Hasta La Gadget!

Well, this has got us scratching our collective heads. Yesterday, Google was fairly certain that its latest and greatest Chromebook would be a WiFi-only affair. Today, however, and a listing has appeared on the company’s official website and Amazon that shows a 3G-enabled version is available for $329.99. Neither site mentions network options, so presumably you get the same 100MB a month for two years Verizon data that its brethren receive — and given that we described it as being “80 percent of the MacBook Air experience for a quarter of the price,” the 3G version seems well worth the extra $80.

Filed under: Laptops, Samsung, Google

Listing reveals 3G version of new Chromebook on the way for $329.99 originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 19 Oct 2012 03:37:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Google just launched the latest iteration of its Chrome OS-based laptop here in San Francisco — the $249 (or £229, for those in the UK) 11.6-inch Samsung Chromebook. It’s ARM-based (fanless), 0.8-inches thick, weighs only 2.43 pounds, runs 6.5+ hours on battery, boots in under 10 seconds and supports 1080p video playback. Pre-orders start today at Amazon and PC World, and the laptop includes Google Now integration using Google Drive as a transport and comes with 100GB of free storage for two years. It will be available for sale on the Play Store and featured prominently at retailers like Best Buy, and naturally, we’re expecting this one to make a bigger splash than prior models based on the bargain bin price alone.

Under the hood, there’s a dual-core A15-based Samsung Exynos 5 Dual (5250) SoC, 2GB RAM, 16GB of built-in flash storage, WiFi a/b/g/n and Bluetooth, all of which should act to give this Chromebook a lot more oomph compared to slower, earlier models. Other specs include a 1366 x 768 native screen resolution, a USB 3.0 port, a USB 2.0 socket, combo headphone / mic jack, an SD card slot and a “full-size Chrome keyboard.” Hit up the links below for the nitty-gritty, or hop on past the break for a promo vid.

Update: Our hands-on with the new Chromebook is live!

Continue reading Google launches 11.6-inch ARM-based Samsung Chromebook: $249, ultrathin, 6.5-hour battery, 1080p video

Filed under: Laptops, Google

Google launches 11.6-inch ARM-based Samsung Chromebook: $249, ultrathin, 6.5-hour battery, 1080p video originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 18 Oct 2012 12:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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In a press release earlier today, Toshiba announced that it is now accepting pre-orders for its Windows 8 PCs, which will start shipping October 26th when Windows 8 is released. The company’s Windows 8 PC array ranges from budget models to ultrabooks to gaming machines and desktops. Not interested in pre-orders? The devices will also be available in stores on the 26th.

The Windows 8 array is comprised of the Satellite S Series, P Series, L Series, C800 Series, U Series, the Qosmio X875, as well as two All-in-One desktop models, the LX815 and the LX835. According to the press release, the new laptops are Windows 8 optimized, featuring touchpads with Windows 8 gesture support and the Toshiba Desktop Assist utility, which is similar to the Start menu found in Windows 7. This utility is designed to help consumers who are new to Windows 8 adjust to the new layout.

The S Series Satellite S800 laptop offers SRS Premium Sound HD audio, up to 1TB of storage, USB Sleep and Charge, up to 8GB of RAM, an optional Blu-Ray player, and a brushed aluminum finish. Processor options include 3rd gen Intel Core options and AMD A-series Accelerated Processing Units, with an AMD Radeon HD 7570M graphics card option featuring up to 2GB of DDR3 memory. The 15.6-inch model starts at $699.99, while the 17.3-inch model starts at $749.99. The S955 model has similar offerings in a sub-1 inch body with a 15.6 inch screen, starting at $649.99.

Next up is the Qosmio X875, a machine for gamers with an Intel Core i7 processor, up to 32GB of RAM, and an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 670M with 3GB of GDDR5 discrete memory. The display is a 17.3 inch HD+ TruBrite panel, or, depending on your configuration, a 3D-ready 1080p HD display with NVIDIA 3D Vision 2 Kit with Lightboost. Price starts at $1,479.99.

Other models now available for pre-order include the P Series P800 (15.6″ at $$799.99, 17.3″ at $929.99), the L Series L800 ($579.99 to $629.99) and L950 (starting at $579.99), the C855 (starting at $379.99) and C875 (starting at $499.99), the U Series U925t (starting at $1,149.99), the U945 (starting at $699.99), and the U845W (starting at $1,049.99). The All-in-One LX815 starts at $699.99, while the LX835 starts at $849.99.

Toshiba now accepting pre-orders for Windows 8 PCs is written by Brittany Hillen & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

You know what they say: “Bigger is better.” That’s why the average screen size for most devices has only been rising the past few years or so. Devices such as desktop monitors, televisions, smartphones, GPS devices, and even portable media players have seen a rise in the average screen size, but laptops sadly don’t share the same statistic.

A study from NPD DisplaySearch shows that the diagonal length of displays on electronic devices and even public signboards is increasing. Smartphones, specifically, will see a whopping 38% increase in screen size by 2013 based on data that dates back to 2010. This isn’t too surprising, since the popularity of 5-inch “phablets” is rising fairly quickly.

OLED televisions will see a 267% increase from 2010 to 2013, with the average screen size jumping from 15 inches to a massive 55 inches. Despite the significant jump, this also isn’t too surprising, since OLED technology is still rather new. However, one category that hasn’t seen a rise in average screen size are “mobile PCs,” which consist of laptops, netbooks, Ultrabooks, and tablets.

While that may seem like a surprise, the popularity of smaller form-factor laptops and Ultrabooks has made it so that the screen size usually doesn’t go over 15 inches, and it most likely won’t for some time. It’s the same deal with tablets; anything over 10 inches is considered fairly large and bulky for a tablet.

[via TechCrunch]

Average screen size rising on all devices except “mobile PCs” is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

I’m sitting here, typing this post on my desktop computer, but more and more people are using laptops as their everyday machines. Heck, I use a MacBook Pro to get stuff done whenever I’m not at home. The trouble with laptops is that they can get pretty hot. Here’s a cool laptop stand, that packs down flat for easy travel.

Itamar Neiger’s minimal laptop stand can be made out of plywood or a foamed polymer sheet. The design was conceived to serve two purposes. To give laptops a better angle for typing, and to lift it off the working surface, allowing better ventilation and to prevent overheating.

The stand disassembles neatly and fits into itself, so it’s easy to carry around when you’re on the go. I need one – when can I 3D-print my own?

[via designboom]