Google Niantic's Reality MMO "Ingress" Leaves Beta, Now Open to Everyone

Augmented reality meets MMO

After more than a year in closed beta and amassing over 1 million downloads, Google's Niantic Labs just launched Ingress to the public. What is Ingress, you ask? It's a journey into alternate reality gaming, is one answer. Another answer is that it's a blending of augmented reality with MMO gaming for people with Android devices (iOS support will come later). It gets gamers outdoors in a sort of geo-caching expedition with real-life capture point control.

At present, users can join one of two factions: Enlightened or Resistance. Scattered throughout the game are different color "Portals" to an alternate universe that you can see, discover, and capture with your mobile phone. Agents of the Enlightened want to know more about these Portals and embrace their power, while agents of the Resistance fear they're influencing the way we think (mind hacking) and want to defend and protect what's left of humanity.

This is really just the tip of the iceberg. The game's back story is rather deep and involved, but short and to the point, the world around you is the game. It's a neat way to discover new places and landmarks, and best of all, it's free. If you want to give it a try, you can download Ingress from Google Play.

Posted by Unknown 0 comments

Read More

Powercolor Launches First Liquid Cooled Radeon R9 290X Graphics Card

Nope, you can't find this one in stock either

Less than a week after teasing a shot of a liquid cooled AMD Radeon R9 290X graphics card on its Facebook page, Powercolor has gone and introduced a retail version to market. The Powercolor LCS R9 290X uses an EK water block, the same as identified in the Facebook photo, and comes factory overclocked to 1060MHz for the core, up 60MHz over AMD's reference blueprint.

It also boasts 4GB of GDDR5 memory that's been goosed 100MHz over reference to 1,350MHz on a 512-bit wide bus. Using liquid cooling will certainly help the card run stable with these modest overclocks, though as an extra layer of protection, Powercolor says the part is armed with a "Gold Power Kit" design, meaning it uses a digital PWM, ferrite conducting power (FCP), and multi-phase design to enhance power efficiency.

The full-cover water block cools the GPU, memory, and other parts of the card. Its base is made from nickel plated copper allowing for temperatures under 60C, even under full load, Powercolor claims. Liquid rushes through high-flow 3/8-inch and 1/2-inch fittings with captured o-rings to prevent leakage.

No word on how much this card will cost or when it will be available, though with the Litecoin community stockpiling Radeon R9 Series graphics cards, it might be awhile before you see one of these for the taking.

Posted by Unknown 0 comments

Read More

Genius GX Gaming Peripherals Now Available in White in the U.S.

Gaming peripherals shipping in white in time for winter

If you're looking for gaming peripherals to match the white computer case you just bought, Genius may be your ticket to color coordination. Genius has just given its GX Gaming series of peripherals a white makeover, including the DeathTaker mouse, Imperator Pro keyboard, and GX-Speed mouse pad, all three of which have started shipping to North America, Genius announced today.

"This special collection by GX Gaming has arrived just in time for the holiday season. The new DeathTaker, Imperator Pro, and GX-Speed in white create a zone of cool around any gamer, and serve as an excellent complement to any white themed gaming setup," Genius says.

On the flip side, they'll probably reveal a little about your hygiene, too -- if you like to snack on Cheetos but aren't a fan of washing your hands, your white peripherals will end up with an orange tint over time.

In any event, both the DeathTaker and Imperator Pro are equipped with a full-speed CPU and built-in memory to save macros. The hardware also supposedly gives gamers a 1ms boost in response time, which translates into being 8 times quicker than without, Genius says.

We found the Genius DeathTaker and Imperator Pro both listed on Amazon for $70, though both are currently out of stock. We weren't as lucky in trying to track down the GX-Speed mouse pad.

Posted by Unknown 0 comments

Read More

LG Plans to Unveil an All-in-One System Running Chrome OS at CES 2014

All your "Chromebase" belong to LG

LG on Wednesday announced plans to show off what it claims is the first ever "Chromebase," otherwise known as an all-in-one (AIO) PC powered by Google's Chrome operating system, at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas next month. The LG Chromebase (model 22CV241) will sport a 21.5-inch widescreen with a Full HD 1080 (1920x1080) IPS display and a "raft of advanced features" all wrapped in a space saving design.

