Microsoft Surface Pro 3

The Microsoft Surface Pro 3 is a larger iteration of the Windows 8 tablet the company has been producing for the past two years, and it certainly addresses some of the shortcomings of last year's Surface Pro 2 

Bottom Line

With its 12-inch, high-resolution display, full-friction kickstand, and Surface Pen, Microsoft's Surface Pro 3 tablet aims to be the only mobile PC you need. But will you ditch your laptop? We're not so sure.

http://www.pcmag.com/slideshow_viewer/0,3253,l=323846&a=323809&po=1,00.asp 

LG's 31-inch "true'' 4K IPS monitor now available for under $1,400

 

 

LG’s Digital Cinema 4K Monitor, the same one that was showcased at IFA last month, will soon be available for purchase. The 31MU97 features a 31-inch display and true 4K resolution but it also carries a steep price tag meaning it’ll largely target content creation professionals.
To clear up any confusion, consumer-grade 4K displays feature a resolution of 3,840 x 2,160 and are in fact a derivation of the 4K digital cinema standard which boasts a resolution of 4,096 x 2,160. The latter is what LG is offering with this monitor.

The South Korean electronics company claims the panel produces 10-bit color and covers 99.5 percent of the Adobe RGB color space. What’s more, it covers 97 percent of the DCI-P3 color space and comes with Thunderbolt support and Mac compatibility.
It also comes with a feature called Dual Color Space that allows the monitor to display two different color modes at once so users can compare different perspectives of their work simultaneously.

The display isn’t yet listed on LG’s US site so we don’t have access to the complete list of specifications but the photo above reveals the rear panel I/O ports.
The LG 31MU97 will be available starting this week in markets including the United States, South Korea, Germany, Australia and the UK followed by the Netherlands, Spain, Poland and Japan in November. LG didn’t provide a price in its press release although B&H has it listed at $1,399.99

http://www.techspot.com/news/58627-lg-31-inch-true-4k-ips-monitor-now.html

AMD and Nvidia need to step up to the 4K challenge

Resolution, particularly pixel density, is the new frontier when it comes to gaming graphics. There’s little doubt, certainly from my first hand experience, that 4K offers huge advantages in sharpness, even on 24in and 27in monitors – not just on super-large screens.

Some may disagree here, but to me, I’d welcome more pixels than my current 24in 1,920 x 1,200 main monitor offers. As I have two screens, I’ve also considered investing in a super-wide screen too.

LG's 34UC97 is a curved 34in super-wide monitor that sports a resolution of 3,440 x 1,440 - Click to enlarge

There are some fantastic-sounding options here in the ultra high resolution department as well. LG and AOC have 34in 3,440 x 1,440 monitors plus Dell and LG have recently announced their own curved versions (WANT). The prospect here for immersive, high resolution gaming is pretty compelling but the extra screen real-estate is useful for all manner of other tasks too. I’ve played with super-wide monitors before as well, as you can read about here, and despite older 30in models only sporting 1,080 vertical pixels, I didn’t find this too restrictive when editing photos and the like.

AOC's u3477Pqu super-wide 3,440 x 1,440 monitor will retail for around £500 in October - Click to enlarge

However, there’s one major issue stopping me splashing some cash on a new ultra HD monitor. This is the fact that I’d need to invest twice as much again in the graphics department to be able to get playable frame rates in games. I’ve never been one to tone down graphics settings in order to get playable frame rates; this is partly the reason I find myself writing about PC hardware for a living, apart from the fact I caught the upgrade bug two decades ago.

However, even if I was prepared to drop a little in terms of detail settings, this still wouldn’t be enough to allow even a £400 single-GPU graphics card to handle all the latest games, never mind my aging GTX 660 Ti. Even Nvidia’s latest effort – the GTX 980 was a long way from achieving playable frame rates in Crysis 3 in our review; you’d need to opt for a monster such as AMD’s R9 295X2 in order to get some headroom at 4K.

To be able to play all current games at 4K, you need to invest in multiple GPUs or AMD's R9 295X2 - Click to enlarge

Something else that concerns me, though, is that there’s not much effort going on to address the main issue here, which is that higher resolutions are going mainstream. Windows 8.1 achieved a lot in terms of 4K scaling, though there are a few more issues to iron out, not least of all by software companies with their own program scaling.

However, we’re nearly at the point where it makes absolute sense to aim for 4K in a mid to high-end system, rather than a super-high end one as is the case at the moment. This doesn’t mean I think those of us with limited wallet power won’t consider splashing out £300-400 on a 4K-capable graphics card, but the fact is that once 4K monitors fall in price further, mid and high-end enthusiasts will have a bit of a problem on their hands.

Nvidia's GTX 980 can play some games at 4K, but doesn't offer much headroom - Click to enlarge

They can afford a 4K monitor, but not the graphics card/s to power it in games. We haven’t had such a big reason to upgrade our graphics card since Crysis landed but AMD and Nvidia need to do more to make these ultra high resolutions more attainable outside of super-expensive systems. In the past, you've needed to invest heavily if you game on triple screens, for example, and I think this needs to change.

4K is waiting to take off, be it in super-wide or standard aspect ratio monitors. In addition, true 4K gaming is also something the latest consoles lack. So this is also a huge opportunity for PC gaming to take a giant leap forwards and offer something tangible when it comes to a better gaming experience.

