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Xiaomi's first laptop is the $750 Mi Notebook Air
It wouldn't be a Xiaomi event if it was just announcing one product. In addition to the new Redmi Pro smartphone, the Chinese company threw in a huge surprise by launching its first-ever laptop line, the Mi Notebook Air, running on Windows 10. It comes in two sizes -- the powerful 13.3-inch and the portable 12.5-inch -- and both feature a slim body, a 1080p display with slim under-glass bezels (while still managing to fit in a 1-megapixel webcam), a backlit keyboard, a USB Type-C charging port plus a minimalistic metallic design -- in gold or silver, naturally -- with no logo on the outside. The best part of all? The top-spec model costs just 4,999 yuan or about $750.
Spin Samsung's Notebook 7 screen right round on June 26th
When we reviewed Samsung's Notebook 9, my editor Dana noted that it was an excellent back to basics model from the company. It didn't feature a touchscreen or even a rotating screen -- it had a pretty good normal screen, though. For the folks who need the above accoutrements, though, Samsung is introducing the Notebook 7 Spin. With it comes a new 1080p touchscreen you can use like a tablet when spun 360 degrees. Hence the name. The 7 Spin can also go into tent mode for watching a movie with its HDR video capabilities. Or, if you're a traditionalist, you could use the computer like a normal laptop.
Dell's new 2-in-1 PCs run the gamut in screen size
It's no secret that the PC market has been shrinking due to the onslaught of smartphones and tablets, but if you ask Dell, it's apparently bucking the trend thanks to its 2-in-1 notebooks and gaming laptops. At Computex, Executive Director Monty Wong told us that Dell saw 13 consecutive quarters of increasing PC market share, to the point where it overtook HP as the number one PC brand in the US back in Q1, according to IDC. As such, it's no surprise that the PC giant has been mostly focusing on 2-in-1s at this year's show, with the new lineup running the gamut from the world's first 17-inch 2-in-1 all the way down to a $249 11-inch device. Let's take a closer look.
Acer reveals new Predator gaming desktop, notebook and display
Acer is made a truckload of PC announcements at its NYC event today, and new gaming gear was part of the news. The company pulled the wraps off of a trio of Predator series devices, including the Predator 17X gaming notebook, Predator G1 gaming desktop and Predator Z1 monitors. The trio joins Acer's gaming line that already includes a pair of gaming laptops, desktops, displays and even an 8-inch tablet. Let's take a closer look at each of the new machines, shall we?
Acer unveils new Chromebook, convertible and ultrathin notebooks
Acer's newest notebooks come in a few styles: the Chromebook 14 for Work (pictured above) , S 13 ultrathin notebook and the R 15 convertible. Plus, Acer has updated three of its consumer models and one commercial brand. The Chromebook 14 for Work features a sturdy Gorilla Glass case, spill-resistant keyboard and 12 hours of battery life.
Apple upgrades its MacBook series and adds a rose gold option
It's been just over a year since Apple launched its slimmer Macbook series. Today, the company is upgrading them with new processors (from Intel's sixth-generation Core M series), as well as refreshing the built-in Intel HD GFX, promising around a 25 percent faster graphical performance. On top of new processing muscle, there's faster flash storage and improved battery life. Apple claims you'll get up to 10 hours of web browsing, and up to 11 hours of movie playback with the new machines. However, if you were looking for more ports, you're still going to have to look elsewhere -- or splurge on a hub.
Moleskine's latest pen and notebook instantly digitize scribbles
Moleskine's sketchbooks and pads have been a top choice for doodlers and notetakers for quite some time. The company also dabbled in the gadget world, including co-branded products with Adobe, Livescribe and Evernote that digitize physical drawings and notes with ease. That same idea is carried over in Moleskine's latest product: The Smart Writing Set. The setup is comprised of a paper notebook (or Paper Tablet as the company calls it), the aluminum Pen+ and a mobile app. All three of those pieces work together to instantly digitize any notes and illustrations made on paper so that they can be easily edited with software on a phone, tablet or computer.
