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Gigabyte shows off tiny BRIX gaming PC with Haswell and Iris Pro graphics (hands-on)
While we had an inkling that Gigabyte would be fitting its latest miniature BRIX PCs with Haswell processors, we were pleasantly surprised to learn it had also built a tiny gaming computer with Iris Pro graphics on board. Indeed, the BRIX pocket gaming PC has similar internals to the recently announced Gigabyte BRIX II -- it has an HDMI port, Ethernet, four USB 3.0 slots, Bluetooth 4.0, a Mini display port, built-in WiFi and a headset jack -- but with the added benefit of Intel's latest integrated graphics and the choice of red, yellow or black aluminum housing. We had a chance to play around with a prototype model at the Intel Developer Forum in San Francisco, and we have to say we're impressed. We played a short round of Grid 2 and the race car looked amazing as it roared across a large 1080p TV. While the performance appeared robust enough in our brief hands-on, an Intel rep did warn us it probably won't replace a system with a dedicated high-end GPU (Ed. Note: We've heard from Intel that while Iris Pro won't replace a high-end GPU, it'll match up well with low to mid-range graphics cards). The box itself is an adorable little thing that we felt was compact and light enough to bring to our next gaming party without taking up too much space in the trunk.
Daily Roundup: HP Haswell Chromebook hands-on, Dell going private, Samsung's 64-bit CPUs, and more!
You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours -- all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
HP Chromebook 14 with Haswell hands-on (video)
Aside from the new Acer Chromebook, we also got a hands-on look at the new HP Chromebook 14. The latest Haswell-powered Chromebook from HP comes in an array of eye-popping colors -- Snow White, Ocean Turquoise and Coral Peach -- which certainly makes them the most colorful Chromebooks we've ever seen. In person, the colors seem bright and playful, though we can't help but feel they look like they belong in Toys R Us rather than an electronics store. The Chromebook's chassis is made out of plastic, which makes the whole thing seem even more toy-like. The top cover has a smooth rubberized finish, but the plastic-molded keyboard feels a bit gritty; the texture reminds us of the material used in 3D printing. As the name suggests, the Chromebook 14 has a 14-inch display with 1,366 x 768 resolution. It looked bright enough underneath the convention center's lighting, though it's difficult to tell after just a few minutes of use. It's certainly not the lightest Chromebook we've ever held -- it measures about 0.81-inch thin and weighs in at a whopping 4.08 pounds. HP opted to adhere to the standard Chromebook keyboard layout instead of its own, and the trackpad has just a single button instead of the two found on the HP Pavilion 14. Other features include a HDMI port, 16GB of storage, USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 ports, an HD webcam, an SD card slot and a battery that promises up to 9.5 hours of continuous use. If you decide to buy one, it comes with 100GB of Google Drive for free for two years. The HP Chromebook 14 is priced at around $299.99 to start, and should be available for purchase before the holiday season. To get a closer look at the candy-colored laptops, have a peek at the gallery or hit the video after the break.
New Acer Chromebook with Haswell hands-on (video)
One of the first Chromebooks to come blessed with Intel's Haswell processor is the new Acer Chromebook, and we had a chance to get a closer look at it today. If not for the "new" moniker that Acer has so kindly bestowed on it, at first glance you'd be hard-pressed to find much different in comparison to its C7 predecessor. Get closer however, and you'll notice it's lighter and slimmer, measuring around 0.75 inch thin and weighing in at about 2.76 pounds. The new Acer Chromebook also has much better battery life, boasting up to 8.5 hours of continuous use from a non-removable cell this time around. It also sports an HDMI port, two USB ports (one 3.0), a standard headphone jack and an SD card slot on the sides. The 11.6-inch 1366 x 768 resolution display is a little on the small side, but still looks crisp and colorful enough to our eyes. The raised chiclet keyboard feels tactile and comfortable to use, and Acer wisely chose to adhere to the standard Chromebook keyboard layout instead of recycling a PC layout like on the C7. While we don't know its price just yet, we do know that you'll get 100GB of Google Drive storage free for two years with every purchase. Sadly, we don't have much more information about the new Acer Chromebook to share with you, but we'll be sure to update this post once we do. In the meantime, have a peek at the hands-on gallery and video after the break.
Daily Roundup: Moto X factory tour, which new iPhone to buy, Intel's Haswell Chromebooks, and more!