Let's start with the few hardware specs LG is willing to share. Inside the AIO will sit an Intel Celeron CPU of some sort. LG didn't say which specific chip, but we suspect it will be one of the newer Celeron parts based on Intel's Haswell architecture. The Chromebase will also have 2GB of RAM, 16GB SSD, HDMI input, three USB 2.0 ports, a single USB 3.0 port, an Ethernet port, built-in 5W speakers, and a 1.3MP webcam.

"LG’s Chromebase is an exciting new form factor that expands the options available to customers who want a fast, simple and secure computing experience for the home, school or office," said Caesar Sengupta, vice president of product management, Google. "LG Electronics makes great devices that customers love, and we’re glad to welcome them to the Chrome family."

Same as with Chromebooks, Google's Chrome OS works best when there's an active Internet connection. It is, after all, a cloud-based OS, though you can still work with certain web-based applications offline, which comes in handy if your Internet is down for whatever reason.

Consumers have proven they're ready for Chromebooks -- they occupy several spots on Amazon's top 10 best selling laptops and are generally reviewed favorably by users -- but will desktop systems running Chrome OS be equally accepted? It looks like we're about to find out.

Posted by Unknown 0 comments

Read More

Fully Loaded Mac Pro Ravages Your Wallet for $9,600, Ships in February

You could toss a small fortune into Apple's trash bin-shaped workstation

For those of you who like to keep abreast of what's happening on the other side of the pond, Apple's cylindrical Mac Prosystems are now available to order, though don't bother shopping for one unless you're ready to drop some serious cash. Window shopping won't cost you a dime -- hopefully we didn't just give Apple any ideas -- but to bring one of these workstations home, you'll need to wave around at least three large.

The $2,999 configuration includes a 3.7GHz quad-core Intel Xeon E5 processor, 12GB of DDR3-1866 ECC memory, dual AMD FirePro D300 graphics cards, and a 256GB PCI-E based solid state drive. Apple provides amenities in the form of a built-in speaker, HDMI 1.4 output, four USB 3.0 ports, half a dozen Thunderbolt 2 ports, dual GbE LAN ports, 802.11ac Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, and OS X Mavericks.

Also available is a 6-core configuration starting at $3,999, though we decided to go wild and ramp up all the available core options. Our grand total came to $9,599 for a 2.7GHz 12-core Intel Xeon E5 processor, 64GB of RAM, 1TB PCI-E based SSD, and dual AMD FirePro D700 GPUs. Accessories and software options could potentially add several thousand more dollars to the tally.

We're not picking on Apple here -- this is some serious hardware, and the Mac Pro is already proving popular. No matter what the configuration, ship dates have already slipped to February. That's a long wait when you're dropping several grand.

Posted by Unknown 0 comments

Read More

Looking for Last Minute Gift Ideas? Steam's Holiday Sale Starts Now!

Don't forget to set aside a few dollars for food and other bills

Word to the wise -- don't go quitting that second job you got to pay for all the games you bought during Steam's Autumn Sale, you're going to need it to fund another round of discounts. The 2013 Steam Holiday Sale is now on and runs through the remainder of the holiday shopping season, all the way up until January 3, 2014. As always, big savings are to be had on popular titles, such as 50 percent off Batman: Arkham Origins ($24.99) and 75 percent off Bioshock Infinite ($9.99).

The oft-talked about The Stanley Parable is marked down 40 percent to $8.99, and if you can't get enough zombie mayhem, Dead Island Game of the Year Edition is selling for $5, or 75 percent off its normal price.

Several other titles are on sale, with new deals taking their place every 24 hours. In addition, Steam refreshes its batch of Flash Sale games every 8 hours. At present, you can score Counter Strike: Global Offensive for $3.74 (75 percent off), Divekick for $2.49 (75 percent off), and The Typing of the Dead: Overkill for $9.99 (50 percent off).

On top of it all, participating in the 2013 Steam Holiday Sale will earn you exclusive Holiday Sale Trading Cards. Collect all 10 and you'll receive a Holiday Sale badge and earn a variety of limited edition rewards, Steam says.

