Thursday, January 8, 2015

Sunday, January 4, 2015

CES 2015: Acer Improves Mobile PCs for 2015






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It's going to be a busy week of CES 2015 news, so let's get it started with the first relevant pre-show announcement: Acer this weekend announced upgrades to its Ultrabooks, convertible notebooks and 2-in-1 mobile PCs that will see expanded availability of 2015-era Intel Core processors and faster 802.11ac wireless capabilities. And the firm's gaming laptop lineup was also upgraded with the Intel RealSense 3D camera.


Here's what's new for 2015.


Aspire R 13 Series. Acer's convertible notebook line features a 13.3-inch screen and an Ezel Aero Hinge for 180 degrees of screen rotation and six usage modes. For 2015, they are picking up 5th generation Intel Core processors and 802.11ac wireless, up to 1 TB of SSD storage, up to 8 GB of RAM, 10 hours of battery life and two screen resolution WQHD (2560 x 1440) or Full HD (1920 x 1080), both with Zero Air Gap Technology and Gorilla Glass 3. Intriguingly, both versions can be used with an optional Acer Active Pen "for drawing, creating and collaborating" as well. The new R 13 Series will ship in January, Acer says, with pricing and availability dependent on locale.



Aspire S7 Ultrabook. Acer's superior Ultrabook line is getting refreshed with 5th generation Intel Core processors and 802.11ac wireless, and will retain its svelte–.51 inches thin and 2.87 pound weight—form factor. All models include 8 GB of RAM, 128 GB or 256 GB SSD drives in RAID 0, and Intel Wireless Display (WiDi) technology. Available screens resolutions are WQHD (2560 x 1440) or Full HD (1920 x 1080), and the touch screen tilts back a full 180 degrees so you can use it flat on a table or similar surface. The new S7 ships in January, again with variable pricing and availability.



Aspire Switch 12. Acer's upgraded 2-in-1 is really a "5-in-1" with five modes of operation, but the big news for 2015 is the changeover to Intel's new Intel Core M processor. It features a 12.5-inch Full HD (1920 x 1080) touch screen with IPS technology and Zero Air Gap technology, 2×2 wireless antenna technology with multi-input/multi-output (MIMO), and microUSB 3.0 and microHDMI. The screen is detachable so it can be used like a tablet, and the keyboard base features a magnetic and latch-less design with an integrated pointing stick. You can also use an optional Acer Active Pen with the Switch 12. This new device will ship in "early 2015" in the US and Canada, Acer says.



V Nitro Black Edition series gaming PCs. Acer also announced that it is adding the Intel RealSense 3D camera to its V Nitro Black Edition series gaming PCs. This appears to be a Kinect-like solution that lets you interact with games, open web pages or navigate apps without needing to touch a keyboard or trackpad. These monstrous mobile PCs feature a 17-inch Full HD display, 4th generation Intel Core processors, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 860M graphics, up to 16 GB of RAM, 128 GB or 256 GB of SSD storage, and 802.11ac wireless. Availability is January.





CES 2015: E-FUN Expands Its Windows Device Lineup






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Ahead of CES this week, E-FUN has announced a nice expansion of their Windows device lineup. The firm is upgrading the Nextbook 10.1 it released over the holidays and will deliver two new models with 11.6- and 12.5-inch screens.


I wrote about the E-FUN Nextbook 10.1 twice in late 2014—in E FUN Nextbook Preview: A Sub-$200 2-in-1 and E FUN Nextbook 10.1 First Impressions and will review that device after mid-month when I've moved to a new web site. But here's what the company plans for the Windows market in 2015.


Basically, the firm is expanding the Nextbook lineup to include three models, each with a unique screen size and each with a very affordable price tag. All three models will feature a 1.86 GHz quad-core Intel Atom Z3735F processor, 2 GB of RAM, 32 GB or 64 GB of internal storage (with the models with the two larger screen sizes getting the larger allotment), microSD expansion, Bluetooth 4.0 and 802.11b/g/n, microUSB, miniHDMI, and a detachable keyboard with magnetic POGO connection; that keyboard includes a full-sized USB 2.0 port as well.


Three screen sizes will be made available: 10.1-inches at 1280 x 800, 11.6-inches at 1366 x 768, and 12.5-inches at 1366 x 768.


Best of all, the pricing is quite reasonable: $229 for the 10.1-inch version, $249 for the 11.6-inch version, and $279 for the 12.5-inch version. E-FUN says the second generation Nextbooks will ship in May 2015.