Hasta La Gadget!

Few would doubt that Apple prioritizes its own stores — they’re ambassadors for the brand. However, France’s Competition Authority has just raided Apple and its distributors over complaints that this preference comes at the expense of resellers. Recently bankrupt retailer eBizscuss claims that Apple both stalls on delivering products to third-party stores and denies those outlets any flexibility in pricing. In other words, it’s allegedly impossible to compete fairly when Apple holds all the cards. We’ve reached out to Apple for comment, although the Competition Authority is so far willing only to confirm to Les Echos that the raids took place. Whether or not the searches lead to any substantive legal action, Apple may face extra heat in France — the Authority is reportedly investigating accusations that the American firm unfairly hiked the minimum pricing for iBookstore periodicals.

Filed under: Cellphones, Desktops, Laptops, Tablets, Apple

Comments

Via: SlashGear, MarketWatch

Source: Les Echos (translated)

The best ultra-portable computer just got better — with a new processor and some much-improved battery performance.

Mouse Computer has just released its new Windows 8 laptop “LuvBook K series” with 15.6 inch full HD non-glare LCD display and the NVIDIA GeForce GT750M today. The price starts from ¥99,750.

Basic model:
OS: Windows 8 64bit
CPU: Intel Core i7-4700MQ Processor
Memory: 16GB PC3-12800 (8GB×2/Dual Channel)
Hard disk: 500GB WesternDigital’s SerialATAII 5400rpm
Optical drive:　DVD Super Multi Drive
Display: 15.6 inch full HD non-glare LCD (1,920×1,080/ LED backlight)
Wireless network:　IEEE 802.11 b/g/n ・ Bluetooth V4.0 + LE

It’s time to rethink the way our children learn. It’s all a bit overwhelming, attempting to restructure the age-old classroom model, particularly in a system as bogged down in bureaucratic red tape as education. This month, however, we packed up our things and toured the country to find out how educational institutions are adopting new models to help reinvent the learning process — rather than sitting idly by, waiting for the system to change around them. Naturally, technology is playing a huge role in that shift, moving from models of teaching to models of learning, where students can explore, express themselves and learn at their own speed.

We kick things off in Chicago, where Jackie Moore, a former systems programmer, is teaching inner city students how to build robots in a shopping mall basement at LevelUP. Next up, we head Miami and California, to see how technologies like the iPad, Google Chromebook and One Laptop Per Child’s XO laptop are being implemented in three schools, including interviews with educators, students, OLPC CEO Rodrigo Halaby and Google director of product management, Rajen Sheth. We’ll also talk to component retailers SparkFun and Adafruit about the initiatives those companies have implemented to help kids learn electronics at an early age, and then we sit down with American Museum of Natural History president, Ellen Futter, to discuss the ways the New York City institution is redefining itself for the 21st century.

We’ve also got an interview with Ali Partovi, a serial entrepreneur, who is working to make computer science an essential part of the elementary-level STEM program, through Code.org. Richard Culatta, the acting director of the US Department of Education’s Office of Educational Technology discusses how devices can help target the learning process for individual students and LeapFrog CEO John Barbour tells us how his company is rethinking the educational toy. All that plus prognostications from John Roderick and some really sweet moose dioramas can be yours to enjoy after the break.

Filed under: Gaming, Handhelds, Laptops, Robots, Tablets, Science, Internet, Software, HD, Mobile, Alt, Google, Acer

Comments

To paraphrase the words of our reviewer, ASUS’ Zenbook Prime UX31A is the third-best thin and light laptop you can buy. That’s high praise indeed when the only two superior devices are the MacBook Air and Samsung’s Series 9. So, why does it deserve such love? That’s probably down to its sleek design, six-hour battery life and smooth performance. The only things it has in the “demerit” column is a wonky trackpad and weak audio, but we can forgive that, can’t we? No, this is How Would You Change, which means we want to know exactly that: what, if you’ve owned one of these units, would you change about it?

Filed under: Laptops, ASUS

Comments