The 17.3in mobile giant will be available from February with a hybrid storage option comprising a standard 1TB mechanical hard disk, complemented by 8GB of on-board NAND flash memory designed to act as a cache and, claims Toshiba, reduce application load times.The rest of the machine remains unchanged, with a powerful Core i7 processor, up to 32GB of RAM and a vast 17.3in display running at 1,920 x 1,080.Graphical performance is courtesy of Nvidia¡¯s GeForce GTC 630M, and stereoscopic 3D is available as an option. The out-there styling, complete with red accents around the trackpad, is also untouched.The hybrid storage X875 will be available in the United States from February, priced at around £1,000. UK availability is yet to be announced.Lenovo has unveiled new Ultrabooks, mainstream laptops and all-in-one PCs at CES 2013, all of which take advantage of touchscreen technology.
As you'd expect, the hardware inside has seen some cost-cutting as well. Asus has opted for a 1.5GHz Intel Celeron 1007U CPU, supported by 4GB of DDR3 RAM and a 500GB HDD. It's by no means a high-end partnership, but we found it more than zippy enough in everyday use. The Celeron CPU also has the grunt to compete with its pricier predecessor and even our current A-list runner-up, the £600 Samsung Ativ Book 9 Lite. In our Real World Benchmark suite, the X200CA managed an Overall score of 0.42, not far behind the VivoBook S200E's score of 0.48 and ahead of the Ativ's score of 0.35. And while gaming probably isn't going to be a priority on a budget laptop, the X200CA's average of 21fps in Crysis running at 1,366 x 768 and Low quality settings bodes well for less demanding titles.
Battery life is mediocre, however. In our light-use battery test, the X200CA lasted only 4hrs 2mins, even with the screen brightness dimmed to 75cd/m². As a point of comparison, the Ativ Book 9 Lite soldiered on for 7hrs 52mins under identical conditions and the S200E managed 5hrs 27mins.
Disappointingly, X200CA's 11.6in touchscreen is just as underwhelming as that of its predecessor. The glossy finish is highly reflective and, in tandem with the low maximum brightness of 168cd/m², this makes it difficult to use under bright overhead lights and almost unusable outdoors. The contrast ratio of 221:1 is uninspiring, too, and results in greyish, washed-out-looking images. It's a shame, since the touchscreen itself works well and we found that cycling between Windows 8's Metro apps and navigating the tile-based Start screen was a fluid experience.
At only £290, though, the Asus VivoBook X200CA is tremendously cheap, and as a result it's easy to cut it some slack. Only battery life has suffered significantly, and while the display is disappointing, it's no worse than we've encountered on many other budget laptops. Compared with our current A-List runner-up, the Samsung Ativ Book 9 Lite, the VivoBook X200CA can hold its head up high ¨C it delivers a decent all-round performance at half the price. It's by no means exciting, but as a basic, everyday laptop, the VivoBook X200CA packs more punch than any £300 laptop we've seen to date.
Google has released a small batch of Android apps for Chrome OS, as the boundaries between the company's two operating systems begin to blur.The company announced its intention to bring Android apps to Chromebooks earlier this year, and has now delivered the first four apps in the Chrome Store: the note-taking app Evernote; the Vine video app; the foreign-language learning tool Duolingo; and Sight Words, which helps children learn how to read.Google has been working with selected developers to adapt the Android apps using a special runtime, although it eventually aims to allow developers to port their apps with "minimal" recoding effort.As Android apps are designed to run on touchscreens and the vast majority of Chromebooks on the market are non-touch devices, the apps have to be adapted for touchpad controls. That alone could put off many developers, especially as the Chromebook audience is vastly smaller than the Android market, and is even less accustomed to paying for apps.
