Oct 10
We have seen it during IDF, and now the ACER C720 is officially launched in the USA at an affordable $249.99 price. This 3rd generation Chromebook features Intel’s Haswell architecture (Intel Celeron 2955U) which provides a much better battery life when the processor is idle or performing low-intensity tasks – which is true for a LOT of common tasks these days. Thanks to that upgrade, ACER claims a battery life of about 8.5 hours along with a design that is 30% thinner than its predecessor.
ACER C720 Chromebook Launches At $249.99 original content from Ubergizmo. 
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We’ve told you that this was coming 
Earlier today, we talked about a curved screen Samsung Galaxy smartphone leak [1]. Well, Samsung made its existence official [2], and here are the first images of the Round. They will give you an idea of what the product looks like and illustrates how Samsung intends to use the curved shape. The most important part of the official announcement is the specifications list. Here it is: 
Western Digital (WD) has just launched a new family of “personal cloud solutions” called My Cloud. This consists in new hardware of course, but includes an even more important software solution that lets users access and manage their data from a personal cloud in an easy way. The idea behind My Cloud is that managing a personal cloud based on one of more network attached storage (NAS) devices in your home shouldn’t be more complicated than installing and using an app on your mobile. 
HP is definitely supporting the Android eco-system with a wide range of devices ranging from an affordable 7” to a larger 10” tablet. The Slate 7 is a small tablet that comes bundled with T-Mobile HSPA+ network access data included for 24 months (details TBD) and the same model also works in various places worldwide. Since it is HSPA+ instead of LTE, it is much easier to support worldwide network compatibility. 
We’ve been impressed by HP’s Spectre line up for a while, and this new Spectre 13.3” Ultrabook keeps the flame alive and well. At around 3lbs, it is constructed out of aluminum and feels very high quality when you hold it. For reference, I think that it feels sensibly better than my Macbook Air 13, which is probably the other aluminum design that most people know about.
With the Spectre13 X2, HP aggressively pursues its detachable tablet strategy by deploying a high-quality design based on Intel’s Haswell processor. The Spectre13 x2 comes with a keyboard dock that integrates an additional battery which can push the overall battery life to 10.5 or 11 hours, according to HP, although I have to point out that the company won’t be able to provide final numbers before the final version of Windows 8.1 is in. 
Asus has just unveiled a new product that the company defined as “transformative” for both ASUS and the computer market in general. The Transformer Book T100 is a 10.1” ultralight tablet/laptop “transformer” tablet/computer that is 16% lighter than the iPad as a tablet, and sub-1kg as a laptop with an all-day battery (11h in the best case scenario). ASUS Chairman Jonney Shih has presented the new product to a small press group, and commented “It is truly a game-changer for our mobile lifestyle.”
