HP's First Ultrabook is the HP Folio 13, for Business

HP has announced its first ultrabook for the business sector.

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Wednesday HP revealed its very first ultrabook, the HP Folio 13. Designed for the business sector, the company's new entry will arrive on December 7 with a starting price of $899.99 USD. It will feature the latest Intel Core processors, Intel Rapid Start Technology, USB 3.0 and an embedded TPM Embedded Security Chip to protect data sent via email and stored on the zippy solid state drive.

"This category of product breaks new ground and will be a likely choice for businesses to offer to employees looking for a more consumer-centric experience," said Crawford Del Prete, executive vice president, Worldwide Research Products, and chief research officer, IDC. "We expect Ultrabooks will re-ignite interest in the small form factor PC category, and by 2015 expect 95 million Ultrabooks will be shipping worldwide annually."

According to HP, the ultrabook's battery life promises up to 9 hours -- the highest performance available among Ultrabook devices currently on the market, the company claims. It also measures just 0.71-inches thin, weighs around 3.3 pounds, and sports a 13.3-inch HD BrightView display. There's even a backlit keyboard for mobile users who work in low-light conditions.

"The HP Folio 13 features HP CoolSense technology, which uses advanced hardware and intelligent software for a noticeably cooler notebook," the company said on Wednesday. "The notebook also includes an HP ImagePad for highly accurate, advanced multitouch gesture support."

As for other features, the new ultrabook offers 128 GB of storage via the SSD, an HP TrueVision HD Webcam, Dolby Advanced Audio, a metal chassis and a "full array of ports, including RJ-45 and USB 3.0." The HP Folio 13 can also be configured with a range of Microsoft Windows 7 operating systems, including Windows 7 Professional.

According to various reports, the first model will sport an Intel Core i5-2467M processor, 4 GB of RAM and all the features previously mentioned (although HP didn't specify an actual processor or RAM amount). As for the "array" of ports, images reveal Ethernet, HDMI, USB and an SD card reader on one side, and another USB port on the other side.

Folio 13 users who need a desktop-like environment or additional audio, video, network and USB connectivity can connect the HP Folio 13 to the optional HP USB 2.0 dock, the company said.