The Samsung Series 9 Ultrabook is out for sale! Makes Top Ultrabook Even Better!!

The Samsung Series 9 Ultrabook is out for sale! Makes Top Ultrabook Even Better!!

The Samsung Series 9 Ultrabook is a great example of an Ultrabook laptop — extremely thin, good performance and very sleek — but it’s been surpassed by other machines (such as the Microsoft Surface Pro) that boast full HD screens.

Now the Series 9 is catching up.

Samsung is upgrading the Series 9′s 13.3-inch screen to 1080p resolution (1,920 x 1,080), up from 1,600 x 900. With the extra pixels, users will be able to see more detail in photos, and HD videos will render at full resolution.

But, There is One catch: The Series 9 still doesn’t support touch, which will be more than a little disappointing for Windows 8 users.

Touch was likely omitted because it would require rethinking the best thing about the Series 9: its thin design. The form factor is still a remarkable 0.51 inch thick (the MacBook Air is 0.68 inch), and it weighs just 2.56 pounds.

The laptop ships with Windows 8 Pro, and it’s powered by an Intel Core i7 processor (up from i5) and 4GB of RAM (though you can add more when you buy it). Storage goes up to 256GB of solid-state memory. Battery life is rated at 8 hours.

The old Series 9 Ultrabook last year were suitably impressed that Samsung packed such a well-performing laptop into an lightweight design. With the better processor and increased resolution, the new Series 9 now more in line with today’s top ultra-thin designs.

The new Series 9 certainly has the price to match that status: $1,899.99 (for 4GB of RAM and 256GB of storage).

Whether or not that’s worth it depends on how much you value mobility, and whether or not you can live without touch for the next couple of years.

In addition to upgrading the Series 9, Samsung is also adding the option of 4G LTE capability to its ATIV Smart PC Pro 700T, its hybrid model that “transforms” from PC to tablet by removing the keyboard. That model starts at $1,599.99.

Samsung takes on Apple's iPhone 5 as Galaxy Tab 10.1 ban scrapped

Samsung takes on Apple's iPhone 5 as Galaxy Tab 10.1 ban scrapped

Samsung has launched legal action against Apple's iPhone 5 in the US, and has also succeeded in getting a temporary ban against its Galaxy Tab 10.1 Android tablet lifted.

The moves mark the latest chapter in the long-running global battle between the two companies, which saw Apple win more than $1bn in compensation from the Korean manufacturer in August.

In that verdict, the jury found Samsung was infringing on Apple's intellectual property in its Android smartphones but not its tablets. Judge Lucy Koh had previously granted Apple a preliminary injunction against the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, and late on Monday — with Samsung pointing out that more than a month had passed since the verdict — she agreed to scrap that ban.

However, that was a relatively small event compared to Samsung taking on the iPhone 5, Apple's flagship iOS device as of September.

In a filing made on Monday, Samsung's lawyers added the iPhone 5 to a previous filing they had submitted in June. They said the alleged infringements were the same in the iPhone 5 as in previous iterations of the smartphone, and they had clearly been unable to include it in the original suit as it had not yet been launched at the time.

According to Samsung, Apple's iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch all infringe on two mobile broadband standards patents and/or six feature patents held by the Korean company.

The company has also claimed that the iPhone 5's 4G/LTE functionality infringes on its patents, but has not yet sued over those patents.

The US patents involved in this suit are:

No. 7,756,087: Method and apparatus for performing non-scheduled transmission in a mobile communication system for supporting an enhanced uplink data channel
No. 7,551,596: Method and apparatus for signaling control information of uplink packet data service in mobile communication system
No. 7,672,470: Audio/video device having a volume control function for an external audio reproduction unit by using volume control buttons of a remote controller and volume control method therefor
No. 7,577,757: Multimedia synchronisation method and device
No. 7,232,058: Data displaying apparatus and method
No. 6,292,179: Software keyboard system using trace of stylus on a touch screen and method for recognising key code using the same
No. 6,226,449: Apparatus for recording and reproducing digital image and speech
No. 5,579,239: Remote video transmission system