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Sep 13

HP Envy Spectre XT review: a sleek and speedy Ultrabook with a killer keyboard

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HP’s Envy 14 Spectre hit almost all the right notes when we reviewed it back in March, thanks to its high-res display, sleek metal-and-glass design and brisk performance, but a stiff trackpad and the steep $1,400 price were clear downsides. The new Envy Spectre XT, a 13.3-inch Ivy Bridge-powered Ultrabook, has a thinner, lighter profile than its big brother, and a lower $1,000 price tag to match. That’s still not chump change, though, so does the XT deserve a spot in the top tier of Intel-approved ultraportables? Join us past the break for the full breakdown.

Gallery: HP Envy Spectre XT review

Continue reading HP Envy Spectre XT review: a sleek and speedy Ultrabook with a killer keyboard

Filed under: Laptops

HP Envy Spectre XT review: a sleek and speedy Ultrabook with a killer keyboard originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 13 Sep 2012 12:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sep 12

Nuance and Intel team on Dragon Assistant Beta for Ultrabooks, Dell XPS 13 to lead the charge

Posted in: Today's Chili

Intel at CES promised a partnership with Nuance to give Ultrabooks a taste of ready-made voice recognition, and we’re finally seeing the results at IDF in San Francisco through the launch of Nuance’s Dragon Assistant Beta. As the name implies, this isn’t just a voice dictation engine like that in Naturally Speaking: chatty users can delegate common tasks like playing music, reading social network updates and searching the web. The beta isn’t immediately available as of this writing, but it should go live soon and will be a core part of of Ultrabook software bundles in the near future, starting with the Dell XPS 13 this fall. We’re wondering why Intel is focusing its Dragon Assistant efforts solely on thin-and-lights — the company still makes money from portlier PCs, after all — but we won’t mind as much given the simultaneous launch of a Perceptual Computing SDK 2013 Beta, which lets developers work Dragon recognition into their own apps. More details await after the break.

Continue reading Nuance and Intel team on Dragon Assistant Beta for Ultrabooks, Dell XPS 13 to lead the charge

Filed under: Laptops, Software

Nuance and Intel team on Dragon Assistant Beta for Ultrabooks, Dell XPS 13 to lead the charge originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 12 Sep 2012 07:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sep 11

Spotted at IDF: NEC’s lightweight LaVie Z Ultrabook (hands-on video)

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Remember NEC’s LaVie Z Ultrabook we first heard about at Computex? It’s a super light (875g / 1.93 lbs) and thin (15mm / 0.59-inch) magnesium alloy system running Windows 7 that’s only available in Japan and we just spotted it here at IDF 2012 in San Francisco. Spec-wise you’re looking at a 1.9GHz third-generation (Ivy Bridge) Core i7 CPU, 4GB RAM, 128GB SSD with integrated Intel HD 4000 GPU driving a 13.3-inch 1600×900-pixel display. It features an SD card slot on the left side, audio, USB 2.0, USB 3.0, HDMI and power connectors on the right edge and the obligatory webcam.

We spent a few minutes using the LaVie Z and were quite impressed with how lightweight and well made it is. It feels like a premium Ultrabook yet still looks unique — unlike the plethora of me-too designs the PC industry’s been dumping on the market lately (yes, we’re looking at you, HP). The screen is nice and bright with decent viewing angles. NEC’s done a good job with the button-less trackpad which is properly responsive. Sadly the keyboard is a bit of a mixed bag — the short travel and small surface area of the individual keys will be an issue for some. Want to know more? Check out the gallery below and hit the break for our hands-on video.

Gallery: NEC LaVie Z hands-on

Continue reading Spotted at IDF: NEC’s lightweight LaVie Z Ultrabook (hands-on video)

Filed under: Laptops

Spotted at IDF: NEC’s lightweight LaVie Z Ultrabook (hands-on video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 11 Sep 2012 18:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sep 10

Western Digital builds 5mm-thick hybrid hard drive, Ultrabook makers sign on early

Posted in: Today's Chili

Those 7mm-thick hard drives you’ve seen in some Ultrabooks are already looking a tad on the chunky side. Western Digital has started producing sample versions of a hybrid hard drive (you’re not yet looking at it here) that measures just 5mm (0.2in) tall, even as it crams in both flash and a 500GB main disk. If you think the slimmer drive is just the ticket for a best-of-all-worlds laptop that’s both fast and capacious, you’re not alone: Acer and ASUS have mentioned their collaboration in the same breath, which may be a strong clue as to where future Aspires and Zenbooks are going. The remaining question is when they arrive. Sampling isn’t the same as mass production, which could leave us with months to go before the 5mm drive lands in future extra-skinny PCs.

Continue reading Western Digital builds 5mm-thick hybrid hard drive, Ultrabook makers sign on early

Filed under: Laptops, Storage

Western Digital builds 5mm-thick hybrid hard drive, Ultrabook makers sign on early originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 10 Sep 2012 14:05:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sep 10

Incase Pathway Bags: Sometimes Being Neutral is a Good Thing

Posted in: Today's Chili

I’ve tried shoulder bags before, but I have to say that I prefer backpacks. They make lugging around a laptop, books, iPad and pencil cases a lot easier in my opinion. However, if you are looking for something more stylish, and that will work in any office, check out Incase’s Pathway bags. They look pretty sleek.

incase pathway shoulder bag collection Incase’s Pathway collection includes folios, totes, sleeves, and bags. They’ve got a pretty timeless look, with a leather strap and cotton twill body. This combination of fabrics is unisex, and the colors are neutral, so they’ll go with whatever you’re wearing this fall.

incase pathway shoulder bag collection open

Pathway collection bags start out at $59.95(USD) for the folios and goes all the way up to $249.95 for the shoulder bag and the tote.

incase pathway collectionjpg

Sep 06

Google Launches Chromebook Rentals

Posted in: Today's Chili

We talked a bit about Google considering offering rental Chromebook computers in the past. Little over a year ago, the topic came up with prices expected to start at about $20 per month. Google has now announced the launch of rentals for Chromebooks and bulk purchases for its Apps customers.

