Hasta La Gadget!

We really hope you’ve haven’t grown tired of Steampunk over the years. Over-saturated? Passé? Perhaps, but there’s still something undeniably alluring about the blend of Victorian-era mechanics and modern technology. That’s why, even three years after we first caught a glimpse of it, we’re pretty psyched to hear that Datamancer’s Steampunk Laptop is actually being made available for purchase. Detailed specs haven’t been offered, we only know that it will feature “cutting-edge internal components,” but we can tell you there are a bevy of customization options. You can choose everything from the wood stain color, to keyboard fonts, to etched brass lids or clockwork gears like the original design (except these will tick and turn). You can pre-order one now (at the source link) for $5,500 — a healthy discount over the estimated price once production on these one-of-a-kind machines kicks in to gear ($7,500+). Now we just have to decide between food and rent, or a work of PC art.

Datamancer Steampunk Laptop now available for anachronistic pre-order originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 10 Jun 2011 17:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s already made an early debut, just to sell out in a matter a hours, and now Samsung’s answer to the Chromebook, the Series 5, is getting some attention of a more destructive sort. The folks over at iFixit have proven once again that ripping apart consumer electronics is not only therapeutic, but also enlightening, this time putting Google’s ultraportable under the knife. On top of the specs we already have, this Chromebook’s inner workings reveal 2GB of non-upgradable DDR3 RAM (the CR-48 apparently packed upgradable RAM), Intel NM10 graphics, a Qualcomm Gobi WWAN board, an Atheros AR9382 802.11n WiFi chip, and a 16GB SanDisk SSD. If you want even more intimate details (and have some cash to burn) you can wait to rip into the Chromebook yourself — or you could to do the practical thing, and click on the source link below.

Samsung Series 5 3G Chromebook gets iFixit teardown, lays bare its telling internals originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 08 Jun 2011 17:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Here in the states, Sony’s 13-inch VAIO Z series has been missing from the company’s online store for months, but in Europe, at least, it lives on — a quartet of Z21 series laptops have surfaced on various e-tailers as the possible successor to last year’s Z11. So far, we’re seeing a pair of configurations with a Core i5-2410M processor and 128GB of solid-state storage and two more with a Core i7-2620M CPU and 256GB in storage. Judging by this sample, at least, 1600 x 900 resolution is standard, as is a backlit keyboard, 3G SIM card slot, fingerprint reader, 3D output, and an HD webcam with Sony’s Exmor imaging technology. Alas, the available specs suggest Thunderbolt’s a no-show, though rumor has it Sony’s implementation of Intel’s Light Peak technology will use USB connectors, of which this has three. Here’s to wishful thinking, right?

The peculiar thing is, you can’t actually buy it yet. F2F lists staggering prices ranging from €1,809 ($2,642) to €2,839 ($4,146), though it’s not, in fact, available. Meanwhile, search results turn up mentions on staticICE UK and Belgium’s Execute, but they’ve been scrubbed from the actual pages. So, it looks like it’s up to Sony to announce this already — and dish up some pictures while it’s at it.

[Thanks, Ihor]

Sony VAIO Z21 Series mentioned on various European sites, isn’t actually for sale yet originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 05 Jun 2011 14:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Intel’s already teased Compal’s “Ultra Mobile” Ultrabook from afar, but when this Ivy Bridge laptop popped up on the show floor after the Computex keynote, we decided to give it a closer look. While this prototype isn’t quite in the same league as ASUS’ gorgeous UX21, do bear in mind that we’re still looking at a relatively slim package for a 14- to 15-inch Core i7 rig. Also visible around the machine are a couple of USB 3.0 ports, an HDMI-out port, a LAN socket, and an SD card reader. Until we hear more about this Ultra Mobile, enjoy our eyes-on photos below.

Compal’s ‘Ultra Mobile’ Ultrabook eyes-on originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 04 Jun 2011 07:05:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Remember how Microsoft unveiled that whole “Windows 8” thing earlier today? It’s back for more: here at Computex 2011 in Taipei, prototype ARM-based Windows 8 slates and smartbooks are coming out of the woodwork. Foxconn, Wistron and Quanta all unveiled early hardware for the new OS, with chips from Qualcomm, Texas Instruments and NVIDIA powering their live tiles — including NVIDIA’s upcoming Kal-El, which got both a tablet and a super-slim prototype notebook to call its own. Dell’s also got a XPS development station up on stage, which Microsoft used to demo the UI — it’s bulky and ugly as such things are, but it suggests that Dell’s also likely to have a portable Windows 8 machine at some point. For its part, Qualcomm is promising a chip that can instantly wake from sleep, and one of the devices showed that USB host support works fine and dandy. Unfortunately, none of these machines will make their way to market, but it’s nice to know that the OEMs care enough to show their solidarity here.

Update: Video now added after the break.

Continue reading Microsoft reveals ARM-powered Windows 8 prototypes (eyes-on)

Microsoft reveals ARM-powered Windows 8 prototypes (eyes-on) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 01 Jun 2011 22:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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