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Dec 14

Dell Venue Pro apparently delayed again, targeting January now (update: Dell ‘looking into’ delays)

Posted in: delay, Today's Chili, windows phone 7, WindowsPhone7, Wp7

We’d been following this story for a few days and holding off on calling it a delay since even the quickest orders weren’t expected to arrive in owners’ hands until today, but would-be Venue Pro owners now seem to be getting emails directly from Dell that their orders have been officially delayed until early January. The reason for the delay is anybody’s guess, but it’s an open secret that Dell’s been having quality control issues on the Venue Pro through its ODM, Qisda — and we’ve already seen issues with WiFi (allegedly a software issue alone), mislabeled batteries, and SIM card registration in the field. We’ll be keeping our fingers crossed that some miracle gets the early orders delivered sooner than 2011, because seriously, we can think of a few nerds that would love one of these bad boys in their stockings this year. Launch bugs are a serious bummer, aren’t they?

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Update: We’ve just gotten an official statement from Dell on the matter — it doesn’t really clarify anything, but at least they’re acknowledging the situation:

“Dell continually monitors its manufacturing and supply for all its products. We are looking in to potential ship date changes and will issue an update as soon as it’s available.”

Dell Venue Pro apparently delayed again, targeting January now (update: Dell ‘looking into’ delays) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 14 Dec 2010 13:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Dec 13

Dell ‘Fractal’ workstation designs revealed

Posted in: exclusive, leak, rumor, Today's Chili

Look, we don’t normally get too stoked over workstations, they remind us too much of “work.” Also, “stations.” Still, a chance to see some unreleased workstations from Dell? That actually look pretty sweet? Sure, we’ll go in on that. A tipster found these “Fractal design language” renders just floating helplessly around the internet and forwarded them over. They presumably relate to the upcoming Precision T7600, T5600, and T3600 lines (refreshes for the T7500, T5500, and T3600, respectively). One of Dell’s favorite design houses is responsible for the images, but that doesn’t necessarily mean the final products will look like this. We also don’t know anything about internals, but it seems like a brand new look would fit with those brand new Sandy Bridge chips Intel is about to push out. Oh man, CAD is gonna be so much fun next year.

[Thanks, Stephen F.]

Gallery: Dell ‘Fractal’ Precision T7600 designs

Gallery: Dell ‘Fractal’ Precision T5600 and T3600 designs

Dell ‘Fractal’ workstation designs revealed originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 13 Dec 2010 20:42:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Dec 13

Microsoft to demo new slate PCs, Windows 8 tablet functionality at CES?

Posted in: intel atom, IntelAtom, Microsoft, samsung, steve ballmer, tablets, Today's Chili, windows 7, windows 8, Windows7, Windows8

The CES 2010 Ballmernote has become something of a black mark for Microsoft — the company’s delivered almost nothing in the year after Steve demoed the HP Slate and talked about future Windows 7 Slate PCs — but as one would assume, Redmond’s expected to pick up right where it left off in just a few weeks at CES 2011. According to the New York Times, Microsoft’s prepping to explain how it will target the iPad with the help of a number of partners, including Samsung and Dell. While the article is quite vague, it looks like the keynote will include a few new tablet demos, including one of a new Samsung device that sports a “slick” slide out keyboard — we’d put money on that being the 10.1-inch Gloria. The Times says the Samsung tablet (not to be confused with the Samsung Galaxy Tab) will run some sort of software layer when “the keyboard is hiding and the device is held in portrait mode,” but Microsoft’s is also reportedly eschewing a central app store for native tablet apps and instead encouraging software companies to build HTML5 -based web apps. That certainly sounds a lot Google’s Chrome strategy (and a strategy that could backfire since HTML5 apps will work on Chrome OS devices and iPad equally well), but the Times‘ source didn’t know if these “apps” would be ready for CES as they are “still in production.”

