Nokia establishes stance on conflict minerals in formal policy originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 04 Feb 2012 03:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Continue reading Microsoft’s Windows 8 hardware requirements: some good, some not-so-good

Microsoft’s Windows 8 hardware requirements: some good, some not-so-good originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 17 Jan 2012 13:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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And the hybrid devices keep on coming. Sitting high on a shelf in Microsoft’s booth, hidden among the earthly clamshell laptops, is the Toshiba Portege M930, a prototype whose 13-inch screen slides down to completely cover the keyboard. All told, it’s awfully reminiscent of the ASUS Eee Pad Slider — complete with a propped-up display and squat keyboard. The keyboard is so narrow, in fact, that Toshiba had to forgo a traditional trackpad and instead put a touch sensor and buttons over on the right edge. Though it’s a bit heavy for an Ultrabook, at 4.2 pounds, it has some Ultrabook-grade innards, including a Core i5 processor, 4GB of RAM, Intel HD 3000 graphics and a 256GB solid-state drive. Take a tour around the device and you’ll also find the usual array of ports: dual USB 2.0 sockets, HDMI, an Ethernet jack, an SD reader and separate headphone and mic ports.

Even when we previewed the Slider we weren’t keen on sacrificing that much deck space in the name of bold industrial design and here, too, the keys feel unnecessarily crowded. The good news is that the hinge mechanism feels smooth and controlled — not too tight, but rigid enough to inspire confidence in its build quality. That 13.3-inch screen also looks bright enough, though we imagine that 1280 x 800 resolution will be a turn-off for more than a few of you. Unfortunately, the M930 is so early its development that the touchscreen wasn’t even working, though it responds just fine to the pen, which stows in the back of the laptop. No word on pricing or availability (Toshiba isn’t even showing it at its booth), but even if this thing never materializes we’ve got some hands-on photos and video below.

Mat Smith contributed to this report

Continue reading Toshiba Portege M930 prototype hands-on (video)

Toshiba Portege M930 prototype hands-on (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 13 Jan 2012 20:20:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Intel’s betting the farm on Ultrabook PCs with its biggest-budget advertising campaign since 2003. April will see the start of a massive advertising campaign designed to convey the benefits of thin and light notebooks to the masses. Kevin Sellers, Santa Clara’s head of advertising was boasting ahead of Tuesday’s Intel press conference where we’re expecting plenty of juicy revelations about the company’s Medfield smartphone platform. We’d say “keep your eyes peeled” for the adverts, but given how deeply ingrained the Intel bunnies are on our subconscious, we’ll just wait for the PR onslaught to begin.

Intel mounting ‘biggest advertising campaign since 2003′ for Ultrabooks originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 10 Jan 2012 06:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Intel told us to expect next-gen netbooks from a throng of manufacturers, but for some reason it forgot to mention little ol’ Gigabyte. Perhaps that’s why the Taiwanese manufacturer is being slightly standoffish when it comes to detailing its two new 10-inch slates, which both run on unspecified variants of Cedar Trail and have equally unknown launch dates and prices. What we do know is that the T1006M is a convertible tablet that sports 1366 x 768 densely packed pixels, a USB 3.0 port and what appears to be an optional 3.5G modem — specs that are already familiar from our recent encounter at the FCC. Next comes the S1081, which is a straightforward Windows 7 business slate like its $680 predecessor and comes with a choice of HDD or SSD storage, an optical trackpad for extra “precision,” USB 3.0, VGA and HDMI outputs, plus the same optional multimedia dock. Rest assured that we’ll track these newcomers down on the CES floor to fill in the blanks and judge how well they stand out, now that the quiet trail has become a highway. Until then, feel free to read on for the press release — which also reveals that the Booktop T1132, Booktop M2432 and P2532 gaming notebook are all heading to the US market.