In short what we need is a GTX 970-type graphics card that can handle the latest games at 4K – something in the region of £250-350 – not the £700 odd that you’d currently need for something like the R9 295X2. So come on AMD and Nvidia, rise to the challenge and give us more reasonably-priced 4K-capable graphics cards.

http://www.bit-tech.net/blog/2014/09/30/amd-and-nvidia-need-to-step-up-to-the-4k-ch/ 

Apple Blows the Dust Off iPad, iMac Models

 

Apple on Thursday held a new product event on its campus in Cupertino, California, where the stars of the show were a thinner version of its iPad tablet and a 27-inch iMac desktop with a display that has 67 percent more pixels than a 4K TV.

The iPad Air 2, pictured above, will have an entry point of US$499 for a 16-GB model. It is only 6.1mm thick -- more than 50 percent thinner than the original iPad -- and tips the scale at just under a pound.
While the display resolution on the new iPad Air is the same as the previous model -- 2048 x 1536 pixels -- Apple improved the Retina screen's reflective properties so it's easier to see in direct sunlight. It made its colors more vivid and dialed up its contrast.
Inside the iPad, there's a souped-up version of the processor in the iPhone 6. The tablet's 64-bit A8x CPU is, according to Apple, 40 percent faster than the one in the previous version of the tablet, and its graphics processor is 2.5 times faster. Even with the increased muscle, battery life for the device remains 10 hours, Apple said.

Touch ID

Apple brought the new iPad in line with its iPhone line by adding Touch ID, a fingerprint scanner, as well as Apple Pay support. Touch ID can be used to unlock an iPad, make purchases from Apple's online stores, and open apps that support the technology, like Evernote, Mint and Day One journal.
Touch ID, combined with Apple Pay, will allow iPad Air 2 users to shop online.
"This isn't for retail, point-of-sale purchasing," Philip W. Schiller, senior vice president of worldwide marketing at Apple, said at the event. "This is for online purchasing within all the apps that are going to support Apple Pay, and there are going to be many of them growing starting on Monday."
Both cameras are upgraded in the latest iPad. The rear-facing iSight camera now has an 8-megapixel sensor, and native resolution of 3264 x 2448 pixels for stills and 1080p for video. It also supports a number of creative features, like panoramic pictures, time-lapse photography and 120 fps slow motion video.
The tablet's front-facing Facetime camera has a 1.2-MP sensor and supports 720p video. It also supports an f/2.2 aperture setting, which improves performance in low lighting conditions.
In addition to the 16-GB model, iPad Air 2 will be offered in 64-GB ($599) and 128-GB ($799) versions.

Mini Prices

Apple introduced a new version of its iPad mini tablet. The iPad mini 3 sports Touch ID, but it runs on the older A7 processor and has a 5-MP iSight camera.

Pricing for the mini 3 starts at $399 for a 16-GB model, then moves to $499 (64 GB) and $599 (128 GB).
Apple will continue to sell older versions of the mini, including the original version for just $249. That could help open up the Apple experience to some market segments previously priced out of it.
"Apple's products today are more easily approachable, not only to people in developed countries but in developing countries, too," said Trip Chowdhry, managing director for equity research at Global Equities Research.
"Apple's addressable market has increased by at least 20 to 30 percent across the world," he told the E-Commerce Times.

Gorgeous Display

While you may not need as much cash to get in the Apple game after today's announcement, the experience may be wanting.
"You're not going to get Touch ID for $249," Patrick Moorhead, founder and principal analyst at Moor Insights and Strategy, told the E-Commerce Times.
"To have the full Apple experience, you still need to have higher degree of disposable income," he said.
Along with the new iPads, Apple introduced a new iMac with a 27-inch, 5120 x 2880 display that's only 5mm thick.

Starting at $2,499, it runs on Intel Core i7 processors up to 4 GHz, has AMD graphics with up to 3.5 teraflops of computing power, and supports Thunderbolt 2 bandwidth up to 20 Gbps.
Another refresh announced by Apple was a new Mac Mini, starting at $499.

Also at the Apple event, the company announced that OS X Yosemite, the latest version of its desktop operating system, was available for download.

On a Roll

While most of what Apple announced on Thursday had been roiling in the rumor blender for weeks, the company did manage to tie together some loose ends.
"It pulled everything together for the holiday selling season. It's created a unified experience across iPad, iPhone and now the Mac with Yosemite," Moorhead said. "These guys are hitting on all cylinders."
Wrapping the event, Apple CEO Tim Cook observed, "This incredible lineup of products and the ecosystem that supports them is something only Apple can create."
That may not be entirely accurate, but it's close.
"Technically, it's not true that only Apple can create that amalgam of hardware, software, services and ecosystem," said former Forrester analyst Charles Golvin, who recently founded Abelian Research.
"However, I think that only Apple is able today to combine these assets into the superior experience that its customers enjoy," he told the E-Commerce Times, "and extend the benefits of that experience to a network of partners, including developers, retailers, and a wealth of other brands. That is why Apple ranks at the top of the list of partners for these companies."

 

http://www.technewsworld.com/story/81213.html 

 

 

MSI's GT80 Titan Notebook Becomes World's First To Include Mechanical Keyboard

Have you ever thought to yourself, "I wish my laptop had a mechanical keyboard!", but have been left depressed with the dearth of options? If so, MSI's latest gaming laptop is worthy of your consideration. Called the GT80 Titan, MSI has impressively embedded an entire mechanical keyboard in its base, complete with CHERRY MX brown switches (light bump, non-clicky).
Behold, what I feel to be one of the most interesting laptops ever:

I admit that I've joked with myself (because I'm a little odd like that) about having a notebook with a mechanical keyboard, but I never actually thought it was something that should happen. I am not sure I would have even guessed it would happen, because a mechanical keyboard is very clunky, and could dramatically impact the visual appeal of said notebook. I think that rings true here; I'm honestly not feeling the aesthetics of the GT80 Titan at all.
That said, this is one of those compromises that people would have to make to gain access to a far better keyboard while on-the-go - while being able to avoid the clunky setup that's created when you have to hook up an external. There are some other things to consider: With its mechanical keyboard, the GT80 Titan is far more prone to keycaps literally falling off or going missing than any other notebook. On the flipside, cleaning this keyboard would be far easier than standard notebook keys, since you actually would be able to remove the keycaps.

