19 Dec 09 NorhTec Gecko Surfboard is neither gecko nor surfboard (it's a keyboard PC)

Continue reading NorhTec Gecko Surfboard is neither gecko nor surfboard (it's a keyboard PC)

NorhTec Gecko Surfboard is neither gecko nor surfboard (it's a keyboard PC) originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 19 Dec 2009 09:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink I4U News  |  Netbooked  | Email this | Comments
Tagi: keyboard pc, i4u news, vga port, norhtec, gecko, mth, sd card, trade offs, price tag, hard drive, nbsp, ces, windows xp, storage, linux

04 Mar 10 Lenovo's IdeaPad Y460 now on sale, and not a moment too soon

Lenovo may have introduced four billion new laptops at CES this year, but that's not keeping us from tracking the ship date of every last one. With Intel's mobile Core i5 still tough to find in shipping machines -- particularly ones that could substitute as your work rig -- we couldn't be happier to see the IdeaPad Y460 up for order at the outfit's webstore. The base unit gets going at $999 and includes a 2.13GHz Core i3-330M CPU, Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit), 4GB of DDR3 memory, a 14-inch LED-backlit display (1,366 x 768), a 320GB hard drive, 6-cell battery and a dual-layer DVD writer. The $1,199 model, though, is clearly where it's at, with a 2.4GHz Core i5-520M, ATI's Mobility Radeon HD 5650 (1GB) GPU and a 500GB HDD to make things interesting. Both units should ship within a fortnight, so the only question left to answer is why you're still dilly-dallying around.

[Thanks, OberCFS]

Lenovo's IdeaPad Y460 now on sale, and not a moment too soon originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 04 Mar 2010 04:36:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  Lenovo  | Email this | Comments
Tagi: dual layer dvd writer, shipping machines, cell battery, billi, fortnight, gpu, 4ghz, ly, rig, hdd, laptops, hard drive, nbsp, hd, ces, intel, memory

29 Jun 10 Early Windows 8 features to include startup performance boost, visual login, and improved graphics (Update: Windows Store, no more 1394?)

Sure, Microsoft might be selling seven copies of Windows 7 a second, but that doesn't mean Redmond isn't planning for the future: the software giant is purportedly beginning to prep ODMs on Windows 8, if these leaked slides are to be believed. It doesn't look like anything is nailed down just yet, but some interesting larger themes are being discussed, like improving startup and and wake-from-sleep times to be nearly instantaneous, the addition of higher-speed interconnects like USB 3.0 and Bluetooth 3.0, hard drive encryption, ambient light sensitivity, and facial recognition login / out. That last is the most interesting, as it hints at some Kinect-style user detection, but then again, PCs from HP, ASUS and others can do this already, so we'd like to see some more of Kinect bleed over as well -- we could definitely see the gestural menu navigation hit Media Player and IE. Unfortunately, there's no dates on any of this, and we can't imagine Microsoft will shift gears from Windows 7 anytime soon, but it's still nice to dream -- hit the read link for the full set of slides.

Update: The folks at Microsoft Kitchen have pored through all the slides and come up with some interesting takeaways. First, Microsoft appears to be looking to what it refers to as Apple's "virtuous cycle" of brand loyalty, and the company wants consumers to think of Windows 8 as being just as uncomplicated and high quality. There's also a render of a concept Windows 8 machine (pictured above), which looks like... well, it looks like a remix of the Twentieth Anniversary Macintosh from 1997. Microsoft is also tailoring Windows 8 specifically to slates, all-in-ones, and laptops, which suggests a great emphasis on touch to us -- there's a slide of user interacting with something called a "Lap PC" that looks like a convertible tablet.