As far as we can tell, a lot of this is still built upon Windows 7, but it’s also rumored that the Redmond gang will tease Windows 8 on stage — something that sounds extremely plausible to us, since we’ve heard from numerous sources that Microsoft’s real tablet strategy will rely on Windows 8 and a new all-touch interface that the company has been working incredibly hard on. While Windows 8 isn’t due out until the later half of 2011 / early 2012, Ballmer would do well to use his CES time to tell us about Microsoft’s “riskiest” product bet and finally do something to address Microsoft’s notable absence from the modern tablet market. Of course, nothing’s for sure, except for the fact that we’ll be there, providing live coverage of the entire thing.

Update: We’ve been thinking about it (as well as keeping an ear on our chatty Tweeps) and there’s also a chance that Microsoft could show off its own Windows 7 software layer for tablets. Either way, we’re hoping to get some major answers.

Microsoft to demo new slate PCs, Windows 8 tablet functionality at CES? originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 13 Dec 2010 20:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Dec 09

Major tech manufacturers to drop VGA by 2015, Apple wonders what took ’em so long

Posted in: AMD, intel, lenovo, LG, PC, samsung, Today's Chili

A syndicate of consumer electronics titans including AMD, Dell, Intel, Lenovo, Samsung and LG announced this week that its products will collectively drop support for VGA by 2015. Saying sayonara to the 20+ year-old analog technology is pretty self explanatory to us in this day and age, but the council of doom apparently felt compelled to cite DisplayPort’s and HDMI’s benefits of increased energy efficiency, smaller size and support for higher-resolutions as proof the move wasn’t personal — just business. AMD plans to lead the charge by starting the VGA removal process in 2013 and even intends to go the extra mile by stripping DVI-I and low voltage differential signaling technology (LVDS) support too. We definitely side with AMD’s desire to focus on cutting edge standards like Displayport 1.2 and HDMI 1.4a sooner, but if plenty of lead time and “going green” excuses help everyone else involved in the sentencing sleep better at night, then so be it.

Continue reading Major tech manufacturers to drop VGA by 2015, Apple wonders what took ’em so long

Major tech manufacturers to drop VGA by 2015, Apple wonders what took ’em so long originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 09 Dec 2010 10:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Dec 08

Day Before Vista Launch Rundown

Posted in: Apple, Microsoft, Screenshots, Software, Today's Chili, Windows, Windows Vista

This article was written on January 29, 2007 by CyberNet.

It’s the day before the official consumer launch of Vista, and as expected, there are a few Vista related items in the news. Here’s a quick rundown…

–New Windows Homepage Launched–

Microsoft is preparing themselves for the release of Vista by launching a new Windows homepage with a complete new look. This site also replaces the previous www.windowsvista.com site which was the place for all Vista related information.

They proudly display the new Vista Orb along with their slogan, “The “Wow” starts now.” You’ll notice glass effects, and a Windows Media player 11 -like main menu. You’ll also find a lot of helpful information there that will help you determine if Vista is right for you computer, and if so, which version you’d want. Helpful links:

Source: MsTechToday

–New Vista PCs with Backlit Orbs–

While this may seem a little ‘Appleish’ with the backlit orb proudly displayed on the casing, these custom built PCs were given to some of Microsoft partners (most likely execs) so that they could demonstrate all of the functionality and features of Windows Vista.

Microsoft partnered with ASUS for this one:

Widescreen tablet PC
Runs Vista Ultimate with Aero Glass
Fingerprint scanner
Smart card reader for login
Intel Centrino and Core2Duo technology

While you won’t be finding these for sale anywhere, “it’s a nice example of what PC OEMs can do when motivated,” says Sean Alexander who works for Microsoft.

Source: Addicted to Digital Media [via I Started Something]

–Dell Selling Vista on all but two Machines–

Dell is currently selling Vista on all but two of their machines, and they’ll begin shipping them tomorrow. If you go to Dell.com today to purchase a machine, Vista will be available on every computer except the XPS 710 ($1,999) and the XPS 710 H2C ($5,499). Both of those computers are higher end, and Lionel Menchaca, the Digital Media Manager over at Direct2Dell says that they’re still doing some testing on the high-end graphics card drivers.They will be shipping Vista in English, French, German, Spanish and Japanese, and will be adding other languages over time.

Source: Thanks MetaMan!

–Bill Gates Live Webcast–

Today at 1:45 PST or 4:45 EST, Bill Gates will be hosting a live Webcast from Times Square in New York City.

