Samsung Unveils X360: Takes Aim At MacBook Air

Samsung has today unveiled their X360 (no xbox relation) notebook which it hopes will outdo Apple's MacBook Air. The impressive offering was presented at the IFA consumer-electronics fair in Berlin and will feature Sammy's next-gen 128GB SSD, finger-print scanner for security, 7-in-1 card reader and silver-nano particles on the keyboard to resist bacteria.

The new lappie is based on Intel's Centrino 2 chipset and will come with one to four gigs of memory. It has a 13.3-inch, 1280x800 widescreen display but sadly, like the Air, this slim design doesn't accommodate an optical drive. Ports include 3 USB, HDMI, VGA, Gigabit Ethernet and ExpressCard 34.

Naturally, it will include such modern necessities such as Bluetooth 2.0+, WiFi and a 1.3 megapixel camera. The battery is rated at up to 10 hours, but that is not based on real world performance. The X360 will ship with Windows Vista, I'm sure to the annoyance of many.

Samsung's dig at Apple is none too subtle in their 'Lighter Than Air' Slogan, but to be fair, the claim is partly accurate. The X360's weight manages to under-cut the Air by around 3 ounces. It can't compete on thickness, however, with the thinnest part measuring 16.7mm all the way up to 30.9mm at the back.

The X360 should be shipped around Europe sometime in October with prices starting at £1150 ($2300).






Sources:

Register Hardware and TechRadar