Samsung has announced its latest entry into the Ultrabook market, the Samsung Series 5, a thin and light aluminum notebook scheduled to launch in South Korea at the end of this month and elsewhere in early 2012. The Series 5 will be available in 13.3-inch and 14-inch variants, with a thickness of 14.9mm and 20.9mm respectively, slightly stretching the definition of an 'Ultrabook' as per Intel's guidelines.

Starting at 1.49 million won (about $1,300), the 13-inch model will feature an undisclosed second-generation Intel Core processor, up to 8GB of RAM and up to a 500GB HDD or a 128GB SSD -- in addition to a built-in 8GB SSD configured for ExpressCache use to speed up boot and access times. The 14-inch variant will go for 1.54 million won ($1,345) and offers similar specs for the most part, but adds a 1TB hard drive option along with discrete AMD Radeon HD 7550M graphics and an optical disc drive.

Both models include Wi-Fi connectivity, a front-facing webcam, two high-speed USB 3.0 ports, and VGA and HDMI video output. There are no specific details regarding a launch stateside, but we expect to hear more next month as manufacturers announce their latest Ultrabooks during CES 2012.