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Nokia C6 gets FCC approval, launching at CeBIT?
Say you're Nokia. Well, you can't be Nokia since Nokia's an inanimate concept; say you're Nokia CEO Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo. What'd be a good show to use as a backdrop for a new low-end line of smartphones, none of which are likely to generate a ton of buzz? Why, the monstrous fairgrounds of CeBIT, of course! There's a bit of creative wording in the official Nokia Conversations newsletter that would seem to indicate the long-rumored Cseries is finally ready to bow: "Of course, we don't comment on rumours or leaks, but we are looking forward to C BIT for the next series of Nokia announcements. Right we're off to pack our rucksacks and lederhosen, C you there." Get it? All those "C" references? Yeah, looks like a lock. We don't know what phones will be shown off, but the most likely candidates are the C5 and C6, the latter of which could have some legs as an E72 alternative. Speaking of the C6, it was just approved by the FCC this week, complete with 850, 1900, and 2100MHz 3G -- so don't you worry, AT&T folks, this'll work just fine for you when it launches. Stay tuned, because CeBIT is just days away.
Shuttle's XS35 nettop is 3.3cm thin, too nice to hide behind your HDTV
Nettops keep getting better, and thinner too if Shuttle's latest is anything to go by. It's the XS35, a 3.3cm thin affair packing a dual-core Intel Atom D510 at 1.6GHz and Ion 2 graphics with HDMI output for easy connectivity to your high definition display of choice. Somehow the company has also found room for five USB ports, VGA and discrete audio outputs, an Ethernet jack, and a card reader. It's passively cooled, so the only noise you'll hear will be the spinning platters of its 2.5-inch hard disk or the spinning of an optical disc, which yes somehow fits in there too (making it perfect for watching your Thunderbirds DVD collection). No price yet but it'll be on display at CeBIT in just a few days and shipping sometime in the second quarter of this year. %Gallery-86599%
Smartbook Logo is neither a logo nor a smartbook, actually a 3G-equipped CULV laptop
We're ready to hand out our first award for CeBIT 2010. The most confusing product of the year ribbon goes to German company Smartbook, who's decided to produce a portable computer with a shell design and 3G connectivity that... isn't actually a smartbook (or what we understand the term to mean anyway). Instead of capitalizing on the built-in marketing appeal of its name, Smartbook AG staunchly persists in believing it's a real laptop maker, and is readying a new thin-and-light machine to prove just that. To be known as the Logo, this will be an Intel CULV-powered 11.6-incher, with a 1366 x 768 resolution, Windows 7 Home Premium and a stingy 1GB of RAM on board. In other words, the Acer Timeline 1810T, only a few months later and priced to (never) sell: €699 ($944). Boy, we've heard of corporate hubris before but this is getting silly now.
ASUS Eee PC 1018P, 1016P and 1015P prepping for a CeBIT debut
Looks like there won't be a shortage of new laptops and netbooks next week at CeBIT, and if Blogeee is to be believed ASUS will be showing up with at least three new 10.1-inch Eee PCs. The most exciting of the bunch seem to be the executive-aimed 1016P and 1018P, which will both apparently have an aluminum chassis and 14 hours of battery life. The .7-inch 1018P is said to be the thinnest netbook ASUS has ever created, and sport an integrated fingerprint reader and USB 3.0. Uh, USB 3.0 in a netbook? We don't see why not. Finally there's the 1015P, which seems to just be an refresh of the 1005PE with a matte display and a wider touchpad. It sounds triple E exciting, but we promise to find out more on these little guys next week when we are live in Deutschland.
LG debuts T280 ultralight, X140, X200 netbooks
Well, it looks like MSI isn't the only company churning out new systems in advance of CeBIT -- LG has now also let out word of three new laptops and netbooks ahead of the big show. Leading the pack is the stylish, CULV-based T280 ultralight pictured above, which packs an 11.6-inch display, a choice of a 1.3GHz Pentium dual-core or Core 2 Duo processor, 2GB of RAM, a 320GB or 500GB hard drive, and a price ranging from $990 to $1,094. Joining it are the X140 and X200 netbooks, the latter of which actually looks to be identical to the X20 model we spotted at in the FCC's hands earlier this month. Both of those will pack 1.66GHz Atom N450 processors, along with some other seemingly similar specs, but fairly different designs. Dive into the links below for a closer look.
MSI announces GT660 gaming laptop ahead of CeBIT
We've already heard about some of the systems MSI has in store for CeBIT -- including a 3D-capable Wind Top -- but it looks like the company still has bit more lined up, including this new GT660 gaming laptop. In addition to the requisite red accents to make it go faster, this one packs a quad-core Core i7 processor, along with GeForce GTX 285M and, just as notably, some USB 3.0 ports to ensure your peripherals are just as speedy. Still no word on a price or other specifics, but MSI is promising to say more about this and the rest of its new systems at CeBIT next week.