Assuming you're still reading and haven't rushed off to Steam's website, here's your link to the Holiday Sale.

Posted by Unknown 0 comments

Read More

AMD Catalyst 13.12 WHQL Driver Now Available to Download

Official support for AMD Radeon R9 and R7 Series graphics cards

It's time to retire that beta driver you've been running your AMD Radeon R9 or R7 Series graphics card on and step up to AMD's newly minted Catalyst 13.12 WHQL-certified driver. The new Catalyst software is available now and in addition to official support for the Sunnyvale chip designer's latest graphics cards, it also resolves over a dozen issues, adds new Enduro Technology profiles, and more.

After installing Catalyst 13.12, you can expect improved CrossFire scaling in Call of Duty: Ghosts (multiplayer component), Splinter Cell Blacklist, Saints Row 4, and Metro Last Light. There are also new Enduro Technology profiles for XCOM: Enemy Unknown, Need for Speed Rivals, Total War: Rome 2, Battlefield 4, Saints Row 4, Splinter Cell Blacklist, and FIFA 14.

AMD added support for CrossFire frame pacing and resolved a bunch of niggling issues, such as graphics corruption found in Starcraft and flickering water corruption found in World of Warcraft.

You can grab the new driver direct from AMD; also be sure give the Release Notes a run down.

Posted by Unknown 0 comments

Read More

Microsoft Adds Qualcomm COO Steve Mollenkopf to List of CEO Candidates

Microsoft list of candidates to replace Steve Ballmer just grew by one

Following the announcement that Steve Ballmer was stepping down as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Microsoft, the Redmond giant immediately began compiling a list of candidates to take over the reins, and then trimmed it down. Two names that made the cut and are viewed as frontrunners include Stephan Elop (ex-Nokia chief) and Alan Mulally (current Ford chief), though they're not the only two. In fact, the list might even be growing, as Microsoft is said to now be considering Qualcomm's Chief Operating Officer (COO) Steve Mollenkopf as well.

According to Bloomberg and its sources, Mollenkopf joins a list of candidates "under serious consideration" by Microsoft's board of directors. Part of Mollenkopf's appeal compared to Mulally is that he has experience in the tech market. Mollenkeop currently heads up a division at Qualcomm that builds processors for some of the top mobile phones, and mobile is an area Microsoft is very much trying to infiltrate.

Ballmer gave himself and the board of directors up to 12 months to find a replacement when he announced his impending retirement four months ago. That leaves them with up to 8 months to go, though the sooner they hand over the reins, the sooner Microsoft can focus all its attention on its future operations. The longer this drags on, the more of a distraction it becomes. At the same time, this will likely be one of the biggest decisions the Redmond company makes in a long, long time.

As for Ford's Mulally, Bloomberg says his lack of technical experience worries some members of the board. There's also the question of whether or not he'd even accept a job offer, though up to this point he hasn't told the media himself that he plans to stay with Ford until the end of 2014, which is when his contract expires.

Posted by Unknown 0 comments

Read More

Gigabyte’s Latest Motherboard Packs Dual Thunderbolt 2

Two ports with 20 GB/s data transfer 

Video editors, hold onto your seats. The Gigabyte Z87X-UD7 TH motherboard supports Thunderbolt 2’s 20GB/s aggregated data transfer through two channels in a single port. Thunderbolt hasn’t gained much traction in the industry, but it’s nice to know that there are options for the people who need them.

The E-ATX board supports Haswell processors with socket 1150 along with 4-way SLI or Crossfire. That’s three PCIe 3.0 x16 slots, two PCIe 3.0 x8 slots, two PCIe 2.0 x1 slots, four DDR3 memory slots, two Thunderbolt 2 ports (for 4K video), 10 USB 3.0 ports, and four USB 2.0/1.1 ports.

It’s also got the usual goodies: Wi-Fi 802.11ac and Bluetooth 4.0 support, Gigabyte’s updated UEFI DualBIOS, and a gold plated CPU socket. There’s also a built-in high capacity headphone amplifier that Gigabyte claims can power 600Ω loads. 

If you need Thunderbolt 2, or you’ve got $430 burning a hole in your pocket, you can get the GA-Z87X-UD7 TH on Newegg.

