Hasta La Gadget!

The popularity of tablets have posed a solid threat to the PC industry, and in response many 2-in-1 so-called “hybrid” laptops have popped up in increasing numbers that are able to function as both — as a laptop when some serious work needs to be done, and as a tablet for activities best suited to […]

The Lumia 2520 is Nokia’s first Windows tablet — and it may well be its last. By the time Nokia is ready to design a follow-up product, the Finnish firm might officially be a part of Microsoft. For now, though, the Lumia 2520 is about to go on sale worldwide under the Nokia brand, and will compete directly with Microsoft’s Surface 2, the only other Windows RT tablet available right now. Like the Surface, it’s a flagship-caliber device, with a 1080p screen and top-of-the-line processor. But whereas Microsoft sees the Surface as kind of a laptop/tablet hybrid — a real productivity device — the 2520 is, at its heart, just a tablet. The 2520 has no kickstand, no full-sized USB port — not unless you buy the optional keyboard cover, anyway.

Nokia also brought its A-game imaging wise, installing the same camera used on the Lumia 720 (hey, for a tablet that’s actually unprecedented). Additionally, there’s one other thing the 2520 has that the Surface 2 doesn’t: LTE. In fact, you can’t even get the 2520 as a WiFi-only device; you can either buy it unsubsidized for $499, or you can purchase it here in the US for $400 on-contract. So it definitely looks good on paper (and in press photos), but what’s it like to use? Turns out, it’s pretty nice.%Gallery-slideshow122333%

Filed under: Tablets, Mobile, Nokia

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Your new running shoes have WiFi, but there are still — still! — no flying cars. We’ve got mini-supercomputers in our pockets, but where’s the kitchen machine that materializes beef bourguignon? It’s not quite the future we predicted, at least as far as Back to the Future 2 and The Jetsons informed us, but it’s the future we’ve got. Something as basic as, say, turning on electronics using your voice is still novel. Microsoft’s Xbox One is representative of just such a novelty, pairing old tech like IR and HDMI passthrough with brand-new 1080p video capture and voice control — all to impressive effect. When you turn on your Xbox One and TV in one fell “Xbox: On!” grandpa’s gonna be wowed, as will little Suzie. Guaranteed. The deeply integrated fantasy sports and ESPN apps will no doubt get pigskin-obsessed Aunt Linda interested.

But it’s not the expensive camera and sports partnerships that makes Microsoft’s proposition impressive to the hardcore gaming faithful. The Xbox One is a beast of a games console, capable of running beautiful games. But can it serve two masters? It’s not quite the game box we would’ve predicted, but it’s the one we’ve got.

Filed under: Gaming, Peripherals, Software, HD, Microsoft

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With enough time, even the best products start to feel stale. Take the original Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 13: Thanks to a unique hinge that allowed the screen to fold all the way backward, it was the most versatile Windows 8 convertible on the market (and it had lots of competition, too). But as other PC makers started releasing newer Ultrabooks with sharper screens and longer battery life, it became harder and harder to recommend it. In fact, though we made a nod to the original Yoga in our last laptop buyer’s guide, we basically told people to wait for a refresh.

Turns out, that was wise advice. Lenovo recently started shipping the Yoga 2 Pro, and it brings a little more than just a fresh CPU. In addition to running new Haswell processors, it rocks a thinner and lighter design, a backlit keyboard and a 3,200 x 1,800 display — a big step up from the 1,600 x 900 panel used in the last gen. And, given that this makes use of Intel’s fourth-generation Core chips, it also promises longer battery life — up to nine hours, according to Lenovo. One thing that hasn’t really changed: the price. Even now that it has a crisper screen, it still starts at around $1,000, with a special promotion driving the starting price as low as $929. That sounds fantastic on paper, but what’s it like to actually use?%Gallery-slideshow122110%

Filed under: Laptops, Lenovo

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Windows Phone has never looked this good. The latest update to Microsoft’s mobile operating system, known as Update 3, added support for 1080p displays, large smartphone screens and state-of-the-art processors. And now, these features are finally showing up on actual hardware. The first device to tick off all these boxes is the Nokia Lumia 1520, a 6-inch flagship with all of the trimmings we’ve been waiting to see on a Windows Phone device for three years now.

Because high-end Windows Phones have been limited to whatever specs Microsoft officially supports, we’ve felt that Nokia’s flagships didn’t differ enough in specs from the lowest-end Lumias to justify the enormous price difference. At least, they didn’t until now. The Lumia 1520 is the first top-of-the-line Windows Phone device that brings the best possible components. So, what’s WP8 like on hardware that isn’t behind the times? Let’s find out. %Gallery-slideshow122047%

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Nokia

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