It's a compelling proposition: all the power and application compatibility of a laptop running a proper desktop operating system, all the portability and convenience of a tablet, all mixed together in one package. That's the core idea behind Microsoft's Surface tablets but, as we saw with the Surface for Windows RT a few months ago, its ARM-based nature resulted in some substantial drawbacks. Namely: app selection.

Running Windows is all well and good, but when you're running the RT flavor, which strips compatibility with the entire, massive and still-swelling catalog of Windows applications, you're left with a desktop-class operating system completely bereft of any desktop apps. Welcome, then, to the Surface for Windows 8 Pro, which promises all the niceties of the Surface RT -- compelling design, build quality, performance -- with full support for x86 Windows applications. (That is: every single Windows app released before the end of last year.) And, adding a 1080p display to the mix doesn't hurt. So, then, is this perfection in a single 10-inch, $899 device? Let's find out.

Gallery: Microsoft Surface with Windows Pro review

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The Windows Phone 8 deluge is slowly starting to taper off. HTC and Nokia have made their presence known with loud, bold statements and even Huawei has gotten in on the action. Meanwhile Samsung has already blessed the market with its flagship ATIV S, a respectable rehash of the Galaxy S III with a Microsoft soul. Nokia and HTC even have their respective mid-range models on the market. Which leaves just one slot to be filled: a budget offering from Sammy. With the debut of the ATIV Odyssey it's safe to assume that the Windows Phone landscape won't be changing too dramatically in the immediate future. (Of course, Mobile World Congress could make a liar out of us in short order.)

The ATIV S simply doesn't have the pomp and flash (though, it has the guts) to run with the Lumia 920 and HTC 8X. But in the mid-range, where gimmicks and style often take a backseat to functionality, perhaps Samsung can carve out a space for itself among the Redmond faithful? Last year's Focus 2 and 2011's Focus Flash struck a winning combination of price and functionality by offering comparable specs to their higher-end competitors. Just over a year later, the question is whether that's still a winning combination in a market that's significantly broadened its horizons.

Gallery: Samsung ATIV Odyssey review

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I'm about to walk into my favorite restaurant in the world. The food is yummy, healthy and fits my budget. The staff knows my name and rarely has to ask how I'd like something served. And the location couldn't be better. It's the perfect place.

But before I can pass the threshold to nosh nirvana, a stranger on his way out gives me a sideways glance and whispers, "This place is horrible. Don't bother."

This place? My place? The best restaurant on earth? How can this be? Perhaps something has changed. Did the chef leave? Is the cute hostess gone? Have I been wrong this whole time?

But I have faith. I follow through, and the best restaurant in the world is still just that, just as I remembered.

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Just one year after its Zagat acquisition, Google has made a move on another trusted lifestyle brand. John Wiley & Sons Inc., the current owner of the Frommer's network of travel sites and guide books, confirmed the Mountain View acquisition, with a closing expected shortly. According to The Wall Street Journal, Google hasn't made a call concerning Frommer's printed guidebooks, which don't necessarily fall in line with the company's otherwise online-only model. It's also unclear whether or not the new content arm will fall under Zagat's leadership, though a department executive did comment on the acquisition in an interview, saying that Google planned to keep Frommer's on its current path for the time being. Neither company was able to confirm pricing for the buyout, which could help Google boost its reviews portfolio, backing user-submitted travel content with professional credibility. Full details are at the source link below.

Update: As it turns out, Google will reportedly be keeping the print staff on board, moving the team to its NYC offices. Online editors are less fortunate, however, with layoffs having already begun.

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Ultrabooks now come in countless shapes and sizes, and we've seen display quality vary just as much. Though 1,366 x 768 may still be the norm, 1,600 x 900 panels aren't unheard of in this ultraportable category. But what about a screen that bucks the 16:9 aspect ratio for an extra-wide 21:9? Toshiba is mixing things up with its new premium Satellite U845W Ultrabook ($1,000 and up), the first laptop to feature that odd aspect ratio.

Styled in the fashion of movie theater screens, the U845W's 14.4-inch, 1,792 x 768 panel adds more horizontal pixels -- ostensibly to enhance the movie-watching experience. In theory, too, that setup should allow for more room to multitask with windows side by side. So how good of an idea is a 21:9 screen in practice? Join us as we put it to the test.

