Hasta La Gadget!

Guess what, Wintel loyalists? “Apple’s” Thunderbolt I/O port is coming your way. If you’ll recall, Thunderbolt was actually built with Intel’s collaboration (Light Peak, anyone?), and sensibly, the chip giant is now making it possible for the port to appear on non-Mac machines. The news was just broken here at IDF, where a Haswell-based machine was briefly teased with a heretofore unpossible T-bolt port. Mooly Eden, vice president and general manager of the PC Client Group, was on-stage to showcase six pre-production Ultrabook designs (all based on 3rd generation Intel Core processors), but stopped short of telling us exactly when the Thunderbolt I/O port would make its debut on commercially available rigs (Acer and ASUS are onboard for a 2012 launch!). Naturally, we’re hoping it’s sooner (tomorrow) rather than later (the 2013 launch of Haswell).

Update: Video of the unveiling is now embedded after the break!

Continue reading Intel: Thunderbolt coming to PCs, prototype shown at IDF 2011 (update: video!)

Intel: Thunderbolt coming to PCs, prototype shown at IDF 2011 (update: video!) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 14 Sep 2011 13:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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You can go ahead and add Acer and ViewSonic to Microsoft’s long list of patent licensees. This morning, Redmond announced a pair of new licensing agreements with the two companies, just a few months after striking similar deals with Itronix and Velocity Micro. Details, however, are few and far between, with Microsoft saying only that it will receive royalties from ViewSonic and that the patents in question pertain to both companies’ Android tablets and smartphones. Of course they do. Both press releases await you, after the break.

Continue reading Microsoft adds Acer, ViewSonic to patent licensing list

Microsoft adds Acer, ViewSonic to patent licensing list originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 08 Sep 2011 09:27:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We weren’t exactly thrilled with Acer’s 10.1-inch Iconia Tab A500, but that hasn’t stopped Gateway from re-skinning the Honeycomb slate and claiming it for its own. Appearing to be a re-branded versions of the A500, the Gateway A60 comes with 16GB of built-in storage, 1GB RAM, a dual-core 1GHz Tegra 2 processor, a five megapixel rear-facing camera and front-facing two megapixel snapper, 802.11b/g/n WiFi connectivity and the list goes on. Just like its brother from another mother, this Gateway will set you back $399, and while we can’t guarantee that it will perform the same, we’d suggest taking a look at our A500 review before shelling out those clams.

[Thanks, Bir Bikram Dey]

Gateway TP Series A60 tablet pops up at Future Shop, cops Iconia Tab A500’s style originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 05 Sep 2011 09:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If you haven’t heard, Acer’s gone and (officially) jumped on the Ultrabook bandwagon, announcing the 13mm-thin Aspire S3. We’re here live at IFA in Berlin and just got some much-anticipated hands-on time. At the press conference that just wrapped, we were treated to a raft of promises — seven-hour battery life, 1.5 seconds to resume from sleep, two to connect to a wireless network and “no compromise” performance courtesy of ultra low voltage Core i3, i5 and i7 processors. So did our first impression come anywhere near matching the hype? Read on to find out.

Continue reading Acer Aspire Ultrabook S3 hands-on (update: video!)

Acer Aspire Ultrabook S3 hands-on (update: video!) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 02 Sep 2011 05:20:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We caught a sneak peek of Acer’s Aspire 3951 Ultrabook in the wild a few days ago, and now we have some unofficial specs and pricing to complement the svelte laptop. A report over on Notebook Italia points to an Italian retailer’s live pre-order page for an Ultrabook S3 — naming that matches the Aspire S branding on the company’s IFA booth. The notebook, listed as retailing for around 786 euros (or $1,133), is purported to include a Core i5 processor, 4GB RAM, 320GB of storage and an additional 20GB SSD. Much has been made of ASUS’ and Intel’s desire to hit the Ultrabook market at a sub-$1000 price point and, currency conversion aside, it’s looking like Acer could also hit that target for its planned 13.3- and 11-inch ultraportables. With the Taiwanese electronics maker’s official IFA presentation just two days away, expect to get the full skinny on these anorexic notebook entries.

Acer’s Ultrabook S3 up for pre-order on Italian site, is this the Aspire 3951? originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 31 Aug 2011 13:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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