Hasta La Gadget!

Microsoft has quietly revealed a third version of its Surface Pro tablet, this time including a full version of Office 2013 Home and Student at no extra cost, though you’ll have to be in China – and read the language – in order to benefit. The “Surface Chinese Edition” is physically identical to the regular Surface Pro tablet, but swaps Windows 8 Pro for Windows 8 for China.

Where the regular Pro tablet comes with a one month trial of Office 2013 Home and Student, however, the Chinese Edition gets the full package. That’s despite the local variant being priced the same for the 128GB model, even though Office 2013 would usually be 699 yuan ($113).

However, there are some limitations too, not least from the underlying restrictions on Windows 8 for China. The biggest is likely to be language support, since the OS can only be used with the Simplified Chinese UI language pack; you’ll need a full (paid) copy of Windows 8 if you want to use any others.

Whether the third variant of the tablet will improve sales for Microsoft, or just confuse them, remains to be seen. The inclusion of the full copy of Office suggests Microsoft is looking to combat software theft – something the low-cost, download-only Windows 8 for China was also intended to do – but having it on sale alongside, rather than instead of, the regular Surface Pro could end up puzzling potential buyers.

Preorders of the new Surface Chinese Edition are open now, priced at 6588 yuan ($1,062) for the 64GB model and 7388 yuan ($1,191) for the 128GB model. They’ll begin shipping come April 10.

[via istartedsomething]

Microsoft adds Surface Chinese Edition to confusing line-up is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

When Michael Dell signaled intentions to take his company private for an overhaul, there were questions as to just what he wanted to do if and when shareholders weren’t watching his every move: was he going to shift attention away from PCs toward the enterprise? There’s no reason to worry, according to a staff memo that his company has published through the SEC. Dell tells his employees that the firm will “significantly increase investment” in PCs and tablets after going private. While he’s cryptic about what that means, he does note that there would be a shift away from valuing gross margins — in other words, the company may take a hit on profits to make its device sales sing. Other strategies are more what you’d expect from any good business: more research and development, a simpler experience and a stronger push into developing markets like Brazil and China. We can’t say we’re completely surprised when Microsoft made an investment in Dell’s reorg precisely to safeguard PCs, but it’s good to know that Dell’s interest in PCs still extends well beyond the server room.

Filed under: Desktops, Laptops, Tablets, Dell

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Via: Fortune

Source: SEC

This week it’s been revealed that Blizzard Entertainment’s own Diablo III will be coming to the PlayStation 4 without access to the Real Money Auction House still present in the desktop PC iteration. Though this might have some odd effects on those hoping to play the game with access to weapons, armor, and everything in-between with their own real-world cash, Blizzard is presenting a firm “not a chance” as they suggest that, if they could, they’d take the whole mess out of the game entirely.

If you have a travel down our Diablo III tag portal, you find a series of stories that are just as often negative and full of disappointment as they are exciting and action-packed. This release was one of the most long-awaited in the history of gaming, with 8 years separating the second installment of the series (Diablo II in 2000) and the announcement of this title.

Though Diablo III was first announced in 2008, it was only actually released to the public on May 15th, 2012. That’s one massive amount of time for a game to be in development, especially with the 5-minutes-of-fame atmosphere we’re in now. Then there’s the bits and pieces that Blizzard has had to change right from the outset. Today’s big kicker is the announcement from former Diablo 3 Game Director Jay Wilson.

“Most of the auction house’s use is with in-game virtual gold.”

Speaking with Joystiq this week about Diablo III’s real money action house, he suggested that the feature has “really hurt the game.” According to Wilson, over 50 percent of the players that play regularly use the auction house, while most of the auction house’s use is with in-game virtual gold rather than with real cash.

Because of this gold use, not necessarily the real money, motivation to collect gold and broken items (otherwise useless, able to be sold in the game to virtual vendors for gold), have become far more popular goals for users. There’s simply not as much junk everywhere anymore – Diablo II continues to be a massive mess of item drops and coins.

“I think we would turn it off if we could, [but it’s] not as easy as that.” – Wilson

Citing the near-impossible task of figuring out how much of the Diablo III user population wants the auction house to stick around or be kicked to the curb, Wilson was clear on one point: they are looking for a “solution.” A solution to what, exactly, we might never know.

Diablo III’s next big “oops” is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

There are hordes of gamers all around the world who enjoy a good MMO video game. Typically MMOs can only be played with gamers on the same platform. That means if you buy the game for your PC, you can only play against other PC gamers, while if you buy it for a console, you can only play against other console gamers.

There are some cross-platform MMO games when it comes to the mobile world to allow different devices to play the game together. A company called Game Insight has announced a new cross-platform MMO called Dragon Eternity. The game has come first to the iPad and is available for PC gamers using a web browser version of the game. That web browser version of the game is currently in open beta and has over million users globally.

The game developers promise to deliver an Android version of the game in the near future. The developers of the game promise unprecedented depth and a huge variety of content to form a deep MMO experience allowing players to choose sides in the game world. Players can play as Vaalor or Sadar factions and as one of three different character types.

The character types include Paladin, Berserk, and the Witcher. The game play has players completing quests and collecting various weapons and sets of armor. The goal is to eventually earn the trust of the Dragon that will follow the player and fight with them. The game also supports nine different harvesting and crafting professions and has an in-game auction system. Players can also take advantage of five different varieties of combat including head-to-head and player versus player combat styles. One of the interesting things about the game is that a player can start a new adventure on the iPad and then pick that adventure up from where they left off on a web browser.

[via Dragon Eternity]

Dragon Eternity cross-platform MMO hits the iPad is written by Shane McGlaun & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Some of Lenovo’s pro customers can be very fussy: hospitals and schools want multiple computers in a small area, but without skimping on the usual features they’d expect from desktops. If any PC could resolve those contradictory demands, it might be the company’s new ThinkCentre Edge 62z. The extra-angular design purportedly fits a 18.5-inch all-in-one into a third of the space of a 20-inch display, all while carrying up to a Core i3 processor and a DVD burner. Whether or not you see the 62z as a feat of engineering, the design has some room to grow with up to 8GB of RAM and a 1TB hard drive. The price may be the real clincher for some customers — Lenovo expects this lower-tier ThinkCentre Edge to cost $549 when it reaches the US in May, which could squeeze it into a few more IT budgets.

Filed under: Desktops, Lenovo

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Via: Far East Gizmos

Source: Lenovo Singapore