Evernote to stop selling notebooks, scanners and socks
Evernote is still one of the most popular and fully-featured note-taking apps, however as a business it's been struggling of late. Following extensive layoffs and the departure of its long-time CEO Phil Libin, the company is cutting back on nonessential projects. The latest is Evernote Market, an online store where it sells physical goods such as "smart" notebooks, scanners and styluses. Most of these are complimentary to its software, making it easier to transfer handwritten notes. While useful for users, the entire initiative was probably a distraction for Evernote.
HP is putting privacy screens in its laptops because people are nosy
If you find yourself working in crowded spaces like coffee shops, it can be tough to keep prying eyes from glancing at your screen. To combat that sort of snooping, HP is outfitting its stable of notebook PCs with privacy screens from 3M. The duo is working on new displays that integrate the security feature for "an on-demand electronic privacy solution." While details are scarce for now, it sounds like the screens in HP's future laptops will allow the feature to be turned off when you're working from the comforts of your home or office. Unfortunately, you'll have to wait a bit to get your hands on a machine that houses the tech, as the first products are expected to arrive in mid-2016.
VAIO returns: coming to a Microsoft Store near you this October
When Sony announced that it was spinning off its PC business, many mourned the passing of the premium -- but not quite best-selling -- VAIO series. The company was reborn in Japan, focusing on far less PC models (only two at the start), and a Made In Japan ethic that stretched from design to manufacturing. Now the company says it plans to start selling its newest machines outside of its homeland. VAIO's Z Canvas PC will be available both online and some Microsoft stores across the US starting this October. Prices will start at $2,200, depending on specification options. In an interview with the WSJ, the new CEO Yoshimi Ota added that the company plans to sell a slimmer laptop with cellular capability-- a feature that occasionally appears in niche laptop models.
Lenovo wants you to decide if it should build this retro ThinkPad
IBM's original boxy, black ThinkPads, exemplified by the seminal 1994 700c model, are beloved by laptop design aficionados. But would such a style (in a much thinner package, of course) fly in today's market? Lenovo's VP of design, David Hill wants to find out, so he showed off a "Time Machine" render with the original multicolored ThinkPad logo, a blue enter key, a seven-row keyboard and a 16:10 aspect screen. It would, of course, be equipped with the latest technology and an 18mm thin case. The idea is to see if a computer based on a classic design would be as popular as retro-tinged cars like the "new" Mini Cooper or Ford Mustang.
eFun's hybrid tablets offer a choice: Windows 8.1 or Android?
eFun's not one to miss out on CES festivities, and this year, the company is showing off new Windows 8.1 and Android "Nextbook" models. The Windows 8.1 lineup consists of three Quad Core Intel Atom-powered devices with screens measuring 10.1 inches (1,280 x 800 pixels, $229), 11.6 inches (1,366 x 768 pixels, $249) and 12.5 inches (1,366 x 768 pixels, $279). They're all laptop-tablet hybrids, with detachable keyboards sporting a USB connection, 32GB to 64GB internal storage (expandable with microSD) and 2GB of RAM. The 10.1-inch option also comes with something extra, though: a one-year Microsoft Office 365 Personal subscription with 1TB of OneDrive cloud storage and 60 Skype world minutes per month.
MSI's latest gaming laptop packs a mechanical keyboard
Using a laptop for gaming usually means making a few sacrifices, including the keyboard; you often have to make do with thin, flat keys that don't compare to what you get with many desktops. You won't have to compromise on input with MSI's new GT80 Titan, though. The 18-inch behemoth has room for a mechanical keyboard with the Cherry Brown MX switches that many keyboard purists covet. It should not only feel better under your fingers, but work more reliably in the heat of virtual battle. The number pad doesn't get the same treatment, but it's cleverly tucked into the trackpad area to save space.
