Hasta La Gadget!

It appears that Lenovo has decided to take the idea that ultra-thin computers cannot have a disk drive and throw it out the window with their newest Ultrabook, the IdeaPad U510 – and it’s got Windows 8, too! This machine comes in at 0.83-inches thin and has a 15.6-inch HD display along with a full keyboard and – yes indeed – an internal DVD reader/writer and Blu-ray Disc drive that pops out to accept your disks whenever you need it. The U510 will be appearing with a range of colors for its exterior and a fully metallic feel – with real metal!

This unit weighs in at 2.2kg – thats about 4.85 pounds – and is 21mm thick (that’s 0.83 inches, once again), meaning this device is certainly mobile for how powerful it is. Inside you’ll find an Ivy Bridge (3rd Gen) Intel Core i7 processor (if you so choose) as well as either Genuine Windows 8 or Genuine Windows 8 Pro right out of the box. This unit’s display is 1366 x 768 pixels sharp and has a 16:9 aspect ratio as well.

Graphics on the IdeaPad U510 are made possible with NVIDIA GeForce 625M 1GB under the hood, and your memory is going to be ringing up to 8GB HDD storage — 1333/1600 Mhz memory [2 SODIMM slots (1x2GB/2x2GB/1x4GB/1x2GB+1x4GB/2x4GB)]. Right alongside you’ll see your disk drive working with up to 500GB HDD storage – [500GB/750GB/1TB (5400rpm)]; 24/32GB SSD1 cache. For audio you’ve got integrated stereo speakers, two of them at 2W with Dolby Home Theater v4 action backing you up on the inside.

You’ll be working with wi-fi connectivity, 10/100M LAN (RJ-45 connector connected), VGA out, and optional Bluetooth 4.0. Along the sides as well are 2 USB 2.0 ports, 1 USB 3.0 port, HDMI out, memory card reader that works with SD and MMC, and a 1/8-inch Stereo Headphone Output & Microphone input combo jack. Lenovo notes that inside you’ll have OneKey Recovery software for easy data backup and recovery as well as remote disable.

Also integrated in the U510 is the ability to wake this Ultrabook up from Sleep mode in just over a second. There’s a front-facing 720p webcam for video chat with software right inside the OS when you start it up – Youcam and Skype amongst them. Also inside are McAfee, Lenovo Support Energy Management to keep you running strong without eating your battery like a pig, and Microsoft Office (everywhere except Japan).

The IdeaPad U510 will be available inside September 2012 starting at US $679 – go grab it! And also stick around for the rest of the Windows 8 wave and Lenovo‘s full IFA 2012 offering too!

Lenovo IdeaPad U510 Ultrabook brings disk tray to the show is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Lenovo just unveiled its new IdeaPad U510 Ultrabook, yes, but it has a few new IdeaPad models further along in the alphabet, too. Today the company is introducing two new entries to its multimedia-focused IdeaPad Y Series. The 14-inch Y400 and 15-inch Y500 include an interchangeable HDD bay that users can swap out for dual graphics chips, extra storage space or an additional fan. Both models also sport dual-layer backlit keyboards, with a snazzy red tone peeking out from under the black chiclet-style keys.

Processor options go up to a Core i7 Ivy Bridge chip, and discrete NVIDIA GeForce GT650M graphics are a configuration option. Like virtually every other product announced at IFA, these notebooks will run Windows 8, and though the 1,366 x 768 displays aren’t touch-enabled, Lenovo says its touchpad is optimized for the Metro UI. Storage space maxes out at a 1TB hard drive and up to 16GB of SSD cached, and the machines offer up to 16GB of RAM. Pricing for the Y400 and Y500 starts at $649, and the laptops will go on sale in October. Meet us past the break for a look at the Z Series models.

Continue reading Lenovo expands IdeaPad lineup with Y400, Y500, Z400 and Z500: prices start at $549

Filed under: Laptops

Lenovo expands IdeaPad lineup with Y400, Y500, Z400 and Z500: prices start at $549 originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 31 Aug 2012 03:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’ve been treated to a number of big reveals during the first two days of IFA 2012, and today Toshiba decided to get in on the action. Not only did it reveal three new camcorders today and a number of new ultrabooks, but it has also announced two new sound bars and a new home cloud storage solution it plans to offer. Read on to find out more about Toshiba’s latest products.

Let’s jump right in with the sound bars, shall we? First up is the Mini 3D Sound Bar with Subwoofer, which sports dimensions of 11.4-inches long, 3.9-inches wide, and 2.8-inches tall. This sound bar is obviously aimed at those who suffer from a lack of space (though the included subwoofer won’t help with that), and it comes with five different ways to connect to your devices, including “two analog connections, two digital connections and Bluetooth wireless technology.” This means that, should you want to, you can connect the speaker wirelessly to a tablet or laptop and listen on the go.

The other sound bar Toshiba revealed today is the 3D Sound Bar SBX1250. This one will likely be a bit larger than the Mini 3D Sound Bar, but it would have to be as it houses six individual speakers. Two of those speakers are optimized for lower frequency to give you a nice bass boost and all six of them sport Sonic Emotion technology “to create an immersive virtual 3D sound field and deliver a total peak power of 100 watts.” Toshiba also says that this sound bar doesn’t require any calibration – just hook it up and you’re good to go.

