ASUS prepping Kinect-enabled laptops

Word is going around that Microsoft's Kinect technology is heading to laptops. The Daily reports ASUS has created Kinect-enabled notebooks:

The Daily had a chance to check out a pair of prototypes incorporating Kinect sensors over the last few days. The devices, which at first glance appear to be Asus netbooks running Windows 8, feature an array of small sensors stretching over the top of the screen where the webcam would normally be. At the bottom of the display is a set of what appear to be LEDs.

A source at Microsoft has confirmed that the devices are indeed official prototypes of laptops featuring a Kinect sensor. In terms of functionality, there are hundreds of different ways that motion control could be leveraged in a portable. Gaming has the most obvious applications, but a Kinect-enabled laptop could also toggle between programs with the wave of a hand, or media controls could be tweaked with the wag of a finger. What�s more, motion-controlled portables could offer a new way for disabled individuals to interact with their devices.

ASUS prepping Kinect-enabled laptops - More news at DV Hardware

Texas Instruments aims to get into ultrathin laptops

FUD Zilla reports TI aims to get its OMAP processors into tablets and ultrathin laptops:

When it comes to Texas Instruments, OMAP 4 can run Windows 8, this has been demonstrated at CES 2011 and there is absolutely no question that OMAP 5 with 2+2 processor cores will do it even faster. OMAP 4 4430 is 45nm chip that runs at 1.0GHz. The soon to ship, OMAP 4460 works at 2x1.5GHz and it is rumoured it will appear in the Google Nexus. However OMAP 4470, the latest part to start sampling, works at two times 1.8GHz, again at 45nm, not at 40nm some other competitors chase.

OMAP 4 4470 should launch and ship in devices in first half of 2012, well before Windows 8 comes to market. OMAP 5 on the other hand is a 28nm chip that can run at up to 2GHz, which should be enough for some nice computing on Windows 8. For example, Sapphire�s Edge HD2 runs Windows 8 developers preview just fine and this nettop is based on Atom D525 dual core at 1.8GHz. Of course, we are talking about different architectures, but we believe upcoming ARM parts will have no trouble with Windows 8.

Texas Instruments aims to get into ultrathin laptops - More news at DV Hardware