Dell unveils its first Ultrabook, the XPS 13

Dell revealed its first Ultrabook, taking to the stage during Intel’s keynote at CES to unveil the XPS 13.

It will feature an Intel Core i5 or i7 processor and offer close to nine hours of battery life, said Dell’s vice chairman for global operations Jeff Clarke.

Constructed from machined aluminium and carbon fibre, it will weigh 3lb (around 1.36kg) and is 6mm at its thinnest.

It features a 13.3in Gorilla Glass display, which Dell confusingly claims fits into the footprint of an 11in notebook.

Clarke said it would be location aware and feature always on connectivity and near-instant start up. “The same experience you have with a smartphone is the same experience you’ll have with an XPS 13,” he said.

He added it was designed to be enterprise ready, with support for BitLocker data encruption, Dell professional support, and configuration services to make it easier to deploy across businesses.

The device is set to arrive in February for $999. UK pricing or a release date wasn’t immediately available.

Intel used CEO Paul Otellini’s keynote to continued to push Ultrabooks, showing off devices running its 22nm Ivy Bridge chips, including a convertible laptop that featured three positions: full laptop, upright media viewing device, and tablet.