CES 2012: HP announces ENVY 14 Spectre Ultrabook

HP teased us a few days back with what we assumed was a new Ultrabook and as it turns out, our assumptions were correct. HP has announced their latest premium Ultrabook, the ENVY 14 Spectre. They’ve managed to squeeze in a 14-inch screen into the chassis of a 13.3-inch notebook, so it’s still small, you get more screen space. Also, the glass used to protect the panel is scratch resistant, which is most probably borrowed from Corning, although HP doesn’t specify that.

Where’s the originality?

Up front, with the lid open, it does look very MacBook Pro’ish, but then again, when you use an aluminium body and a borderless screen design, you can’t help but not look like an Apple rip-off. The backlit chiclet keyboard uses some sort of a proximity sensor as the keys only light up when you’re near it. HP will continue to bundle Beats Audio speakers and thanks to the SSD, the ENVY 14 Spectre is supposed to deliver a 9-hr battery life. Powering the notebook are Intel Core series processors from their ULV range.

More from News & Analysis

What is the US HIRE Bill and why is India’s $250-billion IT sector worried? Is the internet dead? What's this theory that OpenAI's Sam Altman says might be true?

Definitely, a looker

HP seems to be positioning this as a premium Ultrabook, so if you were holding out a cheaper one, we doubt the ENVY 14 Spectre is the one you’re looking for. As always, this is merely an announcement, so you’ll have to wait a bit longer for the pricing and availability details to emerge.