Posted by Unknown 0 comments

Read More

Digital Storm Teases High End Steam Machine for Power Players

A boutique built Steam Machine with a 'take no prisoners' approach

Let's get one thing straight -- even though Valve is making a push for PC gamers to plop their rumps in
 the living room where console gaming has traditional ruled the roost, there's no mandate that says a Steam Machine has to be only as powerful as an Xbox One or PlayStation 4 (or Nintendo Wii). Taking that to heart, boutique builder Digital Storm makes no bones about the fact that it's upcoming Steam Machine won't compete with consoles on price, but in return for a higher price tag, gamers will receive a premium set of components that send consoles cowering in the corner.

Details are light at the moment, though we did manage to squeeze a few tidbits out of Digital Storm. The company's first Steam Machine will start at $1,469 and offer configurations that can handle an Nvidia GeForce GTX Titan graphics card. It will have a liquid-cooled CPU, advanced airflow thermal management, and up to a 700W power supply.

Digital Storm's rig will ship with both Valve's Linux-based SteamOS and Microsoft Windows, allowing the PC gaming master race to play any computer game out there. As for setup, you can place the system horizontally or vertically in your entertainment center, whichever is more convenient.

That's all Digital Storm is willing to divulge at the moment. More information will come to light at CES in January, though in the meantime, you can subscribe to receive updates on Digital Storm's pre-launch website.

Posted by Unknown 0 comments

Read More

Steve Ballmer Offers Management Advice for Other CEOs

Microsoft chief shares his secrets of the trade

There are at least a couple of different ways you can view parting advice from the not-yet-retired Chief Executive Officer of Microsoft. One is that if Steve Ballmer's management tips were truly worth their weight in gold, Microsoft wouldn't find itself in a position of having to restructure its organization and pressure the man in charge to let go of the reins. The other way to look at it is that Ballmer was (and still is, for the time being) in charge of the one of the biggest companies in the world, and though there have been some missteps -- especially towards the end -- he's managed several impressive accomplishments along the way, such as increasing Microsoft's revenue from $25 billion to $70 billion.

In any event, ZDNet's Mary Jo Foley was able to sit down and interview Ballmer last month, and one of things she asked him to share were his top five management tips for other CEOs. Here they are:

• Make sure you see the whole playing field
• Don't pin hopes on a single individual or "dream team"
• Realize there's no perfect business model for every era
• Don't place only long-term or only short-term bets
• Know your limits

Under Ballmer's leadership, Microsoft went from having little-to-no presence in enterprise to now being a major player in that sector. He also greenlit Xbox, which was one of the first major decisions he made as Microsoft's chief.

The one item that perhaps sticks out the most on that list is "Know your limits." Indeed, one of the things he said when announcing his retirement is that even though there's never a perfect time to step away, now is the right time.

"We have embarked on a new strategy with a new organization and we have an amazing Senior Leadership Team. My original thoughts on timing would have had my retirement happen in the middle of our company's transformation to a devices and services company," Ballmer said. "We need a CEO who will be here longer term for this new direction."

What do you think about Ballmer's tips?

Posted by Unknown 0 comments

Read More

Samsung's Magician 4.3 Software Supercharges Your 840 Pro and Evo SSDs

Samsung's caching technology unlocks an insane speed boost on selected SSDs

One thing we didn't cover in Samsung's earlier unveiling of a 1TB 840 Evo mSATA solid state drive (SSD) is the immediate availability of the company's Magician (version 4.3) software. This is notable because it introduces two big upgrades to Samsung's current SSD product lineup, including RAPID (Real-time Accelerated Processing of I/O Data) Mode for Samsung's 840 Pro family of SSDs, and a security features for the company's Evo SSD line. It's the RAPID Mode that really excites us, however, as it offers a significant speed boost to an already insanely fast SSD lineup.

We touched on this technology in our examination of Samsung's standard size Evo 1TB review back in July, but to recap, what it does is a take a portion of the host system's DRAM and CPU and uses those resources for caching purposes.

