Hasta La Gadget!

Sure, you were expecting PC makers to announce loads of Windows 8 hybrids, but a battery-powered all-in-one? Probably not. Nonetheless, that’s exactly what Sony unveiled last month at IFA when it showed off the VAIO Tap 20. Designed with families in mind, it could stay plugged into an outlet, but it’s built so that you can carry it easily enough from the kitchen to the living room, if that’s where the kids are hanging out. (It’s 11.4 pounds, so we’re guessing you won’t want to schlep it much farther.) Though we’ve already gotten a sneak peek at the machine, Sony announced today that it will go on sale in the US on October 26th (the day Windows 8 launches), starting at $880.

At that entry-level price, you’ll get a laptop-grade Core i3 processor, 4GB of RAM and a 500GB hard drive, though you can also configure it with i5 and i7 CPUs and an SSD. As the photos suggest, that 20-inch, 1,600 x 900 display can lie flat, which should come in handy with drawing apps and certain games, like jigsaw puzzles. In keeping with that kitchen-friendly, kid-proof theme, Sony’s also billing the display as “drop-resistant” — there’s a rubber seal around the bezel that promises to keep water far, far away from the motherboard. Oh, and though this isn’t exactly a premium desktop, the display at least uses IPS technology, so it’s safe to say you can expect decent viewing angles if you’re crowding around to watch a movie or have the screen lying flat. Rounding out the spec list, the Tap 20 also has built-in NFC, a 1.3-megapixel webcam, dual speakers and a subwoofer.

Software-wise, the Tap 20 comes with Artrage Studio Pro, along with Fingertaps, a Sony-made app that combines drawing functions with to-do lists and reminders, all arranged in a cute clothes-pin-style interface. Head over to the Windows Store and you’ll also find some other Sony apps ready for download, including the Socialife aggregator, Music by Sony, VAIO Movie Creator and Album by Sony (the latter is a photo and video organizer). Again, this thing won’t go on sale for another two weeks, but if you’re curious we’ll point you toward our earlier hands-on post for photos and video.

Continue reading Sony VAIO Tap 20 battery-powered all-in-one arriving this month for $880 and up

Filed under: Desktops, Sony

Sony VAIO Tap 20 battery-powered all-in-one arriving this month for $880 and up originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 11 Oct 2012 19:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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At least in the beginning, most of the made-for-Windows-8 devices you’re going to see will have a very similar form factor — namely, a tablet that slots into a detachable keyboard dock. Sony, though, is taking a different tack: the outfit is ignoring the hybrid trend altogether and will instead sell the VAIO Duo 11, one of a select few slider PCs to hit the market. Though we already got hands-on, we’re just now learning about pricing and availability: the company just announced that the Duo is coming out October 26th (the same day as Windows 8) and will start at $1,100.

That’s a lofty price, to be sure, but with a spec sheet that includes Ultrabook guts, a backlit keyboard, NFC, GPS and a 1080p, IPS, Gorilla Glass display, we don’t see how it could’ve cost much less. Take a gander at the design, and you’ll see it’s mostly made of magnesium alloy and, having handled it ourselves, we can attest to the sturdiness of the hinge mechanism. Compared to other sliders, which often make do with cramped keyboards, this offers a reasonably spacious layout, though it comes at the expense of a trackpad. Indeed, there’s no touchpad here; just an optical pointing stick. (Thankfully, it seems pretty precise.) Additionally, the Duo 11 supports pen input, and comes with a dual digitizer pen that can recognize 256 levels of pressure sensitivity. As a tablet-like device, it has not one, but two cameras, both capturing at 2.4-megapixel resolution.

Continuing our tour of the device, the 2.84-pound system is home to a surprisingly robust collection of ports, including HDMI-out, two USB 3.0 sockets, an Ethernet jack (!), memory card slot, headphone jack and VGA. Yes, VGA. This might be a good time to clarify that Sony envisions this as a machine for road warriors, though it comes not with Windows 8 Professional, but Home Premium. That would also explain the battery situation: in addition to the built-in 4,960mAh cell, it will be offered with an optional slice battery that promises to double the runtime. Bonus: the spare has its own AC port, so you can plug it directly into the outlet. Again, the Duo 11 starts at $1,100 with a Core i3 processor, 4GB of RAM and a 128GB SSD (you can upgrade to a 256 drive and a Core i5 or 7 CPU if you wish). That’s all she wrote for now, but check out our hands-on for more photos and a quick video.

