Hewlett-Packard Co unveiled a new glass-encased laptop computer as the largest computer maker stepped up its efforts to chip away at rival Apple Inc's stronghold in high-end PC market. The laptop, called HP Envy 14 Spectre, is the Silicon Valley company's latest entry in the slim, ultrabook category of personal computers and is the first to use glass on the lid, display and palmrest. The 14-inch laptop also boasts built-in wireless links to speakers and the ability to transfer website links from a nearby phone to the browser on the laptop using an emerging technology called near field communication ( NFC).

The Specter will be available next month for a price starting at $1,400, making it more expensive than Apple's popular 13-inch MacBook Air. PC sales were lackluster in 2011 as consumers turned increasingly to mobile devices from smartphones to tablets like Apple's iPad, while faltering economies put pressure on corporate spending on technology hardware. But many analysts are expecting a bounceback in 2012 as HP and other PC makers begin to crank out smaller computers in the ultrabook category.