Digital StrongBox simply stores securely
Digital StrongBox is a simple app to securely store personal information, notes, photos, and videos on your iPhone or iPad so that it is safe from prying eyes. It uses AES-256 encryption, which is certainly strong enough for anyone's purposes and protects your data behind a 4 to 8 digit access code. It requires iOS 7 and up and is a universal app compatible with iPad, iPod Touch, and is optimized for the iPhone 5. The app is quite easy to use and gives you enough prompting when you first run it to get you going. Initially, you have to set up your access code. It is very important that you remember this code because if you lose it, there is nothing that anyone (including the developer) can do to retrieve it or your data. To help you, the app offers to email the code you have selected to you so that you can store it safely elsewhere (your virtual key under the doormat). Once you are past this, you are presented with the main screen with on-screen popup notes pointing you towards the three major features: Adding a new photo album, taking a picture with your camera, and importing pictures from your camera's photo library. Each of these behaves as you would expect and as they behave in countless other apps. For example, adding pictures from my library brought up the standard interface for picking multiple photographs from my various photo albums. Once you add pictures to the app it reminds you that if you want these to be secure, you should now delete them from your camera's photo library so they only exist inside Digital StrongBox. Aside from photos, the other main type of data you can store are notes. These take on four different forms: freeform notes, the kind you find in any notepad, identification documents, financial account information, and passwords. The latter three are simply notes that provide some specific fields and the possibility of attaching pictures in certain cases. For example, under Financial, you can add in a credit card complete with all pertinent information and pictures of the front and back of the card. For Identification, you can do the same with a social security card or your driver's license. For passwords, well, it's not clear to me (aside from the issue of cost) why one would want to use a tool like this for passwords when 1Password and similar are so much more powerful and can integrate directly with Safari in iOS 8 but if you want to just store them and not auto-fill them, it works well enough. Across the app, the UI is clean if a little unpolished. It's the small things like auto-capitalization not (always) being on when typing a new title for a note or document or the fact that the "Notes" indicator for the place where you actually enter a notebook entry is vertically centered next to the content and that the content itself has a rather thin column to work with making it feel cramped. But these are really quibbles. Aside from one crash I had when I first tried creating a password note (which I was unable to replicate) the app appears stable and does exactly what it advertises. If you are looking for a way to store critical information and/or photos and videos privately, then this app is certainly worth a look. Digital StrongBox is free for up to 7 notes and 20 photos/videos. It can be unlocked for US$0.99, giving you unlimited notes and photos/videos.
HP's $199 Windows laptop arrives alongside a pair of tablets
Contrary to earlier rumors, HP's Chromebook-like Stream 14 turned out to be more expensive than people had hoped for when it was announced a few weeks ago. Having said that, today HP is finally introducing its $199 laptop with Windows, staying in line with what a company representative had told us before in regards to the Stream line expanding beyond the 14-inch machine. But there's more, since HP's new, budget-friendly, 11.6-inch laptop isn't the only fresh announcement. There's a 13.3-inch model as well, priced at $230, which, along with the $199 Stream, features an Intel Celeron processor and 32GB of flash storage. In addition to this pair of notebooks, HP is also introducing two Windows 8.1 tablets: the HP Stream 7 and HP Stream 8. If the moniker for each didn't give it away, they are 7- and 8-inch slates, respectively, with the former costing a mere $99 and the latter going for $149.
Toshiba's shift away from consumer PCs means 900 lost jobs
Toshiba has been slinging Satellites and Qosmios and Kirabooks for basically ages now, but its days a purveyor of consumer computers may be winding down in a market near you. According to a statement the company issued last night, it's shifting its focus a bit -- the big priority is now crafting PCs to woo business customers, and Toshiba's going to cut about 900 jobs as part of the transition. Don't fret too much, though: Toshiba might be looking to streamline its consumer computer operations, but it's not going to give up entirely. To hear them tell it, the new Toshiba will "withdraw from unprofitable markets" and continue bringing those consumer-friendly PCs to developed countries, though we're still not sure how its mix of gadgets will wax and wane 'round those parts. The move will be a somber one in some places (especially for anyone who'll soon be out of a job) but there's not much else to be done -- the global PC market may not be shrinking as fast as some thought it would, but the seas are still rough for companies trying to plot a course to PC profitability.
