Hasta La Gadget!

A Windows 8 PC that can be used in a tablet mode? Those will come a dime a dozen this fall. But what’s fascinating is how each PC maker has approached the challenge of mixing a touchscreen with a more traditional mouse-and-keyboard setup. For some OEMs, this means going the hybrid route, with 10- or 11-inch tablets that slot neatly into an optional keyboard dock. For others, it means a full-fledged PC with a slide-out touchscreen. And for a few, it means a laptop whose screen can fold down, leaving you with what can only be described as an oversized slate.

That’s how we would describe the Dell XPS 12, a 12.5-inch notebook whose screen flips inside its hinge, allowing you to use the machine in tablet mode or, if you prefer, with the screen facing away from the keys. (Yes, Dell is giving this form factor a second try.) It starts at a relatively steep $1,200 but then again, this is a fairly premium machine we’re talking about: it combines all the ingredients of an Ultrabook (lightweight build, Ivy Bridge processor and a solid-state drive) with a 400-nit, 1080p, Gorilla Glass touchscreen. So what’s it like to use this form factor? And how does it fare as a regular ol’ Windows 8 PC? Let’s see.

Continue reading Dell XPS 12 review: with the launch of Windows 8, ‘convertible’ takes on a new meaning

Filed under: Laptops, Dell

Dell XPS 12 review: with the launch of Windows 8, ‘convertible’ takes on a new meaning originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 23 Oct 2012 09:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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That meteor shower was a bust. I’ll never get back the five minutes I spent waiting to be awed. Anyone similarly impatient will be in gratification heaven for the next week, as the biggest cosmic bodies in the tech cosmos streak across the sky with announcements, device releases, price shifts and earnings reports.

Tossing astronomy aside for its failure to bedazzle, I turn to astrology to illuminate the upcoming eventful days. From a This Week in Astronomy blog: “A Venus-Pluto-Uranus T-square will be testing relationships and finances. The Sun enters Scorpio and aspects every slower planet except Pluto, and there’s an intense Mars-Jupiter opposition.” I don’t understand most of that, but I know about opposition. That fits. The energy of opposition crackles in the ecosystem warfare waged this week by Apple, Microsoft and Google.

Switching now from inscrutable astrology to fables (because next to cosmic messaging I like simple allegories to explain life), we can see that the slow-but-steady tortoise is placing the most audacious bet.

Continue reading Editorial: Turning point for the tortoise and the hare

Filed under: Cellphones, Tablets, Software, Apple, Microsoft, Google

Editorial: Turning point for the tortoise and the hare originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 22 Oct 2012 16:54:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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With Windows 8 going on sale in just four days, Microsoft is doing a sensible thing and releasing a version of Skype optimized for Win 8. As you’d expect, Skype for Windows 8 has the same overarching look and feel as other apps, which is to say you can swipe from left to right to see different categories, such as recent activity, favorites and a complete contacts list. But the integration with Windows 8 goes a little deeper than that. Just as you can pinch your Live Tiles to zoom out and make them easier to navigate, you can use semantic zoom to sift through a long list of contacts. And, because Skype runs in the background, you can set up your Start Screen so that the Skype Live Tile shows notifications for things like missed calls. Additionally, Skype is now baked into the People Hub, so that someone’s Skype handle shows up alongside other forms of contact, like an email address or phone number.

The in-call experience has also been modified to take advantage of certain features in Win 8. For one, you can link your Skype and Microsoft account, so that when you log into your system using your Microsoft ID, you’ll already be logged into Skype. While on a call, you can conduct video chats using the whole screen, at which point chat messages from that person will show up as text bubbles on the side of the screen. At any time, you can swipe to see other recent activity, which could be handy if you’re juggling multiple IM conversations at once.

If you prefer, you can also dock Skype on the side of the screen, as you can with any other program in Win 8. With the Skype chat taking up just a third (or two thirds) of the screen, you can use that remaining real estate for an IM chat within Skype, or maybe a web search. Lastly, if you return to the home screen, there’s a large phone icon up top where you’ll find the dialer, whose number pad allow your fingers plenty of room to hit the right keys. You’ll see your balance listed there, too, in the event you’re not planning on making a free call to another Skype user. That’s our quick summary of what’s new, but if you like you’ll soon be able to experience it for yourself: the app will be available for free in the Windows Store on October 26th.

Continue reading Microsoft announces Skype for Windows 8: full-screen calls, push notifications and People Hub integration

Filed under: Software, Microsoft

Microsoft announces Skype for Windows 8: full-screen calls, push notifications and People Hub integration originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 22 Oct 2012 09:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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

Microsoft has finally revealed details on the pricing for the all-singing, all-dancing Surface RT. True to Steve Ballmer’s word, the Windows RT device is priced competitively with the iPad. It is, in fact, the same price as the entry-level, now not-so “new iPad” and with double the flash memory, an advantage that may change by the time the Surface ships.

The commercial shows off the device’s signature hardware features — the kickstand and touch keyboard cover — and plays up the “click” they make when they attach to the Surface, which is of course similar to the “click” made when an Apple Smart Cover connects to an iPad. And in a bit of irony for a product that is more focused on tapping than the mouse clicks of the desktop mouse, its campaign slogan is “click in.” (It also raises the question as to why people would be constantly attaching the sold-separately touch keyboard when it doubles as a cover, but it is a commercial after all.) While expensive relative to the price of the device, Microsoft’s keyboard covers represent an extension of one of Apple’s best-conceived iPad accessories (the Smart Cover) and far exceed one of Apple’s worst (the original iPad keyboard dock).

Continue reading Switched On: Sell the hardware, attract the apps

Filed under: Tablets, Software, Microsoft

Switched On: Sell the hardware, attract the apps originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 21 Oct 2012 17:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Microsoft’s Surface for Windows RT appears to be flying off the virtual shelves, however it seems some of the customers who’ve pre-ordered will be waiting about a week longer than they thought. We’ve received several tips from readers in Canada and the UK indicating they’ve received emails (as seen above, check after the break for similar reports from Twitter) explaining that their tablets will be shipping on November 2nd, instead of October 26th as originally scheduled when they put their requests in days ago. There’s no reason currently listed for the delay, however we have contacted Microsoft for further comment on the situation. Currently the Surface is listed as completely sold out on the UK and Canada Microsoft Store sites, and in the US all three variants are no longer promised for delivery on release date. It’s been reported that Microsoft is building up to five million of the devices for launch this fall, hopefully they can all find their way to good homes sooner rather than later.

Update: A Microsoft spokesperson has responded, informing us that the emails sent out were incorrect, so “all customers should expect their devices by the original date given.” It will be following up with customers to let them know their shipping date has not changed, and you can read the full statement for yourself after the break.

[Thanks to Jack, everyone who sent this in]

Continue reading Microsoft Surface pre-orders in Canada, UK are not delayed (Update)

Filed under: Tablets, Microsoft

Microsoft Surface pre-orders in Canada, UK are not delayed (Update) originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 20 Oct 2012 03:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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