The apps run in either a portrait, smartphone-sized window on the Chromebook, or in a larger tablet-esque landscape mode.Google has repeatedly denied rumours that it will merge Chrome OS and Android, which were given fresh impetus when Chrome OS chief Sundar Pichai added Android to his portfolio in March last year. Yet, the decision to bring mobile apps to what is ostensibly a desktop platform has parallels with Microsoft's struggles to differentiate between overlapping Windows/Windows RT/Windows Phone operating systems.Microsoft is preparing to launch a unified app store that covers desktop, tablets and mobile with the launch of Windows 9 next year. Google has already added the Android apps to its Chrome Store, although they appear as "Not compatible" to anyone attempting to install them from a Windows/Mac device running the Chrome browser.
Apple maintains a clear divide between iOS and OS X, even though its desktop OS has introduced more iOS-style features in recent years, including an App Store, app launcher and notifications. Unlike Microsoft and Google, however, Apple remains resolutely opposed to touchscreen laptops or desktops, making cross-platform app development more of a challenge.Laptops and tablets are already incredibly thin - but Intel's engineers think there's scope to make them more slender still.At this week's Intel Developer Forum in San Francisco, Dell unveiled the thinnest tablet yet, the 6mm-thick Venue 8 7000 Series.Chris Walker, director of Intel's tablets business, said at a media roundtable discussion that it's possible for tablets to get even slimmer.One way is by getting rid of ports: Intel has this week been pushing the idea of wireless computing, ditching cables for charging, data transfer, docking and peripherals in favour of new wireless standards.
If you don't need connectors on the side of a tablet or laptop, it makes it easier to shrink devices - just look at how slim laptops are now that optical drives have disappeared."The vision of no wires means that ultimately you don't need the connectors on the side, you can share your data out to displays and for charging you wouldn't need the power connector," he said.However, ports aren't the only challenge. "There are technologies that need to keep advancing - the battery and the panel technology need to keep getting thinner," he said."This is very hard engineering to do, but do we talk internally about going thinner? Yes, we do," he added.Microsoft's decision to give away Windows licenses free on mobile devices has paid off big time, the company has claimed.
Since deciding to waive operating system fees for all devices with screens smaller than 9in, 50 new manufacturers have joined its partner programme, Terry Myerson, executive VP of operating systems at Microsoft, told Re/code.Myerson said the sign-up rate was "going well" and that he expected it would continue to do so.The company announced the plan to drop OS licensing fees on phones and tablets at its Build conference back in April.At the time, Microsoft said it was "evolving its Windows business model to enable partners to offer lower-cost devices", making them more competitive in the mobile device market.The move has meant Windows Phone is now cheaper for manufacturers to use than Android.While Myerson didn't state who these 50 were, it's a fairly safe bet they are companies selling devices in emerging markets.(cliquez ici pour suivre le lien)
While Chinese company ZTE has been producing Windows Phones for some time, new sign-ups with Windows 8.1 included Indian firms Micromax and Xolo, Pakistani manufacturer QMobile, and Filipino OEM Cherry Mobile.During the launch of Windows 10 last night, Myerson revealed the company's latest operating system will work across all devices, including phones and tablets, rather than being constrained to desktops, laptops and hybrids.While phones won't have the traditional desktop UI, customers will be able to use all the "universal apps" available to Windows 10.Update: The Moto 360 has now been superseded by the Moto 360 2, but you can still buy the original. It¡¯s a lot cheaper than it was, available now for around £150 from major retailers such as John Lewis. However, should you buy one? I¡¯m not convinced it would be a sound buying decision.
The Moto 360, though undeniably attractive to look at and wear, is a first-generation Android Wear device. It suffers from poor battery life, and its OMAP CPU is slower than most modern smartwatches. The 2nd generation Moto 360, on the other hand, ups the design ante, improves battery life and boosts performance by a significant margin.What¡¯s more, the Moto 360 2 is available in two different sizes, the larger 46mm model coming with an extra large battery, and can be customised via Motorola¡¯s Moto Maker service. If you can afford the extra £60, it¡¯s well worth considering. You can read our original Moto 360 review below.Since the very early days of the mechanical clock, one design element has dominated all others ¨C timepieces have always had circular faces. But in the brave, square new world of smartwatches and fitness bands, it seemed the classic, rotund clock face had mostly been abandoned, or at least it did until the arrival of the Motorola Moto 360.
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