Other interesting notes include a "push button reset" that automatically resets Windows to factory condition while leaving a user's files in place, an August 2010 beta data for IE9, and most interestingly, plans for a "Windows Store" app store, which will allow apps and settings to follow users from machine to machine. However, docs show that not a line of OS code had been written until at least this month, and all of the slides are marked "Windows 8 Discussion -- this is not a plan of record" so it seems like everything is still a bit up in the air. Looks like Microsoft is planning some big moves, though -- we're definitely eager to see what makes the final cut.

Update 2: We've had a nice long look through the slides ourselves, and that Windows Store is looking pretty interesting even at this early juncture. Early mockups show a Zune-like interface with content curated not only by Microsoft, but also partners and device manufacturers, and there's even a "Apps your friends love" section. The Store will also apparently recognize which device you're using and display content appropriately -- things that run on a desktop may not play nice with a tablet PC -- and there's a robust-looking developer dashboard so indie devs who intend to monetize the new platform can keep track of the goods. See what the experience might look like in the gallery below.

Update 3: While there's no telling what Microsoft will actually do when it starts coding the OS, documents indicate it's currently asking partner OEMs whether Bluetooth 3.0 + HS and IEEE 1394 are important to their customers. Why? Microsoft doesn't plan to support either in Windows 8 if at all possible. Is it finally the end of the road for FireWire?

Continue reading Early Windows 8 features to include startup performance boost, visual login, and improved graphics (Update: Windows Store, no more 1394?)

Early Windows 8 features to include startup performance boost, visual login, and improved graphics (Update: Windows Store, no more 1394?) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 28 Jun 2010 19:05:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink NeoWin  |  Being Manan, Francisco Martin Garcia, Microsoft Kitchen  | Email this | Comments
Tagi: twentieth anniversary macintosh, brand loyalty, virtuous cycle, software giant, secd, light sensitivity, anning, ie9, gears, asus, slides, laptops, hard drive, butt, bluetooth, ace, macintosh, high quality, sleep, hp

15 Jul 10 Hulu Plus on PS3, hands-on (update: video)

Sure, we already told you what Hulu Plus looked like on iPhone, iPad and a Samsung TV, and not much has changed since that juncture, but we expect a number of you care quite a bit about how it will operate on PlayStation 3, especially considering you'll (presently) have to cough up an additional $50 annually for the privilege. The good news is it's absolutely nothing like the PS3's disc-based Netflix solution -- here, you're looking at a responsive experience through and through, and the interface is about as simple and full-featured as we'd hoped.

After a 28MB download, we were invited to either log in with an email/password combination or link our console at Hulu's website, both of which launched the program nigh instantly from the hard drive. The interface afterwards is a dead-ringer for the Samsung TV version, except optimized for console control, with the analog stick and shoulder buttons smartly seeking through programs at high speed, or tapped to jump ahead in fifteen-second increments. You can similarly adjust video quality (and thus, bandwidth usage) with a press of the R1 button, watch picture-in-picture programs while you browse, and the search function admirably narrows down Hulu's content as quickly as you can type the letters in. It does have its bugs, like when we tried to watch High Fidelity and were asked if we wanted to subscribe to the show, and there was the time we got caught in an unending advertising loop for body wash, but that time we think the app was just trying to tell us something. Yeah, we'd better run out to the store, but don't go away -- hit the gallery below for a brief tour.

Update: Our friends at Joystiq have a video walkthrough; check it after the break!

Continue reading Hulu Plus on PS3, hands-on (update: video)

Hulu Plus on PS3, hands-on (update: video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 14 Jul 2010 19:23:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments
Tagi: dead ringer, samsung tv, high fidelity, bandwidth usage, ipad, secd, netflix, body wash, video quality, juncture, increments, ps3, butts, privilege, hard drive, butt, bugs, samsung, high speed, email

14 Oct 10 Apple's 'Back To The Mac' Announcement Speculation Rife

Mac OS X and MacBook Air updates as well as a MacBook Pro hybrid hard drive are among the products rumored to be on the event agenda.


Tagi: macbook, quantserve, mac os x, techbiz, speculation, segment, os x, hard drive, apple