Olidata Conte ultraportable makes its shiny debut
By Donald Melanson 
posted Jan 12th 2009 3:44PM
posted Jan 12th 2009 3:44PM
It doesn't look like this one was actually on display at CES, but Italy's Olidata does seem to have taken the opportunity to announce its shiny new Conte ultraportable, which takes square aim at the growing ranks of 13.3-inch ultra-thin laptops out there. From the looks of it, this one will be available in two different versions: one with a 16:10, 1280x800 display, and one with a 16:9, 1366x768 display, each of which will come equipped with a small form factor Core 2 Duo processor, optional built-in 3G or WiMAX, and a promised battery life of more than four hours (or seven with an extended battery). The 16:10 model will also add a few bonuses like Intel Turbo Memory, a fingerprint reader, a backlit keyboard, and 3GB of RAM as standard. Sadly, there's no indication of a release' round these parts just yet, but both models will supposedly be hitting Europe in May for "less than €1,000" (or somewhere under $1,300).
[Thanks, Faber]
[Thanks, Faber]
Looks nothing like the new MacBook?
Yeah, and people say Apple isn't the trend setter anymore. If I was the CEO of a laptop company I'd be a little embarrassed to be copying Apple so blatantly.
I just don't get what these companies are thinking. Why does every ultrathin laptop that comes out have to be 13.3", positioning itself squarely against the Air? Is every other manufacturer just that uncreative that they have to copy everything down to the smallest spec? Why not try making an ultrathin 15"? I'm sure there's a market for a 15" laptop that's thinner than all others, but it seems like nobody wants to touch it until Apple does.
Maybe they are just showing Apple how Copy-Paste works :)
Its not copying. They don't have a glass trackpad, DUH!!!!
@ Maneki Neko:
Oh dear lord! You fanbois are gonna start claiming that Apple pioneered the 13.3" form factor now? Dear god, when will nonsense end??
Looks familiar...
[obligatory macbook comparison]
1. More and better features than Apple Air.
2. Cheaper than Apple Air.
The "Apple Air" is the only Mac laptop this DOESN'T look like aside from the plastic MacBook.
Totally looks like a MBP, because, you know, apple totally invented metallic cases...
Yes, and they also invented the touchscreen, glossy screen and the color white.
And glass, and boxes, and multitouch, and the DAP, and video, and webcams, and all in one PCs...
And the smartphone, I must add.
oh oh oh and the mp3-playe....
wait a second...never mind
Steve Jobs is god, so I can't argue much about him and his fellowship inventing everything.
Have a doubt? Ask any Apple fan.
The metallic case isn't the part that looks similar, it's the black gloss bezel that is flush with the LCD.
@Saad: You don't have to ask his rabid fans. Just check with the USPTO. Stevo is listed as an Inventor on tons of their patents, thus proving that greatness and apple-yness just spews forth from his gaunt head.
So you seriously don't see any type of similarity? I mean the black background in the display bezel as well as metallic overall casing is pretty similar to one specific company's notebook line at the moment. You can hate/love Apple products, but this thing is most definitely a copy.
But hey - at least it's an attractive and well-made looking copy (which is pretty rare).
@Saad:
Or you could just ask...Engadget.
Wow for that price a true MacBook alternative. Same led backlit, same cpu, 1gb more ram and 3g/wimax. Actually this would make a lovely hackintosh :D.
I don't know why do they leave such a margin around the keyboard? Make it looks like mac doesn't nessesarily give it a charming looking. I want something I don't need to strech out my arm to reach the keyboard and the touchpad need to pubs somewhere more convenient to use. Sony kept some good qualities on this.
Why do people not embrace competition, even if your a mac fanboy, which clearly a lot of you are. Competition is a good thing, even if it just means apple come back with something even better.
lol. i'm beginning to see the concept it's the if it ain't made by apple then it ain't original. even if apple copies other companie's design to make it their own it's original. all hail apple, everything apple is an original...
YOU'RE
One thing I've noticed after all the shiny new stuff from CES is how much Apple is gonna have to change their looks to avoid blending in.
And how mucj catch-up game they will need to do. Apple-hating aside, the number of macbooks killers, the upcoming DAPs and UMPs, good price/looking desktop and notebooks and the pre simply made all the lastest Apple stuff look OLD.