”The celebration pays tribute to the millions of Microsoft customers, partners and product testers around the world who provided input and feedback on these products — helping Microsoft transform the way people communicate, create and share content, and access information and entertainment in the new digital age.”

Additional information can be found here if you’re interested.

–CyberNet’s Vista Stuff–

We’ve been following Vista since forever now, so it’s only appropriate that we put together our own Vista Review/Guide. Ryan and I spent a good portion of the weekend playing with Vista, and taking lots and lots of screenshots. We’re going for a simple, but complete visual guide. Pictures are always more fun anyways So, expect that tomorrow.

And finally, as our own Vista Launch Day celebration, CyberNet will be giving away one copy of Microsoft Vista Ultimate, and one copy of Microsoft Office 2007 Professional. The contest will start tomorrow (Tuesday) and run until Friday… keep your eye out

Retailers Already Selling Consumer Versions of Vista

Yahoo Messenger for Vista Beta Coming Soon…

How to Get your Free Copy of Office 2007

Microsoft Also Sending Out Limited Edition Vista Kits

Dec 08

Unreleased Alienware M17x spotted running next-gen Intel Sandy Bridge chip

Posted in: AMD, CoreI7, intel, NVIDIA, processor, sandy bridge, SandyBridge, Today's Chili

Intel’s full unveil of the next-gen Sandy Bridge processor line isn’t due until January, but the products are already starting to leak out. The M17x is our second 17-incher (HP’s dv7 being the first), and this time we’ve got in-the-wild shots and benchmarks to chew on. In 3DMark06 a 2GHz Core i7-2630QM machine running Intel’s integrated graphics scored 15,940, while a 2.2GHz i7-2720QM with AMD Radeon HD 6900M graphics nailed a 20,155 mark, and a 2.3GHz i7-2820QM chip paired with a GeForce GTX 460M GPU did 16,957. Of course, these numbers are supremely preliminary, but it sounds like Intel’s integrated graphics are (finally) starting to pull their weight, just like Intel keeps promising. Otherwise, the M17x looks to be mostly unchanged, which is probably good news for gamers, bad news for anyone hoping Alienware would pursue some new sort of “understated” design language in 2011.

[Thanks, vikingrinn]

Unreleased Alienware M17x spotted running next-gen Intel Sandy Bridge chip originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 08 Dec 2010 17:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Dec 08

Michael Dell’s Ubuntu Laptop…a Little Overkill?

Posted in: Today's Chili

This article was written on April 18, 2007 by CyberNet.

Michael Del'sl Laptop

The Direct2Dell blog just posted about a new laptop that Michael Dell has. It is a Dell Precision M90 that is fully tricked out with all of the latest technologies that most of us just dream about. So what kind of specs does this bad boy have? Check them out:

Intel Core 2 Duo T7600 Processor
4GB DDR2 667Mhz DRAM
17″ WXGA+ Widescreen LCD
160GB 7200rpm SATA hard drive
8X DVD +/- RW optical drive
NVIDIA Quadro FX 3500 512MB

Is your mouth watering yet? The picture above is a snapshot of what the laptop looks like along with a configuration that I did with similar specs…resulting in a $4,881 pricetag! Then to top it all off this is the main list of software he has installed:

Ubuntu 7.04 Feisty Fawn
VMWare Workstation 6 Beta
OpenOffice.org 2.2
Automatix2
Firefox 2.0.0.3
Evolution Groupware 2.10

Yep, the laptop costs nearly $5,000 and he is running Ubuntu on it which probably has some of the lowest system requirements when compared to other mainstream operating systems. Of course, if I was the founder of Dell computers I would probably go a little overkill as well.

Oh yeah, and that is just the laptop he uses at home…he actually has 3 laptops and 2 desktops in total:

Dell Precision M90 Laptop
Dell XPS 710 H2C Desktop
Dell XPS M1710 Laptop
Dell Latitude D420 Laptop
Dell Precision 690 Desktop

The Precision M90 got me thinking though. He has Ubuntu installed on it and Dell is supposed to be coming out with computers that offer Linux as a choice for operating systems. One of the OS choices in the Linux survey was Ubuntu, and seeing that it is one of the most popular distributions of Linux it will probably be what is offered on the computers. Does this mean that the Precision M90 will be one of the computers to be offered with Ubuntu? I surely hope that it won’t be the only option because this one has a pretty high starting price ($1650+), but right now that laptop is only selling with Windows.

