Laptop Innovation Trends 2011 !

[Honest 836]

Laptop Innovation Trends 2011

Technological ingenuity that will make portable computers even better

It's long since we put out our wish list of what we expected from laptops. Today, it's really hard to point out a bad laptop -- most have a decent (monotonous even) spec-sheet and aren't horrible to use. But as we keep pushing the envelope on what more can we do with these portable computers, newer technologies make their way, first into premium models and after an affirmed success rate, get pushed down to cheaper laptops.

Laptop manufacturers keep cranking up the raw power -- a dual-core processor will be swapped with a quad-core, a yester-generation graphics chip with a newer gen -- which is more or less expected. But the innovations that we're talking of do more than just make 'em faster, some allow faster data transfers, some provide new wire-free experiences, some hightened 'dimensions' of entertainment. Let's check out what's in store this year:

Faster Data Transmission

For many years, we've been used to the decent speeds those typical USB 2.0 ports found on all laptops deliver. But now with the amount of data increasing exponentially, there's need for a faster medium. To give you a simple example, all those 700MB DivX rips are soon being replaced by 720p HD rips that are anywhere between 3 to 7 times that size (2GB or 4.8GB).

Last year, we saw a few handful laptops sporting a USB 3.0 port, but I feel the newer standard should proliferate into most mainstream models by the year end. The speed-bump is fantastic - theoretically it can do 4.8 GBps, which is ten times more than the current USB 2.0's 480 MBps speed limit. In our real world testing, we saw the speeds were roughly two to three times faster than a regular drive, which is not bad at all.

But don't get too excited just as yet, because Intel's on the verge of announcing its Light Peak technology, that supports an insane 10GBps with the use of optical medium instead of copper wires. Apple's updated Macbook Pros are supposed to feature this technology with the 'Thunderbolt' moniker. So basically this year, you'll be staring a lot less at a progress bar despite shuffling GBs and GBs of data.

Hybrid Hard Drives

Most laptops today come with traditional platter-spinning hard drives. These magnetic mediums of storage are cheaper to make and on an average have hundreds of GBs of space. Flash-based SSD drives are making their way into premium segment models like the Macbook Air, and they offer faster speeds, no vibrations or noise and have a better tolerance to physical shock. The major compromise with SSDs is space -- even the most highest-end SSD-based laptops come with around 128 to 256GB space, which in comparison to regular hard drives is paltry.

Hybrid Hard Drives are basically regular spinning disks with a small capacity SSD integrated into the body. How does this help? The Operating System files are typically installed in the faster accessible SSD, whereas the spinning drive is used to store user data. So, your computer can have instant on and ultra-fast boot times like an SSD based PC, yet have a huge space to store all the content as well. It also helps in saving power.

Windows already supports these types of drives by the virtue of a feature called 'ReadyDrive' since Vista. The instant turning on and off we experienced in the Macbook Air is something that we would appreciate to have in every laptop.

More on Chip

Back in school, we were taught that the Central Processing Unit (or processor) contained a couple of units like the ALU (Arithmetic Logic Unit), Memory Registers, Control Unit etc. These were the elements that lie on that chip that we'd insert into the motherboard, while other functions like the memory controller or the graphics processing unit were placed separately.

Since the past few years, we see these other core components of a PC moving onto the same chip that also occupied the CPU. Well, CPU's are getting smaller and smaller each year as per Moore's law; they're down to as low as 32 nanometer as of today, so there's definitely gotta be extra space over there (as the actual size of the chip hasn't increased).

Intel's recent Atom processors and even the top-of-the-line Sandy Bridge have Graphics processors and memory controllers on the chip. Even AMD's Fusion "APU" platform is pretty much the same thing. So what are the advantages of them being positioned close to the CPU?

Communication between these components is faster and more efficient, thus improving performance and even saving power.

Wireless Streaming onto a bigger screen

Nowadays, most laptops have an HDMI port to directly hook them up to a bigger LCD TV or projector. The great thing about HDMI is that it uses a single cable to transmit audio and video, thus reducing clutter.

With advancement in wireless technology and processing power, we're on the brink of wireless transmission of content from a laptop onto a bigger display. Intel's calling this technology WiDi, Apple calls it 'AirPlay'. Off the two, WiDi requires you to purchase a small box that connects by wire to your TV and accepts transmission from your laptop's Wi-Fi chip. Apple requires you to purchase the Apple TV, which essentially does the same thing for not just computers but even iOS devices like the iPhone or iPad.