"RAPID Mode performs host level read acceleration and write optimization by utilizing free DRAM system memory and is designed to dramatically increase overall PC performance," Samsung says. "Previously only available on the 840 Evo, bringing this to the 840 Pro will enable current and future 840 Pro users to achieve storage subsystem performance faster than the SATA 3.0 interface allows."

What kind of speed boost? Samsung says by enabling RAPID Mode, users will see over 1,000MB/s sequential read speeds, or twice that of typical high-performance SATA SSD (and tens that of an average HDD), in certain situations. It achieves this by caching frequently used files in system memory. You can switch the mode on and off in software, but since it only requires 50MB of RAM and an 840 Pro or Evo drive to be activated, you might as well leave it on.

As for the security upgrade, the Magician software also enables TCG/OPAL on Samsung 840 Evo SSDs, It's a security specification defined by Trusted Computing Group that allows for better manageability and multi-level authentication.

You can download the Magician 4.3 software now.

Posted by Unknown 0 comments

Read More

Intel Plans to Attack Every Tablet Category in 2014

Watch out ARM, Intel's coming out swinging

It's fair to say that Intel missed the boat on mobile in terms of tablets and smartphones, and in doing so, inadvertently conceded the market to ARM. The good news for Intel is that it's early in the game, and the bad news for ARM is that we're going to see a much more aggressive Intel target the mobile sector in 2014 than what we've seen before. From entry-level tablets to high-end slates, Intel's processor roadmap has them all covered.

The Santa Clara chip maker has already launched Bay Trail-T with support for Windows 8/8.1. By the end of the year, expect to also see Android-supported models, according to Digitimes and its sources within Taiwan's tablet supply chain.

Based on what they've seen, Intel is getting ready to launch entry-level 7-inch Bay Trail (Z3735D Series) tablets running Android ranging in price from $99 to $129. Sounds ultra aggressive, though this isn't the first we've heard of Intel launching a $99 tablet.

Larger models up to 8 inches will run $149 to $199 and be available in the first quarter of 2014. Following that, Digitimes' sources say Bay Trail and Cherry Trail platforms will infiltrate 8-inch to 10-inch tablets priced at $199 to $249, and 10-inch models above $249.

Cherry Trail, which is based on Intel's 14nm Airmont architecture with support for 32-bit and 64-bit Windows 8/8.1 and Android, will come later in the year around September 2014. Intel also plans to release Windows and Android supported tablets running Willow Trail, which is based on its 14nm Goldmont architecture.

Posted by Unknown 0 comments

Read More

Samsung Launches First 1TB mSATA SSD, High Capacity Ultrabooks Can't Be Far Behind

Big capacity stuffed into a small size SSD

Ultrabooks and laptops in general aren't getting any chunkier these days, and to accommodate increasingly thin profiles, mSATA form factor solid state drives (SSDs) are taking the place of 2.5-inch drives. That doesn't mean you'll need to give up storage space. Samsung today launched its 840 Evo mSATA SSD line, among which is the industry's first 1TB mSATA-based SSD, the company claims.

These drives are an extension of Samsung's Evo family introduced back in July. They're about a quarter of the size of a traditional 2.5-inch SSD, yet offer the same high density and performance. The drives use 128Gb NAND flash memory built from a 10nm-class manufacturing process. Note the "class" qualifier, which doesn't mean these are 10nm chips -- they're actually built on a 19nm process.

Tricky marketing aside, these drives are a mere 3.85mm thin and weigh just 8.5 grams. They're available in 120GB, 250GB, 500GB, and 1TB capacities. The 1TB model boasts 98,000 random read and 90,000 random write IOPS, as well as 540MB/s sequential write and 520MB/s sequential read performance.

The 840 Evo mSATA SSD line will be available later this month. No pricing information has yet been announced.

Posted by Unknown 0 comments

Read More

Reminder: Windows 8.1 Preview License Expires in January 2014

The free ride is coming to an end

If you've been sitting pretty with a Windows 8.1 Preview license and have intentions of sticking with it

 for any length of time, you may want to add a retail copy to your holiday wish list and start dropping hints for your friends and family. Microsoft posted a reminder on its TechNet blog giving users a heads up that the Windows 8.1 Preview license will expire sometime in January 2014, though the Redmond software giant didn't specify an exact date.

