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AOpen XC Mini GP7A-HD nettop eschews Atom for Core 2 Duo & NVIDIA Ion

By Chris Davies on Friday, Nov 20th 2009 No Comments

aopen xc mini gp7a hd 1 AOpen have outed their latest nettop, but whereas we’re used to apologetic Atom processors holding us back, the AOpen XC Mini GP7A-HD takes regular Core 2 Duo CPUs instead. The barebones kit also packs NVIDIA’s Ion graphics chipset, which adds up to Full HD performance and a machine that could actually do a little gaming on your big-screen TV.

Otherwise there’s a DVD burner, two DDR3 memory slots (4GB max, though it’s unclear if that’s per-slot or overall) and a 2.5-inch HDD bay. Connectivity includes HDMI and VGA outputs (which will work simultaneously), together with gigabit ethernet, six USB 2.0 ports, eSATA, audio in/out and a 6-in-1 memory card reader. There’s no standard wireless connection, but two empty PCI Express Mini Card slots inside are enough for both a WiFi b/g/n card and a TV tuner if you should so wish.

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Google Chrome OS gets detailed [Video]

By Chris Davies on Thursday, Nov 19th 2009 1 Comment

As expected, Google have released launch details about the Google Chrome OS platform, though there is no beta release today nor any netbooks actually running the OS to announce. The company intend Chrome OS to boot almost instantaneously, similar to a TV experience, and in fact it currently loads in just seven seconds; system stability and security is also paramount, with an encrypted user-data section, self-healing OS and complete cloud storage for files. While there’s no beta available today, Google is making the source code available for developers to download, compile and install.

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Video overviews after the cut

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Dell Studio 17 Touch adds multitouch to monster notebook

By Chris Davies on Thursday, Nov 19th 2009 No Comments

If you fancy one of Dell’s new multitouch capable computers, but want both the portability of a notebook and the scale of a desktop, then the new Dell Studio 17 Touch might fit the bill. As the name suggests, the notebook has a 17.3-inch 1,600 x 900 display with mutlitouch support, as well as up to 8GB of DDR3 memory, processors ranging from 2.1GHz Pentium dual-core T4300 up through to Core i7 processors, and of course Windows 7 as the OS.

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Skifta promises easy DLNA media-shifting [Video]

By Chris Davies on Thursday, Nov 19th 2009 No Comments

One of Qualcomm’s more low-key demonstrations from today is actually the one thing you can try most readily yourself. Skifta aims to make media shifting more straightforward, using a single client PC or Mac that can then be accessed by any DLNA and UPnP client in your home or remotely. The system works using a simple web-based interface which will work on your desktop or cellphone browser (the Skifta team had an HTC Hero on hand to do just that), and then that content from pretty much any DLNA device gets funnelled around.

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Video demo after the cut

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Lexar gaming memory cards outed

By Chris Davies on Thursday, Nov 19th 2009 No Comments

Flash memory: it's never exactly going to be interesting. But on the other hand we'll seldom turn our noses up at a large chunk of storage, and so Lexar's latest Memory Stick Micro M2 and SDHC cards will undoubtedly tickle some gamer's soft-spots. Available in 4GB and 8GB capacities, the cards are targeted at Nintendo Wii and DSi owners, together with Sony PSP and PS3 owners.

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Apple is no longer the Nordstrom of Tech, they’re the “New Nordstrom”

By Michael Gartenberg on Thursday, Nov 19th 2009 2 Comments

This past week I was at the opening of Apple’s latest store in NYC. It’s a work of art with a forty five foot glass wall, an all glass ceiling and marble walls. Along with that there’s the now iconic glass staircase. In many ways, it’s more a community gathering place for Apple customers and potential customers than it is a retail store. The beauty of the stores are effective but that’s not what’s ultimately driving sales. At the end of the day, the physical store is merely the visible manifestation of the Apple customer experience. Exercise if you’re Michael Dell. Build a store with a forty five foot glass wall and ceiling and see if you sell more PCs.

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PS3-quality mobile gaming in next 5 years predict Qualcomm

By Chris Davies on Thursday, Nov 19th 2009 No Comments

You can’t accuse Qualcomm of not looking ahead. While their Snapdragon chipset was in strong attendance at their London event today, they were also rolling out some particularly impressive predictions for the future of mobile chipsets. Qualcomm expect the mobile chipsets of 2011 to 2013 to be capable of gaming performance on a par with the Xbox 360 and Sony PS3, thanks to a new breed of dual-CPU SoCs with high-performance 2D and 3D crunching.

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C-motech Mangrove WinMo UMPC hands-on

By Chris Davies on Thursday, Nov 19th 2009 2 Comments

We’d forgive you for having forgotten about C-motech’s Mangrove UMPC; after all, the market for a 7-inch touchscreen tablet running Windows Mobile 6.5 is hardly vast. Still, we were interested to see the unit at Qualcomm’s event today, though its tubby form-factor was a whole lot less impressive when sat next to the Quanta Android Smartbook.

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Archos 9 PC Tablet delayed: preorders ship December, retail release in 2010

By Chris Davies on Thursday, Nov 19th 2009 No Comments

Remember Archos' triumphant announcement last month that the Archos 9 PC Tablet was finally arriving on store shelves? Well, that joy looks to have been seriously premature; while the Archos 9 may have gone up for order on October 22nd - priced at £449.99 ($748) or thereabouts - it's not expected to ship for another few weeks at least. UMPC Portal spoke to Archos themselves, who revealed that Archos 9 pre-orders won't actually ship until early December. It's even worse news if you're waiting to pick one up at a nearby retail store.

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Lenovo ThinkPad X100e “netbook” and ThinkPad Edge ultraportables leak

By Chris Davies on Thursday, Nov 19th 2009 No Comments

Talk about Lenovo’s supposed first ThinkPad netbook is getting even more intriguing, with details of not one but two upcoming ultraportables in the company’s flagship range. First up is the Lenovo ThinkPad X100e, a machine that has been tipped as a netbook but which Lenovo is apparently pushing as an extension of their X-Series premium ultraportables. It will have an 11.6-inch display and use AMD’s Athlon MV-40 processors and RS780 chipset. Meanwhile, the second mystery machine is the Lenovo ThinkPad Edge, targeting small businesses who might want a 13.3-inch notebook in-between current IdeaPad and ThinkPad offerings.

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