Hasta La Gadget!

Don’t look now, but Lenovo just became an industry bellwether. While reporting strong first quarter results that include a record $8.8 billion in revenue and $170 million in profit, the tech giant revealed that its combined smartphone and tablet sales have overtaken those of its PCs. Yes, you read that correctly — the world’s largest PC vendor is now a mobile-first company, unlike previous title holders such as HP. It’s not hard to explain the shift, however. About 42 percent of Lenovo’s total sales come from its native China, where the company’s predominantly Android-based phones and tablets fare very well. The firm’s Windows PCs and tablets are also performing above industry averages, but CEO Yang Yuanqing makes it clear that Lenovo is quickly becoming a “PC Plus” brand — IdeaPads and ThinkPads are just parts of a larger puzzle.

Filed under: Cellphones, Desktops, Laptops, Tablets, Mobile, Lenovo

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Source: Lenovo

Microsoft has announced that Windows 8.1 will be arriving on October 17th (well, in the US, anyway), confirming an earlier rumor of a mid-month launch. For some reason, the company’s specified an exact release time of 12am on October 18th in New Zealand, which is 4am PT or 7am ET on October 17th. At that time, the free update will begin rolling out across local Windows Stores, and will be available “at retail and on new devices” from the 18th onwards, depending on your region. Check out our hands-on and subsequent coverage for an idea of what to expect from the update.

Filed under: Desktops, Laptops, Tablets, Software, Microsoft

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Source: Microsoft

Didn’t snag one of the ROG TYTAN G30s ASUS announced in June? Don’t sweat it because the Taiwanese manufacturer has already one-upped itself, combining the transforming case of last year’s TYTAN CG8890 with the G30’s major features — water-cooled Core i7-4770K, one-touch overclocking, multi-monitor and surround sound support. Just for good measure, an available Nvidia GTX780 can replace the ’30’s GTX 680. Sure, the G70 is Haswell-equipped, but that’s not nearly as impressive as activating “Turbo Gear” on it is: Push a button and the system overclocks, then its side and top panels extend outward automatically, exposing the rig’s 10 fans. How cool is that? As frosty as this tower’s innards we’d imagine. If that wasn’t enough to push you over the edge, it’ll wirelessly charge any Qi-compatible devices you might have as well. This beast of a rig should be available soon at retailers near you, but ASUS hasn’t provided pricing. We’re guessing it’s probably expensive — call it a hunch.

Filed under: Desktops, Gaming, ASUS, NVIDIA

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Via: PC Perspective

Source: Republic of Gamers

Gateway may live in the shadow of its parent company Acer, but it’s getting the spotlight today with refreshed versions of its entry-level PCs. New versions of its 15.6-inch and 17.3-inch NE Series laptops are slimmer than their ancestors, carry Kabini-based AMD A4 and A6 processors and offer up to 1TB of storage. Desktops remain largely the same on the outside, but there’s a few welcome tweaks on the inside. Although the small SX Series isn’t radically different, regular DX Series towers now have the option of a Haswell-era Intel Core i5 alongside recent AMD A-series chips; there’s also a new entry-level version of the One ZX all-in-one that puts a 3GHz Pentium behind the 21.5-inch LCD. Gateway is now shipping the two NE portables at baseline prices of $380 (15.6-inch) and $450 (17.3-inch), while the DX, SX and One Z lines respectively start at $298, $398 and $530. A KX Series of desktop displays is shipping at the same time, starting at $99 for a 19.5-inch screen.

Filed under: Desktops, Laptops, AMD, Intel, Acer

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Source: Gateway (1), (2), (3)

First, the rough news: AMD saw just $1.16 billion in revenue for its Q2 2013, and actually took a net loss of $74 million (and an operating loss of $29 million). That’s an 18 percent decrease in revenue year-over-year, but CEO Rory Read says that things are looking up. “Our focus on restructuring and transforming AMD resulted in improved financial results,” noting that AMD “expects significant revenue growth and a return to profitability in the third quarter.”

That’s a pretty bold statement given the continued decline in the PC market, but the outfit’s graphical department seems to be doing fairly well. In fact, AMD’s Graphics reportable segment has been renamed Graphics and Visual Solutions, and the outfit gleefully points out that AMD silicon is baked inside of the Wii U, Sony’s upcoming PlayStation 4 and Microsoft’s Xbox One. What isn’t precisely clear, however, is the expected market change that’ll finally turn the tide for AMD — the world’s watching for Q3, folks.

Filed under: Desktops, Laptops, AMD

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Source: Marketwire, AMD