Toshiba claims that both of these speakers eliminate the need for finding a “sweet spot” for listening and offer excellent sound quality regardless of where you are in the room. Both come with a remote control included in the package, and even though we don’t have a solid release date yet, they should be available sometime in fall 2012. You can grab the Mini 3D Sound Bar for $129.99, while the SBX1250 will set you back $179.99.

Moving right along to Toshiba’s next announcement, the company has revealed Canvio Cloud Storage, which marks its entry into the cloud storage market. It’s being advertised as a cloud storage system for the home, and is compatible with Windows 7 and Windows 8 PCs, Android and iOS devices, Smart TVs (that are connected to the Internet, of course), and DLNA-compatible devices. An app for Windows-based PCs, Android, and iOS allows you to manage all of your saved content, and it has the added bonus of being entirely self-maintained, which means that you don’t have to pay subscription fees to store your stuff (though you have to do all the work).

The Toshiba Canvio Cloud Storage device comes in 2TB ($219.99) and 3TB ($249.99) varieties, and the company has given it a release window of September 2012, meaning it should be arriving soon. So there you have it – Toshiba has a slew of new devices for you to check out, and we’re expecting to hear more about these before long. Stay tuned, and be sure to check out our story timeline below for more on what Toshiba has been up to lately!

Toshiba announces two new sound bars and Canvio Cloud Storage is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Atari has decided that it’s time to give some of its classic games a fresh coat paint, launching the new Atari Arcade. Eight of Atari’s classic games have been updated using HTML5 and are playable in your browser for free. That’s not the end of it though, as Atari has also teamed up with Microsoft to bring these games to Windows 8 tablets.

Though these games can be played in your browser, it seems that Atari is attempting to make the Windows 8 version of Atari Arcade really stick out. The arcade was built with Internet Explorer 10′s touch-based interface in mind, and the legendary Nolan Bushnell says that Microsoft was a “natural partner” for a project like this. While the announcement of these remakes is cool enough, there’s even more: developers can make games for Atari Arcade, and can earn money by displaying ads in their games or by offering in-game purchases.

It’s definitely nice to see classic Atari games Combat, Pong, and Asteroids get updated visuals, but the idea of another developer-friendly platform is even more exciting. Naturally, since Atari Arcade just launched, there aren’t any indie dev-made games available yet, but hopefully those are coming soon. The brains behind this project have come together to give users a behind-the-scenes look at Atari Arcade, which you can check out below.

In all, there are 8 games that can be played in the Atari Arcade right this very minute: Pong, Asteroids, Yar’s Revenge, Combat, Missle Command, Lunar Lander, Centipede, and Super Breakout. With Windows 8 just around the corner and a slew of new Windows 8 tablets announced at IFA 2012 this week, expect to hear more about Atari Arcade soon. In the meantime, you can always head over to the Arcade and play these games in your browser. Stay tuned.

Atari remakes gaming classics in HTML5 for browsers and Windows 8 is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

The folks at Toshiba came to play here at IFA 2012 and have just outed another 3 Satellite Ultrabooks to add to their ever growing lineup. Yesterday they unveiled their convertible hybrid in the U925t but today we have three new laptops with a more standardized look. Say hello to the U945 and P845t Ultrabooks as well as their new S955 — but don’t call it an Ultrabook.

First off their U945 will be a low end and more budget conscious Ultrabook but we’ll get into specifics shortly. Then the P845t is a full out Ultrabook class machine along with a full touchscreen for tablet like capabilities. Overall these are pretty standard designs and nothing out of the ordinary but lets take a look.

Starting with the U945 you’ll have a 14-inch low end Ultrabook that will be even cheaper than previous models thanks to a durable hard plastic shell instead of aluminum. It won’t feel as premium but then it will be lower priced too. The device comes with a Core i3 or i5 option, 500GB HD and a 32GB SSD for quick wake and boot times. Then we get the standard 3 USB ports, HDMI, and Ethernet. Not bad Toshiba, not bad.

Next is their “thin and light” S955 that isn’t considered an Ultrabook although it will be 30% thinner and lighter than previous generations from Toshiba. We’ll get a Core i5 here, 8GB of RAM, 750GB HD, a cheaper AMD option and even Harmen Kardon speakers on board.

Last is their P845t which has a 14-inch display as well, only this one rocks touchscreen capabilities. This will be a growing trend with Windows 8 but this device packs a decent punch. We get again the Core i3 or i5 possibilities, 750GB HD, 32GB for bootup, 6GB of DDR3 RAM, then again 3 USB ports, HDMI, and Ethernet. This will be priced a little higher but should be a solid performance. Pricing for all three laptops listed has not yet been unveiled but they will all be available starting October 26th, the day Windows 8 launches. Stay tuned for more details and hands-on pictures live from IFA 2012.

Toshiba outs three new Satellite Ultrabooks is written by Cory Gunther & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.