Hasta La Gadget!

Bill Gates conducted a Reddit AmA today (Ask me Anything) to talk about developments with his charity, as well as answer question on his past as Microsoft CEO. Gates provided a ton of insight on his Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the progress its making towards providing vaccines for various illnesses. However, when asked what devices he uses, he decided to snap a quick photo of his Perceptive Pixel 80-inch touchscreen, for which he actually used for his AmA.

Of course, Microsoft bought Perceptive Pixel over the summer last year, so it makes sense that Gates is technically using a Microsoft Product, considering how loyal he is with the company. The former CEO is also using a new Surface Pro tablet, which he received “a week ago,” meaning that he got his personal unit before anyone else.

Gates also noted that these big-screen Perceptive Pixels “will come down in price over time and be pervasive,” according to his own predictions. Of course, we’d love to see that happen, and hopefully we’ll see these things in more homes as the years pass, but for now, it looks like Gates will be stealing all of the big touchscreen glory.

Other than that, Gates answered a ton of questions, and while most of them were about his philanthropy work, he did discuss what he thought the future would hold as far as technology was concerned. Gates says that “robots, pervasive screens, and speech interaction” are some of the emerging technologies he thinks will create a lot of buzz within the next few years.

Bill Gates shows off his 80-inch Perceptive Pixel display is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
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Everybody loves a good paper airplane, but the problem is they only fly straight, and that’s only so much fun. Well, that about to be a problem of the past. Thanks to the Power Up 3.0, you can not only outfit your paper creations with a motor, but steer them directly from your phone. More »

Before we talk about the ThinkPad Tablet 2, Lenovo’s new Windows 8 hybrid, we need to talk about the original ThinkPad Tablet, the one that came out in fall of 2011 to mixed reviews. It was an okay device, when push came to shove, with useful features like a full-size USB port, 1080p output and pen support — a rarity on Android tablets. But the tablet itself was bulky, performance was sluggish, battery life was mediocre and there weren’t even that many Android apps designed to be used with a pen. It was a concept that didn’t totally work — at least not with that OS — and indeed, Lenovo’s long since discontinued it.

Fast-forward to the present, and the ThinkPad Tablet’s been resurrected in the form of a 10.1-inch Windows 8 device, one that starts at $579 and can be used with an optional keyboard dock. It’s a much lighter product, at 1.3 pounds (down from 1.58), and although it uses a heavier-duty Atom processor, battery life is said to top out at about 10 hours. (The original lasted eight in our usual test.) Like the OG version, it allows for pen input on select models, but of course, Windows comes ready-made with a larger selection of apps where a pen might actually be useful. So is the second time a charm? In a word, yes.

Filed under: Laptops, Lenovo

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If your 9 to 5 has you yearning for a little more nature while you sit behind a computer screen all day, consider trading up your jungle desktop wallpaper for Daniel Zeller’s custom Terrarium Desk. Tucked away inside is a miniature jungle lit with soft LEDs that’s visible through a plexiglass window on top. More »

A few weeks ago, Microsoft released a new trailer that highlighted some of the features of its upcoming Gears of War: Judgment. One of the nice, little bonuses Microsoft is making available with launch copies of Gears of War: Judgment is including a token that allows players to download the original Gears of War.

If you for some reason need a copy of Gears of War 2 or Gears of War 3, you’ll want to spend your hard-earned gamer dollars at Walmart as they’re offering their customers a choice of either title in addition to their pre-order bonus that will give players access to the Classic Hammerburst assault rifle for multiplayer.

Already own Gears of War 2 and Gears of War 3 and want to play the game as soon as possible? Then you’ll want to check out GameStop’s pre-order bonuses, one of which will allow Gears players to download the game’s multiplayer demo on March 15. Best of all, your rank in the demo will be transferred over automatically to the retail version during Gears of War: Judgment’s launch week.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Next Batman: Arkham Game Expected For 2013 Release, The Last of Us Release Date Delayed Until June 18,