MSI converges everything with 24-inch 3D HD Wind Top all-in-one
Now here's a spec sheet maven's dream: MSI has just announced its new Wind Top all-in-ones, and the top model brings every modern spec you can think of. Full HD resolution, 3D capabilities with 120Hz refresh rates, Intel processors up to Core i7, and even multitouch adorn its list of goodies. The new flagships will be known as the Wind Top AE2420 in the 24-incher category and AE2280 in the 22-inch class. They're joined by a selection of high-efficiency machines, such as the AP1920 and AE1920, which promise to cut down the electricity bills for "environmentally-minded business users." That's still hardly scratching the surface, though, as MSI is really preparing a small army of AIOs to display at CeBIT, and you can bet the house we'll be there to touch and ogle at their latest and greatest.
Archos said to have two new Android tablets on track for CeBIT
We've already seen a whole slew of Archos renders leak ahead of CeBIT, and it looks like the company itself has now confirmed that it'll have at least two new devices on hand at the show. Details are still pretty light, of course, but the company's German PR firm has reportedly said that Archos will debut two new "low-cost" Android tablets that are "specifically designed for use at home." One of those is rumored to be a new Archos 7 tablet, while the other remains a bit of a mystery -- although the combination of "low-cost" and "home use" seems to suggest that 3G might be out of the question for either of them.
No-glasses 3D display with 64 viewing angles to debut at CeBIT
Singaporean outfit Sunny Ocean Studios is pledging to put all of the autostereoscopic 3D we've seen so far to shame with a new 27-inch display offering 64 viewing angles it will show at CeBIT. A serious upgrade from the 8 or 9 viewing angle lenticular displays we saw at CES this year, the company claims it's ready to refit regular displays for 3D and also assist in 2D-to-3D image conversion. We've got all of the usual questions lined up like how will this affect resolution, what's necessary to render the necessary 64 different frames for each viewing angle and of course, how much does it cost, but founder Armin Grasnick says his company can handle screens of up to 100-inches quickly and inexpensively, likely by not wasting precious R&D funds on website design. The current state of 3D is glasses all the way, but we could get a peek at the next step March 2 in Germany.
Linpus demos uber klein mystery netbook
Like a little intrigue with your morning Joe? Check out the video below of this sleek little unidentified netbook on display at CeBIT last week at the Linpus booth, found by the same excitable bloke who brought us a glimpse of the company's Linux Lite OS. The hardware sounds to fit the standard Atom-based mold as the rest, adding 3G wireless for true portability, and is said to be built by Quanta, the company rumored to be on tap to build Apple's supposed netbook. Does that mean it could look something like this? We doubt it -- but wouldn't be surprised if it, too had a glossy screen.
ASUS showcases HD-minded Eee Top ET2203 and ET2003
Amongst many, many other things at CeBIT, ASUS also found time to showcase two new Eee Top all-in-one PCs, though it completely failed to make any deal of it at all. In fact, it didn't even bother hosting up specifications placards, leaving us curious as to what these offer over the existing (and smaller) Eee Top machines. Aside from boasting 22- and 20-inch panels (respectively), NotebookItalia noticed that the ET2203 and ET2003 both included an HDMI socket and a Blu-ray optical drive, not to mention a natural affinity towards kitchens. We'll keep an ear to the ground for more on these in the coming weeks, but for now, you'll have to let ye old imagination handle the hard work.
ASUS shows off Wireless LCD prototype, "Green" monitors
ASUS news from CeBIT? Say it ain't so! Just hours after the company introduced two new "Green" LCDs, we stopped by to see what all the fuss was about. What we found were two rather vanilla looking LCDs (they're in the gallery below, we promise) sitting beside something entirely more interesting: a Wireless LCD prototype. An ASUS rep informed us that the model shown was utilizing the currently-in-limbo ultra-wideband (UWB) standard, and he affirmed that the monitor didn't have a model name nor an estimated ship date or price; it was simply on hand to prove that wireless LCDs were possible and that they're on the way. He noted that ASUS was looking into other wireless protocols -- namely wireless HD and WHDI -- and that it was "waiting things out" before making a final decision on what variation to use. Our take? We suspect it's both testing for best compatibility / range and waiting to see if UWB will remain viable in the coming months, which likely means no shipping product for quite some time. For what it's worth, the on-hand demo was stellar, with no visible lag, glitches or dropped frames to speak of.
IOGEAR Wireless USB Audio / Video Kit, more wireless USB eyes-on at CeBIT
While wireless USB hasn't exactly, um, taken off, there's definitely still some promise here. We swung by the USB-IF's booth today at CeBIT in order to have a look at a new single-chip Fujitsu Siemens' solution along with IOGEAR's recently released Wireless USB Audio / Video Kit. The former is mostly a European version of the Wisair Wireless USB Display Adapter Set, and while the latter seemed to work perfectly fine in the demo, the resolution was decidedly not 1080p. Nowhere close, actually. We reckon this stuff will get some real traction if and when two things happen: 1) the industry embraces it and begins embedding it into products (no one likes dongles, sorry!), and 2) when prices fall to reasonable levels. Can we get somebody on that, or what?
