In Search of Incredible

Asus's Latest Campaign...

Product
N-Series Notebooks, a collaboration between ASUS and the Intel Corporation. The series seems to be ASUS' playground for experimentation for different convergent ideas revolving around mobile multimedia.

Main features

An audio system engineered by ASUS SonicMaster Technology and co-developed with Bang & Olufsen ICEpower(R) to create room-filling sound. The integrated video system allows users to watch high-quality video, while users can create their own images with a built-in HD camera, which features low-level light performance.

Launch

Atlantic recording artist Jason Mraz has been involved with the launch (on 20th September) and has released a new song called “The world as I see it”. There is also a competition to find the most incredible story on earth. The promotional YouTube video uploaded 16th September has had 44,000 hits and the video on the “In Search of Incredible” site has had 41,000. The winner of the competition (one person from each country) will receive a new N-Series Notebook and their chance to turn their incredible story into a short film.

Audience

Despite the backing from Jason Mraz, it does not look explicitly targeted at a niche market such as teens or gamers. The ads in commuter press and in London underground stations don’t make it clear what the product is (they generate interest with the confusion element) but I suggest that Asus is targeting the multi-media enthusiast/affluent professional with money to spend on a top quality product. There are QR codes on the press ads that link to the “In Search of Incredible” website.

Competitor to the XPS 15Z?

Whilst the N-Series notebooks are competitors to the XPS 15Z, it is also responding to HPs Beats by Dre with its Bang and Olufsen audio system.

What Laptop Magazine - Designer Laptops Group Tests.

Competitors

• Asus: Automobili Lamborghini VX7
• Asus: Eee PC 1008P
• Dell: Adamo XPS
• Dell: Inspiron 17R
• Packard Bell: Liberty Tab
• Sony: VAIO VPCCA2ZOE

1st Place went to the Asus Automobili Lamborghini VX7

The Dell Adamo XPS received runner-up:
- Design detailed as ‘extremely impressive’
- Described as similar to the MacBook Pro from Apple
- Solid feeling keypad which ‘will suit business users'
- 3 out of 5 for value for money.

Mac vs PC- Group Test.
In the Mac vs PC Group Test, What Laptop proclaimed that the Dell XPS 15z was 'a shining example of what PCs have to offer’. It received a value award from What Laptop and scored 5 out of 5 for features, build and performance. It was described as one of the most capable machines they have ever tested.

Sources:
What Laptop Magazine

Announcing a bid for software company Autonomy causes Hewlett Packard shares to fall 20%.

Hewlett-Packard’s share prices have fallen as reports claim that the company is considering selling its computer business and investing in the software company Autonomy. The strategy surprised the industry as Hewlett-Packard dominates around 17.6% of the market meanwhile Dell comes second with 12.5% of the market share thus highlighting the brutality of the industry.

Autonomy was originally created by Cambridge University with the purpose of specialising in pattern recognition technologies. It currently aids around 25,000 customers worldwide, with over 400 software companies using it to power their company. It also powers some of the Top 10 banking firms in the world. The deal would mean that HP would severely reduce the sales of tablet PCs and smartphones in favour of software; it is believed that Apple dominates the smartphone and tablet sector therefore meaning that there is little room for competitors. HP see the transition from computer to software to be practical and more profitable in the long term. HP offered the Autonomy £7.1billion which is around 64% above the estimated target value of the software firm. Consequently, shares dropped to $23.58 at closing on Friday.

On Thursday 18th August, HP announced that the company’s quarterly results had fallen in line with its predictions and had risen 1.6% since 2010, although Hewlett-Packard dropped its annual predictions from $130bn to $127.6bn. Likely contenders for the company are Chinese companies Lenovo and Huawei.

Sources:
BBC News
(http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-14582489)
http://www.autonomy.com/

Stuff Magazine’s Top Ten Laptops

The Ratings are in again from Stuff Magazine and this month Dell’s XPS 15 L501x is coming in at number two. Using Intel’s new fast speed Sandy Bridge i5 silicon system and made from aluminium-clad it comes in at nearly half the cost of what you would pay for a 15in Apple MacBook Pro. At 2.8kg it may not be the lightest of laptops however it comes with a convenient Blu-ray drive and a 15in 1080p screen. Here is a list of Stuff’s top ten laptops:


1.) Apple MacBook Pro 13in from £1000

2.) Dell XPS 15 L501x £930

3.) Samsung N230 £335

4.) HP Envy 17 3D from £1150

5.) Alienware M11x from £500

6.) MSI GX740 £875

7.) Asus Eee Pad Transformer £430 (with keyboard)

8.) Apple MacBook Air 11in from £870

9.) Samsung Series 9 900x3A £1300

10.) Sony VAIO F Series 3D £1650

For more information click here

Best MacBook Air Alternatives

The ratings are in from Stuff Magazine:

1. Samsung Series 9
2. HP Ultrabook
3. Asus UX21
4. Sony Vaio Z
5. Dell XPS 15z

The XPS has been flaunting its skinny wares for a while now, but there's no denying laptops don't get much thinner or more luxurious than this. It's an engineering triumph that undermines the laws of physics by miraculously cramming so much tech into its uber-skinny 9.9mm frame, making the Air look rather portly in the process. And the star of the show? Its ingenious opening mechanism and touch-sensitive unlock bar. Shame about the battery life, though.

Click here for more info.

Heard the noise about Google+?

Take all the best bits of Facebook, Twitter & Skype, present them in a highly user-friendly interface provided by one of the internet's most loved (and used) brands, Google, and you've got the makings of a new, popular and potent social networking/sharing/communications platform. A potential Facebook/Twitter killer...

If you've not already heard of it, I'm talking about Google+.

It's got the personal backing of Google's CEO Larry Page - and is being driven and delivered by lots of very important people at Google, with huge brains. Which means Google is very serious indeed about finally establishing itself as a social, as well as a utilitarian, giant of the internet.

Will it work?

I don't know - yet - whether it's going to work for Google+. No one does.

Its global penetration is slowing - a mere 19million in just over three weeks. But, having tried Google+, this mildly geeky consumer thinks it's pretty blooming good. And Google is totally committed to making it work, with a suite of new features and products about to launch when Google feel the time is right...

(You need an invite to join and a Googlemail account).

Source

MediaCom Strategy Director (21.07.11)

HP announces the launch of the next TouchPad

Just two weeks after the Launch of the first HP TouchPad, HP annouced the launch of its new improved version. It will be exculsively available in the US on AT&Tex, the largest provider of fixed telephony in the US.

The new one will have 4G. This means you'll be able to access the web on the go, like on a 3G-enabled iPad. unlike the original which is only Wi-Fi enabled.

More importantly, the new model of the TouchPad will have a faster 1.5 Ghz processor compared to the original TouchPad's slower 1.2 Ghz processor.

In a release David Gee, vice president of marketing and enterprise solutions, webOS, personal systems group, HP said, “TouchPad 4G is ideal for anyone who needs maximum flexibility for productivity on the go.”
 
“It’s particularly well suited for users who rely on connectivity in the field – from large corporations to small businesses and self-employed mobile professionals,” Gee added.

Another thing to note is that while AT&T claims the new TouchPad will be "4G," each carrier has different definitions for 4G. Verizon's 4G LTE network is much faster than AT&T's, and AT&T's is also notoriously less reliable.
 
There's no word on pricing yet, but it should launch before September and the new school year.

Anyone who already bought a TouchPad is probably going to be pretty upset that their new tablet is already old news so soon after it was launched!

For a (not hugely glowing) review of the original HP TouchPad, click here.

Sources
Business Insider
HP