You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours -- all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
Dell announces M4800, M6800 Precision laptops built for business pros
It's been just over a year since Dell updated its Precision workstations, but the time has come for some fresh hardware. This year's laptops, the M4800 and M6800, one up their predecessors in all the right places. That means 4th gen Haswell Core i5 and i7 silicon (with or without vPro), and the latest AMD FirePro or NVIDIA Quadro graphics, depending upon your preference. Additionally, the M4800 comes with a 400-nit, 15.6-inch 3,200 x 1,800 IGZO display, the same pixel-packed screen last seen on its M3800 sibling. The M6800, meanwhile, gets just a 1920 x 1080 LCD, but it comes with Wacom 10-finger multitouch capability to make up for its lack of pixels. Both laptops can be had with up to 32GB of memory, and the 17-inch model comes with four bays that can be stuffed with up to 3.5TB of spinning or solid state storage (M4800 buyers get a mere three bays for a max of 2.5TB). As with the previous models, both laptops get up to a nine-cell 97Wh battery and users can double the juice by adding on a same-sized external slice power pack. Oh, and IT pros can pick which OS they'd like: Windows 7 or 8, and either Red Hat or Ubuntu Linux. You can dig into all the nitty-gritty customization options in the PR below, but we'll tell you here what you really want to know: the M4800 starts at $1,249, while the M6800 can be yours for $1,599.
ASUS Zenbook UX301 will have 2,560 x 1,440 touchscreen beneath Gorilla Glass 3 case (video)
The ASUS Zenbook Infinity first showed off its icy Gorilla Glass-clad curves at Computex back in June, and now it's resurfaced in a video that's making the rounds ahead of ASUS' press conference here at IFA. Incidentally, the video hints at a new name -- the Zenbook UX301 -- and also clarifies most of the main specs. According to the video, the UX301 will have a Retina-esque 13.3-inch, 2,560 x 1,440 multitouch display, a Haswell Core i7 CPU, 802.11ac WiFi and ASUS SonicMaster audio tech. The flagship Ultrabook will no doubt draw fans of thin design as well, thanks to the 15.5mm (0.64-inch) profile. We'll likely have a chance to play with it ourselves soon at ASUS's upcoming event, so stay tuned. In the meantime, there's a video after the break.
Acer updates Aspire R7 with active pen and Haswell, brings touchscreens to the Aspire E Series
Acer's announcing a slew of new products today at IFA, but it's also updating a few existing models with a greater emphasis on touch. In addition to getting the mandatory upgrade to Intel's Haswell processors, the Aspire R7 will now come bundled with an Acer active pen for use on the 15.6-inch, 1080p touchscreen. Given that the notebook offers four usage modes (including an "Ezel mode" and tablet mode), having this additional input option certainly makes sense. To help you take advantage of the digitizer, the company is adding several apps to its pre-load: MemoryBinder for drawing on top of your photos, ScreenGrasp for capturing images with the pen and Scrapboard for collecting images and ideas, much like Evernote. There's also AccuFinger, which Acer says helps you select tiny items on-screen when you're using fingers rather than the pen. As for availability, the new R7 will hit Europe, the Middle East and Africa in late 2013, with the base price set at €999, though we're not sure when to expect it stateside just yet. The Aspire E notebook series is also stepping up to Intel's fourth-gen processors, and Acer's adding in new AMD options as well. The biggest update, though, is the addition of 10-point multi-touch displays to upcoming models -- you'll appreciate having the option to navigate Windows 8.1 with your fingers, after all. Finally, the Aspire E will be offered in additional colors; you'll have your choice of Keyboard White, Misty Silver or Piano Black for the 14-inch model, while the 15.6-inch version comes in Cherry Red, Clarinet Black and Steel Grey. (Piano and Clarinet Black options, oh my!) The Aspire E1 will be available in mid-October with a starting price of €399 -- no word on US pricing just yet. Follow all of our IFA 2013 coverage by heading to our event hub!