Gallery: Toshiba Satellite U845W review

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Here in the states, it's just about time to start hitting the beach, and despite what you might have heard, not all of us here at Engadget are perpetually bikini-ready. In this week's issue of Distro, we'll follow our own Daniel Cooper on an eight-week quest to slim down before his summertime nuptials. In "Fitter, Happier" Daniel puts a series of fitness gadgets to the test to find out if machines really can make you a healthier, skinnier and, ultimately, happier human being. We'll also bring you the best of Computex 2012, a look at gaming's big three at E3 and give you our impressions of Microsoft's latest Windows 8 preview, Lenovo's ThinkPad X230 and Sony's NEX-F3. Rounding things out, we'll take a closer look at some of the biggest names in fit tech with "Eyes-On" and jog your memory with an early ancestor to the MP3 player in "Time Machines." So hit the appropriate link below and get to downloading.

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We'd been wondering what Google would do following its acquisition of Zagat, and now we know: it's part of Google+ Local, a boost to Maps, general search, and Google+ itself. Zagat's point system now automatically shows up in search results for restaurants that have been given the extra scrutiny. Those of us who don't trust The Man for reviews will also now see Google+ friends' picks surface at the same time. The addition is considered important enough that Google is even adding a Local tab on Google+ just to show recommendations, so you won't have to abandon your constant updating (you're always posting on Google+, right?) to find a well-rated sushi place. Local should be live soon, if not now, and will make search plus Your World that much more omnipresent.

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It's the most wonderful time of the week once again, pals. Like most seven-day periods, this one comes to a close with the latest issue of our e-magazine for your gadget reading pleasure. Front and center this time around, our own Darren Murph pays a visit to the South Carolina HQ of accessory maker Twelve South to chat about making a big splash while staying small. On the review side of things, we take a gander at the TiVo Premiere XL4 and the HTC EVO 4G LTE to see how they stack up and we go hands-on with the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon and Sounder's iOS app. Reaction Time makes an appearance too -- taking a long look at Max Payne 3 while listing this week's must-have game releases. The usual suspects fall in line as well, as you might expect. Switched On discusses RIM and Nokia, IRL sneaks a look in at our gear collections, former Doctor Who script editor Christopher H. Bidmead pauses for the Q&A and Dustin Harbin has the Last Word on what killed dinosaurs. Go ahead. Grab the device of your choice and hit the appropriate download link to grab a copy of this week's e-publication.

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Oh, how we will miss New Orleans. It's been a long and busy week in the Big Easy as tens of thousands of calories were sacrificed in the name of bringing you the most comprehensive coverage of CTIA's annual spring show. Not that we mind -- we love doing it, and it's easy justification for the dozens of beignets we downed during our stay. The event was a tad on the quiet side this year (no companies announced any buyouts, for starters) we still kept ourselves more than adequately busy sticking our noses in every nook and cranny of the show floor. After the break, feast upon our entire scope of coverage, in case you missed it the first time around.

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Having trouble with the barrage of smartphone news in recent weeks? Don't worry, we've got you covered in this Friday's edition of our e-publication. The focus this week is the on-going quest for the ultimate smartphone champion. In our search, we take a look at the recently outted Samsung Galaxy S III while putting both the AT&T HTC One X and the Sprint Galaxy Nexus through their paces. While he's a fan of their thin frames, Darren Murph demands better battery life in new laptops and his editorial offers some thoughts on the matter. Our hands-on section is all CTIA this week, as we look back at a handful of gadgets that caught our eye. Smartphone reviews just not doing the trick this week? Well, we take the Jawbone Big Jambox for a spin in this week's issue as well. Yes, all the regulars are here -- including Reaction Time with a word on The Avengers and Call of Duty. Stat takes a look at phone profits, Switched On tackles smartplayers, IRL takes another peek in our backpacks, Square's CTO Bob Lee gets cozy with the Q&A and Dustin Harbin offers the Last Word on excessive texters. So, grab a seat in your favorite reading chair and hit the download link of your choice to get your copy of our tablet mag.

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While the world still waits for the GTX 680 to reach Newegg, NVIDIA has pushed ahead with the next card down in its stack: the $399 GTX 670. This more affordable option keeps most of the main Kepler credentials intact, but it necessarily makes a few compromises on the computational side, with fewer processing cores (1344 instead of 1536) and texture units (112 instead of 128) as well as slower base clock speed (915MHz instead of 1006MHz). Is that likely to be a problem? Judging from reviewers' responses published today, which cover cards from a range of vendors, probably not. In fact, as TechSpot puts it, "there's very little to critique," because the GTX 670 matches the performance of AMD's flagship Radeon HD 7970 at a much lower price. AnandTech's benchmarks put the reference board only ten percent (or a handful of fps) behind the GTX 680 in many recent games, leaving it "nipping at the 7970's heels," but it was still plenty powerful enough to play Arkham City or Battlefield 3 at 5760 x 1200 with high settings. PCPer's stats put the new card 15 to 20 percent behind the 680, but found good scaling in SLI mode. The Tech Report found the the GTX 670's cheap stock cooler let it down slightly, with a "friction-filled" idle noise well above the top-end Radeons and even above the dual-GPU GTX 690 -- but under load it conducted itself relatively well. We could go on, but ultimately if you're looking to buy this card then you'll want to do your own research at the links below, and then do a raindance.

