Ark PC hits back with their new workstation PC, the BRIGHTON BR-IV4B75M-SQ. Powered by a 3.40GHz Intel Core i7-3770 processor, the system is equipped with an Intel B75 Express Chipset, an NVIDIA Quadro 600 1GB graphics card, an 8GB DDR3 RAM, a 1TB hard drive, an optical drive (can be customized BTO), a 450W 80PLUS BRONZE certified power supply and runs on Windows 8 64-bit OS. The BRIGHTON BR-IV4B75M-SQ is available now for 87,700 Yen (about $945). [Product Page]
ASUS has launched another ATX motherboard namely the F2A85-V. Based on AMD A85X FCH chipset, the board supports for FM2 processors and features four DDR3 DIMM memory slots (up to 64GB RAM), two PCI Express 2.0 x16 slots, two PCI Express 2.0 x1 slots and three PCI slots. Connectivity-wise, it has seven SATA 6.0 Gbps, one eSATA 6.0 Gbps, four USB 3.0, ten USB 2.0 and Gigabit Ethernet. The F2A85-V retails for 14,000 Yen (about $151). [ASUS]
Talk about the post-PC area all you like, but some good old-fashion stationary PCs can be pretty damn cool in their own right. This slick, fanless HTPC put together by Jeffrey Stephenson is a perfect example. More »
On its launch day, the Microsoft Surface Pro has been announced as “sold-out”. There were the occasional lines in front of Microsoft stores, and it wasn’t hard to find excited customers on the web. However, it is just impossible to tell at this point if the fact that it is sold-out is the result of high-demand, or short-supply. Overall, I really see why a certain crowd of ultra-mobile users would want one: it is a real PC, yet has a smaller footprint than 11″ laptops and weigh only 2 lbs, which is about 0.5 lbs more than an iPad. Others people complain that the Surface Pro has too little storage (83GB of actual user storage after accounting for pre-installed software and OS on the 128GB version, there’s a 64GB version with about 30GB left for the user), or that the battery life is too low (we estimated it to be 6h at best, and half that for watching online movies). If you are still on the fence, I would recommend reading our surface pro complete review, and form your own opinion based on our real-world usage. Weeks from now, we will know what “sold out” really meant. If you look in the past, the Surface RT was also “sold out” initially, but Microsoft said later that its start was rather modest, so take the hype with a grain of salt.
By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Surface Pro Photoshop Support: Status Update, Including The iPad, Report Claims Apple Owns 20.1% Of The PC Market,
Tsukumo Japan has dropped another slim desktop PC into the market. Called the RS1J-A43 / E, the system sports a 2.60GHz Intel Celeron G1610 processor, an Intel H61 Express Chipset, a 4GB DDR3 RAM, a 500GB hard drive, a DVD Super Multi Drive, a 300W power supply and runs on Windows 8 64-bit OS with Microsoft Office Personal 2013. The RS1J-A43 / E retails for 57,980 Yen (about $619). [Product Page]
Here’s the latest mini-ITX motherboard from Gigabyte, the GA-B75N. Based on Intel B75 Express Chipset, the board supports for Intel LGA1155 processors and features two DDR3 DIMM memory slots (up to 16GB RAM) and one PCI-Express 3.0 x16 slot. In terms of connectivity ports, it has one SATA 6.0 Gbps, three SATA 3.0 Gbps, four USB 3.0, six USB 2.0 and two Gigabit Ethernet. The GA-B75N will become available in early February for around 9,500 Yen (about $101). [Product Page]
Check out this newly launched desktop PC from Storm System Technology, the Storm Graphica LS. Specs-wise, the system is packed with a 3.30GHz Intel Core i3-3220 processor, an Intel B75 Express Chipset, a NVIDIA Quadro 410 graphics card, a 4GB DDR3 RAM, a 500GB hard drive, a DVD Super Multi Drive, a 500W 80PLUS BRONZE certified power supply and runs on either Windows 7 or 8 OS. The Storm Graphica LS is available now for 66,990 Yen (about $718). [Product Page]
Axiomtek has unveiled another one of its upcoming mini-ITX motherboard, the MANO831. Based on Intel NM10 chipset, the board is equipped with a 1.86GHz Intel Atom D2550 processor, two DDR3 DIMM memory slots (up to 4GB RAM), a PCI slot and a mini PCI-Express slot. In terms of connectivity ports, it has two SATA 3.0 Gbps, seven USB 2.0 and two Gigabit Ethernet. Pricing and release date are still unknown at the moment. [Axiomtek]
With the power and capabilities of our tablets these days, would it be fair to compare them to PCs? Well research firm Canalys seems to think so, and according to their latest report which combines the sales of Apple computers and tablets, Apple has roughly sold about 27 million computers during Q1 2013, owning 20.1% of the PC market which leads Canalys to dub Apple as the largest PC maker in the world. However it should be noted that other research firms like IDC and Gartner distinguish between the PC and tablet market, so really we guess it’s just a matter of perception.
To put this into context, rival firms like Lenovo managed to sell 14.8 million PCs, while HP shipped 15 million, giving them 11% and 11.2% of the market share respectively. Samsung’s combined PC and tablet sales gave them 9%, while Dell on the other hand managed 9.7 million desktops shipped, giving them about 7% of the market. What do you guys make of this? Do you think it’s fair that tablets are lumped together with PCs, especially since a lot of people are starting to use tablets for productivity purposes, web surfing, reading and even gaming?
By Ubergizmo. Related articles: ITC rules that Apple did not violate Motorola’s patent, remands case back to judge, The AmpliTube Slash is endorsed by Slash with his own pedals and amplifier effects, 
Linux users probably have their own productivity suites which act as replacement or substitutes for Microsoft Office, but if you’re a Linux user and you just love the functionality and features of Microsoft Office, there are rumors suggesting that Microsoft could be working on porting their Office productivity suite onto the Linux platform come 2014. This rumor was thanks to a “source” who some speculate might be one of Microsoft’s open source developers, and they claim that Microsoft is taking a “meaningful look” at releasing a full Linux port of Microsoft Office in 2014.
Considering that this is rather sudden and there has been no evidence or reason for Microsoft to do so in the past, what gives? Apparently this is because Microsoft has seen Linux become more commercially viable and what better way to spread your brand around than by creating software for rival platforms. After all, Microsoft has released Office for Mac OS X, so Linux might not be such a stretch of the imagination after all. It also seems that the port to Linux might not be as hard as one might think because if you recall, last year we reported on a rumor that Microsoft Office for iOS and Android was a possibility, and since Android is a Linux-based OS, a lot of work would have already been done. What do you guys think? Is this a possibility or is it completely ridiculous?
By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Including The iPad, Report Claims Apple Owns 20.1% Of The PC Market, Teen Quits Facebook For $200, 
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