Dell Unveils Inspiron 15z Ultrabook At Rs 41,990

Dell today launched its Inspiron 15z laptops with optional touchscreen, with the aim of attracting buyers seeking entry-level ultrabooks. This new laptops is priced at Rs 41,990 (without taxes) and runs on Windows 8. 

The all-new Inspiron 15z has a 15.6-inch LED HD display with TrueLife technology and buyers can choose between RAM ranging from 4GB to 8GB. Hard disk options in the device are 500GB SATA or 256GB solid state drive. The device is powered by 3rd generation Intel Core CPUs and features scratch-resistant Gorilla Glass touchscreen. 

Offered with optional Nvidia GeForce GT630M 2GB DDR3 graphics, Inspiron 15z weighs 2.46 kg (touchscreen version) and measures 23mm in thickness. This new ultrabook comes with Waves MaxxAudio 4.0 for sound enhancement and Skullcandy speakers. This laptop also includes a built-in optical drive, Intel Rapid Start Technology and Intel Smart Response Technology. 

Dell XPS With 1080p Priced About $1400

If you're into the "more pixels" ultrabook mantra and suitably flush, the 3 pound Dell XPS 13 with a 13.3-inch 1080p display, now on Dell's shelves, may be your machine. The soon-to-be-private outfit flaunted it at CES 2013, saying it also had a much wider 72 percent color gamut (instead of 45 percent for the 720p models), which definitely jibed with the more brilliant display we saw.

The barrier for entry will be a little dearer than Dell first said, though, as a 3rd-gen Core i5 model with 8GB of RAM, Intel HD 4000 graphics, Windows 8 and a 256GB SSD will run $1,400, $100 more than it first promised.
A 3rd-gen Core i7 model will start at $1,600 with the same specs. You'll be able to grab the latter model by February 14th, while the Core i5 (and lower-priced 720p) versions are in stock and shipping by next day. Considering similar models and the imminent arrival of a certain Mr. Haswell, we hope it won't be a hard sell at that price -- even with the 1080p screen.

[Source: Dell Store]

Acer Launches Aspire V5 Starting At Rs 34,550

Notebooks with touch, a feature that adds much value to the new Windows 8 operating system, are finally becoming cheaper. Acer's new Aspire V5, with prices starting from Rs 34,550, which is the cheapest windows 8 touch laptop available in the market. 

Till now Asus had the cheapest touch laptop in the Vivobook F202E, which costs Rs 39,990. However, this is a 11.6-inch device in comparison to the Aspire V5 which is available in 14- and 15.6-inch sizes. At the entry level, the V5 series will have Pentium Dual Core processors. There will also be models with the newer Intel Core i3 and i5 processors. At less than 20mm thin and weighing slightly over 2 kg, the elegant V5 series is 30 percent slimmer and 10 percent lighter than a traditional notebook, said a release. 

Chief Marketing Officer S Rajendran said touch technology will allow users to integrate with both the virtual and physical environment. "With consumers on the lookout for products that offer ease of use and enhanced user experience, we are confident that consumers will seamlessly adapt to touch technology in their day to day use as touch is a natural instinct to mankind. To address this emerging demand we have launched a series of notebooks on the latest Windows OS."

The devices will come with a 16:9 aspect ratio ideal for movies and games on a power-saving LED backlit screen. They will also feature Dolby Advanced Audio technology.

The Acer Aspire V5 series touch enabled devices are priced between Rs 34,550 and Rs 47,500 according to their specifications. 

IBM Unveils Low Priced Power Systems Server!

Technology services provider IBM said it is aiming to take on competitors such as Oracleand Hewlett Packard by offering a more affordable Power Systems server and storage product range later this month. 

"Big data and cloud technologies that were once only affordable to large enterprises are now available to the masses," said Rod Adkins, a Senior Vice President in IBM's Systems & Technology Group. 

The company said it was rolling out new servers based on its Power architecture with the Power Express 710 starting at $5,947. 

"The 710 is competitively priced to commodity hardware from Oracle and HP," IBM said, referring to Oracle's Sparc servers and HP's Itanium integrity servers. 

"With these new systems, IBM is forging an aggressive expansion of its Power and Storage Systems business into SMB (small- and medium-sized businesses) and growth markets," Adkins added. 

Forrester Research analyst Rich Fichera said that while the product range would not "make or break IBM," it was a signal to competitors and customers alike. 

"They are serving notice to competitors saying we are not giving up and by continuing to offer ever-improving performance to customers, they are making sure there's no temptation to switch," he said. 

