By now, you've probably seen many of the homemade videos from people who ordered an Intel Core i7-920 processor from Newegg.com and received a bogus processor and hunk of plastic shaped like a fan. Newegg has thrown
supplier IPEX Infotech of Freemont [corrected] California under the bus for this fiasco; in a statement released to Information Week, the retailer said, "We have since come to discover the CPUs were counterfeit and are terminating our relationship with this supplier."
PCMag.com did not order one. But luckily for us, my
neighbor, Microsoft TechNet columnist Greg Steen, just happened to be one of the lucky 200 or so buyers, and he let me borrow it for the day. As you can see, the box looks very real, and the weight of the package is perfect. Lots more images after the jump!
Acer reportedly plans to build a notebook that uses a full touchscreen keyboard, and plans to release it in the second half of 2010, according to a report from DigiTimes.
The notebook would even forego an external shell, using a tough LCD substrate from Corning and then printing directly on the back. The result? A truly ultrathin notebook that would put the Dell Adamo to shame.
With the iPad due to arrive in a month or so, the concept of a multitouch keyboard doesn't seem too far fetched, although touch typists would certainly have a difficult time keeping their fingers aligned. Still, if true, it might be a novel piece of technology, and one we'd certainly like to get our hands on.
Those attending CeBIT next week in Hanover, Germany, will get a first look at the 3.3cm-wide Shuttle Barebone XS35, a mini PC designed to be fitted behind flat panel displays. It ships with Intel's Atom D510 Dual Core processor (2x 1.66GHz) and the NM10 Express Chipset. More important is the NVIDIA GT218 (ION2) graphics card, crucial for seamless 3D streaming and video playback.
Naturally this media Mini includes an HDMI port, but you'll also get five USB ports, as well as VGA, LAN, and audio ports. It includes a multi-format card reader, a 2.5-inch hard disk, and an optical slimline drive. While the XS35 will be on display next week, it won't go on sale until the second quarter of the year. Shuttle hasn't settled on a price just yet.
Remember the HP Android Smartbook that Steve Ballmer hoisted up at CES? At the time, details were limited to the fact that it ran Android and used a netbook skin. And just days before the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, HP has given it an official name: The Compaq Airlife 100.
From the looks of it, HP basically took the second-generation Mini 110 netbook, customized the right mouse button, and slapped Google's Android operating system on it. It runs a Qualcomm Snapdragon 1GHz processor and has 512MB if RAM, and a 16GB internal Flash drive. Every other feature is reminiscent of a netbook, including the 10-inch widescreen, 1,024-by-600 resolution, card reader, and 28WH battery (3-cell).
More intriguing is what will HP will do in the tablet space, now that we know it has a device that runs on basically the same parts as the Apple iPad. The Airlife 100 will be available only in Europe for now. There's no word on pricing or when it'll be available in the United States.
Lenovo announced today several new PCs, the Lenovo G series notebooks and the Lenovo C315 all-in-one desktop. All computers will be based around the AMD platform featuring some of Lenovo's own software for improved experience.
While these computers are designed for the casual consumer, they support up to the latest AMD Turion and Athlon processors as well as ATI graphics. The G455 and G55 notebooks will feature such applications as OneKey REscue System and Energy Management. The C315, on the other hand, will have IdeaTouch multitouch applications. All of the new Lenovos will deliver dual-core computing at an affordable price.
The Lenovo G455 and G555 notebooks will start at $449.99 and wil be made available in the U.S. in March. Each of the notebooks include 16:9 widescreen HD displays, Lenovo Energy Management 5.0 (to help provide extended battery life), OneKey Rescue System, and VerilFace (facial-recognition software). The starting price for the C315 is $649.99; it will be available in April. The C315 will come packed with 4GB of memory, ATI Mobility Radeon graphics, and AMD Athlon dual-core processors, so consumers can enjoy videos, music, and games.
If your personal color palate leans toward the shocking, Sony has a notebook for you. Actually, it has five. The company just announced the Sony Vaio E, and the "E" must stand for "electric."
The line comes in five translucent high-gloss colors (Caribbean Green, Iridescent Blue, Coconut White, Hibiscus Pink, and Lava Black) and three matte colors (Maple Brown, Silver White, and Gunmetal). The lids of the glossy models are subtly patterned, and the palm rest is in the same color.
Besides bright colors, you'll get an edge-to-edge keyboard, a dimpled touchpad that's integrated into the palm rest, and a 15.5-inch widescreen display. For HD movie viewing, choose the optional Blu-ray drive.
Other specs include an Intel Core i5 processor, up to a 500GB hard drive, and Windows 7 Home Premium OS. Look for them to retail for about $700. You can pre-order one now, but they won't be in stores until next month.
If one company-aside from Apple--can really revolutionize
the tablet space, it's probably Google. The company waited patiently for the
dust to begin settling on the whole iPad thing before kind of, sort of,
throwing its hat in the ring. The Chromium Projects site features a mockup of
what a tablet running the Chrome OS might look like.
The page is primarily comprised of shots highlighting the UI
on a tablet interface. It includes such "possibilities" as, "keyboard
interaction with the screen: anchored, split, attached to focus," "contextual
actions triggered via dwell," and "zooming UI for multiple tabs."
