Touch with multitouch and 256 GB SSD.  It looks very like the UX31 that I own.  The Asus Taichi is that awful looking dual screen laptop with a screen on the outside (tablet) and a screen on the inside (laptop with keyboard).

Asus also announced their tablets called Vivo (previously 810 Transformer) and Vivo RT (previously 600 Transformer)

The Vivo RT device is a Tegra with 2 GB RAM and 32 GB SSD.  That’s OK.  The Vivo is an Intel dual core Atom with 2 GB RAM and 64 GB SSD.  Atom.  Hmm.

Sony

Not to be left out, Sony has announced two devices at IFA 2012 as well.  The Vaio Duo 11 is an 11” slider device. 

It’s basically an Ultrabook with a touchscreen in an interesting new design. It lies flat and you use it as a tablet with the various sensors you’d expect. You need a keyboard?  Slide up the screen and there you go, something similar to a laptop. It looks like it’s coming in i3 to i7 with up to 256 GB SSD.

Confession time: I did an NDA reveal of this one while presenting on Windows 8 and had some hands on. It got a lot of attention from those present.  My #1 requirement of a device is that I can use it on my lap.  I was concerned because the screen extends out so much.  But this device passed the test with flying colours because the base counter balances it and makes it stable. This is a powerful machine – I played with the i7 256 GB SSD model – that cuts it both as your laptop and as your tablet.

A really interesting 20” machine called the Vaio TAP 20 was also released.  I describe it as a portable AiO. 1600 * 900 resolution, up to 1 TB storage, multi-touch (10 I think), and it converts from a tabletop to a propped up monitor.  And that’s where the magic is.

Yup, I also got some hands on with the TAP 20.  In fact, everyone wanted to play with it.  Standing up, it’s a PC, offering a nice group interaction experience. Raise the kickstand, and you can pick it up easily, bring it to another room, lay it flat and it’s a table top flat gaming platform.  I demonstrated it drawing with 10 touch points so it can be a multiuser experience.  Everyone who tried or saw it was intrigued by the possibilities.