Dr. Dre & Jimmy Iovine Tap Kanye West & Timbaland For New HP Laptops

Interscope label head Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre reportedly reached out to Kanye West, Timbaland, Pharrell and other renowned producers for their upcoming Hewlett-Packard ENVY series of laptops which are set to land in stores later this month.
According to Iovine, the new notebooks were "fine-tuned" with the producers' assistance.

In addition to Dr. Dre, Iovine noted that several of the industry's prominent producers -- including will.i.am, Kanye West, Pharrell, Timbaland and Polow da Don -- helped HP engineers fine-tune the project. "We started this journey with the headphones to improve the transmission of sound between record makers and consumers," Iovine said during the press conference today. "What's out there is not representative of what you hear in the recording studio. As we went on this journey, we found that computers were in the way. Artists and producers want their sound repaired in digital audio. Computer companies charge $1,000 for computers but only spend 50 cents for speakers. With HP, we found a partner willing to take the step to improve the overall sound in the PC. This is for anyone who plays music." (Billboard Biz)

A description of Dre's involvement with the ENVY laptop landed online late last month.

What will make the Dr. Dre x HP Envy so special in which they declare as the 'Mac killer' is not just the sleek design but true to Dr. Dre style - it's all about the sound. The HP Envy will be the first laptop to feature a 'cutting-edge' sound system designed by Dr. Dre's sound engineers labeled 'Beats Audio.' The 'Beats Audio' sound software was developed by the same folks that engineer Dre's tracks and also helped design the Beats by Dre headphone line. According to HP, Dre has developed 'a unique, high-performance audio software solution. Available exclusively on the HP Envy, Beats Audio offers users playing music or audio through headphones or external speakers the optimal sound experience the way the artist intended it.' (Woooha)

Prior details of the partnership made headlines over the summer.

HP will kick-off a range of premium laptops, headphones and software that will come under the Beats By Dr. Dre brand umbrella. Consumers had previously accepted a degree of deterioration in sound quality in exchange for the speed, portability and convenience that digital brings to music. However, with mass broadband uptake, larger files can now be moved around online with relative ease and, as a result, consumers are demanding better audio quality from their downloads." (Music Week)