Hasta La Gadget!

With Windows 8.1, Microsoft has pushed out a revamped version of Internet Explorer that is supposed to be significantly faster than its predecessor, not to mention the fact that it claims to be easier on battery life. Fortunately, it appears that the company fully intends to make IE11 available to Windows 7 users as well. While Microsoft opened up about this fact, it wasn’t so keen to offer up any timing expectations. Thus, it’s quite possible that we may not see it show up on Win7 until after it’s had some time to bedazzle those who are already packing the latest and greatest version of Windows.

Filed under: Desktops, Internet, Software, Microsoft

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Liquid-cooled rigs are de rigeur for serious PC gamers, but Maingear knows there are plenty who’d rather crowbar headcrabs than fiddle with plumbing. To that end, the company’s just buttressed its water-chilled desktop lineup with the Epic Series, consisting of the full-tower Force and mid-sized Rush models. Each pack a “BiTurbo” pump design that keeps things cool in the event of a single pump failure, along with the latest Intel 4th-generation Core i7 or AMD FX processors. As for graphics, you’ll get four-way SLI NVIDIA GeForce GTX Titan or Radeon HD 7970 GPUs if you opt for the Force model, while the Rush offers two-way GeForce GTX Titan SLI or dual Radeon HD 7990 graphics. There are also numerous memory, storage and static pressure fans using Corsair parts, and custom touches like lighting and Glasurit paint with an “automotive finish.” Prices start at $3,259 for the Force and $3,059 for the Rush and go way up from there — if that doesn’t phase you, check the source for more.

Filed under: Desktops, Gaming

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Source: Maingear

Yesterday, The Korea Times reported that Samsung was to close its “unprofitable” desktop PC business as “demand for conventional desktop PCs is going down,” according to an unnamed spokesperson. The weirdly written article also quoted another Samsung official saying “tablets, all-in-one and hybrid PCs are Samsung’s current focus,” thus suggesting the company seemed to be singling out desktop PC towers or boxes.

Even though it’s been a while since some of us last saw a Samsung desktop PC tower (the latest models we covered date back to 2006, though there have been more recent efforts), something didn’t smell right here so we reached out to Samsung directly. The response we got was that this rumor is all “groundless,” and the company also specifically said it’ll keep an open mind about its PC tower business. Here’s the full statement:

“The rumor that Samsung is withdrawing from the PC desktop business is groundless. Samsung will continue to offer diverse products according to market needs, including our recently announced ATIV One 5 Style, a stylish all-in-one PC. We will continue to open all possibilities in PC business including our PC Tower business, to satisfy consumer’s diverse lifestyle and needs.”

So in a nutshell: nothing to see here, move along. And technically speaking, the Chromebox kinda counts too, right?

Update: Samsung just informed us that it actually launched a couple of desktop PC towers, the 700T3A and 300T3A, in January this year, but only for the Korean B2C market. We got them pictured after the break.

Filed under: Desktops

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What do you do if your home turf of PC sales is being eroded by tablets? If your answer is “sell tablets as desktops,” then you’re on Meg Whitman’s wavelength. At an event in Beijing, HP announced a 21.5-inch, Android-powered tablet that’s expressly designed as a desktop unit. The HP Slate 21 AIO comes with a full-HD touchscreen and NVIDIA’s Tegra 4 internals, running Android 4.2.2. Prospective owners won’t need to purchase an artists’ easel, however, as there’s a handy rear kickstand that’ll let you stand it upright or at a 30-ish degree angle (pictured after the break), making us hope that its digitizer is sensitive enough for pen-based drawing. There’s no word on pricing or availability, but there’s a press release, translated from Chinese, after the break, if you’d like to know more.

Update: You’ll now find the English-language PR after the break. The unit will launch in the US in September at a starting price of $400.

Filed under: Desktops, Tablets, Google, HP

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Via: CNET

We all aspire to a certain amount of digital desktop cleanliness, but I think rather few of us actually keep up on it. As the days go by, the clutter builds bit by bit, and it’s just irritating enough to be unpleasant, but not a big enough deal to actually clean up.

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