For what it's worth, this isn't just some ordinary mechanical keyboard; instead, it comes from SteelSeries, a company that knows how to design great peripherals. Because of the GT80 Titan's 18-inch size (you read that right!), a full numpad is included, although it's touch, rather than mechanical. You might notice something else a bit strange here: There's no touchpad at the bottom. Instead, the numpad doubles as the touchpad, which is a pretty cool design.
At this point, MSI is really not giving us too much else to go on; there's no mention of specs, although given its massive size, and its goal as being a gaming notebook offering precision control, I think it goes without saying that it's going to ultimately bundle some high-performing parts.
So - who wants one?

http://hothardware.com/News/MSIs-GT80-Titan-Notebook-Becomes-Worlds-First-To-Include-Mechanical-Keyboard/

Apple is now 5th largest PC maker in the world

IDC says Apple surpassed Asus to crack into the top 5 global PC makers -- though numbers from rival firm Gartner disagree

 

Apple's Macbooks had a strong back-to-school showing last quarter, as the company hit fifth place in IDC's global PC shipment charts.
Mac sales rose from 4.58 million in the third quarter of last year to 4.98 million this year, IDC estimated, allowing Apple to edge out Asus for the number five slot. (Rival research firm Gartner still has Asus in fifth place, with 5.77 million shipments last quarter. Hey, these are estimates.)

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Overall, last quarter was fruitful for major vendors. Both IDC and Gartner estimated shipment gains for Lenovo, HP, Dell, Acer, and Asus, along with Apple. IDC attributed the gains to solid back-to-school sales, the continued Windows XP to Windows 7 migration for businesses, and a rise in low-cost PCs such as Chromebooks.
Why this matters: Unlike other PC makers, Apple's sales numbers aren't being buoyed by low-cost laptops. While IDC warns that the rise in cheap PCs are a "concern for the long term viability of vendors to adequately remain in the PC space," that concern doesn't apply to Apple, which tends to avoid racing to the bottom in pricing. For other vendors, the current situation contains echoes of the 2009 PC market, which grew fat on netbook sales and eventually crashed.

Win some, lose some

However, Apple has its own concerns as iPad sales are in decline. The company is rumored to be working on a larger version that might capture more of the PC market, but it may not arrive until next year, if at all. Apple is holding an event on Oct. 16, where it's expected to announce minor upgrades to the existing iPad line.
Although PC shipments declined as a whole by 1.7 percent in the third quarter, this was entirely due to smaller vendors in the "other" category, several of whom have been scaling back lately. Since last year, Sony has sold its Vaio PC business to a smaller company focusing on the Japan market, Samsung has shut down its European PC business and Toshiba has said it will cut back on consumer PCs to focus on business users.

This story, "Apple is now 5th largest PC maker in the world" was originally published by PCWorld.

 

http://www.infoworld.com/article/2824525/computer-hardware/apple-is-now-5th-largest-pc-maker-in-the-world.html 

 

Apple's 'Way Too Long' Invite Lands With a Thud

Apple's pretty much annual October new product media event usually is preceded by a cute invitation sent to journalists. The invitation typically includes a phrase or graphic element that provides a vague clue to the secret agenda of the event.

Presumably, this is to drum up excitement and speculation, in addition to creating an ah-ha moment when the audience understands the connection between the invitation and the actual announcement.
This year, Apple's hint is this: "It's been way too long." That is the worst teaser I've ever heard.

What Haven't You Been Doing Lately?

Consider the phrase: It's been way too long since... what? Since we've seen you last? Since we partied like there was no tomorrow? Nah. In Apple Land, the connotation immediately turns to products and product announcements.
Which then naturally turns to this: Which product hasn't been updated in "way too long?" Which product has been neglected? Which product is in desperate need of a makeover?
I don't consider myself a glass-half-empty kind of guy, but I found myself immediately considering the products that Apple has been futzing around with when I saw the teaser invite. Turns out, there are plenty of Apple products that seem stale.
The MacBook Air, which has sported the same basic form factor since Steve Jobs introduced it in 2008, comes to mind. Apple added the even smaller 11-incher in October of 2010 -- four years ago. Sure, there've been some minor upgrades along the way, but it's been four years -- and not even a color refresh.
What's worse, the MacBook Air hasn't had a Retina display. The MacBook Pro with Retina display came out two years ago in October of 2012. Is that way too long? Maybe. It sure feels like it -- but hey, that's not Apple's fault, right? You just can't power a Retina display with a battery in a super light MacBook Air form factor. Laws of physics and whatnot.
The technical challenges aren't the point here -- nor is the waiting game for Intel's next-generation Broadwell processors, which are well suited to being crammed into a shrinking form factor.
There are rumors that Apple is working on a 12-inch Retina-based MacBook Air variant, which it could even offer in Gold, Silver and Space Gray colors, but the point remains: It's been way too long gives the speculation a negative spin, as if Apple has been neglecting a product rather than working feverishly on it and giving it the attention it deserves.

Which Other Products Have Stagnated?