The product launches on Tuesday. IBM said it will start delivering by February 20.

Lenovo Launches Ideapad Y & Z Series

PC maker Lenovo today introduced an update of its IdeaPad consumer PCs with the launch of new IdeaPad Y and Z Series laptops.Powered by third generation Intel Core processors, Lenovo’s new notebooks offer consumers a variety of style, color and performance options, designed for the upcoming Windows 8 operating system.

Lenovo IdeaPad Y500, a mobile gaming and multimedia powerhouse. Designed to perform, Lenovo IdeaPad Y500 features the unique UltraBay increased storage space or an additional fan for cooling. 

Whether editing photos and videos or playing computer games, the laptop can handle almost any intensive task. With looks to match the performance, it also features an eye-catching carbon fiber patterned cover, 15.6-inch LED backlit widescreen HD displays, and a dual-layer backlit AccuType keyboard with a large one-piece touchpad. It costs Rs 64,290 (taxes extra).

IdeaPad Z500, is one of the slimmest laptops available in India, without compromising on the processor or graphic performance. It is equipped with up to third generation standard voltage Intel Core i7 processors and is available in two colors, including dark chocolate, enamel white, with a soft-touch exterior and 15.6-inch LED backlit HD widescreen display. It costs Rs 48,990 (taxes extra).

Nokia To Launch iPad In February?

Nokia has sent out invites for a press meet scheduled for the first day of Mobile World Congress and tech grapevine is abuzz that the company is likely to use this event to showcase its first tablet. The manufacturer was absent from Consumer Electronics Show in 2012, but may make its move against rival Apple in the tablet segment at the biggest mobile device expo. 

The Finnish manufacturer is, as expected, mum on the devices it will unveil at the event. It is rumoured to be working on a tablet that will operate on Windows RT and have a 10.1-inch touchscreen. Previously, Taiwan-based tech website Digitimes reported, Nokia is in talks with Microsoft, Qualcomm and Compal Electronics to manufacture this tablet. Another report said this device will have two batteries - one standard and other in keyboard cover. The upcoming Nokia device is also rumoured to have HDMI as well as USB ports and support cellular data connectivity. 

Apart from this tablet, a smartphone with 'true' PureView camera technology is also expected to be showcased at the event. Earlier, The Verge reported that the company is working on a new Windows Phone-powered smartphone - codenamed EOS - that will have true PureView technology. This phone is rumoured to have aluminium body and launch this year. 

The company's flagship phone, Lumia 920, also features this imaging technology in its camera, but has an 8.7MP sensor. This sensor is small compared to the 41MP unit used in Nokia 808 PureView, which was unveiled at Mobile World Congress 2012. 

Portronics Launches Portable Speaker For Rs 3,499

Portronics has launched Pebble, a portable touch-based Bluetooth speaker.The device has a range of 10 metres and supports all Bluetooth devices like mobile phones, music players, etc.The device also has a microphone, which means users can receive calls using Pebble.The device has a touch panel for controls. It supports microSD cards, and can play MP3 or WMA audio formats.

It also has an aux-in port, which lets you connect pretty much every device with a 3.5 mm audio jack. The company says the device also supports voice commands.It weighs just 137 grams, which is very portable for a speaker. It costs Rs 3,499.Portronics says the device is loud enough for a conference room or a large living room.

Intel To Shutdown Its Desktop Motherboard Business!

The world’s biggest manufacturer of CPUs has announced that it will be ramping down its secondary business, desktop motherboards, to a complete halt in the next three years. So, essentially, in three years time, there will be fewer Intel-branded motherboards being floated into the market, until the maker eventually pulls the plugs on the machines spitting out these boards.

The last board to slide off the Intel assembly line will the one for their upcoming Haswell chipset, post which Intel will stop shipping boards. The decision comes in light of the fact that Intel’s motherboard business wasn’t one to rake in much profit, so the company has decided to focus on just their CPU business.

The good news here is that Intel will not be reducing its work-force, a normal outcome of any division shut-down. Instead, the plan is to have all the employees be absorbed into various other departments.

If you’re wondering what’s going to happen to motherboards after three years, fret not. Intel will continue developing reference designs for boards for their internal testing and research, and these designs and of course Intel chipsets will make their way to third party manufacturers for making new boards. Overall, this is good news for Intel chipset-based motherboard manufacturers, given that Intel was a strong, if not a fierce competitor in the motherboard segment.

