Hasta La Gadget!

Lenovo’s ThinkPad Helix has had one of the rockier roads to the US market, having been promised for February only to be delayed to April. Things are getting smoother, however, as the first units of the are rolling off the production line — and there are already customers waiting at Seton Hall University. Keeping up its recent practice of handing out gadgets to junior students, the school expects to test the dockable Windows 8 tablet within a few weeks, and then deliver about 2,000 units to newcomers starting in June. The turn toward a hybrid lets the university settle on one PC design for the fall rather than divide its attention between tablets and Ultrabooks, Seton Hall’s Drew Holden says. As for the general public? Lenovo hasn’t officially put the Helix on sale through its own store, but a handful of customers say they’ve already received theirs through other channels. In any event, keep a close watch on third-party stores if you’re willing to part with $1,499 for a ThinkPad convertible.

Filed under: Laptops, Tablets, Lenovo

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Via: Ultrabook News

Source: The Setonian

Microsoft has repeatedly told us that we’ll see smaller Windows 8 tablets, but all that talk has amounted to precious little walk. If the latest rumor is accurate, though, Acer might be the first to take action: French site Minimachines claims to have images and details of the Iconia W3, which could be the first 8-inch tablet on Microsoft’s newer platform. The slate wouldn’t be a barnstormer with a 1.8GHz Atom Z2760 and 2GB of RAM, but performance also wouldn’t be its selling point — the W3 would be small enough to fit in one hand while carrying the full software support of a PC. It will reportedly include front and rear cameras as well as a possible microSDHC slot, and the accessories we see in the purported leak involve both a tiny keyboard dock and a cover that doubles as a kickstand. We don’t know if there’s any truth to claims of a launch around the back to school season in September, although that would certainly be appropriate timing for what could be a welcome backpack companion.

[Thanks, Pierre]

Filed under: Tablets, Acer

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Source: Minimachines.net (translated)

Inhon first attracted attention with its amazingly thin Blade 13 laptop, a 13-inch laptop that weighs in at less than 2-pounds and is only 0.39-inches thin. According to the folks at Engadget, following very closely on the laptop’s heels is the Inhon Tablet, which has an optional keyboard that immediately makes one think of the Surface. The tablet will be launched in Taiwan at an unspecified date.

It’s a rather unique concept – when folded, the device looks and functions like your average everyday tablet running Windows 8. It is portable, and can be used with a stylus, for example. There are bound to be times, however, when you need to do something more hardware-intensive than a tablet can handle. Instead of switching to a laptop or desktop, the Inhon Tablet has a built in sort of Turboboost mode.

On the half of the tablet/laptop hybrid that doesn’t hold the screen, there’s said to be USB 3.0 and Mini DisplayPorts, as well as a cooling fan that is exposed when the device is opened up. As such, the increased cooling is used in conjunction with a TurboBoost of the processor (overclocking?) that gives users a big jump in processing power.

Because it can no longer be used as a tablet once it is unfolded, the Inhon Tablet can be used with an optional accessory that looks very similar to a Touch Cover, functioning as both a trackpad and a keyboard. When it hits shelves, the quasi-tablet will be priced between NT $29,999 and NT $39,999, which is roughly $1000 to $1300 USD.

[via Engadget]

Inhon Tablet has fold-activated CPU boost is written by Brittany Hillen & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

If you thought the beast that was the Lenovo IdeaCentre Horizon was never going to see the light of day – that light being the open market – you were wrong! This lovely amalgamation of gaming coolness is up for sale now for $1,699 USD and will be available wherever fabulous Lenovo products are sold this week. Have a peek at the hands-on looks we’ve gotten with this device right this minute!

Is this monster worth the monstrous price it comes attached with? The device itself is one massive display that you can mount on your wall or sit flat on a table – or on a carpeted floor if you’re all about the cross-legged way of going about things. When you’ve got it all set up (when you’ve got it turned on, that is), you’ll be playing a collection of uniquely tuned games made specifically for this interface.

You’ll find Monopoly – the real deal! – Draw Race 2, Raiding Company, Air Hockey, and a whole heck of a lot more! Each of these games are either built-in to the PC or will be available for download in their full form for free. Not that you’ll be worrying about the cost of a piece of software after you’ve dropped the $1,700 USD you’re spending on this device, but it’s nice to know how simple it’ll all be.

Inside you’ve got a 27-inch 1920 x 1080 full HD display optimized for not just 10-finger touch, but a collection of accessories that come with the machine as well. Paddles for air hockey, game pieces for board games, and a unique 6-sided die that the computer can read with ease!

The most basic model you’ll be working with has a 3rd-gen Intel Core i5 processor with NVIDIA GeForce GT620M graphics and 2GB of memory. Along with 8GB of RAM and a 1TB hard drive, you’ll be blowing up the finest of next-generation touch-friendly games. You’ll be given a stand to set the Horizon up if you wish, and higher-powered versions of the machine are in the pipeline – stay tuned for more!

Lenovo’s monstrous IdeaCentre Horizon “Table PC” returns: grab one! is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

It’s no surprise that PC sales are tanking, thanks to what many believe is the beginning of the post-PC era, where smartphones and tablets are taking over. The last quarterly results of PC sale saw the largest decline in PC sales in 20 years. However, PCs are still selling, and Apple is leading the way when it comes to pure operating profit.

Apple currently makes up 45% of all PC operating profit, with Dell making up 13%, HP at 7%, Lenovo at 6%, ASUS at 6%, and Acer at a measly 1%., with 21% of the total pie consisting of “other” PC manufacturers. Of course, it’s important to note that profit is different than sales. Apple may not have sold the most computers, but they made the most profit from the ones they did sell.

The data comes from industry analysis firm Asymco, who say that the volumes which “made up for” low margins with PC sales are “disappearing.” Of course, Apple is experiencing the same problem, but on much lower scale, because they have “positioned themselves for growth with devices and content commerce and services.”

The problem seems to be OEMs’ reliance on Windows 8, which has been met with criticism as a step backward in desktop operating systems, whereas Apple integrates its operating system with its own hardware. Simply tacking on Windows 8 to various hardware is certainly cheaper for OEMs, but if Windows 8 fails, hardware sales go down with it.

[via Cult of Mac]

Apple makes up almost half of all PC operating profit is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.