Panasonic refreshes Let's Note lineup, says LX is world's lightest 14-inch notebook
Though Panasonic's Let's Note laptops are only sold in Japan, it's nice to know how the other half lives, isn't it? The company just updated three models in the lineup, including the 12.1-inch SX and NX, along with the flagship 14-inch LX. Panasonic claims the latter is now the world's lightest 14-inch notebook at 1.14kg (about 2.5 pounds), provided it's equipped with a 256GB SSD and lightweight batteries. Despite that lack of heft, it still manages to pack an Intel Core-i7 CPU, a 1,600 x 900 display, 4GB of RAM, and an 11-hour battery into the boxy case. The 12.1-inch SX and NX are similarly spec'd, but have a Core-i5 processor option as well (the NX can only be had with a Core-i5). Those models will power along for 15 hours with the lightest batteries, while also tipping the scales at around 2.5 pounds. While excellent, that's still far from the 1.9 pound. 13-inch Inhon Blade carbon -- and let's not even discuss thinness. Pricing and availability have yet to be disclosed.
ASUS first to arrive with motherboard packing Intel's 20Gbps Thunderbolt 2
The ink is still fresh on Intel's formal blessing of Thunderbolt 2, and as promised, there's already a product on the market from perennial early bird ASUS. The Z87-Deluxe/Quad ATX is the first motherboard to pack the tech, which combines four of the original 10Gbps Thunderbolt channels into two bi-directional 20Gbps ports. That's four times the speed of USB 3.0 if you're keeping score at home, allowing two 4K displays to be driven at once, or faster-than-SATA-6 SSD speeds, for instance. Otherwise, it's as well-equipped as you'd expect from a bleeding edge mainboard, with 4th-gen Intel (Haswell) CPU support, 10 SATA-6 ports, 8 USB 3.0 ports, and 3 PCIe 3.0/2.0 x 16 slots. There's no pricing or availability yet, though Thunderbolt-equipped motherboards tend to be expensive. Still, if you wear the "early adopter" name-tag with pride, hit the PR after the break.
Daily Roundup: Aspire S7 (2013) review, Ultrabooks buyer's guide, Ixi-play robot owl, and more!
You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours -- all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
Dell unveils Latitude 7000 series Ultrabooks with Haswell inside
Dell's Haswell-based Latitude laptops have been a tad on the chunky side so far, but the company is making amends by quietly launching its new Latitude 7000 series Ultrabooks. Both the 12.5-inch E7240 and 14-inch E7440 fit Intel's new low-voltage, 1.7GHz Core i3 CPU into an aluminum shell that's about 0.8 inch thick, yet meets military standards for resistance to dust, water and shock. They also support Dell's WiGig Wireless Dock and WiDi. Neither will come close to the Precision M3800 in features, however. The two Latitudes both start with 4GB of RAM and a 1,366 x 768 display, and there's no way to upgrade the performance or screen quality. They're also expensive -- the E7240 is launching at a $1,169 sale price with a 128GB SSD inside, while the E7440 with a 320GB hard drive isn't much cheaper at $1,049. Still, we wouldn't complain (much) if an IT manager plunked either of these Ultrabooks on our desks.
Daily Roundup: Moto X review, Laptop buyer's guide, Samsung's Galaxy event, and more!
You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours -- all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
MSI unveils lightweight GS70 gaming laptop, hopes to take Razer's crown
MSI tentatively entered the world of thin and light gaming laptops with the GE40. With the newly launched GS70, the company is leaping in with both feet. The 17.3-inch portable is clearly built to take on the Razer Blade Pro, mating a big screen with a chassis that's even lighter -- at 5.7 pounds, the GS70 is a flyweight next to its 6.6-pound rival. While the system's quad-core, Haswell-based Core i7 CPU, GeForce GTX 765M graphics and 128GB SSD match what Razer offers, MSI doubles the RAM to 16GB and complements its storage with a 750GB hard drive. That makes the GS70's $1,800 base price a potential bargain -- if you don't mind losing the Blade Pro's touchscreen trackpad, you'll get more PC for the money.
Dell officially unveils Precision M3800 workstation at SIGGRAPH, gives rumored specs a nod
Remember that Haswell-powered Dell workstation that popped up last week? The company is officially ready to acknowledged its silicon, announcing on its corporate blog that the machine is being unveiled at SIGGRAPH this week. Dell is still reluctant to get into specifics, but confirmed on a teaser page that the Precision M3800 would contain a 4th Generation Intel Core-i7 CPU, NVIDIA Quadro graphics and a 3,200 x 1,800 QHD+ multi-touch IGZO display. Even better, all that is set to fit into a tight 0.7-inch chassis that weighs in at 4.5 pounds. Mum's still the word on specifics, but previous leaks assigned the machine 15GB of RAM and either a 1TB HDD or a 512GB SSD. Dell hasn't let the workstation's price slip either, but we don't expect it to be cheap -- nothing thin and powerful ever is.
