Hasta La Gadget!

Lenovo is giving fans of professional laptop chic a treat today: in addition to shipping the ThinkPad Edge E431 and E531, it’s unveiling one more model, the ThinkPad S431. The new Ivy Bridge-powered system is closer to the Edge S430 in spirit, carrying a similar 0.8 inches thick chassis, an aluminum lid and a thin-bezel design that stuffs a 14-inch touchscreen into a small body. It does carry the newer Edge line’s unifying OneLink connector and gesture-friendly touchpad, although the svelter profile also involves some sacrifices — the S431 tops out at 8GB of RAM and a 500GB hard drive, or about half what its peers can manage. The slimmer, touch-enabled design will also boost the asking price to $699 when the S431 ships in June, although the cost conscious can spring for the E431 and E531 today for a distinctly cheaper $599.

Filed under: Laptops, Lenovo

Comments

Source: Lenovo (1), (2)

Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology.

Based on last quarter’s global PC shipment numbers, Microsoft continues to feel pain in making the case for Windows is a viable tablet operating system. Theoretically, the dual-identity (Windows 8/RT) operating system has everything it needs to be a contender, but the promise is ahead of the reality on three interdependent fronts: chip-level hardware, legacy support, and app software.

For example, if x86 chips were more competitive with ARM processors from a performance-per-watt perspective, then Microsoft wouldn’t be as reliant on Metro-style apps for functionality. And if more developers were creating Metro-style apps, then consumers wouldn’t have to go to the legacy desktop mode as much to get things done. (Until the company releases a Metro-style Office, Microsoft really can’t wag its finger too much at third parties.)

Filed under: Tablets, Apple, Microsoft, HP

Comments

Samsung’s ATIV branding might not yet be a household name, but that could very well change, as the company has just announced a new naming scheme that places all of its Windows PCs under the ATIV umbrella. As you may recall, the ATIV scheme was previously reserved for convertibles, but under the new structure, even Samsung’s existing PC lineup — we’re looking at you, Series laptops — will retroactively take on the new scheme. The news doesn’t stop there, however, as Samsung has also announced two new ATIV Book models and a nifty bit of software known as SideSync to the mix. Read on for the details.

Filed under: Laptops, Samsung

Comments

Source: Samsung

Microsoft’s Surface Pro and RT are striking out to more far flung corners of the globe. Redmond just announced this morning that its two Windows 8 tablets will be made available to even more markets, with the Surface RT being the first to branch out, shipping on April 25th to Malaysia and then soon after to Mexico, Korea and Thailand by end May / early June. When it finally hits that early summer release window, the Surface RT will be accessible to a total of 29 markets globally. As for its older sibling, the feature-packed Surface Pro, that angular slate’s set to expand beyond its current limited availability (U.S., Canada and China) to 19 additional markets across Europe (including the UK), Asia and Oceania by the end of next month. And if you’ve been searching high and low for a 128GB Surface Pro to no avail, chin up, as Microsoft’s taken note of your demand and is working with retailers to keep that model “consistently in stock.”

Filed under: Tablets, Microsoft

Comments

Source: Microsoft Surface blog

Microsoft has repeatedly told us that we’ll see smaller Windows 8 tablets, but all that talk has amounted to precious little walk. If the latest rumor is accurate, though, Acer might be the first to take action: French site Minimachines claims to have images and details of the Iconia W3, which could be the first 8-inch tablet on Microsoft’s newer platform. The slate wouldn’t be a barnstormer with a 1.8GHz Atom Z2760 and 2GB of RAM, but performance also wouldn’t be its selling point — the W3 would be small enough to fit in one hand while carrying the full software support of a PC. It will reportedly include front and rear cameras as well as a possible microSDHC slot, and the accessories we see in the purported leak involve both a tiny keyboard dock and a cover that doubles as a kickstand. We don’t know if there’s any truth to claims of a launch around the back to school season in September, although that would certainly be appropriate timing for what could be a welcome backpack companion.

[Thanks, Pierre]

Filed under: Tablets, Acer

Comments

Source: Minimachines.net (translated)