Well, there’s no new set-top box box per se, but most of those rumored Intel / virtual cable TV details have come true here at CES. Intel just announced a new partnership with Comcast, which will enable Xfinity TV viewers to watch television on Intel-based devices in the home. According to Intel, the collaboration will enable users to tap into Xfinity TV on “IP set-top boxes, Ultrabooks, Intel-based all-in-one PCs, tablets and smartphones, as well as smart TVs in the home.” It’s like Tru2way, but slightly less restrictive. Evidently, the back-end magic is being handled by Intel’s Puma 6MG-bsaed XG5 multi-screen video gateway. In other words, this is Comcast opening up live TV streaming to more than just the HDTV connected to your set-top box, but unfortunately, there’s no mention at all about this working remotely. We’re also getting the impression that Intel’s pitching this kind of scenario to other pay-TV providers, and if we hear of any others hopping onboard, we’ll be sure to let you know.

Update: It appears the box itself is actually being produced by (recent purchaser of Motorola’s set-top box business) Arris. There’s a few more details in Arris’ press release after the break, we’ll be checking it out for ourselves later this week.

Follow all the latest CES 2013 news at our event hub.

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Watching Television on Devices around the Home Made Possible with Intel Technology

Intel collaborates with Comcast to support XFINITY TV viewing on Intel-based devices in the home

NEWS HIGHLIGHTS

Ultrabook™devices, all-in-one PCs, and Intel-based tablets and smartphones suited to stream XFINITY TV.

Intel® Puma™ 6MG-based XG5 Multi-Screen Video Gateway by ARRIS debuts emerging category of new devices.

INTERNATIONAL CONSUMER ELECTRONICS SHOW, Las Vegas, Jan. 7, 2013 – Intel Corporation today announced a TV experience that will enable customers to view live and on-demand television content on Intel-based devices.

Intel is collaborating with Comcast so that customers can enjoy the XFINITY TV experience on IP set-top boxes, Ultrabook™ devices, Intel-based all-in-one PCs, tablets and smartphones as well as smart TVs in the home. This experience is made possible by the Intel® Puma™ 6MG-based XG5 multi-screen video gateway.

“Working closely with service providers like Comcast allows us to bring exciting new entertainment experiences to tablets, phones, all-in-one PCs and Ultrabook devices,” said Alan Crouch, Intel vice president and general manager, PCCG Service Provider Division. “Intel-based multi-screen video gateways in the home from innovative OEMs like ARRIS allow people to watch both live TV and on-demand shows whenever they want on their new Intel-based devices.”

The XG5multi-screen video gateway, which is designed by ARRIS, a leading global communications technology company, allows any screen in the home to access high-quality live and on-demand entertainment. This new category of device provides video, voice and high-speed Internet via MoCA, DECT and Wi-Fi from one device creating a home network for numerous devices and second screens. Multi-screen video gateways are emerging devices that centrally manage pay TV, broadband access to voice as well as new services such as home security and home management.

“Intel has been a great partner as we work to develop a platform that supports an in-home gateway and client architecture,” said Steve Reynolds, senior vice president of Customer Premise Equipment for Comcast. “Intel’s powerful silicon platforms and their support for our RDK software initiative have enabled us to quickly develop a flexible platform for the delivery of our cable video services that will give customers the ability to view them on a wide range of consumer devices in the home.”

Comcast is working with Intel to develop this technology based on upcoming enhancements to the DLNA Premium Content Guidelines to deliver its XFINITY TV experience to Intel-based devices in the home. DLNA is a set of interoperability guidelines that enable the delivery of enhanced content services and secure transport of protected digital content to devices around the home.

The demonstration in Intel’s CES booth (Central Hall, #7252) shows XFINITY TV streaming from the XG5 multi-screen video gateway to an IP set-top box as well as directly to an Ultrabook, an all-in-one PC, an Intel-based tablet, a smartphone and a smart TV.

ARRIS Announces Cable Industry’s First RDK-based Whole Home Network and Entertainment Gateway
ARRIS Gateway Demonstration at Consumer Electronics Show 2013

Showcases New Features and Services for Cable Subscribers

SUWANEE, Ga., Jan. 7, 2013 /PRNewswire/ — ARRIS Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: ARRS) today announced the industry’s first whole home network and entertainment system: the ARRIS Media Gateway MG2402 based on the Reference Design Kit (RDK) from Comcast. Ideal for quad play services, the MG2402 will be demonstrated at Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2013 in the Intel booth #7252 in Las Vegas, January 8-11, 2013. The gateway allows cable operators to offer their subscribers new features and services such as streaming of live linear television to IP connected devices, whole-home DVR, and a remote user interface on an RDK-compliant platform.

