Hasta La Gadget!

When it comes to keyboards for gamers and touch typists, many people prefer the old-fashioned mechanical keyboard. Most of the keyboards we use today feature membrane keys that don’t have the same sort of click as old-school fully mechanical keys. Gaming peripheral manufacturer CM Storm has announced the launch of the new mechanical keyboard called the QuickFire Stealth.

The Stealth part of the name comes in the fact that the keys have no letters and numbers printed on the key tops themselves. The letters, numbers, and symbols are printed on the front of the keys are you can see them from an angle but not directly from the top. The keyboard uses CherryMX switches and features a compact 10-key design.

The keyboard uses four different CherryMX mechanical switches including red, blue, brown, and green. The green version of the switches are exclusive to the CM Storm and each color switch offers a different tactile feel. All of the mechanical key switches rated for 50 million keystrokes. By printing the letters and other symbols on the front edge of the key tops rather than on the top flat surface, the symbols should never wear off.

The keyboard connects to a computer using USB and features adjustable repeat rate shortcuts allowing for more efficient typing and faster game commands. The keyboard features a two-year warranty and is available online now. The keyboard sells for $94.99 directly from Cooler Master.

[via Cooler Master]

Cooler Master unveils CM Storm QuickFire Stealth keyboard is written by Shane McGlaun & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

USB drives come in all shapes and sizes. Unfortunately, not all of them can be labeled. Whether you want to put on a name label or indicate what type of files are inside, you often won’t be able to do so because the drives are usually too small to fit a label on.

One option would be these fun-looking and uber-colorful drives.

They’re from FormURLife, where you can buy these unique and personalized USB drives that’ll let you easily distinguish which USB drive is yours, since you can have it spell out your name. They also help in organizing your drives based on their contents.

Whatever you want your USB drive to spell out, they can make it happen. The only limitation is that you can choose only up to 10 characters – but that shouldn’t be too hard. They also state that some of the designs may be fragile, so you’ll need to be careful not to toss around your drive too much.

You can also go with the Shift USB drive, which offers the option to have your name spin or slide inside of the drive – though it’s limited to 8 characters.

The drives are available in 8GB, 16GB, and 32GB capacities. They’re priced at $36, $42, and $50 (USD), respectively.

[via Gadgets Matrix]

If you thought that the 5.5-inch Samsung Galaxy Note II wasn’t big enough for your needs, then you’ll be happy to learn that the Samsung Galaxy Mega takes it up a few notches with its 6.3-inch screen, begging the question – when does a phablet simply become a tablet? I guess when it doesn’t make phone calls.

The Samsung Galaxy Mega comes in two versions, a 5.8-inch and the 6.3-inch.

The smaller version has a 1.4GHz dual-core processor, 1.5GB of RAM, 8GB of storage which is expandable via microSD, an 8MP rear-facing camera and a 1.9MP front-facing camera. The battery is 2,600 mAh. Screen resolution isn’t as high as the Galaxy Note II, at 960 × 540 (vs 1280 × 720 in the Note II). The battery is also smaller than the Note II, which has a 3,100 mAh capacity.

The 6.3-inch monster has a 1280 × 720 resolution, 1.7GHz dual-core processor, 1.5GB of RAM, 8GB of storage and the same cameras. Its battery is 3,200 mAh, besting the Note II – though with a larger screen, it’s likely to consume more power. Both phones run Android 4.2 Jelly Bean and include all of the new features Samsung announced for the Galaxy S4.

The unlocked 6.3″ Galaxy Mega is listed for pre-order in Europe for €699 (~$915 USD), and will gradually be available in other markets, presumably with price breaks if you sign up with a mobile contract.

Soon enough, people will be walking around with 6- to 8-inch devices as their phones, looking completely ridiculous. And if you’ve got small hands, you probably won’t be interested in one of these.