Evernote's Penultimate for iPad now behaves more like a real notebook
Penultimate is supposed to mimic a notebook on your iPad, so it only makes sense that the app's interface should mirror the pen-and-paper experience as much as possible. Right? Evernote thinks so, as it has released a Penultimate update that gets closer to the real thing. You can swipe from off-screen to turn pages, and you can set a color for every pen width; effectively, you now have a collection of favorite pens. Not all of the updates are meant to simulate analog drawing. Penultimate notes look much nicer when seen from Evernote, and there are improvements to ink rendering, palm recognition and connections with Jot Script pens. The upgraded app still won't replicate the feel of actual notebooks, but you might not miss them quite so much.
Pad & Quill Notes: A stylish notebook app from the case and bag craftsmen
Readers of TUAW know that we have an affinity for the products made by Minneapolis-based Pad & Quill. Whether it's one of the company's amazing iPhone wallet cases, the gorgeous new leather bags or its complete line of wood and leather iPad cases, the company has the Moleskine-style notebook look down cold. So it's not surprising that the company has embarked on its first app -- Pad & Quill Notes (free, with in-app purchases, and universal) -- and that it's an app for taking notes. For those who are looking for a feature-loaded text editor, Pad & Quill Notes probably (to paraphrase Obi-Wan Kenobi) isn't the app you're looking for. It's a stylish, yet basic note-taking app, targeted more at someone who is interested in writing a daily diary than blogging in Markdown. The app opens to a blank notebook with one style of type for the title and another for the body text. The in-app purchase -- currently priced at US$0.99 -- gives you access to a number of notebook covers, the ability to drop images into your notebook pages and three styles of text. The UI for Pad & Quill Notes is really first-class. I love the way that it's spare and clean (very iOS 7-ish), and all of the controls are available with a tap. You really don't need a help file with this app, as all actions are very intuitive. The only hint that appears tells you how to use a two-finger upward swipe to remove a notebook. You can have a number of chapters in each notebook, all of which appear in time order when you tap the table of contents button. Images that are inserted into a page appear at the top of the page, which gives the pages a really nice look. There are some limitations with Pad & Quill Notes, but it's important to remember that it is a first release. For example, I'd like to see more sharing capabilities (perhaps to WordPress and Tumblr, and a print capability) than just iMessage Mail, and Facebook. When using the app on an iPad in landscape mode, the image picker appears sideways -- not unusable, but just annoying. I also found that in order to select a particular notebook cover, I had to keep creating notebooks until the one I liked appears, then delete the others. There should be a picker available for grabbing a notebook cover. But if you're the type of person who isn't too picky and would like a real "blank page" notebook without a lot of frills that looks great, Pad & Quill Notes is a pretty good free app that will only get better. I look forward to watching this app evolve in the future.
Sony's VAIO Flip PC convertible laptops get priced in Japan
Sony was coy about its prices when the VAIO Flip PC series was unveiled at IFA, but now we have some figures from Japan -- where the same Haswell-powered notebooks are sold as the VAIO Fit 13A, 14A and 15A depending on their screen size. Starting in late October, customers with some spare yen can pre-order these convertible laptops, with the Fit 13A starting from ¥129,800 (about $1,340), the Fit 14A from ¥99,800 (about $1,030) and the Fit 15A from ¥104,800 (about $1,080). Of course, the devices will likely be cheaper when they eventually land in the US, but at least desperate Japan-based folks can grab one as soon as mid-November. Hit the source link, should you wish to study the detailed specs for each SKU.
Lenovo brings Haswell to rest of ThinkPad line-up, including monstrous ThinkPad W540
Lenovo outed no fewer than five new notebooks just last week, but it doesn't want to stop there. With a distinct focus on business, the world's biggest notebook maker has come to the Intel Developer Forum (IDF) with a refreshed range of T, W, L and E Series laptops, outfitting them with Intel's fourth-generation Haswell processors, better graphics, improved security and faster connectivity. Do Lenovo's new buttoned-down notebooks offer more than their glossy counterparts? Find out after the break.