Intel Ivy Bridge now available in budget-friendly silicon

After almost a year of Ivy Bridge implementation in everything from Windows tablets to miniature computers, Intel has finally rolled out its latest architecture to its budget line of silicon. According to CPU World, the chip giant released pricing and concrete specs for three Celeron CPUs, four Pentiums and a new Core i3-3210,all of which are available today. The Celerons all have 2MB of L3 cache, HD graphics and range from 2.3GHz to 2.7GHz. Meanwhile, the Pentiums rank a touch higher with 3MB of L3 cache, HD graphics and processors that clock at 2.5GHz on the low end to 3.2GHz on the high end. Last but certainly not least, the 3.2GHz Core i3 tops the lot with 3MB of L3 cache and HD 2500 graphics.

All the Celeron and Pentium models have two cores and two threads each, but the Core kicks it up to four threads with the help of Hyperthreading. They're allcompatible with existing Socket 1155 motherboards and cost anywhere from $42 for the cheapest Celeron to $117 for the Core i3. Of course with Haswell on the horizon, Ivy Bridge won't be the latest and greatest for much longer, but that shouldn't derail budget-conscious silicon lovers from a good deal. If all of this CPU speak gets your heart thumping, be sure to peek at the source to get a more detailed pricing breakdown of each individual chip.

Eight Core Samsung Exynos 5 Octa CPU Demonstrated at CES

Samsung today took the wraps off an 8-core processor known as the Exynos 5 Octa.

Stephen Woo, president of Samsung’s System LSI business, said during a keynote address here at CES that the Exynos 5 Octa will offer a “level of pure processing power never before seen in a mobile device.”

The Exynos 5 Octa is an eight-core SoC destined for tablets and high-end smartphones.

Not all of these CPU cores are created equal: four of them are high-performance Cortex-A15 cores, the very same found in the Exynos 5 Dual that powers the Nexus 10 and Samsung’s ARM Chromebook. The other four are Cortex-A7 CPU cores—these have the same feature set and capabilities as the A15 cores, but are optimized for power efficiency rather than performance.

This makes the Exynos 5 Octa one of the first products to actually use ARM’s big.LITTLE processor switching technology. The SoC is designed to dynamically split the workload between the high-performance and the high-efficiency CPU cores based on the task at hand—less strenuous activities like browsing an app store or checking e-mail might be done on the A7 cores, for instance, while gaming and number crunching could be handed off to the A15 cores.

Both sets of cores are said to work in tandem together and offer great speeds without compromising on battery consumption.This differs from Nvidia’s Tegra 3 and Tegra 4 SoCs, which include a low-power Cortex-A9 and a Cortex-A15 (respectively) “companion core” that can only be used when all of the SoC’s other CPU cores are powered down

The new SoC will be manufactured using a 28nm process as opposed to the 32nm process used by the Exynos 5 Dual, hence claiming to be more power-efficient. According to Samsung, the SoC can deliver twice the performance of quad-core Exynos CPUs, while using 70 percent less power.

What Samsung has not yet revealed is when the first devices running the Exynos 5 Octa will be available on the market, nor at what cost.

Kingston unveils world’s first 1TB HyperX Predator USB 3.0 flash drive

One thing we’ve learned over the years about the Consumer Electronics Show is that the word crazy is just not crazy enough there. You’ll see the most insane of gadgets popping up at CES every year and this year too, we have seen products which make you go whoaa! Adding to the list is Kingston’s 1TB HyperX Predator flash drive. Yes, it’s 1TB and it’s a USB 3.0 flash drive which means you can carry your entire world in your pocket.

All the craziness doesn’t end there! The Kingston HyperX Predator 1TB can transfer data at blazing fast speeds which are comparable to the data transfer speeds of the SSD’s. Kingston claims that the flash drive can provide speeds of up to 240MB/s during reading while up to 160 MB/s while writing.

Kingston claims that the HyperX Predator flash drive is highly shock-resistant as it made out of a metal casing of zinc alloy, which looks quite stylish. Also, the flash drive backwards compatible with USB 2.0 as well and supports devices running on Windows 8, Windows 7 (SP1), Windows Vista (SP1,SP2) and Windows XP (SP3) along with Linux 2.6 or higher and Mac OS X 10.6 or higher.

If you’re too impressed right away and can’t wait to get one of these, we have one advice for you- Don’t expect the HyperX Predator to be easy on your pocket as the 512GB version of the device is retailing currently at a price of $1750. Now that hurts! The HyperX Predator 1TB should be available during the end of Q1 2013.

