The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results. And it appears Intel is testing that definition – if these internal Intel Powerpoint slides that made their way to a blog called FanlessTech this month are the real thing. The slides suggest that Intel is still plugging …

Global notebook sales may be in the crapper, but according to the chairman of the company manufacturing notebooks for Acer, Dell, Toshiba, HP, and others, the bluebird of sales-revenue happiness will sing again in the second half of this year. On Thursday, Compal Electronics chairman Ray Chen told an investors conference that …

CES 2013To hear Intel tell it, the days of the good ol' laptop are numbered, and the future belongs to touch-enabled convertibles – laptops that lead a double life as both clamshells and tablets. "We fundamentally believe that there's a convergence happening between what traditionally have been notebook computing and tablet computing …

Slablets, smartphones and software will lead a very mini revival in IT spending across EMEA next year, but a bumper return to growth for some channel biz owners may be just out of reach. Beancounter Gartner forecasts market contraction in 2012, with the amount of cash that consumers and businesses splash on tech projected to …

Ultrabooks are forecast to overtake notebook shipments by mid 2012 after swingeing price cuts appear to be finally reeling in some UK punters, particularly in the enterprise. This is according to channel box-counter Context, armed with distributor sales-out stats that show a six fold rise in 13.3 inch utrabooks - 80 per cent …

Intel will build wireless charging into its svelte laptops, aka Ultrabooks, and smartphones by the middle of 2013, according to whisperings on Chinese rumour mill Digitimes Using the chip giant's own in-house technology, the mobes' batteries are topped up over the air by the Ultrabooks. Apparently the phones can be held …

WD is developing thin and ultra-thin hybrid hard disk drives for the Ultrabooks market with a likely transition to energy-assisted recording in 2015 – enabling 1TB 2.5-inch disk drive platters. This was revealed through analyst briefings by WD CEO John Coyne and CFO Wolfgang Nickl, and we have Stifel Nicolaus' Aaron Rakers to …

Taiwanese analyst outfit Trendforce thinks Microsoft’s forthcoming Surface devices will cannibalise the market for ultrabooks, put price pressure on Android tablets and confuse consumers. The analysts’ WitsView service recently published a note in which research director Eric Chiou says that Surface devices’ 32GB of storage is …

Despite relatively slow initial sales of the thin and light laptops that his company is making such a huge bet on, Intel headman Paul Otellini remains bullish on ultrabooks, and is confident that $699 versions of the svelte "reinvented PCs" will hit store shelves this fall. "Ultrabooks continue to build momentum, and achieved …

Intel has signed a deal with Devicescape to integrate the company's freeloading Wi-Fi network into Ultrabooks as part of Intel's Smart Connect Technology, which lets devices link up even when they're not switched on. Devicescape's technology lets devices automatically connect to the numerous free Wi-Fi points that we're told …

We thought flash demand was booming, but flash supplier Sandisk's quarterly revenue has dropped to its lowest point in seven quarters after price drops and demand falls. It expects the next quarter to be even worse. Revenues in its first 2012 quarter were $1.21bn, down 7 per cent year-on-year and a thumping 24 per cent …

Hybrid disk drives are on their way to becoming a fixture in computing: Seagate has had design wins at Dell and other OEMs. So says financial analyst Aaron Rakers of Stifel Nicolaus. Ultrabook pricing is the driver here. To get Intel's Macbook Air knock-off down into the $650 to $750 area from its current $999 price point will …

AMD has updated its product roadmap, announcing for the first time that it will be creating ultra-low power (ULP) processors for the tablet market. "We want to hit the volume sweet spots of the industry," said AMD Global Business Units general manager Lisa Su, speaking at the company's Financial Analyst Day in Santa Clara, …

Dell has pulled out of the netbook market in a move that pretty much seals the fate of the pint-sized form factor. The Dell Mini range is no longer available on the website and the tech titan's US office has confirmed that the product line is dead. First announced in 2008, Dell Minis had 7in or 10in screens, were powered by …

Acer is plotting a return to profits that partly rests on the success of the ultrabook after revealing it is close to completing its operational and management overhaul. The Taiwanese giant posted losses for the past two consecutive quarters as it dealt with an inventory crisis caused by a consumer spending freeze made worse …

Acer says it's going to cut Ultrabook prices. But you're going to have to wait until Q2 2012 for the skinny notebooks to become cheaper - and a year for them to get really low-cost. Company president Jim Wong apparently said Acer will knock $100-200 (£64-128) off the $999 (£637) pre-tax price tag in the second quarter of 2012 …

Intel is developing a would-be standard docking connector for Ultrabooks. The technology is based on its Thunderbolt bus. The spec, revealed by VR-Zone, calls for a chunky plug that combines a mini Thunderbolt port and a proprietary connector for power and other data buses. What vendors connect the other end to is up to them …

Ultrabooks will give stagnating notebook sales and the wider PC components industry a shot in the arm, but only when prices are chopped, beancounter IHS iSuppli has warned. Low-cost laptops no longer whet the appetite of tablet iPad-hungry consumers, but PC makers didn't realise this until it was too late and a mountain of …