New Windows 8 PCs use touchscreens, hybrid designs and Haswell to capture attention

If the Windows PC market is in big trouble, someone forgot to tell Lenovo and Samsung. Late last week, within 24 hours of each other, the two Asian tech giants unveiled broad, new product lines. Following recent announcements from other major players, a critical mass of next-generation Windows 8 machines is now coming down the pike.

But it’s not the quantity that’s most impressive—it’s the diversity: The arrivals cover every shape and form of portable PC, with touchscreens galore, and even some daring dual-boot systems. If the PC market is dying, vendors are responding not with resignation, but with innovation. And there are some good reasons this is happening, which you'll see as we take a peek at some of these beauties.

New chips, new operating system, new hope

Crawford del Prete, chief research officer at IDC, says the Lenovo and Samsung announcements show how fundamentals are coming together for the PC market. “Haswell should significantly improve battery performance," del Prete says.

Haswell is the code name for Intel’s fourth-generation Core processor, and it's finally starting to show up in new systems after months of hype and buildup. Early tests of the Haswell-powered Macbook Air indicate that the chips do, indeed, deliver on their promise of maintaining great CPU performance along with much longer battery life. Haswell also brings with it a new Ultrabook spec for PCs that calls for thinner, touchscreen-equipped machines that will play better with Windows 8.

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Source: http://www.pcworld.com/article/2042726/new-windows-8-pcs-use-touchscreens-hybrid-designs-and-haswell-to-capture-attention.html#tk.rss_laptopcomputers

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