051111 rg GoogleChromebook 01

The catch is that renting a Chromebook is going to cost you more than we thought last year with prices starting at $30 monthly. After renting the machine for the first 12 months, the rental fleet will go down to $25 per month and then for the third year the rental fee will be $20 per month. The rentals are actually being provided by a 3rd-party, CIT, so you’re not dealing directly with Google for the deal. Granted Chromebooks are relatively inexpensive to begin with so an outright purchase makes a lot more sense, in my opinion.

Google also allow people to rent Chromeboxes, the desktop equivalent to the Chromebook. The rental price for the desktop version of the machine is $25 per month with that rate declining to $18 over time. The best news is that these are month-to-month services, so if you’re not sure a Chromebook is for you at least you can try out for a couple months with no commitment. The bulk purchase of Chromebooks is also available at $599 per unit – with support, which seems very expensive for what you’re getting, but maybe it makes sense to corporate clients.

[via TheNextWeb]

Sep 06

Sony VAIO Duo 11 slides its way past the FCC

Posted in: Today's Chili

Sony is clearly bent on getting the VAIO Duo 11 to market on time — just as we’re recovering from our post-IFA jet lag, the Windows 8 slider has popped up for approval at the FCC. The PC put through the wringer is very much like what we saw at the show, with 802.11n WiFi, Bluetooth, NFC and that signature stylus on offer. There’s no sign of 3G or 4G for the road warrior crowd. We don’t have any clues as to the exact US release timing from the FCC’s sign-off, but it does clear a path for an American release side by side with the European model in late October, if Sony yearns for some international synchronicity.

Filed under: Laptops, Tablets

Sony VAIO Duo 11 slides its way past the FCC originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 06 Sep 2012 09:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sep 05

ASUS boasts about AiCloud features in new teaser (video)

Posted in: Today's Chili

Router, Rowter. However you say it, you probably need one, which is why ASUS is temping you toward buying one of its new AiCloud models. The new service is designed to unify your data across devices, letting you share and stream multimedia and documents from PCs to smartphones. You’ll also be able to store files online, remote control your PC from your tablet and create single-click download links to share with your friends. ASUS is so excited about the project that it’s released a new advert telling you all about it, which we’ve included for you after the break.

Continue reading ASUS boasts about AiCloud features in new teaser (video)

Filed under: Internet

ASUS boasts about AiCloud features in new teaser (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 05 Sep 2012 22:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sep 02

OLPC delivers big OS update with text-to-speech, DisplayLink and WebKit

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While most of its energy is focused on the XO-4 Touch, the One Laptop Per Child project is swinging into full gear for software, too. The project team has just posted an OS 12.1.0 update that sweetens the Sugar for at least present-day XO units. As of this latest revamp, text-to-speech is woven into the interface and vocalizes any selectable text — a big help for students that are more comfortable speaking their language than reading it. USB video output has been given its own lift through support for more ubiquitous DisplayLink adapters. If you’re looking for the majority of changes, however, they’re under-the-hood tweaks to bring the OLPC architecture up to snuff. Upgrades to GTK3+ and GNOME 3.4 help, but we’re primarily noticing a shift from Mozilla’s web engine to WebKit for browsing: although the OLPC crew may have been forced to swap code because of Mozilla’s policies on third-party apps, it’s promising a much faster and more Sugar-tinged web experience as part of the switch. While they’re not the same as getting an XO-3 tablet, the upgrades found at the source link are big enough that classrooms (and the occasional individual) will be glad they held on to that early XO model.

Filed under: Laptops, Software

OLPC delivers big OS update with text-to-speech, DisplayLink and WebKit originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 02 Sep 2012 02:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sep 01

Samsung Series 9 WQHD: Hands-on with Sammy’s Retina retort

Posted in: Today's Chili

Samsung normally isn’t shy about showing off its manufacturing prowess, so imagine our surprise to find the company had snuck a super-high-resolution ultrabook onto the IFA show floor. The Samsung Series 9 WQHD ultrabook is billed as a concept right now, but it’s one we’re hoping the Koreans bring to market sooner rather than later: taking pride of place is a 13-inch 2,560 x 1,440 display with a matte finnish, for smooth graphics on a par with the glorious visuals from Apple’s MacBook Pro with Retina Display.

Though the Samsung’s panel doesn’t quite match up to the Retina Mac’s 2,880 x 1,800 resolution, its smaller size means pixel density is almost identical between the two models. The MBPr comes in at 221ppi, whereas the Samsung sneaks ahead at 226ppi (though the difference is, to the eyes, imperceivable).

No matter the stats, Windows 8 looks incredible on a display of that resolution and – as we’ve come to expect from Samsung notebook displays – with such vivid colors and strong brightness. Beyond pixel count specifications were in short supply, but the rest of the machine basically falls in line with 2012 Series 9 notebooks we’ve already seen. That means Ivy Bridge processors and a waifish profile.

Sadly, the detail we were most keen to find out – when we could expect to see the Series 9 WQHD on shelves – was something Samsung wouldn’t discuss. Of course, Apple is tipped to be readying a Retina 13-inch MacBook Pro, and it’s possible that Samsung’s 2,560 x 1,440 panels could be headed to Cupertino’s production partners ahead of even Samsung’s.