Read - TechSpot
Read - AnandTech
Read - The Tech Report
Read - PC Per
Read - HotHardware
Read - Tom's Hardware
Read - Hexus

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Three years is quite a long time for any one gadget to complete its product cycle -- even a high-end DSLR. The D700 remained on its flagship DSLR perch since its launch in the summer of 2008, all the way through Nikon's D800 announcement earlier this year. During that tenure, the full-frame camera became the primary workhorse for a bounty of photography pros, and it appears safe to confirm that its successor is up to the same task. The 36.3-megapixel D800 has completed its labs tour, leaving reviewers with positive impressions across the board.

As always, DPReview offers some of the most comprehensive analysis on the web, and highlights several advantages over the D800's competitor, the Canon 5D Mark III, including a higher megapixel count (36MP vs. 22MP) and a significantly lower price tag ($3,000 vs. $3,500). CNET struggles to identify cons, and praises the cam for its "stellar photos, excellent videos, speedy performance, and a relatively streamlined shooting design." Ken Rockwell brings a D800E into the reviews mix, concluding that the low-pass-filter-less flavor isn't the best fit for everyone. Finally, newcomer The Photo Brigade put the camera in the hands of Preston Mack, a professional on assignment who used the DSLR to capture a GigaPan photo for MLB.com and offered this takeaway: "I am very happy with the Nikon D800 camera. It is an amazing value." Overall, seems like quite a hit -- you'll find links to all of the above reviews just past the break.

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If you're in the market for some weekend reading, we've got quite the issue of our weekly tablet mag in the hopper. James Trew takes a look back at 40 years of cultural impact at the hands of Atari in this installment's feature. It doesn't matter to Darren Murph that Apple isn't making an iPad / MacBook Air hybrid, he still wants one and he tells why. Keeping with the gaming theme, Ludwig Kietzmann asks if Trials Evolution is the perfect game in this week's Reaction Time. The hands-on section pays a visit to BlackBerry World while spending some time with Spotify's iPad app and Microsoft's new SkyDrive software offerings. On the reviews side of things, we put the Nook Simple Touch with GlowLight, Acer Iconia Tab A510 and a duo of throwback mirrorless cameras through the wringer. Speaking of e-readers, Switched On offers some thoughts on the matter and IRL lets you in on three more of our go-to gadgets. If that's not enough, Stat shows how Android slates are feeling the Kindle Fire's heat, The Next Web's Martin Bryant has a go at the Q&A and Box Brown has the Last Word on a hero's required pixel density. Ready to feed that retro gaming appetite? Visit your link of choice below to grab a copy of the weekly to get started.

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Ah, yes. The end of the week is upon us. Of course, this means that the latest installment of our tablet publication has arrived. Stepping up to the plate this time around, Brian Heater takes a look inside LASR, the Navy's Robotics Lab, and Richard Lai chats with MSI co-founder Jeans Huang. After a strong debut last week, Ludwig Kietzmann is back with Reaction Time and his take on Journey. Our brand spankin' new hands-on section looks back at Spotify's Android preview, Alexandre Herchovitch's HP Pavilion DM1, MIT's Arduino-powered DrumTop and Google Drive. We spend some quality time with the T-Mobile HTC One S, LG Viper, ASUS TF300 and MSI GT70 while Switched On tackles Kickstarter project funding. Looking for something more? IRL reveals our personal gadget stash, the Stat takes a look at tech jobs, Tapbots co-creator Mark Jardine handles the Q&A and Box Brown offers the Last Word on Facebook's recent purchase. Go ahead and hit your favorite link below to snag your copy of this week's e-magazine.