Intel previews 4.5W Y-series Core chips for fanless tablets
Intel teased us with the prospect of a fanless Haswell chip back at Computex, but it didn't say just how it would achieve such a feat. Now we know: it's introducing more energy-efficient versions of the Y-series Core processors that were announced earlier this year. The new chips consume as little as 4.5W in a typical scenario, letting them run in tablets and detachable convertibles without the fans needed by their 6W peers. Don't expect blistering performance at this reduced power level, however. While Intel isn't divulging clock speeds just yet, the 4.5W Y-series chips have the same 11.5W thermal design power rating as their 6W siblings -- they'll still need active cooling to perform at their best. The company also isn't providing ship dates or naming customers, although it does promise that the extra-miserly Core CPUs should be available in the "coming months." We have an idea as to who might be interested.
Gateway unveils slimmer NE laptops, updates DX, SX and One ZX desktops
Gateway may live in the shadow of its parent company Acer, but it's getting the spotlight today with refreshed versions of its entry-level PCs. New versions of its 15.6-inch and 17.3-inch NE Series laptops are slimmer than their ancestors, carry Kabini-based AMD A4 and A6 processors and offer up to 1TB of storage. Desktops remain largely the same on the outside, but there's a few welcome tweaks on the inside. Although the small SX Series isn't radically different, regular DX Series towers now have the option of a Haswell-era Intel Core i5 alongside recent AMD A-series chips; there's also a new entry-level version of the One ZX all-in-one that puts a 3GHz Pentium behind the 21.5-inch LCD. Gateway is now shipping the two NE portables at baseline prices of $380 (15.6-inch) and $450 (17.3-inch), while the DX, SX and One Z lines respectively start at $298, $398 and $530. A KX Series of desktop displays is shipping at the same time, starting at $99 for a 19.5-inch screen. %Gallery-194229%
Report: Dell Precision M3800 workstation to launch with 3,200 x 1,800 display option (updated)
According to a source speaking to Dutch site Tweakers.net, which has been spot on with a previous Dell leak, a new laptop known as the M3800 is set to join Dell's Precision range of workstations. An Intel Core i7-4702MQ (Haswell) processor will reportedly power the M3800, with a 2GB NVIDIA Quadro K1100M GPU taking care of graphics. It's expected to come with up to 16GB of RAM, a 1TB hard drive or 512GB SSD and two options for the 15.6-inch screen: a 3,200 x 1,800 resolution or a 1080p panel as the base option. The workstation is said to measure 18mm (around 0.7 inches) at its thickest point, and tip the scales at 2kg (4.4 pounds). Integrated docking found on other Precision models is apparently not in the M3800's feature set; it's also missing an Ethernet port, so hard-lines will need to be connected via a USB intermediate. Tweakers.net lists an expected price range of $1,699 to $1,999, but now comes the part where we wait for the M3800 to go official and see how correct all this leaked info is. Update: Dell has now provided us with a statement that confirms that the M3800 is indeed coming later this year, although it's not yet confirming all of the specs. More information is promised in the coming weeks. Dell is introducing the thinnest and lightest workstation ever later this year. The Dell Precision M3800 is the first mobile workstation that is less than ¾ of an inch, at 18mm, weighs only 4.5lbs and offers certified performance and dependability for creative professionals. We are not releasing or confirming any additional details today but stay tuned for more information in the coming weeks.
Intel posts Q2 2013 earnings: revenue of $12.8 billion, net profit of $2 billlion
Intel just posted decidedly mixed results for the second quarter. While it largely matched its outlook from the first quarter with $12.8 billion in revenue and a healthy net profit of $2 billion, it also saw sharp year-over-year drops in revenue from some of its core divisions. The PC Client Group, which makes the brunt of Intel's processors, saw its revenue decline 7.5 percent; the Other Intel Architecture Group, which primarily handles mobile chips, faced a 15 percent drop. Intel hasn't explained the dip, although there are a pair of major factors at work. In addition to facing a very rough PC market, the company only launched its Haswell architecture late in the quarter -- there hasn't been much time for customers to buy the new chips. Intel says there's "strong acceptance" from early Haswell customers, however, and its outlook for the current quarter is slightly rosier as a result -- it expects to make the same $13.5 billion in revenue that we saw a year ago.
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