So, you can basically be streaming your favorite movie stored on your laptop to an LCD TV or say a PowerPoint presentation to a projector wire-free from a distance.

Stereoscopic 3D

We saw an affordable 3D laptop with typical polarized glasses last year, but weren't as impressed, especially after experiencing what 3D on PCs is with a stereoscopic pair. Although the original NVIDIA 3D Vision kit is somewhat clunky with its IR transmitter, recent pro-gaming laptops like the ASUS G73JW have smartly integrated that sensor right beside the webcam.

So, all you need to need to do is put on those active glasses and experience 3D. Although this may be seen in ultra-expensive laptops like the one mentioned above, I'm sure by the end of the year it will trickle down into some mid-range models too. These laptops may not be hardcore gaming PC replacements, but they can be pitched more towards 3D video viewing.

Optical Drive Extinction

Years ago, imagining a PC without an CD Drive would send shivers down your spine. If you ask me now, I don't really care anymore. Thanks to high-speed, unlimited Internet access and USB-based storage that's cheap, re-usable and stores much more data than even a dual-layered Bluray disc, the DVD drive in my PC lies untouched for months.

As more and more people choose to opt out of using optical media to transfer data, more laptop makers can go forward and put the space that the drive occupies to better use. I'd trade it to fit a bigger battery or make the laptop thinner any day, instead of holding on to a DVD drive that I might find some use some day.

Thanks to Rohan Naravane

Courtesy : Techtree

[kkdeep 6]

The optical drive should be phased out. t takes a lot of valuable space on laptop without adding much value. In my last of couple of laptops I have used it only to Install OS and Now a days one can install the OS from a USB flash drive. I

[Genius 817]

Nice informative: I am more interested in Chip more than any thing let me know when more advancement is there. +1

[raccoon 53]

The optical drive should be phased out. t takes a lot of valuable space on laptop without adding much value. In my last of couple of laptops I have used it only to Install OS and Now a days one can install the OS from a USB flash drive. I

Phased out?? Methinks its still the cheapest way to store large amounts of data like movies, vids, etc. Unless a suitable, similarly (or cheaper) priced substitute is available, why should it be phased out?

[kkdeep 6]

I meant it should not be built in into the Laptops. One can always use a external Optical Drive (if needed). Macbooks and top of the line HP laptops already do that and so do the netbooks.

[rajanmehta 4,056]

Thunderbolt: Next Big Thing in PC, Laptop Connectivity

Fastest Data Interface Yet, 10 Gbps Bi-Directional

All About Thunderbolt... The Latest And Fastest Ever Data Interface For PC's Peripheral Devices

As has been reported earlier, the new MacBook Pros launched yesterday sport the newest and the fastest connectivity interface from Intel - Thunderbolt (previously known as Light Peak). Thunderbolt is the next big thing in connectivity boasting of data transfer speeds up to 10 Gbps bi-directional. You can therefore transfer several gigabytes of data within seconds. There is a lot of noise being made by this new technology, so let us have a look at what it really is and what it means to us.

What exactly is Thunderbolt?

Thunderbolt is a new connectivity interface technology developed by Intel, previously known as Light Peak. This is a high speed data interface based on the PCI Express and DisplayPort architectures, which also provides power through a single connection to peripheral devices such as hard drives, video capture devices, RAID arrays, etc. As a result of its direct connection to the PCI Express bus, its throughput is very fast. It is also capable of transmitting HD video using the DisplayPort protocol.

A Thunderbolt port can support a theoretical bi-directional throughput of 10 Gbps per channel, and each port has two channels. The estimated real-world performance of this port is around 8 Gbps, making it several times faster than any of the previous data interfaces including SATA 6 Gbps. The limiting factor here would be the actual device using this interface, which is bound to be slower than what this interface has to offer.

Since Thunderbolt provides 10 watts of power per channel to peripherals, it lets you run many more devices than what has been possible on previous connectivity interfaces. Thunderbolt is reminiscent of Apple's Apple Display Connector (ADC), which could also drive an Apple display through the same cable. It would carry the video, audio and USB signals, although ADC required a special graphics card, while Thunderbolt uses the Mini DisplayPort.

According to its specification, Thunderbolt port supports electrical as well as optical connection. The Thunderbolt port in MacBook Pros launched yesterday supports electrical connectivity and most other manufacturers are also likely to support this type of connectivity due to the cost of optical connectivity being much higher.

How is Thunderbolt better than other interfaces?

