Back on January 28, we heard a rumor that China was considering lifting a ban on gaming consoles, something that was reported by Reuters. It has been six months, and now we’re hearing this again, only the sources claim that the lift will go in effect with a stipulation that game makers must produce the consoles in Shanghai’s free-trade zone.
In the summer of 2000, the Chinese government elected to ban video game consoles due to concern of the effects they could have on the mental health of its young citizens, particularly concerning violent video games. Under the ban, video game consoles can not be sold, with only components being authorized for importing for devices meant to be exported again out of the country.
As such, the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii, and other modern gaming devices have not been officially available in the country. This hasn’t prevented many users from acquiring them anyway, but for more than the last 12 years, those buyers have been required to buy the devices and games off the black market. This will be changing in the near future, assuming the sources are correct.
Said one of the unnamed sources: “[The video game makers] still need approval from the culture ministry and other relevant government bodies for their products, which I think is reasonable, because the government wants to make sure the content of your games is not too violent or politically sensitive for young people.”
As such, it can be expected that some games will be barred from sale in the country, which isn’t surprising. As we mentioned, the game makers – such as Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft – will be required to build their consoles in the Shanghai free-trade zone. Said one of the other sources: “You may think the game console is a small deal in the whole policy package for Shanghai, but it’s an interesting instance showing how China wants to open up to foreign investors.”
If you were looking for a bounce-back in the PC market after a sobering first quarter… well, keep looking. Both Gartner and IDC estimate that shipments fell about 11 percent year-over-year in the second quarter. The two analyst groups blame the decline on sluggish uptake in a few regions, most notably China and Europe, as well as a market that favors tablets over low-end computers. It’s easy to agree after seeing the numbers. Taiwanese PC makers like Acer and ASUS faced steep yearly declines as they switched their attention toward tablets and Ultrabooks, while even top-seated Lenovo took a small bruising.
There’s a silver lining to this cloud, however. Dell, HP and Lenovo all fared much better in the US than they have in recent quarters. Gartner and IDC attribute the resurgence to the corporate world, where the end of Windows XP support in 2014 may be pushing some upgrades to PCs running at least Windows 7. It’s not quite the broader recovery that vendors are hoping for, but it may have to suffice when any help from Windows 8.1 and OS X Mavericks is months away.
The Xbox One has not been having a good time of it. Not long after the console was launched, Microsoft revealed heavy restrictions around sharing games — that is, games could only be transferred once between friends, a one-way, one-time only gift, and lending games was off the table at launch. Users would also be required to connect to the Internet at least once every 24 hours.
Amid massive fan backlash, Microsoft last month announced that it would be reversing these policies. Gamers would be able to trade, lend, resell, and rent games; and the Internet check-in and regional restrictions would be removed.
In return, however, some new features would be lost — notably, the ability to access your digital games library from any Xbox One using your Live log-in details, and the ability to share your digital library with 10 friends.
Now, a new petition has surfaced on Change.org to put the Xbox One back the way it was. Called “… [Read more]
The timelapse of an untouched pair of headphones pretty much goes exactly like this comic. You set them aside totally mindful of the cables, carefully keeping them from each other. You ignore them until you need them again. And then when you pick them up, they’re a tangled mess. Every. Single. Time.
This Apple 1 sold for $387,750 in a Christie's online auction.
(Credit: Christie's)
Instead of paying top dollar for the newest tech products, some people are spending a lot of money on the oldest tech products.
One of Apple’s original computers, known as the Apple 1, sold for $387,750 in a Christie’s online auction on Tuesday. It’s the highest priced item ever sold in one of Christie’s online-only auctions.
The computer was built in Steve Jobs’ parents’ garage and designed by Steve Wozniak. There’s no monitor, but Christie’s says that the device is still functional.
Being touted as a “mini ultrabook” the Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 11S is the latest and greatest to grace the IdeaPad lineup with full-fledged Windows 8 on board. Everything about the Yoga 11 from last year is still present, only we’ve received a huge upgrade to an Intel Core 15 processor (no ARM Tegra 3 here) and dropped Win RT for the full experience. The device is still as portable and impressive as ever, so read on for the rest of our thoughts.