See how easy it is to consider Apple's invite phrase in a negative light? I just used the word "stagnated," which isn't a word you want associated with your products -- like say, the Mac mini, which has been largely ignored for two years. Or the iMac, which has gotten some touchups here and there, but no Retina displays.
Odds are, Apple will update the iMac with a Retina display sometime soon -- but now? Maybe. Neither product gets enough consumer attention to justify being the subject of Apple's teaser, though.
There is only one product that clearly stands out here, and it's the long-neglected Apple TV. The last hardware update was in March of 2012. There have been lots of minor additions and updates to the software, but the ingenuity and power of the hardware itself? For fans of the living room couch, it's been languishing in obscurity.
Finally. That is the first impression that Apple calls up with "It's been way too long."
That's really sad, because in reality, I'm excited and optimistic that Apple will -- finally -- make a serious push into the living room with a more powerful Apple TV and a much-improved content experience.
The phrase, "It's been way too long," could be applied to the way we watch and consume television. It's been way too long since consumers had a really great new way to watch TV. For anyone who pays attention to their budgets and how they spend on entertainment, it's hard to find any reason to be pleased with the bundles offered by our cable and satellite TV services.
So, even though the teaser could be the harbinger of a brand new world of awesomeness, the initial effort to understand it just results in a negative spin for Apple.

Playing Catch-Up

Instead of excitedly speculating on how Apple might make the living room "more comfortable than ever" with a new Apple TV that is now a hub for HomeKit and a whole new world of home automation products, Apple sparked people to wonder if it's been too long for an important new leap for the iPad.
Is a thinner iPad offered in a Gold color with a Touch ID button particularly cool? It doesn't take a genius to imagine a thinner iPad Air or a new coat of paint.
Instead of being excited about how well the Apple ecosystem will seamlessly let you hand off content, notifications, and messages between Macs and iOS devices, the question turns toward a grouchy "it's about damn time my Mac could talk with my iPhone."
The problem is that "way too long" implies an admission of failure -- and it's a failure on Apple's part, because this is Apple's event, after all. Even if the company is saying it's way too long for some other thing going on in the industry, the phrase boomerangs back to Apple.
So what would be more successful?
Apple could have said, "better than ever," or "like you've never seen before" or slapped on an image that implies a natural transformation into something mature and cool, like the hint of a butterfly's wing in the background of the invitation. Apple never would have to explain a butterfly.
"Way too long" fails to suggest that Apple might have invented something new -- or even created an upgrade leap. It suggests that Apple finally caught up to a widely held expectation. I'm pretty sure that's not what Apple was going for.
So yeah -- Apple's worst teaser ever

http://www.technewsworld.com/story/81171.html 

15 Hot New Technologies That Will Change Everything

The Next Big thing? The memristor, a microscopic component that can "remember" electrical states even when turned off. It's expected to be far cheaper and faster than flash storage. A theoretical concept since 1971, it has now been built in labs and is already starting to revolutionize everything we know about computing, possibly making flash memory, RAM, and even hard drives obsolete within a decade.
The memristor is just one of the incredible technological advances sending shock waves through the world of computing. Other innovations in the works are more down-to-earth, but they also carry watershed significance. From the technologies that finally make paperless offices a reality to those that deliver wireless power, these advances should make your humble PC a far different beast come the turn of the decade.
In the following sections, we outline the basics of 15 upcoming technologies, with predictions on what may come of them. Some are breathing down our necks; some advances are still just out of reach. And all have to be reckoned with.

• Memristor: A Groundbreaking New Circuit
• 32-Core CPUs From Intel and AMD
• Nehalem and Swift Chips Spell the End of Stand-Alone Graphics Boards
• USB 3.0 Speeds Up Performance on External Devices
• Wireless Power Transmission
• 64-Bit Computing Allows for More RAM
• Windows 7: It's Inevitable
• Google's Desktop OS
• Gesture-Based Remote Control
• Radical Simplification Hits the TV Business
• Curtains for DRM
• Use Any Phone on Any Wireless Network
• Your Fingers Do Even More Walking
• Cell Phones Are the New Paper
• Where You At? Ask Your Phone, Not Your Friend
• 25 Years of Predictions

http://www.pcworld.com/article/152683/tech.html

Servis notebooků Sony Vaio | Opravy notebooků Sony

Notebooky Sony Vaio společnosti Sony se umísťují na předních pozicích v soutěži prodejnosti značek notebooků. Náš servis notebooků poskytuje společně se servisem ostatních značek také kvalitní pozáruční servis notebooků Sony ..
Provádíme servis notebooků Sony a opravy notebooků Sony všech modelových řad, prodávaných společností Sony na českém trhu. Umíme opravit většinu závad notebooků Sony zakoupených i v jiných státech EU a také velkou část závad na noteboocích Sony dovezených z jiných částí světa.
Opravitelnost jednotlivých modelů notebooků Sony je výrazně závislá na dostupnosti potřebných náhradních dílů - některé náhradní díly na notebooky Sony se již nevyrábějí, nedovážejí nebo jejich získání ze světových skladů není rentabilní.
Náš servis notebooků řeší podobné případy často úspěšně alternativními cestami.