The first thing that sets it apart from the rest is that it is several times faster. Since Thunderbolt is able to carry data, video, audio and network data, along with power, this is surely going to be a truly universal standard interface, possibly replacing the USB in the near future.

Will I be able to use existing peripherals with this interface?

It is possible to use existing peripheral devices with this interface using the proper adapter. These adapters will be made available by third party vendors in due time. Please note that the speed of the older peripheral devices will remain limited to the interface present on them even though they connect to this faster interface. These adapters will be able to handle data, video, audio and network data as well.

How many devices can be connected to a Thunderbolt port and does it affect performance of the connected devices?

Up to six devices can be connected to a single Thunderbolt port in a daisy-chain manner, similar to FireWire devices. This requires the devices to support daisy-chaining as well, because each of them is required to have two Thunderbolt ports - one to connect to the previous device and the other to the next.

Connecting multiple devices may not affect the performance of any of them as long as they do not exceed the shared bandwidth available in Thunderbolt, and this is not likely to happen at present, because the peripheral devices are too slow. Also, connecting a legacy peripheral device at the end of the daisy-chain will not affect the performance of the rest of the devices, but connecting such a device in the middle of the chain may adversely affect the performance of the devices in the chain beyond it.

Would it be possible to boot from a Thunderbolt drive?

While this is yet to be confirmed, it is theoretically very much possible. Only real-world tests will confirm whether this is really possible or not.

The Thunderbolt port looks like the Mini DisplayPort on the earlier MacBooks. Is it compatible?

It does appear like a Mini DisplayPort, it is compatible too. Thus, you can connect any Mini DisplayPort enabled display to a Thunderbolt port.

What are the audio and video capabilities?

Since a Thunderbolt is based on PCI Express and DisplayPort technology, it can deal with audio and video in the same way as earlier devices. In fact, it has better capabilities due to its extremely high data throughput capability. It can handle up to 8 channels of audio, while the video resolution depends on what graphics card is being used. For example, on a MacBook, it supports up to 2560x1600 on an external display device, while the desktop Mac supports dual-display mode, supporting two high resolution displays.

Are any Thunderbolt peripherals available in the market?

While prototypes exist and several vendors have announced Thunderbolt-based peripherals, it will take a couple of months for them to actually reach the market and be available for purchase. External RAID array, hard drives, SSDs, etc. are the types of devices that will take advantage of Thunderbolt at the start.

While Thunderbolt is currently available on a few MacBooks, it will eventually come to the PC as well and that is expected to happen sometime next year. As of now, Apple seems to be pushing this new interface just like it was doing with FireWire for several years. Quite possibly, this promising interface may become the connectivity interface of choice on the MacBook and the Mac. Only time will tell. Whether it would become an interface of choice for the PC? There is a very high probability that it will indeed be the case sooner than later.

Source:Techtree

[csmart 472]

Windows PCs with Thunderbolt ports on track for early 2012

By Chris Foresman | Published 6 days ago

Source

2012 may be the year that Thunderbolt finally comes into its own, with a new report suggesting PC vendors will launch products with support for the new high-bandwidth connectivity standard as early as April next year. Apple was that first vendor to support the standard, having worked with Intel to develop the technology, but support among Windows-based computers has so far been nonexistent. Among the companies that could have products ready next spring are Asus, Acer, Sony, and Gigabyte.

Intel has reportedly informed its partners that it will "fully release" Thunderbolt in April 2012, according to DigiTimes, though the company declined to comment when we asked for confirmation. Still, Intel did indicate that its plans do seem to coincide with the cited timeframe.

"Our guidance remains that we expect to see Windows-based systems with Thunderbolt in the first half of 2012," Intel spokesperson Dave Salvatore told Ars.

Gigabyte Technology reportedly plans to have Thunderbolt-equipped motherboards available around that time, while Sony is expected to incorporate the standard in its high-end laptops. Sony's current Vaio Z ultraportable already uses Thunderbolt controllers mated with a modified, optical-equipped USB 3 port; the report suggests Sony may adopt the standard Thunderbolt port, based on the Apple-developed MiniDisplay Port, for future products.

Acer and Asus both announced plans to ship products with Thunderbolt ports beginning next year during the Intel Developers Forum in September. HP, currently the world's largest PC maker, has so far decided to pass on Thunderbolt, despite initially claiming support for the standard in early 2011. Dell, still one on the largest PC vendors despite continually declining sales, hasn't committed to Thunderbolt support, nor has Lenovo or Toshiba.