Continue reading Sony’s VAIO Duo 11 Windows 8 slider goes on sale this month, starts at $1,100

Filed under: Laptops, Sony

Sony’s VAIO Duo 11 Windows 8 slider goes on sale this month, starts at $1,100 originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 11 Oct 2012 19:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Rockstar is one of those developers that seems to turn everything it touches into gold. Fans all over the world go nuts for new Rockstar games, and if you haven’t yet experienced how awesome any of the studio’s titles are, allow us to direct your attention to the incoming Rockstar Games Collection: Edition 1. It’s a new retail bundle that brings together four of Rockstar’s most beloved games, and it’s launching next month.

Specifically speaking, Red Dead Redemption, Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City, Midnight Club: Los Angeles Complete Edition, and LA Noire are all included in this bundle. Obviously, two of the games included in this compilation are compilations themselves – Episodes from Liberty City is a collection of two Grand Theft Auto IV expansions, The Ballad of Gay Tony and The Lost and the Damned, while the Midnight Club Complete Edition includes the base game and all of the DLC cars and locations that have been released since the game launched.

It’s a quality collection, to be sure, but chances are you’ve already played some of the games included in it. If you somehow haven’t, then we have to urge you to go pick up this bundle when it launches on November 6 for Xbox 360 and PS3. Even though it costs full retail price – $59.99 – the games included in it are some of the best made this generation (we’re particularly fond of Red Dead Redemption).

Aside from prepping this collection for release, Rockstar is currently working on the long-awaited Grand Theft Auto V. We’ve been given screenshots to drool over and even a trailer here and there, but for the most part, Grand Theft Auto V is still being kept under wraps. We’re anxiously waiting for new details on Grand Theft Auto V, but in the meantime, this new Rockstar Games Collection: Edition 1 should do something to take our minds off the fact that the studio and publisher Take-Two are really, really good at building anticipation.

Rockstar Games Collection bundles fan favorites, out next month is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

If you’re in the market for a laptop that won’t buckle if you start flinging it across the room, Ballmer-style, then Panasonic’s “business ruggedized” Toughbook SX2 might be for you. Resembling one of the company’s Let’s Note units, the 12.1-inch unit boasts of a difficult-to-believe 14.5 hours of battery life, a slim yet sturdy magnesium alloy body and a 3.3 GHz Intel Core i5-3320M Turbo-boosted CPU. It’ll arrive later this month, with the base model making a $2,649 sized hole in your company’s procurement budget — and if you’d like to know more, there’s the obligatory hairy-chested press release after the break.

Continue reading Panasonic releases the Toughbook SX2, a laptop that’ll take no prisoners at the quarterly conference

Filed under: Laptops

Panasonic releases the Toughbook SX2, a laptop that’ll take no prisoners at the quarterly conference originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 11 Oct 2012 18:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If you’re trying to get on Facebook at the moment and the site isn’t cooperating, you’re definitely not alone. The Next Web is reporting that throughout the day, Facebook has gone down in places like Austria, Norway, Germany, Greece, France, Italy, and Sweden. Making things much more interesting is Twitter user AnonymousOwn3r, who is claiming to be the one bringing Facebook to its knees.

If AnonymousOwn3r is telling the truth, then that would mean the now-infamous group Anonymous is behind the Facebook outage. Just a few minutes ago, he tweeted that he’d be halting his attack so people could get back on the social network, but it’s hard to tell if he’s telling the truth. As far as we can see, he hasn’t given a reason for his attack on Facebook, only saying that he tried to carry out the attack yesterday but was unsuccessful.

It seems that he has enjoyed plenty of success today, though, apparently bringing Facebook down across Europe. The Next Web reminds us that this is the same Anonymous member who claimed the attack on GoDaddy last month. That attack brought down millions of GoDaddy-hosted sites and kept them down for hours, effectively making millions of site owners angry in the process.

It seems that this was an attack on Facebook’s DNS servers, as trying to access touch.facebook.com brings up the site with no problems. If AnonymousOwn3r is serious when he says that he’s halting his attack on Facebook (and he’s responsible for bringing Facebook down in the first place), then the service should be coming back across Europe soon. If you live in Europe, do you have access to Facebook yet, or is it still down for you?

Facebook goes down around the world in apparent Anonymous attack is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.