Hasta La Gadget!

Make no mistake, one of the biggest trends you’ll see this fall is PC makers slapping touchscreens on their current machines so as to make them a little more Windows 8-appropriate. And Acer is no exception: the company is introducing touch-enabled versions of its existing Aspire V5 and M5 laptops, both of which will go on sale this month.

Starting with the M5, it’s the touch-enabled version of the M5 Ultrabook we reviewed earlier this year. Though the standard version is available in 14- and 15-inch screen sizes, the touchscreen model (aka the 481PT, pictured above) will only be offered with a 14-inch (1,366 x 768) panel. This, too, has a Core i5 CPU and 6GB of RAM, though its 500GB hard drive is paired with a 20GB SSD for faster boot-ups. Like the non-touch version, it’s rated for eight hours of runtime. Surprisingly, even though it’s classified as an Ultrabook, it manages to make room for an optical drive — impressive, given its 0.81-inch-thick chassis is still relatively slender. Both machines will be sold exclusively at Best Buy in the US, with the regular M5 starting at $700 and that touch-enabled version going for $800.

As for the budget-minded V5 series, the touchscreen will only be offered on the 14-inch version (the V5-471P). Max specs include up to 8GB of RAM and up to 750GB of HDD storage. (Either way, you get a 1,366 x 768 display, a Core i5-3317UB processor and your requisite Intel HD 4000 graphics.) That model starts at $750, though the non-touch models are priced at $500 and up.

Continue reading Acer Aspire V5 and M5 laptops will be available with touchscreens this month

Filed under: Laptops, Acer

Acer Aspire V5 and M5 laptops will be available with touchscreens this month originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 11 Oct 2012 08:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Kupa is ready to release the UltraNote Windows 8 tablet in November 2012. The gadget comes jam packed with a 10-inch 1920 x 1200 pixel IPS display with a 10-point multitouch capacitive touch panel, a choice of an Intel Core i3, i5, or i7 Ivy Bridge CPU, up to 8GB of RAM and a choice of a 64GB or 128GB solid state disk. The UltraNote also provides an HDMI port, a 5-megapixel rear-facing digital camera, a 2-megapixel front-facing digital camera, two USB 2.0 ports, 802.11a/b/g/n/ac WiFi, Bluetooth 4.0, 3G, 4G LTE, RFID and NFC. Its battery provides enough juice for up to 7-hour of operating time. No word on pricing at this time. [Kupa]

Welcome to Wednesday evening, everyone. Today Samsung sent out formal invites to its upcoming Galaxy Note II press event in New York City, and we were told that HTC will be backing out of the US tablet market, at least for a little while. RIM is trying to lure developers into BlackBerry 10 with a new “$10K Developer Committment,” in which RIM says it will give developers $10,000 if their app reaches $1,000 in sales. RIM also opened up app submissions for BlackBerry 10 developers today, and we heard that the rumored LG Nexus 4 smartphone may be making its debut on October 29.

Microsoft showed us the retail packaging for Windows 8 today, while eBay gave us a look at its incoming redesign and launched a brand new same-day shipping app for iOS. Huawei may be facing a ban in Canada after US lawmakers suggested the company could potentially help China with espionage, and like so many other companies these days, PayPal has updated its policy to prevent disgruntled users from taking it to court.

Today’s Canadian launch of the DROID RAZR HD suggests that we may soon see it launch in the United States, and NASA’s new satellites that are powered by the HTC Nexus One will be heading into space next year. Earlier today we heard that Microsoft Office will be coming to Android and iOS next year, but it wasn’t long after that rumor hit before Microsoft was saying that there wasn’t any truth to it. Gearbox said today that the freshly-released Mechromancer DLC and the rank reset bug in Borderlands 2 have nothing to do with one another, while we learned that Wing Commander designer Chris Roberts is making a new space MMO.

