Samsung demos Series 5 Ultra Touch and Series 5 Ultra Convertible Ultrabooks, we go hands-on
Well, look at what we have here! We just swung by Samsung's booth at Computex, and the outfit is showing off not one, but two touch-enabled variations of its Series 5 Ultrabooks.
Context & Ripple Effects
Samsung had already positioned the Series 5 Ultra as a mainstream ultrabook, with a $949 US preorder configuration that included optical media. Its earlier Q1 Ultra also gives the company a history of experimenting with smaller portable PC formats.
The same-day Series 5 Hybrid PC teaser places the touch models within a wider Samsung effort to offer several portable Windows form factors rather than a single conventional notebook design.
First-order effects
- Samsung expands the Series 5 Ultra proposition from a conventional ultrabook into touch and convertible options, giving prospective buyers more ways to enter its portable-PC lineup.
Second-order effects
- Acer, ASUS and Lenovo, whose new Windows 8 hardware was also being shown hands-on, face a more crowded race to differentiate touch-enabled laptops through form factor rather than basic ultrabook branding.
Third-order effects
- If PC makers sustain parallel touch, convertible and hybrid designs, portable Windows computing shifts toward product-line segmentation by input and physical configuration instead of the traditional notebook-only choice.
The trend: Windows 8-era PC makers are using touch and convertible designs to redraw the boundary between ultrabooks, tablets and hybrid PCs.