Ultra-thin laptops set to dazzle CES gadget fair

Ultra-thin laptops will take center-stage alongside new software and smartphones at the annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES), a gadget extravaganza that officially opens on Tuesday in Las Vegas.

Ultra-thin laptops will take center-stage alongside new software and smartphones at the annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES), a gadget extravaganza that officially opens on Tuesday in Las Vegas.

The more than 2,700 exhibitors filling an excess of 1.8 million square feet - approximately 33 US football fields - will range from car, computer and chip makers to technology startups and iPhone accessory sellers.

Attendance at the four-day show was expected to be on par with the 149,000 people who showed up last year to see what sexy gizmos will vie for consumers' hearts and cash in the months ahead.

'With some 20,000 new products, CES really is the place to be to get the industry together, take stock of what is coming and get business done,' said Tara Dunion of the Consumer Electronics Association, which organizes CES.

While tablet computers aspiring to unseat Apple's market-ruling iPads were the rage at last year's CES, slim yet powerful laptop computers referred to as 'ultrabooks' are expected to crowd the spotlight next week.

CES organizers on Thursday predicted that 30 to 40 new ultrabook laptops would debut at the show.

China-based computer titan Lenovo on Thursday announced that a ThinkPad X1 Hybrid laptop - boasting as much as 10 hours of battery life - as well as the company's first business ultrabook, will debut at the show.

'The ThinkPad X1 Hybrid and T430u ultrabook represent the next generation in thin and light computing,' said Lenovo ThinkPad's Dilip Bhatia.

'These new crossover laptops fundamentally change the way people think about mobile computing technology.'

Forrester analyst Sarah Rothman Epps heralded the arrival of an ultrabook 'sexy PC revolution.'