If you’re a fan of the IdeaPad Yoga 11 or Yoga 13, there’s absolutely nothing not to like about the new and improved 11S. It’s faster and better in every way, while keeping true to the original complete with the 360 degrees hinge setup offering multiple viewing modes and usage experiences. Lets take a look.
Hardware
Now before we start on hardware (or anything else for that matter) you’ll want to check out our original Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 11 Review, as it’s the same experience in terms of the general hardware. We’re working with an 11.6-inch 1366×768 resolution HD IPS display, Intel HD Graphics 4000, 8GB of fast DDR3 RAM, 256GB SSD hard drive, and Bluetooth 4.0 on board. Flip it into tablet mode and you’ve got an excellent touch experience, not to mention full out Windows 8.
Just like the original we have Silver Grey, or an epic looking Clementine Orange for color options. Then Lenovo also has two pricing models too. Starting at $749 you get a Core i3 at 1.4 GHz, 4GB of RAM, and 128GB of storage. From there the price bumps to $999 and you get the high-end (although not Haswell) specs mentioned above. Now lets talk about the outside.
Again, nothing’s changed here. We have the same soft to the touch durable materials on the outside and magnesium aluminum frame, followed by a sleek build and chicklet keyboard under the hood. The entire wrist rest area is almost a soft to the touch fabric as well, which has us worried about longevity. On the outside is the power button on front, USB 2.0 on the right and 3.0 on the left (in blue), followed by HDMI out and a 3.5mm headphone jack. Back to the right edge we have a screen orientation lock, SD for expanding on the 256 GB of storage, and the proprietary charging port. Don’t forget your cable or you’ll be sorry out of luck.
Just like our original review, what’s not to love. It’s thin and portable being only 11.73″ x 8.03″ x 0.67″ in size and barely over 3 lbs. We get a solid 6 hours of battery life, and even a 720p front webcam for Skyping with friends and family. It really is the best form factor for a laptop/tablet on Windows 8. The ThinkPad Helix was neat, but a mess to use in real life. The IdeaPad Yoga 11S is more manageable, and more comfortable.
In closing, we absolutely love the hardware. It’s as portable as ever (save for maybe the MacBook Air) lightweight, durable, comfortable, and extremely adaptable to your needs. Being a Lenovo you know the build quality is awesome, as will be the support should you have issues. Our only hardware complaint would be that both USB ports aren’t 3.0, and the keyboard isn’t backlit. That should be standard these days, even at this price point. Oh and one other thing, the display is a bit glossy. We’d love a matte anti-glare option in the future. That aside, we love the Yoga 11S.
Display
As mentioned above, we’re working with an 11.6inch HD display that’s also an IPS panel. That means wide 178 degree viewing angles and excellent color reproduction. Viewing angles were great, colors were vibrant, and blacks were inky black. The overall bezel could be smaller, but then again this form factor is nearly perfect if you ask me.
The touchscreen was smooth, stable, and responsive. Flipping through Windows 8 was easy and extremely accurate, although of course Win 8 could still use a little work in the touch department. Brightness was never a problem outdoors, and our only complaint again would be the glare from this glossy (but beautiful) display.
Software
We really had one complaint when we reviewed the original Yoga 11, and that was obviously the fact that we were stuck with Windows 8 RT and an ARM chip under the hood. No steam games, no latest Win 8 apps, nothing. The watered down experience was a bummer, but Lenovo fixed all that here. While we still are stuck with a slightly outdated Core i5 processor (instead of Haswell) we get full on Windows 8. Perfect!
Unlike the Yoga 11, the 11S is a full Win 8 machine so we were able to run some Steam games, although obviously the integrated Intel 4000 HD graphics can only take you so far. A little Starcraft 2, some old school Counter-strike, and I even played Angry Birds in the Chrome browser while using the 11S in tablet mode.
Lastly, we ran a few GeekBench tests just to check the performance, for those curious. Again, there’s no i7 under the hood, nor do we have an Intel Haswell processor. So the 1.5 GHz Intel Core i5-3339Y Processor did just about as expected. Check em out below for those interested.