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Chin up, friends. The week is coming to a close and a fresh issue of our tablet mag is hot off the e-presses. Front and center this week, Microsoft's Bill Buxton discusses the future of the Natural UI. We also feature the start of Reaction Time, a regular column from Joystiq's Editor-in-chief Ludwig Kietzmann. Here, he'll tackle the current state of gaming from week to week. Also new this time around, a look back at the hands-on opps that we've had over the past seven days and Switched On continues its look at smartphone growth. The HTC One V, Titan II and the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 (7.0) get put through their paces while Darren Murph offers some thoughts on Facebook's role as a digital scrapbook. IRL offers a regular peek into our gear habits, the Stat breaks down screen resolution, DigitalRev's Kai Man Wong runs through the Q&A gauntlet and Box Brown has the Last Word on Angry Birds Space. So what are you waiting for? Head on down to the link of your choice to begin your download.

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Ever consulted a crowdsourced review for a product or service before committing your hard-earned funds to the cause? Have you wondered how legit the opinions you read really are? Well, it seems that help is on the way to uncover paid opinion spamming and KIRF reviews. Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago have released detailed calculations in the report Spotting Fake Reviewer Groups in Consumer Reviews -- an effort aided by a Google Faculty Research Award. Exactly how does this work, you ask? Using the GSRank (Group Spam Rank) algorithm, behaviors of both individuals and a group as a whole are used to gather data on the suspected spammers.

Factors such as content similarity, reviewing products early (to be most effective), ratio of the group size to total reviewers and the number of products the group has been in cahoots on are a few bits of data that go into the analysis. The report states, "Experimental results showed that GSRank significantly outperformed the state-of-the-art supervised classification, regression, and learning to rank algorithms." Here's to hoping this research gets wrapped into a nice software application, but for now, review mods may want to brush up on their advanced math skills. If you're curious about the full explanation, hit the source link for the full-text PDF.

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Hear that? That, friends, is the sound of someone in Intel's PR department banging his head against a desk. Though we've read more than a few rumors about the company's forthcoming Ivy Bridge chips, Intel has yet to fully detail the new platform, and has controlled the flow of information so tightly that laptop makers won't even use the words Ivy Bridge when talking about upcoming systems. (It's always "next-generation Intel Core processors," but we digress.) So it's a pleasant surprise, then, to see a review of an Ivy Bridge system before Intel even makes its official announcement. Laptop Reviews has apparently been testing a yet-to-be-announced HP EliteBook 8470p with an unspecified Core i7 processor, integrated Intel HD 4000 graphics, 8GB of RAM and an Intel 320 solid-state drive.

Though the testing team doesn't have much to say about battery life, the raw performance scores are quite impressive, surpassing those belonging to heavy hitters like the HP Envy 17 and Lenovo ThinkPad W520 workstation. Then again, Laptop Reviews is quick to admit that that SSD may have helped boost scores beyond what you'd see in an Ivy Bridge system with a good old-fashioned hard drive. On the graphics side, too, the spankin' new HD 4000 provides a nice (read: several-thousand-point) boost over systems running HD 3000, though we'll have to wait a little longer for real-world gaming tests, it seems. That's the abridged version, but we encourage you to hit up the source link for some more detailed remarks, along with comparisons to other systems.

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Shoot in the dark. That's essentially what you can do with the Canon 5D Mark III -- with a top sensitivity of ISO 102,400, what was once unfathomable could soon become an acceptable standard. While point-and-shoot manufacturers are adding WiFi and GPS, and tweaking algorithms in an effort to boost sensitivity beyond the 6400 mark, Canon and Nikon are making clear cases for a DSLR upgrade, by drastically improving image quality. The 5D Mark II had an excellent three-year run, but with its 22.3-megapixel sensor, 1.04M-dot 3.2-inch LCD, improved autofocus and high-performance video capabilities, Canon's latest full-frame DSLR is an entirely different beast, and a very compelling successor.

We spent two glorious weeks with a pre-production 5D Mark III before reluctantly shipping it back to Canon. The biggest benefit (for us, at least) has been high-ISO shooting. While the former 5D could theoretically handle ISO 25,600 captures as well, its native range topped out at 6400 -- venturing beyond that territory meant taking a hit on image quality, making it a seldom-used feature that benefited the camera's spec sheet far more than our low-light snap collection. With this latest iteration, we were able to capture sharp images in environments where there was far too little light to make out details with the naked eye, just as we have with the larger (and pricier) Nikon D3S. Our resulting scenes look like they were lit with sophisticated rigs, or in an environment that allotted far more natural light than was actually available. Low-light shooting is but one benefit of the Mark III, however, so join us past the break for a closer look in our field review.

Gallery: Canon EOS 5D Mark III review

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Gallery: Sony NEX-7 review

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Gallery: Boeing 787 Dreamliner exterior

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Gallery: Samsung NX200 interchangeable lens camera review

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