The ARRIS Media Gateway 2402 uses Intel® PUMA-6™MG technology features a hybrid video architecture supporting QAM and IP delivered video is capable of bonding up to 24 DOCSIS® downstream channels and providing 8 QAM channels to support traditional MPEG/DVB video delivers nearly 1Gbps broadband service from the network and includes dual band concurrent Wi-Fi that provides consumers with superior in home coverage
supports four concurrent transcodes and DVR capability ensures seamless delivery of broadcast and On Demand video to IP set-top clients through onboard MoCA® 2.0 support
incorporates HD Voice with an integrated DECT base station, and includes Zigbee® support for home automation and security.

“The MG2402 delivers the vision of an open standards, fully converged home, in one simple, easy to manage device,” said Derek Elder , ARRIS SVP & GM, Touchstone CPE. “This announcement represents the continuing evolution of our market-leading Media Gateway vision as we help define the future of the truly connected home.”

“We congratulate ARRIS on the introduction of their new media gateway,” said Steve Reynolds , Senior Vice President, Premises Technology for Comcast. “This device will work with the millions of IP-enabled consumer devices capable of displaying video and will help operators, consumer electronics companies and developers innovate at an even faster pace in today’s rapidly-changing multiscreen TV environment.”

Both machines will have Core i5 processors, 4GB of RAM, eight-hour batteries and Intel integrated graphics, along with the same matte, 300-nit (1366 x 768) display that we loved so much in the Series 5 Chromebook. And though the 13-incher will have a 128GB SSD option, each comes standard with a standard 500GB 5,400RPM drive with 16GB of express cache for faster boot times and application-launching. You may recall this feature from the Series 7 Chronos laptop, except this time around, Sammy doubled the amount of flash memory paired with the HDD.

Another thing the two systems have in common: they’re each denser than the early Ultrabooks we saw, with the 14-inch model coming in at 3.95 pounds, and the 13-incher tipping the scales at 3.5 pounds (a full fifth of a pound heavier than the HP Folio!). At least that girth comes with an unsparing port selection: Ethernet, HDMI, USB 3.0, two USB 2.0 sockets and an SD slot. And that’s just the 13-inch version: its big brother adds an optical drive, VGA output and a larger memory card reader. The pair will be available January 30th, starting at $899 for the 13-inch model and $949 for the 14-inch version. (The 13-inch configuration with the 128GB SSD will ring in at $1,099.) We expect to get our hands on final review units soon enough, but since we’ve already scored a few minutes of hands-on time, we’ve got photos and first impressions for you to peruse right this second.

Samsung Series 5 Ultrabook (13-inch)

Indeed, Samsung’s Series 5 Ultrabooks are a tad plumper than most, and look especially oversized next to the Series 9, that other ultraportable we’ve been describing. But it’s not just Samsung using loose parameters to decide what counts as an Ultrabook. If Intel’s own forecast is correct, half of the 75-plus models that go on sale this year will have 14- or 15-inch screens, and we’ve already seen a sampling of contenders from HP, Acer and Toshiba. The idea, say PC makers, is to lure in a more old-fashioned kind of customer, shoppers who aren’t quite ready to ditch their DVD drive, and who aren’t keen on stepping down to a too-small screen. At the same time, these laptops are thinner and lighter than similarly sized laptops, last longer on a charge and hold the promise of faster performance — three reasons manufacturers can get away with charging more than they would for a plain ‘ol laptop.

In a nutshell, that’s the value proposition behind the 14-inch Series 5, which costs $949 and comes bearing a Core i5 processor, 500GB hybrid hard drive and, of course, a DVD burner. But do the benefits of a bigger Ultrabook outweigh the annoyances? And how does it compare to regular 14-inch laptops that aren’t classified as ultraportables (and that don’t command the Ultrabook tax)? Let’s find out.

14-inch Samsung Series 5 Ultrabook review (NP530U4B-A01U)

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CinemaNow, Intel Give PCs a Front Row Seat to Growing, Secure Library of HD Movie Content

SANTA CLARA, Calif., Oct. 6, 2011 – CinemaNow, Best Buy’s digital entertainment service, and Intel Corporation are giving people the ability to enjoy a larger library of premium high-definition content on their PCs. For the first time, CinemaNow will offer 1080p HD movies for rental and purchase on 2nd generation Intel® Core™ processor-based PCs with Intel® Insider™ technology.

Previously, only standard-definition movies had been available from CinemaNow on the PC. CinemaNow has now added several hundred new releases and popular catalog titles in HD from 20th Century Fox1 and Warner Bros. Digital Distribution for people who have Intel Insider on their desktop, laptop or Ultrabook™. This is in addition to the 15,000 movies and TV episodes CinemaNow already boasts in its regular catalog. HD content offerings from CinemaNow and Intel Insider are expected to grow as more new releases and catalog titles are added weekly.