BMW designs PC case for Thermaltake
This new case for the fashion-forward PC gamer was dreamt up by the design wizards at BMW's Designworks USA. Instead of throwing all the components in what essentially amounts to one big box (like practically every other case), Thermaltake's Level 10 sees all the machine's components -- mobo, hard drives, optical drives, and so forth -- seated in their own compartments. Constructed mainly from aluminum, this guy will make its official debut at Computex in early June. In the meantime, hit the read link for some more spy photos taken on the floor at CeBIT.[Via Car Scoop]
CE 3100-powered Gigabyte / Yahoo! widgets box eyes-on
A lot has changed in the TV widget world since we first caught wind of Intel's CE 3100 processor and Gigabyte's connected box that took advantage of it. Mainly, a metric ton of new players have emerged, and many companies are simply shoving the widget functionality within the HDTV and bypassing the extra set-top-box altogether. Nevertheless, Gigabyte had its Yahoo! Widgets box (the MD300) on hand this year at CeBIT, so we sashayed over to snap a few shots. At this point, it's tough to say just how viable this thing is. On one hand, it'll be nice to give existing HDTV owners the option of adding access to widgets; on the other, Gigabyte has to know that the appeal is limited now that almost every HDTV hitting the market has this functionality baked right in. Have a peek below, won't you?
Clevo's beastly 18.4-inch M980NU gaming laptop eyes-on
Ready for the duel of the 18.4-inchers at CeBIT? Just yesterday we took a look at Acer's ginormous Aspire 8930, and today we popped in at Clevo's booth to snap a few shots of its mammoth M980NU. While the girth was impossible to not notice, the palm rest, keyboard and top control panel were downright ritzy. Yeah, the all-gloss finish was a fingerprint magnet, but we can't say it wasn't drop-dead sexy when wiped clean. Regrettably, we couldn't figure out how to get that incredibly annoying plastic lock thing off of the keys, so we can't personally verify whether this thing can handle the stresses of Quake I. Sorry, we tried.
Pretec 32GB SDXC, 666x CF card and 64GB ExpressCard SSD eyes-on
We first caught wind of SDXC back at CES, and just today Pretec announced the world's first SDXC card. Much to our pleasure, said card was on hand at the outfit's booth at CeBIT. Sadly, we were forced to photograph the one behind the glass bubble, as some incredibly evil individual managed to swipe the product sample from the outfit's booth last night (seriously, the Polizei are out for you!). Also on hand was a devilishly fast 666x CompactFlash card along with a mighty capacious 100GB CF card that hums along at 233x. Last, but certainly not least, was the 64GB ExpressCard SSD, which looked suspiciously like most every other ExpressCard we've ever seen. Unfortunately, these newcomers were so new that pricing information wasn't yet available, though all of the devices mentioned will be shipping this year. We'll keep you posted on further deets, but till then, feel free to meander around in the gallery below.
BeBook e-reader getting WiFi, new firmware update: eyes-on
Clearly, the big news from Endless Ideas today at CeBIT was its next-generation BeBook 2. But what about all those existing / to-be BeBook 1 owners? We've got a bit of excitement to share with you folks as well. While prying for information today in Hannover, we were informed that one of the biggest issues with the BeBook is being resolved very soon. Yes, friends, WiFi is coming. In just a few months, BeBook users will be able to buy a WiFi-enabling SD card (and download a new firmware update) which will provide wireless access to eBook stores, RSS feeds and lots of other goodies that can only be touched with a live internet connection. We're told that the WiFi SD card will be sold directly on the BeBook website for around $40, and it should be listed for sale within the next few months. We took the chance to grab some hands-on footage of the original BeBook in video form for you Yanks who've yet to see one, and if you hang in there 'til the end, you'll hear us get tipped off on the forthcoming card.
ASRock debuts Atom 330-powered NetTop S330: eyes-on
We caught up with ASRock's new entrant into the netbook world yesterday, but today it was all about the nettop. On display at the company's CeBIT booth was this gem, the NetTop S330. Showcased in white and some strange, unusual other hue, the box was powered by an Intel Atom 330 processor and supports up to 4GB of DDR2 RAM. Other specs include a Super Multi DVD burner, gigabit Ethernet, 160GB 2.5-inch hard drive, audio in / out, VGA output and GMA950 graphics. We have to say, the design here is about as unimaginative as a nettop can get, but ASRock representatives informed us that it'll be aiming at a lower-end market as the box should list for $399 or less depending on options. Anywho, feel free to poke around in the gallery below, and if you dig what you're seeing, you can pick one up in America this April (or May if you're in Europe).
Gigabyte shows off GA-IBP Core i5 motherboard at CeBIT
What, what? Core i5? What's that? In short, that's the response we got when prodding for details on this here motherboard at CeBIT, but sure enough, the object you see above just might be the first mainboard shown off designed to play nice with Intel's forthcoming Core i7 lite™. The Gigabyte GA-IBP will reportedly be available to purchase around July, which -- coincidentally enough -- is right when we're expecting the Core i5 chips to make their debut on the market. The on-hand Gigabyte rep wouldn't talk about specifics, noting that most everything about this board was still under NDA; when we strolled into Intel's hall, we were flat told that no Core i5 prototypes were available here in Hannover. At any rate, you can count on at least one motherboard to use on your next mid-range gaming rig, and you can peek that very board in the gallery below.