"Plans should be made to move to the released version of Windows 8.1 or return to the prior OS version as soon as possible to avoid interruption in use of the device on which the Windows 8.1 Preview was installed," Microsoft stated.

How you update from Windows 8.1 Preview to Windows 8.1 (or Windows RT 8.1) will depend on how the Preview version was installed. You can reference a special webpage Microsoft setup with detailed instructions on how to make the transition. To summarize, if you installed the Preview from the Windows Store or installed the Preview using media while Windows 8 was running, you can download the update from the Windows Store.

If you installed the Preview by booting from ISO media, you can updated to the final version of Windows 8.1 Pro using the Windows Store, but your system won't activate until you buy a license and product key.

Posted by Unknown 0 comments

Read More

Start Menu to Make a Glorious Return in Upcoming Windows "Threshold" Update

It's about damn time!

The Start menu is coming, the Start menu is coming! Feel free to run up and down the aisles of your office building shouting the news at the top of your lungs. Act crazy enough and you may not have a job tomorrow, but at least you can look forward to the return of a feature in Windows 8/8.1 that should never have been left out in the first place. Oh, and to be clear, don't confuse the Start menu with the Start button, the latter of which made its triumphant return in Windows 8.1, but without the all-important menu (thanks for the half-assed concession, Microsoft).

Here's the deal -- the Start menu isn't returning tomorrow, next week, or even next month. Instead, it will be an optional feature in Windows "Threshold," the codename for Microsoft's next wave of updates scheduled for 2015 and designed to unify the Windows experience, according to Paul Thurrott and information scattered all over the web.

As ZDNet explains things, Threshold will include updates to all three OS platforms -- Xbox One, Windows, and Windows Phone, all three of which share a common Windows NT core. Things get a little fuzzy at this point, but Threshold is supposed to bring these OSes even closer together.

In addition to the return of the Start menu as you once knew it, Threshold will also give users the option of running Metro apps in floating windows on the desktop, a feature that today requires the help of third-party utilities.

Posted by Unknown 0 comments

Read More

Maxthon Makes Bold Claim, Says Its Browser is Fastest for Windows

New versions uses Blink rendering engine

Maxthon's developers have officially joined the ranks of braggadocios browser makers who puff out 

their chest and claim their online vehicle is the fastest around. You may recall that Maxthon (originally called MyIE2) started as a nifty shell of Internet Explorer that brought tabbed browsing to the IE experience. Now dubbed "Maxthon Cloud Browser," these days it stands on its own two feet.

The newest release is a beta build that uses a branched version of the Blink rendering engine combined with Maxthon's own "speed and performance enhancements." The result, according to Maxthon's team, is the world's fastest browser, trumping Chrome 30 by 10 percent (Maxthon's figures, not ours).

"Our challenge to our team was to build a browser that is faster and lighter than Chrome," said Jeff Chen, CEO and founder of Maxthon. "I'm pleased to say that our team rose to the challenge and exceeded expectations. The new architecture nets 40 percent faster start times than previous iterations and test results comparing the new Maxthon 4.1.3.700 against Chrome 30 show that Maxthon is 10 percent faster. Plus, our proprietary approach to 3rd party cookie handling is a boon for anyone who wants the personalization benefit of the cookie without allowing ad networks to track their usage."

Maxthon says its browser has a reduced memory footprint and low CPU usage. It also boasts support for WebGL and has a GPU accelerator, along with deep support for HTML5 coding. That's all fine and dandy, but is it truly the fastest? In our limited testing, it certainly feels snappy, though the few impromptu benchmarks we ran show that Maxthon's claim might be a little ambitious.

Since Maxthon compared itself to Chrome, we ran a few benchmarks on a daily workhorse system (Asus G73J laptop) with Chrome 31 installed, one version higher than Maxthon's comparison. However, the Chrome browser had several open tabs and extensions installed, whereas Maxthon represents a clean install. Here's how things shook out:

SunSpider 1.0.2
Chrome: 193.4ms
Maxthon: 417.5ms

Futuremark Peacekeeper
Chrome: 2318
Maxthon: 2213

Google Octane v2.0
Chrome: 8869
Maxthon: 8509

HTML5Test.com
Chrome: 503
Maxthon: 515

Chrome won three of the four benchmarks, though Maxthon was nipping at its heels in each test. A full gamut of tests on a proper testbed is needed to tell the whole story, but from our quick examination, it looks like Maxthon is right up there with the best, albeit it doesn't yet take the speed crown.