CinemaNow offers instant access to an extensive library of premium movie and TV content with no subscription required. Through the service, people can easily access video content on a wide range of Internet-connected devices.

Intel Insider technology is a feature of 2nd generation Intel Core processors that opens up a whole world of premium movies and entertainment right from a PC. Previously, much of the 1080p HD content had not been available on the PC due in part to content owner concerns about security. Intel Insider is a hardware-based protection technology that was designed to enhance security features in 2nd generation Intel Core processors, which is the fastest-shipping product in Intel history at over 75 million units shipped to date. With that, Intel Insider is available to an immense user base that continues to increase greatly by the day.

“We’re thrilled to be among the first digital services to give customers the ability to watch full-HD content on the PC via the Intel Insider technology,” said Chris Homeister, senior vice president and general manager for entertainment at Best Buy. “With the new technology, we have further expanded our service, therefore enabling more people to seamlessly enjoy high-definition content on more devices.”

“Our collaboration with CinemaNow has resulted in making the computer an even more compelling platform for enjoying and delivering digital entertainment,” said George Thangadurai, general manager of the PC Client Services Group at Intel. “Intel Insider has opened the doors for premium content on more devices, and we’re looking forward to deploying this technology in next-generation Intel Core processor-based PCs1.”

“The partnership with Intel and Best Buy’s CinemaNow to bring HD digital downloads of our movies to the PC will expand our reach to millions of devices in the U.S. and potentially more around the world,” said Mike Dunn, worldwide president, Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment.

“CinemaNow and Intel are making secure HD content distribution a reality on the personal computer, which is one of the most adaptable devices in the world,” said Thomas Gewecke, president of Warner Bros. Digital Distribution. “We’re delighted that consumers will be able to enjoy our latest movie releases on their PCs.”

Remember that ASUS Zenbook Prime Ultrabook we previewed last week? Yeah, it’s outdated already, and you have none other than ASUS to thank. In addition to all the Ultrabooks and tablets the company announced later this week, it’s also showing off a touch-enabled version of the 11-inch UX21A we tested out. What can we say? The form factor makes sense, given that Windows 8 is on the way and Microsoft is the star of this year’s Computex. Other than that touchscreen, though, you won’t notice any differences in the hardware: it’s the same industrial design and backlit keyboard that you know and covet. And while the show floor is littered with touchscreen laptops, we will say that it’s an especially welcome addition here, since the Zenbook Primes are already endowed with some of the best displays on the market: IPS quality with 1080p resolution. Touch just makes it better — so long as you can live with the fingerprints. No word on when (or if!) this will be available, or whether we’ll see a 13-inch version. Considering this was built with Windows 8 in mind, though, we’d wager it’ll be a few months yet before we get clarification on all that.

Update: An ASUS rep confirmed these touchscreen Zenbook Primes will be coming to the US, and there will be a 13-inch option too.

ASUS Zenbook Prime UX21A with a touchscreen (hands-on)

Not to be left out of the Computex party, RunCore has just unveiled a 7mm-thick Pro VI solid-state drive to give new Ultrabooks a swift kick. The company is aiming squarely at the sunnier side of mid-range SSDs through a speedy JMicron controller that hits 550MB/s in reads, and a less aggressive but still brisk 380MB/s for writes. The SATA 6Gbps drive doesn’t have any special tricks up its sleeves, but there’s no doubt that it fits just about any ultrabook category: capacities swing from a very modest 32GB to a 512GB drive meant to take over from ho-hum spinning disks. While RunCore’s customer list isn’t public material, we wouldn’t be surprised if a lot of extra-thin notebooks wending their way out of southeast Asia this year carry the Pro VI inside.

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RunCore debuts new 2.5in 7mm SSD at Computex 2012

(Changsha, China – June, 2012) – RunCore, the leading manufacturer of high-performance and rugged solid state drives (SSDs), today introduced its new Pro VI 2.5in 7mm SSD for Ultrabooks, offers a higher and more stable performance than Pro V 2.5′s 7mm SSD.

By some observations from multiple authoritative research institutions, it believes that more than a million Ultrabooks will be bought this year because the price of them are expected to drop into the $799 to $899 range. Recently SSD price declining encourages PC suppliers to use SSDs in their products and the development of Ultrabooks. In addition to the Pro V Ultra SSD, RunCore once again introduce another new 7mm SSD – Pro VI 2.5in 7mm SSD – to enrich its product lineup for Ultrabooks.