Dishonored developer Arkane Studios said today that it wasn’t pressured by Bethesda to include multiplayer in the game, while Rovio released a brand new Bad Piggies-themed update for Angry Birds. A new Twitter study gives us a much closer look at the differences between male and female tweeters, and TweetDeck has been updated with a new theme and adjustable fonts. Finally tonight, we have a pair of original articles and a review for you to look through. Chris Burns discusses why AT&T’s new partnership with IBM will give the cloud the boost it needs, and why the Galaxy S III Mini proves that Samsung’s hero branding is working. He also gave us a review of the new Lenovo IdeaTab A2109, so be sure to have a look at that.

That does it for tonight’s Evening Wrap-Up, so go out and enjoy the rest of your night folks!

SlashGear Evening Wrap-Up: October 10, 2012 is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Here’s the thing with Windows 8: staring at those live tiles feels kinda weird if you can’t reach out and touch them. That’s why Sony has upgraded its Vaio T13 Ultrabook with a touch panel (making it technically the T13-2), allowing you to reach out across the keyboard and swipe away to your heart’s content. We’ve just left some fingerprints on a high-spec model with a Core i7 processor, 1366 x 768 resolution, 256GB SSD and 8GB RAM, which will sell in the UK from October 26th priced somewhere north of £1,000 (or $1,600, though Sony doesn’t set exact prices). A more modestly equipped i7, with 4GB and a 500GB hybrid drive should be somewhere around £900 ($1,400), while an entry-level i3 will start at £700 ($1,100), give or take. Bear mind that the dollar prices will be much lower than these currency conversions suggest — for reference, the original T13 starts at just $770.

Our first impression was that enabling touch on this traditional form factor was slightly awkward, especially if the purpose of touching the screen was to achieve something that would have been more readily accomplished with a tap on the keyboard — such as adjusting brightness, scrolling or returning to the home screen. On the other hand, the UI was incredibly responsive on the Core i7 processor and over time the touchscreen may well come to feel more natural than the touchpad within Microsoft’s new OS. Just bear in mind that enabling touch comes with a couple of sacrifices, aside from any price premium: it adds 100 grams and 1mm in thickness to an Ultrabook that was already on the chunky side, due to the addition of tougher hinges as well as the extra layer in the display. Check out our hands-on video after the break and make up your own mind.

Continue reading Sony unveils touch-enabled Vaio T13 Ultrabook running Windows 8, we go hands-on (video)

Filed under: Laptops

Sony unveils touch-enabled Vaio T13 Ultrabook running Windows 8, we go hands-on (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 10 Oct 2012 12:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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This morning we’re diving in to the Windows 8 universe with a bunch of both official – and unofficially leaked – pieces of media. Start with “a fundamental shift” in hardware from Microsoft’s Steve Balmer. Next have a peek at a brand new Nexus 4 from LG as it’s leaked with Android’s next generation software. The SpaceX Dragon capsule has been caught again by the ISS – the first successful supply mission is a success – for real this time!

Have a peek at the Windows 8 commercials that weren’t necessarily supposed to be out for the whole world to see quite yet. If you’re pumped up about the Galaxy Note II, why not give the Samsung Galaxy S III Mini a try? It may very well be announced on Thursday as it were. Don’t forget to check out our new review of the business-oriented Acer TravelMate P243 – a notebook that’s great for tapping away.

If you’re waiting for the next iPad – get ready for two: design-tweaked iPad mini and iPad 3 update on the way – Lightning for all! The video firm called Vine has just been purchased by Twitter. You can now see carbon emissions all the way down to street level thanks to researchers on a mission.

You can now get Xcom: Enemy Unknown on the market with great glee. There are new entries on the market for both Mad Catz Kunai stereo gaming headsets as well as the Nike+ SportsWatch collection. OnLive has been sold for just $4.8 million bucks.

In an odd move, the Philippines has suspended a cybercrime law for a 120 day period. The iPhone 5 has been tipped to be getting a tweak in aluminum as production slows. New Slingbox 350 and 500 models have been announced, and Colbert and the Daily Show are back on Hulu!

SlashGear Morning Wrap-up: October 10, 2012 is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.