Hasta La Gadget!

Phones, tablets and game consoles typically offer single-screen experiences, that is, one app on screen at a time. Microsoft is challenging that idea, announcing what it calls “Snap Mode” at its next-generation Xbox event, taking a stab at home console multitasking. It’s essentially a port of a well-known Windows 8 feature: separate apps can be pinned to the edge of the television’s screen in isolated panels, allowing gamers to use Xbox apps while playing a game, or watch TV while simultaneously using Internet Explorer . Combined with the lightning-fast app switching Microsoft showed off on stage, it’s definitely a big step forward for couchside computing.

Check out our Xbox One reveal liveblog right here.

Filed under: Gaming, Microsoft

Comments

Ubuntu tablets may not be particularly new, but thanks to its liberal build, things can get a bit more interesting when another OS is added to the mix. Ekoore’s Python S3 tablet goes a little further, nestling Ubuntu, Android and Windows 8 behind its 11.6-inch screen. Specifications can be customized on the order page, but there’s an Intel Celeron processor, 8GB of RAM and a 128GB SSD for storage, while the 1,366 x 768 resolution was chosen to suit all three operating systems: Windows 8, Android 4.2 and Ubuntu 13.04. There’s connectivity through both WiFi and an optional 3G module — the Win 8 license itself is also a purchasable extra. The device is priced at $770 for the US, while you’ll be able to pick up a dockable keyboard add-on (with built-in battery) for around $179. For those of you who still can’t decide your favorite tablet OS, you can hedge your bets and place an order at the source.

Filed under: Tablets

Comments

Via: PC World

Source: Ekoore (Italian)

It’s not like Toshiba is new to laptops — it’s been making them for decades — but for whatever reason, US consumers don’t seem to trust the company with top-shelf products. Four-hundred-dollar machines, maybe, but a designer laptop? An Ultrabook, no less? Toshiba has an image problem, to be sure, and the executives in Tokyo know it. The answer, they hope, is to start fresh with a clean slate. The company recently announced a new family of premium devices, called Kira, with the 13-inch Kirabook being the inaugural product.

At first blush, it has all the trappings of a flagship machine, with an all-metal chassis, backlit keyboard, 8GB of RAM, a two-year warranty and a 2,560 x 1,440 display, one sharp enough to rival the Chromebook Pixel and Retina display MacBook Pro. In fact, this is the first Windows laptop to offer such a high-resolution panel, which gives Toshiba a big opportunity indeed: to lure people who still haven’t found their perfect Ultrabook. The problem with “perfect,” of course, is that it comes at a price: $1,600 and up, in this case, and the touchscreen isn’t even standard. That leaves just one question, then: is it worth it?

Filed under: Laptops

Comments

Remember ASUS’ Transformer Books? All is forgiven if you don’t, as we’re already approaching the one-year anniversary of when they were first revealed at Computex in Taipei. You’ll get your choice of Intel Core i5 and Core i7 processors, and the ability to detach and use the device as a standalone 13.3-inch tablet when the devices finally arrive in the US next week. Sure, Japanese buyers might have picked one up first, but interested hybrid PC shoppers should mark May 21st into their diaries. No official word on pricing, but preorder pages from MacMall earlier this year had the Core i7 model pegged at a hefty $1,479.99.

Filed under: Laptops, ASUS

Comments

Source: ASUS US (Facebook)

The Envy x2 has never been our favorite Windows 8 tablet, but that hasn’t stopped HP from selling loads of them. The device has been such a success, in fact, that the company is expanding the x2 series to make room for two follow-on products: the Split x2 (a Windows 8 hybrid) and the SlateBook x2 (an Android tablet). Starting with the Split (pictured above), this is the first time HP’s made a laptop / tablet hybrid with a laptop processor inside, though Microsoft and others have of course done this already. In brief, it’s a 13-inch slate with a 1,366 x 768 display and your choice of Core i3 or i5 CPU (these are Intel’s Y-series Ivy Bridge chips we’re talking about). As you’d expect, the keyboard dock packs a second battery, though it also makes room for an optional 500GB hard drive to complement the SSD inside the actual tablet. Other specs include two USB ports (one 2.0, one 3.0), HDMI, Beats Audio, WiDi and expansion slots for both microSD and full SD cards.

The SlateBook (shown below) is a 10-inch tablet with a Tegra 4 chip — one of the first to be announced by any company, in fact. Though it’s a companion to the $169 Slate 7, it packs considerably higher-end specs. There’s that Tegra 4 SoC, for one, as well as a 1,920 x 1,200, 400-nit IPS display and the latest version of Jelly Bean (4.2.2). As with other dockable tablets, its keyboard has a battery built in. Here, though, the keyboard also includes a shortcut for Google voice search. There’s even a laptop-style trackpad supporting multitouch gestures — a rarity on products like this. The hardware itself weighs about 2.8 pounds in total, with a spec list that includes two USB sockets, stereo speakers and SD / microSD readers. Both products will be available in August, with the Split x2 priced at $800 and the SlateBook x2 going for $480 (docks included). Now all we need are some battery life claims. In the meantime, check out our hands-on photos below. (Pssst: the Split unit we photographed was just a mockup.)

Filed under: Tablets, HP

Comments