Benchmark Score – LENOVO 20246
Section
Description
Score
Total Score
Windows x86 (64-bit) – Microsoft Windows 8 (64-bit)
Integer
Processor integer performance
4001
5321
Floating Point
Processor floating point performance
7016
Memory
Memory performance
5141
Stream
Memory bandwidth performance
4371
System – LENOVO 20246
Manufacturer
Lenovo
Product Type
Notebook
Operating System
Microsoft Windows 8 (64-bit)
Motherboard
LENOVO Yoga2
Processor
Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-3339Y CPU @ 1.50GHz
Processor ID
GenuineIntel Family 6 Model 58 Stepping 9
Processor Frequency
1.50 GHz
Processors
1
Threads
4
Cores
2
L1 Instruction Cache
32.0 KB
L1 Data Cache
32.0 KB
L2 Cache
256 KB
L3 Cache
3.00 MB
Memory
8.00 GB DDR3 SDRAM 799MHz
FSB
99.8 MHz
BIOS
LENOVO 77CN16WW
Overall the i5 handles the full Windows 8 experience just fine. Lenovo’s Yoga 11S is the perfect blend between the bigger Yoga 13, and the underpowered original 11. If you’ve been on the fence, this should help you out.
Battery Life
Now battery life is always a mixed bag here, especially considering the user, his usage, and other variables. As usual we tried to get the estimated 6 hours of battery that Lenovo quotes, but never quite made it. A few times once fully charged the battery lasted under 5 hours, but we did manage a solid 5 hours and 12 minutes with intermittent games, browsing, downloading apps, and watching some Dark Knight Rises.
With the screen turned down to about 40% we managed a solid 5+ hours no matter the usage (except for gaming of course) and felt it was quite decent. Then again, this is where Haswell would really come in handy.
Competition
The options available are pretty open at this point in Windows 8′s life. There’s tons of options available, not to mention the original Yoga 11 for those on a budget. However, we feel the full Win 8 experience is essential to truly enjoy this machine. Others that come to mind would obviously be the MacBook Air, which by the way, recently got upgraded to Haswell, and even the Google Chromebook Pixel.
Now that we have a full Windows 8 build here and a Core i5, we’d put this up against any other Windows 8 machine in the price range in terms of overall usage and functionality. The 360 degrees hinge really comes in handy more than you’d think. The Yoga 13 is another excellent option, but for those on the go the 11S is the clear choice.
Wrap-Up
In closing, we’ve enjoyed using this machine for the past few weeks. The Lenovo Ideapad Yoga 11S has a unique design, and could be one of my favorite hybrid/portables on the market. It’s made for the traveler, and can do it all whether you’re out and about, or sitting on the couch. With Lenovo you know it is top quality, and it shows during daily usage.
The Yoga 11S is one of the most portable and flexible machines on the market, and now that we have full Windows 8 nothing will be slowing you down. Give us a similar design with Haswell and a bigger battery, and we’ll be plenty happy. In the meantime you can’t go wrong with the IdeaPad Yoga 11S. Get one today!
You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours — all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
On a muggy spring day in Manhattan during the throes of the Great Depression, about 200 New York University students shuffled into a room on the 62nd floor of the RCA Building. They were there for a lesson on the principles of photoelectricity, taught by their professor, Dr. C. C. Clark. But strangely, the professor wasn’t there in the room with them. At least not in the flesh.
An alleged Nokia Lumia 1020 full specs list has been posted online. The device is said to have a 1.5GHz dualcore Snapdragon processor as well as 2GB of RAM.
Plus Pool would have a filtration system to clean thousands of gallons of river water per day.
(Credit: Kickstarter)
Although New York is right by the sea, you’re unlikely to go for a dip in the local waterways unless you’re swimming with the fishes. But what if you could cool off in a floating swimming pool with real river water?
That’s the idea behind Plus Pool, a large, cross-shaped pool that you could practice your backstroke in from just above the waves of the East River.
Two years ago, the notion branded as “+ POOL” raised more than $40,000 on Kickstarter, and now it’s about to wrap up a second, bigger campaign that could add $250,000 to the dream of river swimming in the Big Apple.
Here’s the pitch: “+ POOL is designed to filter the very river that it floats in through the walls of the pool, making it possible for New Yorkers to swim in clean river water for the first time in 100 years.
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