Komplexní pozáruční servisní podporu poskytujeme na tyto řady notebooků Sony

• Servis notebooků Sony Vaio 6 – opravy notebooků řady  Sony Vaio 6
• Servis notebooků Sony Vaio GRV - opravy notebooků Sony Vaio GRV
• Servis notebooků Sony Vaio PCG – opravy notebooků Sony Vaio PCG
• Servis notebooků Sony Vaio S - opravy notebooků Sony Vaio S
• Servis notebooků Sony Vaio VGC - opravy notebooků řady Sony Vaio VGC
• Servis notebooků Sony Vaio VGN – opravy notebooků řady Sony Vaio VGN

http://www.servis-acer.com/opravy-noteboooku/sony/

Sony VAIO Tap 21 Multitouch Mobile Desktop Review

The Sony VAIO Tap 21 is a member of a small, but growing, breed of new PCs that straddles a line between traditional all-in-one desktops and tablets. The VAIO Tap 21’s specifications read like many modern desktop systems, and include an Intel Core i7 processor, hybrid storage, a decent amount of memory and full-blown Windows 8. But the machine is also surprisingly svelte, it’s got a full HD, multi-touch screen and it packs an integrated battery that gives users the ability to simply pick up the system and go. Of course, the VAIO Tap 21’s physical dimensions prevent it from being truly portable, but being able to move the system virtually anywhere and operate on battery power opens up a world of interesting possibilities, at home or work.

In addition to its potential mobility, the Sony VAIO Tap 21 can also be used in a couple of different configurations. The system stands upright—as you would expect—but its kickstand can also be folded all the way in, so the Tap 21 will lay flat on any surface. Couple its multi-touch capabilities with the ability to lay flat, and it’s hard to imagine two more people sitting around a Tap 21 collaborating in an app, gaming, or what have you.

We’ve got the full scoop on the Sony VAIO Tap 21 on the pages ahead. Before we dig in though, take a look at our test system’s specifications below to set expectations and then we’ll get on with the juicy stuff...

The Sony VAIO Tap 21 All-In-One Mobile Desktop

Sony VAIO Tap 21 Specifications & Features

Display	21.5 in Full HD, Triluminos Display for Mobile (1920 x 1080), 10-finger multi-touch support
Processor	Intel Core i7-4500U 1.80 GHz with Turbo Boost Technology up to 3.0 GHz
Memory	8GB DDR3L 1600 MHz
Hard drive size	1TB 5400 RPM hybrid drive
Operating system	Windows 8. Update to Windows 8.1 for free through the Windows Store.
PC type	All-in-One
Optical drive	None
Media drive	2-in-1 media card reader (SD/MS)
Audio	Intel High Definition Audio with ClearAudio+
Video	Intel HD Graphics 4400 with shared graphics memory
Ports	2 USB 3.0 (1 with Sleep and Charge), HDMI, Headphone output/Microphone input combo, RJ-45 (10/100/1000)
Battery	Lithium-ion (up to 2 hours, 30 minutes)
Camera	1.0 MP HD webcam
Wireless	802.11b/g/n • Intel Wireless Display (WiDi) capable (separate adapter required)
Bluetooth	Yes
Dimensions	20.62 x 1.40-12.22 x 6.86-12.64 in (523.74 x 35.56-310.38 x 174.24-321.05 mm)
Weight	8.60 lbs (3.90 kg)
Color	Black
Other	Keyboard travel: 2.0 mm stroke and 19.05 mm pitch

---

Sony VAIO Tap 21: Starting @ $999, As Configured - $1299

We should note that Sony offers the VAIO Tap 21 in a number of different configurations. The model we’ve got on tap for you’re here (no pun intended), is the mid-spec offering. It sports an Intel Core i7-4500U processor with Intel HD 4400 series graphics, but a lower-end Core i5-based model is also available, as is a Core i7-4558U-based model with Intel Iris 5100 series graphics. Multiple storage and memory options are also available. Our system packed in 8GB of memory and a 1TB hybrid drive, memory configurations up to 16GB and SSDs up to 512GB are also available. Sony even offers a number of different color combos for the keyboard and a carry case for the Tap 21, should you intend to travel with it often or want to spice things up a bit.

http://hothardware.com/Reviews/Sony-VAIO-Tap-21-Multitouch-Mobile-Desktop-Review/

Windows 10 Hands-On: What You Need To Know

It has been a few weeks since Microsoft released its Technical Preview of Windows 10 -- which means we've had enough time to walk around the vehicle, kick the tires, and investigate the product in its current form. After the drubbing that Windows 8 took in the tech press and from angry users, Microsoft badly needs this new operating system to be a success, but simply cramming the Start menu back into the OS isn't going to cut it. So what has Microsoft been up to all this time beyond the Start menu's triumphant return?  Let's take a look.

The Road To Windows 10

We want to kick off this preview by briefly discussing something that's been percolating in the back of our heads for quite some time. Specifically: We think Microsoft (or at least important people within Microsoft) were caught off-guard by the sustained dislike many consumers had for Windows 8. Long after the familiarity bias should've faded, a number of reviewers and tech aficionados remained opposed to the OS -- and we think that's actually partly the fault of the technical press because certain issues weren't communicated more effectively.

The new Windows 10 desktop with hybrid search bar and the Video app running on the Desktop

I can only speak for myself, but when we wrote our Windows 8 preview coverage, I was impressed and excited by the bold new direction Microsoft was charting. After years of refining the old Desktop paradigm, this was MS trying something altogether different. The reason I was so pleased with this in 2011 and so unhappy with the final product was simple -- I assumed Microsoft was going to fix all the little problems and issues that collectively sank Windows 8 and continue to diminish Windows 8.1. I assumed, for example, that Desktop and Metro apps would be able to communicate effectively, that Windows RT versions of apps would be well tuned to run on RT devices, that basic Metro apps like the Photo Viewer would ship with the same capabilities as the Windows Photo Viewer, but with a specialized touch interface, that file lists would have customizable layouts, that file names could be displayed by default in those layouts, that users would be able to save sets of pinned applications rather than disrupting them with a simple alt-tab. I thought the decision to display information in low-density screen formats would be optional, not hard-coded into the system.