Continue reading Gigabyte intros S1081 Windows slate and T1006M netvertible, both packing Cedar Trail

Gigabyte intros S1081 Windows slate and T1006M netvertible, both packing Cedar Trail originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 09 Jan 2012 03:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Intel’s Wireless Display tech has promised to pull together properly equipped laptops and nearby HDTV screens since its debut last year, but until now always required an extra add-on for the TV side of the equation. That will change next year, thanks to an agreement by the chipmaker with LG promising its Cinema 3D Smart TV line will be the first ones with WiDi built right in. Just like it does with existing dongles, compatible devices can stream content (including HDCP protected video like DVDs and Blu-rays, as of Sandy Bridge) to the display while displaying something different on their own screen, and don’t require an active WiFi or internet setup to make it all happen. The press release (included after the break) promises demonstrations next month at CES, while some manufacturers like Philips have included similar technology, we’ll see if this becomes a standard feature.

Continue reading Intel and LG deal brings WiDi streaming to HDTVs without the dongle

Intel and LG deal brings WiDi streaming to HDTVs without the dongle originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 15 Dec 2011 07:35:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Even if Samsung plans to stop producing 10.1-inch netbooks from next year, there’s still plenty of scope for new models in little ol’ 2011. In fact, British online retailers have just put up listings for an N102S running an officially unknown Atom N2100 processor. This chip is rumored to be a low-power variant of Intel’s delayed Cedar Trail line-up, which might explain why none of the retailers yet have firm information about availability. (We called the number above, they told us to ignore the bit about December 2nd.) Other listed specs include a distinctly last-gen 1GB of RAM, 320GB of HDD roominess and Windows 7 Starter Edition for £240 ($370).

Samsung N102S netbook listed on UK sites for £240, possibly with Cedar Trail originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 25 Nov 2011 07:35:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The unchallenged reign of the MacBook Air on the thin-and-light domain is nearing an end — the Ultrabooks are coming, and the Lenovo U300s looks to be one of the strongest competitors we’ve yet seen. It’s a new entry to the IdeaPad lineup, the thinnest and lightest of a redesigned and reborn U Series that will also include the slightly stockier 13.3-inch U300 and the even bigger but even more serious 14-inch U400. All three are shipping in October, and we recently got a chance to try out the tiny trio. Read on for full details and our full impressions.

Continue reading Lenovo announces U300s Ultrabook, U300 and U400 IdeaPads, we go hands-on (video)

Lenovo announces U300s Ultrabook, U300 and U400 IdeaPads, we go hands-on (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 01 Sep 2011 11:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Well, hello there little guy. Did you get lost on your way to production? Many, many moons since we got our first hands-on with the thing it looks like the Lenovo U1 has found the way to retail reality, making a stop by at the FCC to ensure that it can, some day, be released — somewhere. When will that magical day come? We still don’t know, but if you’ve forgotten just what this little guy is all about, take a trip down memory lane in the video after the break.

Continue reading Lenovo U1 tablet arrives at FCC, finally

Lenovo U1 tablet arrives at FCC, finally originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 10 Jul 2011 20:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We know that Intel is gunning for ARM with its Oak Trail platform, and indeed there were a few early tablets at Computex following that very path to Honeycomb. The question on everyone’s minds, of course, is how well this dual-core 1.5GHz platform can compare to the Tegra 2 competition. If you believe the results from a suite of tests that tweakers.net ran on a prototype Compal unit, then the answer is “not very well.” On benchmarks like CaffeineMark, Linpak, and Quadrant the platform was largely left in the dust by ARM competition with bigger biceps, but the Oak Trail machine did clean the floor with everyone else on the SunSpider browser benchmark. What does it all mean? Not a heck of a lot at this point, we’re afraid. It’s far too early to be drawing performance conclusions about a platform based on a prototype fresh out of the fabricator, and we have our doubts that these benchmark apps are optimized for the new platform — so don’t give up on ‘ol x86 just yet.

Honeycomb on Oak Trail gets benchmarked on prototype Compal tablet, numbers ensue originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 03 Jun 2011 09:26:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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