RunCore Pro VI 2.5in 7mm SSD is a JMicron-based SSD. The drive uses the latest serial ATA (SATA) 6Gbps interface protocol, with Synch NAND and 32MB cache it offers over 550MB/s read and 380MB/s write data transfer rate, featuring an extreme read and write IOPS up to 80000 and 60000 respectively. Comparing it to the previous series 7mm drive, it has a 32MB cache, with excellent ECC and Wear-leveling Algorithm Technology, it delivers a more balanced performance, capacity range from 32GB to 512 GB, can be added to Ultrabooks, workstations and desktops to provide balanced and superb performance.

Even when we previewed the Slider we weren’t keen on sacrificing that much deck space in the name of bold industrial design and here, too, the keys feel unnecessarily crowded. The good news is that the hinge mechanism feels smooth and controlled — not too tight, but rigid enough to inspire confidence in its build quality. That 13.3-inch screen also looks bright enough, though we imagine that 1280 x 800 resolution will be a turn-off for more than a few of you. Unfortunately, the M930 is so early its development that the touchscreen wasn’t even working, though it responds just fine to the pen, which stows in the back of the laptop. No word on pricing or availability (Toshiba isn’t even showing it at its booth), but even if this thing never materializes we’ve got some hands-on photos and video below.

Mat Smith contributed to this report

Toshiba Portege M930 prototype hands-on

The PC industry might have 100-some-odd Ultrabooks up its sleeve, but fortunately for restless tech reviewers like yours truly, they’re not all cast from the same mold. As the year wears on, we’ll see prices dip as low as $700, and a few will be offered with discrete graphics — a nice respite from games handicapped at 30 fps. And, in some rare cases, you’ll find machines that manage to achieve both. Enter the Acer Aspire Timeline Ultra M5 series, a pair of 14- and 15-inch laptops that start at $680, and, for an added premium, can be had with NVIDIA Kepler graphics. What’s more, the 14-inch model we tested has a DVD burner, making it as much a full-fledged laptop as an Intel-approved Ultrabook. Accordingly, then, we’ll be comparing it not just to other low-priced ultraportables, but to some budget mainstream notebooks on offer this back-to-school season. So how does it stack up? Let’s see.

Acer Aspire Timeline Ultra M5 review (14-inch)

When Intel first unveiled its grand plans for Ultrabooks at last year’s Computex, many of the fireworks were consciously reserved for Ivy Bridge-based variants in 2012 — well, they’re here. This year’s show in Taipei will show off the third generation of the skinny, MacBook Air-inspired platform, and Intel is toughening up the design requirements in the process. The thickness requirements are the same as last year, at 18mm for systems with screens under 14 inches and 21mm for bigger machines, but high-speed ports are now mandatory to get that coveted “Ultrabook” label and the full marketing weight of Intel’s $300 million Ultrabook Fund: if a PC doesn’t have either USB 3.0 or Thunderbolt, it’s out of the running. Intel also wants security built-in, rather than optional, as well as guarantees that a system is quick and responsive when it’s fully awake. Not that this would be terribly hard with the low-voltage Ivy Bridge processors launching at the same time, mind you.

Just to reinforce the importance of it all, Intel is noting that the flood of Ultrabooks is about to pick up in a big way as the category hits the mainstream. We were promised 75 Ivy Bridge Ultrabooks this year in a presentation back at CES; that number’s now up to 110, 30 of which will be Windows 8-friendly touchscreen models and another 10 opting for the convertible tablet route. At least some of those lightweight portables should pop up at Computex next week, and you can be sure we’ll be investigating as many of them as we can to see just how well Intel’s partners have advanced the game.

A Windows 8 PC that can be used in a tablet mode? Those will come a dime a dozen this fall. But what’s fascinating is how each PC maker has approached the challenge of mixing a touchscreen with a more traditional mouse-and-keyboard setup. For some OEMs, this means going the hybrid route, with 10- or 11-inch tablets that slot neatly into an optional keyboard dock. For others, it means a full-fledged PC with a slide-out touchscreen. And for a few, it means a laptop whose screen can fold down, leaving you with what can only be described as an oversized slate.

That’s how we would describe the Dell XPS 12, a 12.5-inch notebook whose screen flips inside its hinge, allowing you to use the machine in tablet mode or, if you prefer, with the screen facing away from the keys. (Yes, Dell is giving this form factor a second try.) It starts at a relatively steep $1,200 but then again, this is a fairly premium machine we’re talking about: it combines all the ingredients of an Ultrabook (lightweight build, Ivy Bridge processor and a solid-state drive) with a 400-nit, 1080p, Gorilla Glass touchscreen. So what’s it like to use this form factor? And how does it fare as a regular ol’ Windows 8 PC? Let’s see.

Dell XPS 12