Man Tries To Contact Michael Dell To Share His Idea

What Would You Like to See in Ubuntu?

Is Dell Getting Closer To Selling Macs?

Dell Finds Success with Ubuntu?

Dec 01

Dell Venue Pro finally available to order: $99 on contract, shipping December 9th

Posted in: breaking news, BreakingNews, launch, Microsoft, pre-order, qwerty, QwertySlider, release, slider, t-mobile, t-mobile usa, T-mobileUsa, Today's Chili, windows phone, windows phone 7, WindowsPhone, WindowsPhone7, Wp7

The much-delayed and much-desired Venue Pro is now finally ready for its proper launch. Dell has begun taking online orders for its first Windows Phone 7 device and prices are set at $99 for the 8GB handset or $149 for the 16GB version — both on two-year contracts with T-Mobile as your carrier — or, alternatively, you can snap them up for $449 or $499, respectively, if you just want the phone by itself. Shipping is promised for December 9th and there’s even free delivery if you have a couple of business days’ worth of patience. So, what are you waiting for?

[Thanks, BeeMichael]

Dell Venue Pro finally available to order: $99 on contract, shipping December 9th originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 01 Dec 2010 08:42:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nov 30

Venue Pro makes brief appearance on Dell’s website: $150 on-contract, December 14th launch?

Posted in: Today's Chili, windows phone, windows phone 7, WindowsPhone, WindowsPhone7, Wp7

There’s no sign left of it now, but it looks like none other than the Venue Pro made a brief appearance on Dell’s website earlier today, complete with a few key details about the device. Namely, that it will apparently run $150 on a two-year contract or $500 off-contract (which is a bit different than the asking price was at Microsoft stores), and that it will start shipping on December 14th. Of course, it’s entirely possible that Dell pulled the page in order to make some changes to those details — and considering the Venue Pro launch so far, that might even be likely.

Venue Pro makes brief appearance on Dell’s website: $150 on-contract, December 14th launch? originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 30 Nov 2010 17:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Electronista | source Pocket Now, Dell (inactive) | Email this | Comments

Nov 30

Dell Inspiron Duo review

Posted in: laptop, netbook, review, tablet, Today's Chili, video

When Dell first demoed the Inspiron Duo and its vertically rotating screen on stage at IDF in September, our mouths nearly hit the floor. It looked like a plain old netbook until its 10.1-inch capacitive touchscreen did a magical backflip and folded down over its keyboard to morph into a tablet. It was like nothing we’d ever seen before. And we actually figured it would be the sort of system that would stay locked up in Dell’s labs, but when its specs were revealed — a dual-core Atom N550 processor, 2GB of RAM, and Broadcom Crystal HD accelerator — it became evident that the netbook / tablet hybrid was the real deal. Running Windows 7 Home Premium and Dell’s new Stage interface, the $550 netvertible has the potential to successfully straddle both the netbook and tablet world. It also has a real shot at being the perfect device for those wavering between buying a netbook and a tablet. Indeed, the Duo is filled to the brim with potential, but what’s the thing really like to use? We’ve spent the last few days with the Duo (and its Duo Audio Station) to find out, so hit the break for the official Engadget review!

Editor’s note: The review unit Dell sent us was a hardware production unit, but we were told the software was about 95 percent done. We will update this review with our impressions of the final unit when we receive it.

Gallery: Dell Inspiron Duo review

Continue reading Dell Inspiron Duo review

Dell Inspiron Duo review originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 30 Nov 2010 15:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Hasta La Gadget!

Dell Venue Pro apparently delayed again, targeting January now (update: Dell ‘looking into’ delays)

Dell ‘Fractal’ workstation designs revealed

Microsoft to demo new slate PCs, Windows 8 tablet functionality at CES?

Major tech manufacturers to drop VGA by 2015, Apple wonders what took ’em so long