Hasta La Gadget!

We got a dose of details on Dell’s new Precision M4600 and M6600 workstations yesterday, and though impressed by their specs, we were left without answers to two very important questions: when can we get them, and how much will they cost? There must be some mind readers in Round Rock, because today Dell revealed that the machines will make their debut on May 10 with prices starting at $1,678 for the M4600 and $2,158 for its 17-inch big brother, though prices surely escalate quickly from there. Turns out, the laptops also have optional IPS and four-finger multi-touch displays for your viewing pleasure and RAID support for your (and your employer’s) peace of mind. That’s some stellar hardware for some serious coin, so interested parties should start brown-nosing the bossman immediately — or maybe just get a second job. PR’s after the break.

Continue reading Dell’s new powerhouse Precision M4600 and M6600 workstation laptops on sale May 10

Dell’s new powerhouse Precision M4600 and M6600 workstation laptops on sale May 10 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 26 Apr 2011 18:57:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink PC World  |  Dell  | Email this | Comments

When a leaked document strongly suggests that Intel’s upcoming Panther Point chipset will support USB 3.0, AMD’s not going to take that cheery news lying down. Not even a day later, the underdog chip maker has confirmed that its A75 and A70M Fusion chipsets will support the standard protocol, which claims speeds ten times faster than USB 2.0. No word on when that’ll happen, or whether AMD will beat Chipzilla to market — but if nothing else it can brag about being first out of the gate with an official plan. Huzzah!

AMD beats Intel to the punch, confirms USB 3.0 support in future chipsets originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 13 Apr 2011 16:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  CNET  | Email this | Comments

Apple has just collected the US Patent Office’s approval to add another to its vast hoard of patents. This one, numero 7,918,689 in the USPTO annals, describes a multi-pin male plug connector and a corresponding female receptacle, with the innovation being a reduction in size thanks to a single row of contacts. You can think of it as Apple’s next generation of 30-pin connectors, or rather the next generation as the company envisioned it back in late 2008, the date of filing for this document. Back then, while the age of the click wheel was still upon us, Apple wanted to transfer USB 3.0 and DisplayPort signals over its newfangled plug, aspirations that were codified in claim 11 of its patent. We may now be a solid 30 or so months removed from that doc hitting the Patent Office’s inbox, but the desire to have advanced data transfer tech integrated straight into the company’s proprietary connectors is unlikely to have withered. Would it be a stretch to expect Apple’s now working on a similar solution for the Thunderbolt interconnect — whose plug looks identical to the one used for DisplayPort — that is presently gracing its MacBook Pro line?

Apple granted patent for a ‘reduced size multi-pin connector,’ namedrops USB 3.0 and DisplayPort originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 06 Apr 2011 03:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink MacRumors, Patently Apple  |  USPTO  | Email this | Comments

Let’s get the hard facts out of the way first: HP has a pair of as-yet-unannounced laptops in the pipeline, to be dubbed the EliteBook 2560p and 2760p. That info comes straight from a PDF document hosted on HP’s servers, and barring a spectacular change in the company’s model numbering scheme, the new machines will be replacing the 12.1-inch 2540p and 2740p introduced around this time last year. In less concrete but still likely accurate news, the specs for these machines are expected to include low- and standard-voltage Intel Core i7 processors (of the 2011 variety), USB 3.0 and DisplayPort connectivity, and options for 1440 x 900 resolution on matte displays. The difference between the two EliteBooks is that the 27xx series has typically been a convertible tablet PC while its lesser-numbered sibling is usually a straight ultraportable. Can’t be long to go until these ThinkPad X220 competitors get official.

[Thanks, D]

HP EliteBook 2560p and 2760p specs leak out, show Core i7, USB 3.0 and DisplayPort additions originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 31 Mar 2011 06:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Notebook Review forum, Notebook Italia  |  HP Fansite, HP (PDF)  | Email this | Comments

Allegiances are being drawn and battle plans laid out as the USB 3.0 vs. Thunderbolt war truly begins. Toshiba is, for the moment at least, staying friendly with the USB side, announcing updated versions of its STOR.E external HDDs, both packing Superspeed tech. On the smaller side is the ALU 2S, packing a 2.5-inch HDD internally that has up to 1TB on platters. If you need a little more you can step up to the Steel S, another external unit containing a 3.5-inch HDD with up to 2TB of storage. That one, unfortunately, will require an external power supply, while the littler ALU 2S will get by with only a USB cable. Both feature metal exteriors, increasing their usability as impromptu bludgeons, and both are slated to start shipping before this first quarter is through — which should mean any time now.

Continue reading Toshiba updates STOR.E external HDDs to USB 3.0, sees no lightning and hears no thunder

Toshiba updates STOR.E external HDDs to USB 3.0, sees no lightning and hears no thunder originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 22 Mar 2011 10:56:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  Toshiba  | Email this | Comments