[via Samsung & Ubergizmo]

When it comes to controlling a computer from across the room, such as your home theater PC, finding a place to use a traditional mouse can be a challenge. The problem with using a mouse from the couch is that you often end up having to lean forward and use it on the coffee table or the curved arm of your couch, which doesn’t always work well. Genius previously offered the original Ring Mouse and the company has announced an updated version.

The new version is called the Ring Mouse 2 and Genius says it’s a cutting-edge ring style touch air mouse. The mouse is designed to be worn on the finger and can be used by business travelers, HTPC users and more. The ring section of the mouse is made from a flexible rubber material allowing it to attach securely to your finger during use.

The Ring Mouse 2 is also easy to remove and compact enough to fit in a pocket and have it ready to go whenever you need it. The mouse uses touch control technology on top allowing you to slide your finger on the touch panel allowing you to navigate web pages and documents. Cursor controls is done using the in-air mouse functionality.

The Ring Mouse 2 has left, middle, and right buttons and also supports the ability to drag and four-way scroll. Power for the mouse comes from an internal rechargeable lithium-ion battery. Connectivity between the mouse and the computer is supported via a small nano adapter using 2.4 GHz technology. Wireless range is up to 10 m. The mouse comes in silver or titanium colors. Pricing and availability are unknown at this time.

[via Genius]

Genius unveils wearable Ring Mouse 2 is written by Shane McGlaun & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

If reporting that the entirety of the PC market weren’t enough of a punch in the gut for Microsoft from the analytical group IDC, the suggestion that their newest operating system is to blame really, really is. What you’re about to witness is the continued downfall of the PC industry in the charts of the IDC, this most recent quarter’s report being much worse for ware than we’re sure any of the manufacturers listed would have liked. When your only job is to create PCs and you hoped Windows 8 was going to bring the industry into a shining light, you’re probably not too happy right about now.

As this most recent IDC Worldwide Quarterly PC Tracker report shows, the first quarter of 2013 was not extremely kind to the likes of HP, Lenovo, Dell, Acer, ASUS, and the rest of the bunch. With a total average drop in PC shipments of 13.9%, it’s not appearing too positive for the near future in next-level PC production. That 13.9% drop is compared to the fourth quarter of 2012, while year-on-year the decline was a rather similar -12.7%.

“At this point, unfortunately, it seems clear that the Windows 8 launch not only failed to provide a positive boost to the PC market, but appears to have slowed the market.” – Bob O’Donnell, IDC Program Vice President, Clients and Displays

You’ll find that Lenovo – good ol’ Lenovo – was the only vendor to have stayed flat from the quarter before this one to the one we’ve just completed. Their market share also went up a couple of percentage points while each of the other top-5 groups decreased by at least .2 points of a percentage – that’s Dell hanging in there as well. HP remains on top of the stack with a 15.7% share of the market but was hit hard with a 23.7% drop over the past year.

“While some consumers appreciate the new form factors and touch capabilities of Windows 8, the radical changes to the UI, removal of the familiar Start button, and the costs associated with touch have made PCs a less attractive alternative to dedicated tablets and other competitive devices. Microsoft will have to make some very tough decisions moving forward if it wants to help reinvigorate the PC market.” – Bob O’Donnell, IDC Program Vice President, Clients and Displays

According to the top 5 vendors chart of United States PC Shipments, Apple reaches in for a piece of the pie – as does Toshiba. Here we’ve still got HP up on top, Dell not far behind, and Apple butting heads with Toshiba and Lenovo. Here you’ll find Lenovo once again the only brand of the top five to not have lost market share over the past year with a 13% gain from Q1 of 2012 to Q1 of 2013.

Of course when you average the collection of the top 5 vendors of PCs in the United States, you still get a cool 11% drop this quarter compared to 2012′s Q1. Apple on its own also lost 7.5 points year-on-year in this market, still running strong with an estimated 1,418 units shipped in Q1 2013.

Have a peek at the timeline below for other recent IDC reports to see how the mobile and desktop PC universes are making their time here as we roll into the spring of 2013.

[via IDC]

PC market tumbles as IDC points at Windows 8 is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.