Ruggedized PC manufacturer Getac have announced a multitouch upgrade to their suitably-sturdy V100 Tablet PC; however, while they may not be the first to throw multi-finger control into the mixture, their Windows 7 compatible display uses resistive rather than capacitive technology. While capacitive touchscreens – such as found on the iPhone – are fashionable right now, resistive touchscreens have the benefit of working with gloved fingers.
Gateway have unveiled two new all-in-one PCs, which each run Windows 7 and offer multitouch-capable touchscreen displays. The Gateway One ZX6800 and ZX4800 have a 23-inch 1920 x 1080 and 20-inch 1,600 x 900 display respectively, and as well as Windows 7’s finger-enhancements the company has also loaded them up with various music, photo, memo and other custom apps.
Thermaltake’s Level 10 PC case is half monolith to computing excess and half work of art, and we’ve been hoping the company would greenlight a production run since we first spotted it. Happily that’s now happening, and if you’d like to see what $700 of chassis looks like then MaximumPC have the unboxing for you.
It’ll come as little to no surprise that, with the new ATI Radeon HD 5870 video cards fresh on the scene, gaming PC manufacturers are already updating their wares to include the DirectX 11 capable GPU. Maingear is one of the first into the SlashGear inbox, with their Ephex, F131, Prelude, and X-Cube systems all getting friendly with AMD’s newest graphics card.
Many hard core gamers prefer to play their favorite games on the PC using a headset or headphones rather than using speakers. This is because the headphones allow you to hear more of the nuances of the in-game sound and some gamers feel they can hear where their enemy is.
Hercules is a company more known for video game controllers and other peripherals than anything else. With the netbook category of the PC market booming lots of companies not traditionally associated with full computer systems are entering into the market. Hercules is the latest to jump on the netbook bandwagon.
We’ve featured some impressive case-mods on these pages before now, but I think this has to be one of my favorites. The handiwork of Gup from techPowerUp!, the Stargate-themed pyramid HTPC has a motorized top-section that lifts to reveal an LCD with custom graphics.
Video demo after the cut
In the battle for budget PCs, AMD is striking out with what they’re claiming is the first sub-$100 quad-core processor. The AMD Athlon II X4 620 has a $99 suggested retail price and, when paired with the company’s 785G chipset and ATI Radeon HD 4200 graphics, is potent enough to run Windows 7’s high-definition features.
It’s all part of AMD’s Mainstream Desktop Platform, the desk-bound counterpart to the company’s Mainstream Notebook Platform announced last week. The company are promoting the platform both as economical – Blu-ray playback using less power than a 75W lightbulb – and practical.
Although most of our attention was on Archos’ new Android device, we couldn’t pass up the opportunity for a quick fondle of the company’s Windows 7-powered Archos 9 PC Tablet. Where the Archos 5 is a mobile device aspiring to desktop-style usage, the Archos 9 is a full Intel Atom Z515 1.1GHz PC packed into a 8.9-inch touchscreen form-factor.
Spawn Labs have announced their HD-720 remote gaming adapter, and from the sound of it they’re trying to do to console games what Slingbox did for TV. The HD-720 hooks up to your console – both Xbox 360 and PS3 are natively supported, with adapters for other versions – and then streams gameplay over WiFi to your PC. While that might not seem much use if you’re at home, it does mean you can keep up with your favorite game while on the road without having to lug your console along with you.
Video overview after the cut
SlashGear Japan