The first Chrome OS-based netbooks are expected to arrive
from third-party hardware manufacturers toward the end of the year. If Apple
seems some success with the iPad, we can undoubtedly expect to see something
along these lines in the mix.
3G connectivity? A (relatively) low price? Long battery life? What are the make-or-break features for you in the still-theoretical-but-we-all-know-it's-coming Apple tablet, likely to be announced next week at the company's press event?
Electronics shopping and review site Retrevo announced results from an informal customer study asking this very question. Most respondents want 3G and would really hate a monthly data plan; and interestingly, many want solar charging capability. Other requests: an e-book store and a book-like double screen.
So what would make you plunk down some cash for the Apple tablet? (Notice I'm staying away from calling it the "iPad"--I still hold out hope for a better name.) What would be a deal-breaker for you? Let us know in comments.
Officials from France Telecom/Orange are insisting that an interview in which executive Stephane Richard seemingly confirmed that the rumored Apple tablet exists and will have a webcam was taken out of context.
"These responses in no way reflect Orange's confirmation of the existence of the rumored device," Orange said in a statement provided to PaidContent. "The spokesperson was merely confirming that he is aware of the speculation surrounding a launch and that Orange would be delighted to have such a product were it ever to be available."
A video of the interview (above) - conducted in French - has been posted online. The subject of a webcam is first brought up by the interviewer who says, "According to the weekly Le Point, your partner Apple will launch a tablet equipped with a webcam."
At the CES trade show this week I saw a bunch of intriguing concept products, but this combination phone-PC really grabbed my attention. It looks like a home phone - and when I say home phone, I mean that thing with the big buttons and no display. But it has inputs and outputs for a screen and keyboard. If you like, you can hook it up to a big screen to browse the Web, play a few games or listen to music.
This device from Inventec, based on a Qualcomm ARM9 processor and a Linux-based OS, isn't for the US. Rather, it's a super-low-cost PC - think under $100 - to bring Web-browsing capabilities to folks in developing countries. It's also in part intended to be a way for those countries' somewhat beleagured landline operators to give customers a reason not to cut off their landlines and go mobile-only, Qualcomm execs said.
Dell Vice President of Sales and Marketing Michael Tatelman started off the company's 2010 CES press conference by saying, "Today is going to be all about mobility and new technology." Supporting this point are Dell's new 11-inch laptop, the Alienware M11X, and a 5-inch Android tablet.
The Alienware M11X is what some would define as a mobile gaming laptop, with its 11-inch display and weight of about 4.8 pounds, but it offers all the parts to make it a semi-fine gaming computer. It runs on the Nvidia GeForce GT 335M GPU and uses Intel's new Ultra Low Voltage processor. On top of all this, Tatelman says, the machine can run Crysis and Call of Duty with all the settings on high. The battery, according to Dell, will run for about 6 hours. The M11X will retail for under $1,000.
PCMag laptop analyst Cisco Cheng had the chance to catch a glimpse of the concept tablet Tatelman showed off. The given specs were few, being more of a tease. What we know: It runs on the Android OS and has a 5-inch display.
Here's something cool from the international section of the CES showroom floor. It's a dual-screen netbook. In the above image, the bottom screen is being used to mimic a keyboard, though it can also serve as a standard notebook monitor, displaying pictures, et al.
Both displays are touchscreens--beyond that, there's not a whole heck of information available about the DNB "Dual Net-book." The manufacturer expects to ship the device by the end of the year for roughly $800. We didn't get a Microsoft Courier early this week, so I guess this will have to do in a pinch.
ASUS brought a number of new products to CES, including several new EEE PC netbook models and designs aimed at improving battery life and drawing in more users who are looking for portable computers in more than solid colors and spartan designs.
ASUS unveiled its new EEE PC Seashell KR Collection, a series of laptop and peripheral designs produced in collaboration with designer Karim Rashid.
Looking for a cheap netbook--like, really, really cheap? How does $140 sound? That'll be roughly the asking price of the GL-750, should this little Android netbook ever actually hit American shores. The netbook has a 7-inch screen and 1GB of RAM. There isn't actually any on-board memory, but the scrappy little computer ships with a 4GB SD card (expandable up to 16GB). The GL-750 comes in various other configurations as well, including one with a whopping 1GB of on-board memory in lieu of the SD card.
The netbook is manufactured by a Taiwanese company called King Yung--a company we've never actually heard of, so we can't actually attest to, well, much of anything beyond what we saw on the floor of CES earlier today.
Laptop Adapters -
Great selection of laptop adapters at Atbatt.com Notebook PC -
Find the right notebook PC at HP Home & Home Office Laptop Computers -
Find Great Deals on Laptop Computers at Toshiba Direct
More...
Those attending CeBIT next week in Hanover, Germany, will get a first look at the 3.3cm-wide 
If your personal color palate leans toward the shocking, Sony has a notebook for you. Actually, it has five. The company just announced the 
At the CES trade show this week I saw a bunch of intriguing concept products, but this combination phone-PC really grabbed my attention. It looks like a home phone - and when I say home phone, I mean that thing with the big buttons and no display. But it has inputs and outputs for a screen and keyboard. If you like, you can hook it up to a big screen to browse the Web, play a few games or listen to music.
