drag2share: Dell XPS 13: A Carbon Fiber Ass Makes This Ultrabook Light and Sturdy [Ultrabooks]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5874980/dell-xps-13-a-carbon-fiber-ass-makes-this-ultrabook-light-and-sturdy/gallery/1

Dell's XPS 13 is their official entry into the Ultrabook market. On the outside, it doesn't look terribly different from other Ultrabooks (hello teardrop design!), but a closer examination reveals that Dell took a very interesting approach to the materials they used in their machine. Namely, carbon fiber.

The carbon fiber shell that covers the bottom of the laptop not only cuts down on weight adds rigidity, but also keeps the base from heating up and scorching a hole in your pants when your laptop is on your lap. The screen is fortified with Gorilla Glass, and Dell gave surface around the keyboard and trackpad the XPS 13 a matte, pitch black soft touch surface that's surprisingly attractive.

Under the hood, the XPS 13 has all the familiar Ultrabook signifiers: Intel Core i5 processor, 4 GB RAM, and a $128 GB SSD. Release date is still up in the air (possibly the end of February), but expect to see this in stores for $1000 when it arrives. [Dell]

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drag2share: Project Fiona raises the stakes for gaming tablets, packs Ivy Bridge, Windows 8 and integrated controllers

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/01/10/project-fiona-raises-the-stakes-for-gaming-tablets-packs-ivy-br/

We weren't exactly looking for the "Switchblade of CES 2012," but Razer's latest concept, nicknamed "Project Fiona," may take the title anyway. This concept gaming tablet flanks a 10.1-inch multitouch screen with a pair of nunchuk-like four-button controllers, lending the slab a bit of flightstick flair. Its dual-stick wings won't help you fly through ShadowGun however -- this slate is a Windows machine. An Intel Core i7 Ivy Bridge processor hopes to keep Fiona fragging with the desktop kiddies, Razer CEO Min-Liang Tan told us, giving it the chops to run modern PC games right out of the box.

The Prototype was built specifically with mobile PC gamers in mind, said Min-Liang, and will feature a hybrid user interface (a hub activated via a upcoming Windows 8 app) designed to help gamers immediately jump into local multiplayer matches. He described a group of friends seamlessly jumping into a round of Hawx 2, and "dogfighting face to face." It sounds like he wants Fiona to revitalize the Lan party. Although most PC games should be fully playable without any special tweaks or modificaitons, Min-Liang said developers would have the option of adding Fiona specific controls to a game, such as a touch control scheme, or accelerometer joystick emulation. Optimization isn't necessary but exclusive control schemes will be possible.

In addition to its Ivy Bridge chops, the concept gaming slate features enhanced audio with Dolby Home Theater v4 and built-in force feedback. Razer wasn't ready to talk battery life, but said that they hope to launch the slab in Q3 or Q4, after Windows 8 launches, for under $1000. How's it play? We'll let you know as soon as we get our hands on it. Until then, feel free to read on for Fiona's official press release.

Update: Check out our hands-on!

Gallery: Project Fiona

Continue reading Project Fiona raises the stakes for gaming tablets, packs Ivy Bridge, Windows 8 and integrated controllers

Project Fiona raises the stakes for gaming tablets, packs Ivy Bridge, Windows 8 and integrated controllers originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 10 Jan 2012 15:10:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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drag2share: Samsung 55-inch Super OLED TV eyes-on (video)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/01/10/samsung-55-inch-super-oled-tv-eyes-on-video/

After our introduction yesterday, we've been itching to get a closer look at Samsung's 55-inch Super OLED television. While this isn't a final production model, it's still pretty darn amazing to behold. Razor thin, the colors are as good as you'd hope from a TV with pixel-to-pixel control. Keep in mind, this bad boy will feature a quad-core processor and full 3D support. You'll have to wait until later in 2012 to snag yours and we're sure it'll cost you quite a bit. Go ahead and peek at our shots below and jump past the break for a quick eyes-on.

Gallery: Samsung 55-inch Super OLED TV eyes-on

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Samsung 55-inch Super OLED TV eyes-on (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 10 Jan 2012 15:25:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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drag2share: Intel demos Medfield-based smartphone reference design at CES (video)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/01/10/intel-demos-medfield-based-smartphone-reference-design-at-ces-v/

There we go! Head past all the months-old Ultrabooks in Intel's CES booth, and you'll stumble across something less pedestrian: a reference smartphone, based on the chipmaker's Medfield platform. How it looks is irrelevant, really -- that chintzy, fingerprint-prone slab of plastic offers no hints as to what the Samsungs and HTCs of the smartphone world are going to create. What matters here is what's inside: this 4-inch handset packs a single-core 1.6GHz Intel Atom Z2460 chip, XXM 6260 modem and Intel GMA graphics, along with your requisite WiFi radio, accelerometer, etc. (Intel had Gingerbread installed, though that'll hardly be current by the time Medfield starts shipping.)

Though battery life will naturally vary by manufacturer, this particular device houses a 1,460mAh juicepack promising 45 hours of audio playback, eight hours of 3G voice calls, five hours of 3G browsing or 14 days of standby. At the same time, Intel was demoing Modern Combat 2, as you can see in that lead shot, and playing HD video playing through the phone's micro-HDMI slot. Look closely at those videos below, and you'll see the output is mostly smooth with some slight stuttering, though trust us when we say video playback and gaming were more fluid on the device itself. Have a peek below and judge for yourselves, and hopefully one day in the not-too-distant future we'll be able to size up the battery life situation too.

Gallery: Intel smartphone reference design at CES 2012

Continue reading Intel demos Medfield-based smartphone reference design at CES (video)

Intel demos Medfield-based smartphone reference design at CES (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 10 Jan 2012 15:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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drag2share: Netflix: Warner Bros. movies now available after 56 day delay

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/01/10/warner-bros-doubles-netflix-delay/

Warner Bros. must have thought that CES was a good week to bury bad news, but unfortunately most people pay attention when you pull a move like this. Netflix has confirmed the rumor that if you wanna rent movies from the aforementioned studio, you'll have to wait 56 days, twice as long as the previous window. In the press-release (available after the break), the studio states it's doubling the window to maximize potential of its new releases. It also heavily implies that the studio was threatening to withdraw access to its library unless the rental service complied. We're keeping our ear to the ground to hear if similar announcements are forthcoming from Redbox and Blockbuster. Nothing like a little heavy-handed action to convince you that ownership truly is better than renting when it comes to DVD blockbusters, eh?

Update: Redbox got back to us with an official statement:

The current agreement Coinstar has with Warner Bros. is to receive movie titles 28-days after their release. No revised agreements are in place.

Continue reading Netflix: Warner Bros. movies now available after 56 day delay

Netflix: Warner Bros. movies now available after 56 day delay originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 10 Jan 2012 15:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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