The newest version of Maxthon is available to download now.

Posted by Unknown 0 comments

Read More

HP Refreshes Elite Portfolio, Rolls Out Slimmest EliteBook Ever

New systems start at $359

Traditional PC sales might be on a decline, but c'mon, they're not evaporating. Therefore it's business

 as usual for Hewlett-Packard, the world's second largest PC maker, which just updated its Elite line with four new models. One of those new systems is an HP EliteBook Folio 1040 G1, the thinnest and most durable EliteBook to date, the company says. It's 16.1 percent slimmer and 7.3 percent lighter than the previous generation, yet still is able to pass a dozen military-grade tests for reilability and durability.

It weighs 3.3 pounds, has a 14-inch display with a Full HD 1080p resolution, and dual-core Intel Core i5 and i7 processor options. There's also a new pressure-sensitive touchpad to help users speed through familiar touch gestures used with smartphones and tablets.

On the small computing side, HP introduced the EliteDesk 800 G1 Business Desktop Mini. The name pretty much says it all -- it's a mini desktop for business users, and the smallest system HP has offered to date.

HP also announced the EliteDisplay 530tm (its first Windows 8 touch monitor for businesses). It has a 23-inch IPS display, 178-degree viewing angle, VESA mounting support, Full HD 1080p resolution, built-in 720p webcam, dual microphones, and integrated speakers.

As for pricing and availability, the EliteBook Folio 1040 G1 is available now starting at $1,299; the EliteDesk 800 G1 and 600 G1 will be available in April for $669 and $449, respectively; and the EliteDisplay S230tm will be available on January 6 for $359.

Posted by Unknown 0 comments

Read More

Asus Revenue Hit Record High in November on Strong Transformer Book T100 Sales

Asus is riding the convertible craze

To say November was a good month for Asus is like saying the 1992 U.S. Men's Olympic Basketball 

Dream Team was decent. Both grossly undersell the accomplishment. The 1992 Dream Team is largely considered the greatest sports team ever assembled (regardless of sports), and for Asus, revenue hit a record high in November at NT$49,298 billion (around $1.67 billion in U.S. currency).

That's an 18.73 percent sequential jump and 2.46 rise compared to the same month a year ago, Digitimes reports. From January to November, Asus collected NT$423.40 billion (~US$14.33 billion), up nearly 3 percent year-over-year.

According to Digitimes, the spike in revenue is mostly due to increasing sales of Transformer Book T100 convertibles, as well as better-than-expected sales of notebooks in Latin America and China.

The Transformer Book T100 is a 10.1-inch detachable 2-in-1 touchscreen laptop with an Intel Atom (quad-core) foundation, 2GB of DDR3 RAM, 64GB SSD, and 11 hour battery life.

Posted by Unknown 0 comments

Read More

Google News Roundup: White Nexus 7 32GB, Chromecast Bundle, and New Play Edition Devices

A new color Nexus 7 tablet for the holidays

If you're looking to order a Nexus 7 tablet that looks a little different from the ones your friends and family own, we have good news. It's now available in white, though only for the 32GB Wi-Fi model. Those of you shopping the 16GB SKU are still stuck with black. Other than the color of the backside, it's the same Nexus 7 as any other 2013 model, though Google has some more holiday treats of note.

If you buy a Nexus 7 and Chromecast together, Google will give you a $35 Google Play credit and ship your goods for free. The Google Play credit essentially pays for the Chromecast dongle, so if you can make good use of it, then it's basically a swap in currency.

Finally, Google added a couple of new devices to its Google Play edition lineup. These include the Sony Z Ultra smartphone for $649 and LG G Pad 8.3 for $350. Google Play edition devices automatically receive the latest Android software updates and are free from carrier clutter and third-party overlays.

Posted by Unknown 0 comments

Read More