Hasta La Gadget!

Wondering how the industry fared in the second quarter of 2012? Shipments in the PC sector, which in Canalys’ book includes tablets, were higher than ever, totaling 108,708,780 units globally. iPad sales put Apple in the lead, with more than 21 million devices shipped (this figure also includes desktops and notebooks) in Q2, compared to just over 13 million during the year-ago quarter, representing a massive 59.6-percent year-over-year growth. HP, which led the way in Q1, has fallen to the second-place spot, with nearly 13.6 million shipments during the quarter ending yesterday, followed by Lenovo with about 13.2 million, Acer with nearly 10.7 million and Dell with roughly 9.7 computers sold. Manufacturers like ASUS and Samsung are represented in the substantial “others” category, which totals about 40.6 million devices. There’s no question that the iPad is behind Apple earning the number-1 slot, and with the upcoming Windows 8 launch, those figures could shift drastically the next time around. Click on through to the source link below for the full Canalys breakdown.

Continue reading Canalys: PC and tablet shipments hit new high in Q2 with Apple in the lead, HP next in line

Filed under: Desktops, Laptops, Tablet PCs

Canalys: PC and tablet shipments hit new high in Q2 with Apple in the lead, HP next in line originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 01 Aug 2012 13:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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This week Lenovo is coming up with a brand new laptop model made specifically for students looking to bring their technological excellence up to par. This is the ThinkPad X131e, a laptop computer with rugged design as well as a powerful interior. You’ve got the choice between Intel Core and Celeron processor or AMD E-Series APUs for your engine, and Dolby Advanced Audio will be backing you up for sound.

This device has an 11.6-inch display and the entire unit weighs in at 3.5 pounds for easy transport. As for the specifics inside, it appears that this device will be closer to a netbook than it will be to an ultrabook – but you be the judge. The display has 1366 × 768 pixel resolution across its lovely LCD face, and you’ll be running Windows 7 right out of the box.

This device has a chiclet keyboard, a trackpade and a pointing stick for you Lenovo hardcore fans, and it’s got 8GB of RAM ready to rock and roll. The video camera up top has 720p video capability, you’ve got up to 500 GB for max HDD, 128GB for SSD, and a multi-card reader as well. There’s one USB 2.3 port, two USB 3.0 ports, and an ethernet port as well. You’ve got a full-sized HDMI port out as well!

This notebook works with wi-fi, its battery is set to bring you 8.5 hours of wireless action, and for everyone deciding on an Intel processor for their configuration of this device, you’ve got the full Intel Learning Series on your side as well! Your choices again for the innards of this device include:

• Dual-core AMD E-300 and E2-1800 APUs with AMD Radeon graphics
or
• Intel Core i3-2367M and Intel Celeron 877 processors with Intel HD Graphics

For the teachers there’s an LED light on the laptop’s cover showing whether or not the device is connecting to other devices – or the web – wirelessly. This will come in handy for when notebooks are allowed during a test but the internet is not. This device also has several hardcore abilities to keep itself save, including, per Lenovo:

• Reinforced hinges
• Stainless steel hinge brackets
• Tightly aligned keyboard
• Dustless fan
• Strengthened AC adapter cable
• Enhanced HDD shock performance

This device is currently only shown in black or red but will soon be available with custom colors and etching options – great for schools looking to purchase devices in their own colors with their own logo!

You can pick up the ThinkPad X131e laptop starting immediately if not soon from your favorite business partners as well as online at Lenovo’s own online shop starting at $499 USD.

Lenovo ThinkPad X131e laptop aims at hardcore students is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Most tours of Chinese factories at least give workers a heads-up that they’ll be on camera. Not so the exposé that HP inadvertently gave one of its Swedish customers. Reddit user Malplace opened a new laptop to find that a 3-minute webcam video of the factory floor at HP’s contractor, Quanta, was sitting in Windows’ My Documents folder. If you’re looking for scandal from the footage, though, you won’t find it here: Chongqing Manufacturing City’s staff are shown dutifully moving the assembly line along in what looks like fair conditions, if exceptionally repetitive. The instance is most likely just a rare gaffe during testing at a manufacturer that pumps out millions of HP PCs every quarter, so we’ll cut Quanta some slack. It’s still a rare glimpse into a side of technology that’s considered off-limits for much of the buying public.

Continue reading HP laptop comes with webcam standard, peek at Chinese factory as bonus (video)

Filed under: Laptops

HP laptop comes with webcam standard, peek at Chinese factory as bonus (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 28 Jul 2012 03:42:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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When it comes to gaming notebooks, you cannot have them small and light – and this particular rule has no two ways about it. After all, no gamer worth his or her salt is going to sit there and play on a tiny display, and neither do they want stripped down parts to the bare essentials that it cannot even crank out a decent frame rate, never mind that lugging a real gaming notebook around is no mean feat on one’s shoulders. Well, MSI hears this clarion call, and have just updated their GT70 and GT60 gaming notebooks with the latest NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680M graphics chipset, which is said to be the fastest mobile GPU to date.

It will be powered by a speedy Intel Core i7-3610QM processor, a Killer E2200 Game Network, Dynaudio Tech speakers with THX Surround Sound and SteelSeries Programmable Backlit Keyboard, ensuring that gamers will be able to experience the ultimate in mobile gaming, although I see this as a waste for folks who want to purchase this just to play Facebook games all day long. It is a travesty, I say!

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: MSI GT60 and GT70 Gaming Notebooks Launched, MSI GT783 gaming notebook announced,

Supplies of Apple’s flagship MacBook Pro with Retina Display are easing, after huge demand for the high-resolution notebook pushed shipping times to 3-4 weeks post-launch. Online orders for the MacBook Pro are now shipping in 1-2 weeks according to Apple, though the non-Retina Pro is still turning around orders in 24 hours.

It’s still unclear whether Apple was caught by surprise with demand for the new Retina Display MacBook Pro, or if supplies of the components involved have proved troublesome. As the most expensive MacBook Pro in the line-up – priced from $2,199, and replacing the 17-inch model – Apple could have expected its order book to be quieter than it has turned out to be.

However, there has also been talk of supply chain issues around the high-resolution display itself, which could have meant Apple struggled to deliver its orders. Either way, the bottleneck is apparently easing, though if you desperately need a MacBook Pro with Retina today, it’s still probably easiest to call around local Apple Stores to check for on-hand stock.

You can find our full review of the MacBook Pro with Retina Display here, along with a comparison with the also-updated 2012 MacBook Air. Meanwhile, Apple is reportedly readying a 13-inch MacBook Pro Retina version, at least going by leaked GeekBench test results.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]

MacBook Pro with Retina Display delays ease to 1-2 weeks is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.