The bottom line is, a great many retrospective warning signs were treated instead as passing issues that Microsoft would undoubtedly resolve. The cost of not resolving many of these factors was Windows 8's mediocre uptake; two years after launch, the OS has just 30.31% of the Steam user market, compared to Windows 7's cumulative 62.32%. Windows 8's total share of the OS market is much smaller, but Steam's hardware survey is much more likely to represent our readership.

Don't mistake us here -- it's still important to evaluate Windows 10 as a work-in-progress -- but we're going to be more critical of the little things this time around. The good news is, there are significantly fewer issues to talk about.

http://hothardware.com/Reviews/Windows-10-HandsOn-Everything-You-Need-To-Know1/ 

AMD CEO just laid out the company’s two-year roadmap

AMD’s roadmaps are a perpetual source of discussion amongst enthusiasts, analysts, and company fans. Much of the discussion is often stoked by rumor or flatly made-up slides. This week, AMD CEO Rory Read gave a presentation for Deutsche Bank — and in the process, laid out the company’s roadmap over the next several years.

Enthusiasts barking up the wrong tree

Before diving into Read’s remarks, I think it’s important to address the fundamental difference between how a lot of AMD’s historic fans see the company versus the direction AMD is now charting. The enthusiast community has a long tradition of viewing AMD’s performance through Intel and Nvidia-specific lenses. There’s nothing wrong with this, as such, but it misses a critical fact: when Rory Read took over as CEO of AMD, that narrow focus, combined with multiple execution problems, had nearly killed the company.

AMD still cares about its traditional markets, but they aren’t driving the entire structure anymore. Going forward, AMD believes embedded computing, dense servers, high-performance GPUs, and professional graphics are just as important to its profitability. Read’s goal is to move AMD away from a model where the company relied upon lightning in a bottle strategy and only turned a profit two years out of eight.

Products and process

In the past it was assumed that AMD would automatically move to new process nodes as soon as those nodes became available. One thing Read emphasized was that 28nm would remain a major node for AMD for quite some time to come, saying:

I don’t think we’re at the peak of volume for 28-nanometer. We’re going to continue to leverage that and I think there is great opportunity to make money on that… The mix for us has to be where we can get the yields and the business like game consoles, semi-custom, embedded, and even in client, 28-nanometer is going to be just fine for the next several years.

In his very next sentence, Read seems to reverse himself, saying “Now, will we move down to Fins? Yes, absolutely, and our next generation products go there and as we introduce them in [20]16.”
Here’s what this means, in aggregate: AMD is planning to invest in next-generation process nodes at 20nm and 16/14nm FinFET, but only on certain products and only when the company believes it can recoup substantial investments from doing so. AMD’s presentations to date have hinted that when its combined ARM/x86 platform debuts next year, both Jaguar and its Cortex-A57 chips will be built on 20nm, incorporate HSA support, and use a common graphics core. This implies that AMD’s low-power x86 chips could see a nice uptick in performance year on year.

Similarly, Read hinted that K12 and AMD’s upcoming Zen platform will move to 16nm and FinFETs fairly aggressively (if they don’t deploy on those technologies to start with). Big cores like the current Kaveri, FX-series, and upcoming Carrizo, on the other hand, well — those are precisely the volume parts that are going to stay back on older process nodes.
We actually see signs of this strategy already. Trot over to NewEgg, and the 17 APUs on sale there aren’t all Kaveri or even all Richland — AMD still has a healthy number of Trinity-class parts on the market. In the Dirk Meier era, AMD’s strategy was to shift to the entire stack to a new node as quickly as possible in order to maximize cost savings on a new node. What Read has laid out is a different plan, in which AMD only moves to new nodes when it makes sense to do so for each particular class of parts.

http://www.extremetech.com/gaming/190026-amd-ceo-just-laid-out-companys-two-year-roadmap 

Microsoft is implementing Apple-like trackpad gestures in Windows 10

Good news, Windows laptop users! Microsoft has just announced that trackpad gestures are getting a makeover in Windows 10. Sure, you’ve been able to tap and swipe with Windows before, but some of the more advanced gestures we’ve seen in Mac OS X are now making their way into Microsoft’s extremely popular operating system. It’s definitely borrowing heavily from Apple, but that shouldn’t matter for end users. This is a big jump forward in Windows usability on trackpads, so it’s worth stealing a little bit of “magic” from Apple.
Earlier today, Microsoft VP Joe Belfiore demoed these new gestures onstage at the TechEd Europe conference. As you can see in the video below (courtesy of The Verge), a number of extremely useful gestures have been added. A three-finger swipe downward brings you to your desktop, a three-finger swipe up shows you your multi-desktop “Task View,” and a three-finger horizontal swipe lets you quickly switch between different apps. Apple prefers four-finger swipes for OS X, but the similarities between the two are clear as day.
In his demo, Belfiore points out that hardware manufacturers have implemented similar gestures on Windows laptops before, but this is different. By standardizing these gestures at the OS level, it allows muscle memory to take over completely. Regardless of which trackpad you’re using, your gestures will remain the same from Windows 10 onwards. Without a doubt, this is a smart addition for laptop users.
Whenever I’m using a Mac, I make extensive use of the gesture functionality. The four-finger swipes and pinches on the trackpad are superb, and I frequently find myself whipping my cursor into the hot corners to quickly access my desktop with a traditional mouse. As someone who frequently switches between OS X and Windows, I’m thrilled to see that Microsoft is taking user experience cues from Apple. I long for the day that my muscle memory from one OS will transfer seamlessly to the other, and this is just one step closer to that dream.
So, is this enough to persuade desktop users to rush out and buy a Magic Trackpad? Absolutely not. Trackpads still aren’t as elegant and comfortable as a traditional mouse, but this does mean laptop users will benefit from more intuitive navigation. As a bonus, this should make running Boot Camp on a MacBook a whole lot more tolerable. These gestures certainly aren’t original, but it does show that Microsoft is focused on improving its OS from top to bottom.

