Asus used a relatively low-key press event in Taipei to introduce the world to a pair of new Zenbook models built around Intel’s recently launched Ivy Bridge platform. The first of the two Ultrabooks is the Zenbook UX32A , an $800 machine with integrated graphics. For $300 more, the UX32Vd ups the pixel pushing ante with a GeForce GT 620M GPU with 1GB of onboard memory.

According to Netbooknews.com, which attended the event and snapped a handful of photos, both the $800 UX32A and $1,100 UX32Vd are 13.3-inch Ultrabooks with a handful of premium upgrade options, such as a Full HD 1080p IPS (In-Plane Switching) display, Intel WiDi technology, and dedicated SSD options rather than the stock 500GB hard drive + 24GB SSD cache.

Both models come equipped with either 2GB or 4GB of RAM. According to DigiTimes, the UX32Vd rocks an Intel Core i5 3317U processor, which likely serves as the foundation of the UX32A as well.

Image Credit: Asus

Today we are looking at two of the latest graphics cards from HIS, the confusingly named HD7870 IceQ Turbo and the IceQ X Turbo X. Both of these cards feature custom cooling solutions and are supplied in a pre-overclocked state. We have been impressed with the IceQ coolers in the past, especially in regards to low noise levels, so we have hopes that these cards will prove a tempting solution for the discerning enthusiast gamer.

HIS have some of the most dramatically designed coolers on the market. While companies such as XFX and MSI opt for distinguished metallic coolers, HIS have designed their ICE-Q coolers in the past with bright plastic aqua blue and transparent colour schemes. The appearance will certainly split opinion, however technically they are actually in the top 10% of cooling solutions on the market.

Above, the HIS HD7870 ICEQ Turbo and ICEQ X Turbo X. No longer have they bright blue semi see-through coolers. Good move, we say.

The HIS HD7870 ICEQ Turbo and ICEQ X Turbo X are both shipped with a 100mhz core clock increase from 1,000mhz to 1,100mhz. The ICEQ X GDDR5 memory also receives a boost, from 1,200mhz (4.8Gbps) to 1,250mhz (5.0Gbps).

Products like Coca Cola are so ubiquitous that most of us are surprised to enter a shop that sells any kind of food or drink and find out that they have no Coke. In fact, many restaurants will apologise before saying, “But we have Pepsi”. At the same time, how many of us have ever met a Coca Cola employee?  Looks like someone at AMD has spotted the benefit of the extended family. Tecnobitsprepares to marry its own grandmother.

Reading a story about a job cut at AMD is like seeing a news article about petrol prices or the pitiful lack of growth in the Western economy. While it may be true and there may be an article in there, it’s part of such an overall pattern that it’s hard to pick out the single item of note.

Imagine our surprise when we discovered that AMD is focusing budget on recruiting an extended sales force. There will be 3 divisions for the new league and, presumably, the opportunity for promotion and demotion as partners vie to move up from ‘Select’ to ‘Premier’ to ‘Elite’.

While Fusion processors may be a thing of the past, the name itself must have sounded cool enough to the Austin powers that be. It’s now the name of the all-encompassing, triple-layer cake called the Fusion Partner Programme. Alongside education and networking, arguably the most important/interesting part for channel players who want to offer genuine choice to their customers, will be that the Premier and Elite partners get funded.

Premier partners will get something called ‘marketing funding’, while those who qualify for membership of the Elite echelon will be suckling at the sweet teat of ‘financial accelerators’. We have no idea what they are, but we’re compelled to do at least a little lip licking.

If AMD's re-vamped channel programme can excite smaller resellers as much as this young lady, then it would certainly create a cost effective sales force. What remains to be seen is just how strongly the programme will be funded. If you value choice, hope high.

Comment below or in the Tecnobitsforums.

Mozilla isn’t mincing words when it comes to Microsoft’s decision to limit or restrict the behavior of non-Internet Explorer browsers in Windows RT, the version of Windows 8 intended for systems with ARM hardware inside. In a semi-angry blog post, Mozilla raged against reports that Internet Explorer will be the only browser allowed to run in the privileged ‘Windows Classic’ environment, calling the move “an unwelcome return to the digital dark ages where users and developers didn’t have browser choices.” Ouch.

“It’s reported that Windows RT (the name Microsoft has given to Windows running on the ARM processor) will have two environments, a Windows Classic environment and a Metro environment for apps. However, Windows on ARM prohibits any browser except for Internet Explorer from running in the privileged ‘Windows Classic’ environment,” Mozilla explains. “In practice, this means that only Internet Explorer will be able to perform many of the advanced computing functions vital to modern browsers in terms of speed, stability, and security to which users have grown accustomed. Given that IE can run in Windows on ARM, there is no technical reason to conclude other browsers can’t do the same.”

The way Mozilla sees it, Microsoft’s strong-arm behavior effectively excludes competing browsers from the platform, giving users just a single viable browser choice when running Windows in an ARM environment. If the reports are true and Microsoft doesn’t reverse course, it could find itself defending its decision in court.

“Because Windows on ARM relies upon so many traditional Windows assets, including brand, code, footprint, and experience, the decision to exclude other browsers may also have antitrust implications,” Mozilla said. “If Windows on ARM is simply another version of Windows on new hardware, it also runs afoul of the EC browser choice commitments and seems to represent the very behavior the DOJ-Microsoft settlement sought to prohibit.”

Mozilla didn’t come out and say it would be the one filing suit, or urging for an investigation, but if nothing changes between now and the time Windows 8 is released, it’s a pretty safe bet Microsoft will have some explaining to do.

In between ringing the warning bells about cyberspace boogeymen and rolling out refreshes to the Pavilion lineup, HP also took the time to answer a question we all knew was coming someday: when is an Ultrabook not an Ultrabook? The answer: when it’s a so-called thin-and-light Sleekbook. Two new HP Envy notebooks carry the new name, which skirt the restrictions associated with the Intel-owned Ultrabook brand.

A key distinction for Ultrabooks, of course, is that they have to be powered by Intel’s Core processors. One of the two Envy Sleekbooks — a 14-inch, $700 laptop — in fact runs on Ivy Bridge, but the second model — a 15.6-inch, $600 laptop — sports an AMD APU, something that could never occur in an Ultrabook proper.

The two Envy Sleekbooks also point out the price-based competitiveness of AMD’s processors. The APU-powered Envy sports a bigger screen and “discrete-class graphics” while costing $100 less than the smaller Intel-powered Envy, which HP offers with “optional discrete graphics” that will only add to the price tag.

The Intel model should be available today, while the AMD variant won’t be shipping until around June 20th. Why could that be? *Cough* Trinity *Cough* A couple of actual Ultrabooks were announced, too.

So whaddaya think: if HP and other manufacturers can whip together thin and long-lasting Ultrabook-like notebooks running on AMD processors, then simply call the doppelgangers by a slightly different name, does “Ultrabook” (with its very loose spec guidelines) even carry much value as a brand? The AMD Sleekbook is virtually identical to an AMD Ultrabook, after all, aside from the CPU at its heart.