Sasmsung adds touch to it’s Series 5 Ultrabook, coming in February

Samsung has refreshed the lineup of it’s Series 5 Ultrabook and added a touchscreen to the device along with a backlit keyboard and a more premium aluminum chassis. The Ultrabook will sport a 14-inch touchscreen display and will go on sale next month in the US.

The most notable difference of the new Series 5 Ultrabook from it’s previous version is that it gets a more premium feel to it as now, it is made out of metal and has brushed aluminum lid, just like the higher-end Series 9 Ultrabook. The only plastic on the Series 5 Ultrabook is at the bottom, which is made entirely out of plastic.

The Series 5 Ultrabook retains a similar keyboard design as it’s predecessor but now it is backlit unlike it’s previous version. It comes with all the standard ports like three USB ports out of which one is a USB 3.0 while the other two are USB 2.0 ports and also, an HDMI port, an Ethernet port, a headphone jack, a lock port and a Display port.

The 14-inch display on the Series 5 Ultrabook will have a resolution of 1,366 x 768 pixels and a 500GB hard drive along with a 24GB SSD which will significantly cut-down the boot-up time and allow applications to load faster. The Ultrabook would come with Integrated graphics in the US, but Samsung says that the Series 5 Ultrabook will boast of a dedicated AMD Radeon HD 8750 GPU in other countries.

According to Engadget, the Series 5 Ultrabook would be sold in two configurations- one with a Core i3 processor along with 4GB of RAM and the other with a Core i5 processor coupled with 8GB of RAM. The Core i3 variant would be priced at $799 whears the Core i5 variant will cost $899 in the US. The Series 5 Ultrabook would go on Sale starting February in the US but no specific date has been announced for it’s launch in the other markets as of now.

Hp Launches Monitors Galore at CES 2013, 20 to 27 inch IPS panels

HP has just flooded the streets with a lineup of monitors they have released at CES 2013. Ranging from 20 inches to 27 inches and US $ 130 to US $ 500 (approx. INR 7000 to 30000).

Envy 27.

The Envy 27 is the flagship monitor by HP for 2013 with an asking price of US $ 499 or INR 27500 The HP Envy 27 has a 1080p IPS panel with wide viewing angles . A anti reflective coating on the glossy display makes looking at the monitor a stunning experience. Edge to Edge disply along with a die-cast aluminum base and built-in Beats Audio.

For ports, there’s VGA, DisplayPort, HDMI, a 3.5mm headphone jack and optical digital output, allowing you to send audio to wireless speakers]. The monitor will go on sale in February in the US and should hit India side soon after.

Pavilion 22xi, 23xi, 25xi and 27xi.

Similar to the flagship above the HP Pavilion line offers full hd 1080p IPS panels in a affordable price bracket. ranging in sizes from 200 to 27 inch. The 20-inch 20xi has a lower 1,600 x 900 resolution, along with VGA and DVI output (but not HDMI). These monitors will go on sale in February in the US and should hit India side soon after with prices ranging from $130 to $340.

ProDisplay P191, P201, P201m and P221.

Designed for Enterprise and businesses these HP monitors range in size from 18.5 to 21 inches.  Throughout the line up most of the specs are the same: a 250-nit brightness rating, 1,000:1 contrast ratio and 5ms response time. All can tilt 35 degrees and can rotate up to 90 degrees to offer ergonomic options to the viewer.

the P191 has a pixel count of 1,366 x 768, compared with 1,600 x 900 for the P201 and 1080p for the P221.

These HP monitors will go on sale in February in the US and should hit India side soon after price from $129 to $179, making them the most affordable of these new models.

LG Launches 100-inch Short Throw Laser Projector

LG’s new Hecto projector may be just the thing for folks who want a huge viewing space, but have a limited area in which to do it.

High-end projectors have been around for some time now, but the big issue has been that you needed to have a lot of space between the device and the screen. Using lasers, this latest device from LG only needs 22-inches of clearance to give you a 100-inch diagonal display. Capable of 1080p projection, the Ultra Short Throw unit also features a digital tuner.

The projector also boasts Smart TV and Digital TV functionality, 3 HDMI ports, audio outs, a 10w speaker and can be placed near the floor in front of the screen, rather than having to be attached to the ceiling.

LG says the system, built using its laser-based Illumination technology, will provide a better option for those without the space to hang a traditional projector and bring cinema-style viewing to the home.