http://www.extremetech.com/computing/193051-microsoft-is-implementing-mac-like-trackpad-gestures-in-windows-10
 

The first Core M laptop paints a depressing, mediocre picture for Intel’s Broadwell

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To say there’s a great deal riding on the launch of Intel’s Core M is something of an understatement. The chip — and Intel’s 14nm hardware — is nearly a year late. The delays have raised investor questions about Intel’s ability to maintain or leverage a technological advantage over its rivals, and while Intel’s own demos have looked amazing, these always take place on very friendly turf under controlled conditions. There’s no substitute for shipping hardware, and that’s why a great many eyes have turned to Lenovo’s Yoga 3 Pro — the first shipping device with Broadwell inside. Somewhat unfortunately, this critical first system doesn’t seem to live up to Intel’s hype.
While many reviewers praise its diminutive size, low weight, and display quality, complaints about battery life, heavy throttling, and poor performance are common. Curiously, reviewers are completely split on whether or not the system even has a fan. Some reputable outlets make specific note that the computer lacks one, while others complain about the sound level. What everyone agrees on is that the system throttles constantly, possibly in part because Lenovo chose to set a 3.5W target for the chip rather than the 4.5W TDP that Intel specifies (the Yoga 3 Pro allows for bursts of up to 12W total system consumption, however).

Lenovo’s claim of “up to nine hours” on battery life is farcical. WindowsCentral.com claims 5-6 hours, at the very most. PC Pro hit eight hours, but only by turning screen brightness to its lowest levels; turn brightness up and battery life plummets. UltraBookReview reports that under various workloads battery life ranges from 6 hours to 4 hours 40 minutes depending on workload. Part of the problem is Lenovo’s decision to equip a 44 watt-hour (Wh) battery — the 13-inch MacBook Air, which tends to be the go-to comparison for a system in this price range, has a 54 Wh battery.

Various and sundry other problems with unclear causes

Multiple reviewers have commented that the laptop runs remarkably poorly in Chrome, that its gaming performance is sometimes a regression over the Yoga Pro 2 and other Intel laptops, and that the Yoga Pro 3 is incontrovertibly slower than its predecessor. The overall picture painted by multiple reviews is of a product straining and gasping to manage more than a minimally acceptable level of performance. This is in direct opposition to the sleek, razor-thin Core M devices that Intel has previously demoed.
These issues don’t necessarily point to an underlying problem with Broadwell, however. It’s possible that Lenovo’s own software utilities for power management are improperly cutting clock speeds where the system needs them, throttling down hard in the middle of workloads where throttling shouldn’t occur, then failing to adjust power consumption in other areas. On a desktop, no one cares if the southbridge draws an extra 0.5W due to a driver flaw, but in a laptop with a 12W power ceiling, 0.5W is 4% of your power budget. The fact that Chrome runs poorly — markedly worse than Internet Explorer — could be indicative of GPU driver issues, while the 3.5W TDP target Lenovo apparently locked in would explain the throttling behavior. The Core M-5Y70 chip inside the Yoga 3 Pro already clocks its GPU down to 100MHz, as opposed to the 200MHz target of other ultrabooks — and if the chip is getting stuck at 100MHz on the graphics core while simultaneously driving a 3800×1800 screen, that would explain a great deal of sluggish behavior.

Truthfully, the Cinebench 11.5 performance isn’t bad here. Not as bad as what reviewers indicate they’ve experienced, anyway

One of the reasons we can’t tell if the problems reviewers are experiencing are fundamental issues with Broadwell, or caused by Lenovo’s bad system design, is because the history of PC laptops is basically the history of terrible design decisions writ large upon an unsuspecting but increasingly unhappy populace. Granted, we see this trend across other device categories as well, but it’s always been the most pronounced in laptops. Boutique manufacturers use CPUs and GPUs that their chassis either can’t cool or can’t cool without sounding like jet turbines. Manufacturers opt for lower-durability construction and weaker hardware in the name of shaving a scant millimeter off a measurement. In this case, Lenovo cuts battery capacity, tosses in a high resolution display with an insane power draw, tightens the screws on the CPU to compensate, and then wraps the display in flimsy construction that multiple websites call out as flawed.
Why?
Because laptop OEMs are gutless and sell on specs, not on experience. Because even when they build $1200 hardware, they infuse that price point with $300 thinking. Crank up the resolution, but use a panel with a bad color gamut. Slash the thickness, but gut the battery life. Charge four figures, but refuse to remove the spyware and shovelware that infest most OEM laptops like a bad case of fleas. Include a terrible webcam, because you can get away with saving 20 cents on the part. Improve the specs on individual parts, but don’t combine those improvements into superior products. 
I’m not saying Core M/Broadwell doesn’t have a problem. It’s possible that these weak performance figures and throttling issues are either caused by Intel drivers or by overly aggressive chip positioning. More laptop launches and reviews will establish which of these is actually the problem, but if I had to bet, I’d bet that the issues are mostly on Lenovo’s side. The CPU/SoC, for all its complexity, is still just one component in a complex system — and too many of the laptop’s issues may have little to do with the CPU core. Wall socket power consumption suggests, for example, that the chip does draw 3-4W in light workloads — well in line with Intel’s estimates.
Intel is investigating the issue and preliminary indications are that the situation may be partly resolved through a BIOS update. We’re in the process of reaching out to Lenovo and will update when we hear back.