Yep
Not old, just common.
If it looks old, you must be implying all other computers that look like them, which, according to you is most at the CES, most old laptops look old, yet they are all new....
Because THAT make sense.
Steven is right, common is correct...
What Apple fanboys never grasp is Apple don't design their cool keyboards and glass fronted displays.
Qualcom/Foxconn designers say "we have a new flush style keyboard that can be built to your price target"
Apple say "cool but make it white with our font"
Job done !
It's the manufacturers that come up with the process that allows them to add glass fronted laptop screens for an affordable cost It's just up to the Apple/Sony/HP exec how they want the gross price to be.
Notice you've never heard Steve harping on about patenting any of these "innovations"
The sheer amount of buzz about Apple's new manufacturing process using a single block of aluminium was ridiculous when CNC machining has existed for many years, it's just that no-one used it on laptops because it was very expensive.
The real reason most geeks find Apple fanboys scary is because they seem so uninformed and programmed by Apple's ads and publicity, and i say that as an owner of several macs.
Blind faith is incredible stupidity.
Apple designs the products, Foxconn manufactures them. To say anything otherwise would be absolutely incorrect. You must have missed the iPhone keynotes, where Steve harped about his patents.
You fool. Apple didn't claim to invent CNC milling. Johny Ive even USED THE PHRASE "CNC milling" during the special notebook keynote where they introduced the Unibody MB and MBPs.
Apple does do a lot of industrial design research into materials and finishing techniques. Of course other companies build their products and components. Why go reinventing the drudgey parts of mass manufacturing when Foxconn owns a small city's worth of chinese laborers who will hack out parts for 12 cents a day? Apple used to build their own factory's, and Steve J did that with Next as well, but the costs were just outrageous and you can't stay competitive that way.
There is original engineering, there is collaboration with other company's engineers, theirs design work, and it all comes together to make Apple products. Hell, Paul Otellini bragged in the ~06 keynote that they had over 1000 intel engineers helping with the Mac > Intel transition. I'll bet Steve sweet talked Paul into doing all the heavy lifting of 'making it work'.
If it was so easy and all farmed out engineering, you would see other people doing it, but you don't. You get these garish look-a-likes that are not as refined, you get the Zune, and these products have nowhere near the same design and polish of an Apple product.
not many apple fans has said that apple invented the manufacturing process of making the casing with a single block of aluminum. but not making its own material science breakthrough doesn't mean apple's not innovative. bill gates didn't invent the os with graphical user interface, but he realised the notion of software which every human being on the earth now know exactly what that is. the innovation of apple comes in the sense of putting them all together and making a state-of-the-art computer. that's what apple is. apple does certain innovations such as the mini-displayport, introducing multi-touch on a touch smartphone and etc, but c'mon after all it's a consumer electronics designer and manufacturer, not a science lab that develops new material, new sensors that can win you a nobel price.
Is it just me, or does the keyboard look like a typewriter?
It looks like one to me as well.
What's a typewriter??
@a-man:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Typewriter
I don't care how pretty (or how equiped) an Olidata is; is a fact that i'll never get one. I don't know how they are in other places, but in Chile (southamerica) they all suck badly. Problems with temperature, noise, and even electrical issues.
I don't care if that is copied from Apple, that design is PRETTY!!
that keyboard looks way too small. My HP DV has less of a border around the keyboard
Would buy just to piss off Apple fans.
Just how thin is the glass in that laptop's lid?
Terry Thomas
President
PC Tech
Atlanta, Georgia USA
Hi Terry it's 0,5 mm
It is not glass it's a special type of polycarbonate.
You know the "blueberry" made me laugh.. but when a company copies and is serious about it that's just not cool.
Sorry James, we didn't copy MACAIR for a simple reason. When we started the project MacAir was not on the market. Of course Olidata is not so big as Apple and so we needed more than one year to be ready with the final product. The time needed by a Multinational to develope a new notebook and to be in mass production is normally 8 months... we needed 14.
At the end what we are trying to do with this new ULEADER Design products (Conte is just the first) is to bring innovation affordable to anyone. You will see during 2009 and 2010 the incredible projects we are developing...hoping Apple will not come before... ;-)