http://www.extremetech.com/computing/192893-the-first-core-m-laptop-paints-a-depressing-mediocre-picture-for-intels-broadwell 

Dell XPS 12 Convertible Touch: laptop meets tablet

With the now-shipping Windows 8 fully controllable by touch as well as mouse and keyboard, you're bound to see some innovative portable designs such as the Dell XPS 12 Convertible Touch Ultrabook that take advantage of touch. In the XPS 12's case you can rotate its 12.5-inch touchscreen to face outward when the laptop is closed, turning it into a tablet. Clever, though the company might have taken it a step further.
Overall, the XPS 12 works well in its dual roles. It's a fully functional laptop with no obvious compromises, and as a tablet it works as well as anything else. There's a dedicated Windows button that mimics the Windows key on the display itself so you can easily switch from the new Windows 8 UI Metro interface to the Windows 8 desktop when the physical keyboard is hidden.

Build quality and ergonomics

Materials specialists will have a field day perusing the XPS 12's physical specs. The display is covered with Gorilla Glass, the frame is aluminum, the base and top of the unit are carbon fiber, and the keyboard deck is magnesium. The only thing not mentioned in the literature is the unit's radar cross-section. Seriously though, it's a tough unit.
Notably, despite the space age materials, as a tablet alone the XPS 12 would be overly thick and heavy. Even as a smallish laptop, its 4-pound[J1] travel weight is considerably heavier than a normal 12.5-inch or even 13.3-inch laptop. Part of that is the touchscreen digitizer, though an ounce or two is certainly due to the sturdy aluminum frame necessitated by the swiveling display. Gorilla glass probably adds to the overall weight as well.
You also pay for the XPS 12's duality. Our low-end test unit is priced at a rather hefty $1200 with a 128GB SSD, Core i5-3317U CPU, 4GB of system memory and integrated HD 4000 graphics. You can up the memory to 8GB, the CPU to a Core i7-3517U, and the SSD to 256GB and pay a whopping $1700. Of course you're getting both a laptop and a tablet, though a cynic might point out that rotating a screen isn't really that difficult.
The input ergonomics on the XPS 12 are for the most part top notch. The keyboard is a back lit, Chiclet-style unit with a more travel then you'd expect; it types well. The touchpad is responsive but for me was a bit prone to registering inadvertent taps. The touchpad is also a one-piece rocking unit that you can press to click, and requires only a comfortable amount of force (the amount of travel is quite small).
One bet Dell may have missed was not articulating the center of the sides of frame that houses the rotating display. This would allow you to rotate the display to a 45 degree angle with the lower front resting on the front edge of the keyboard deck for easy touch use while sitting on a table. As it stands, you may rotate the display to 45 degrees, but the upper part of the frame is in the way. To be fair, an articulated frame might be too fragile and complicated for everyday use.

Performance

Our new WorldBench 8 suite and scores can't be compared directly with the previous WorldBench 7, however, the 64 turned in by our XPS 12 is competitive and subjectively the unit feels fast. Dropping down to 1366 by 768 and lower was required to get decent game play from the Intel HD 4000 integrated graphics--par for the course.
The PC WorldBench 8 score posted by the Dell is 64, which means it's 64% slower than our baseline system, which is a desktop unit with a Core i5 3570k and GTX 660 Ti discrete GPU. By way of contrast, the old baseline system scored a 67, while the Sony Tap 20 (and all-in-one built with laptop class components) scores 40.
Battery life is 4:39 in our revised battery test, which now alternates video playback with some light office scripts. That compares favorably with a couple of other systems under test, like HP's Envy TouchSmart 4, which posted a battery life of 4:07. The Dell posted a PCMark 7 productivity score of 2187, about half the score of our baseline desktop system but compares favorably to the 2058 posted by the Envy 4 TouchSmart.
The 12.5-inch display's native resolution is 1920 by 1080 for Retina-like pixel density, and 1080p movies look nothing short of spectacular. On the other hand, the audio through the speakers is extremely tinny--bring your headset.

Minimal expansion

The port selection for the XPS 12 is minimal. There are two USB 3.0 ports, and a mini DisplayPort which will drive VGA and HDMI displays--with the additional $33 and $20 adapters. There's a headphone/headset jack, but the unit also features a dual-array microphone next to the 1.3 megapixel Webcam. Connectivity is good--if you don't want or need wired Ethernet, which will also require a $20 USB-to-Ethernet adapter. Sacrificing one of only two USB ports to Ethernet may present problems for some. The XPS's Wi-Fi is 802.11 a/g/n and the Bluetooth is 3.0.

Bottom line

The XPS 12 Convertible Touch Ultrabook is a clever and stylish design, and it obviates the need to carry a tablet with you. At least if a Windows 8 tablet is what you want. It's on the heavy side, but that's may be a common theme with touchscreen laptops for the foreseeable future. It could also use another USB port, but that will limit relatively few users.

Video
 http://www.pcworld.com/article/2013647/dell-xps-12-convertible-touch-laptop-meets-tablet.html?%23tk.out_mod?=obnetwork

http://www.pcworld.com/article/2013647/dell-xps-12-convertible-touch-laptop-meets-tablet.html?%23tk.out_mod?=obnetwork

Future Tech Report: PC market will die in 2015

You’ll “kiss your desktop goodbye” in 2015, and feel different textures on your touchscreens devices in the following year, according to a new report.
Tigerspike, a software company that created apps for the likes of John Lewis and American express, also predicts that in 2014 shopping on iPad will be the norm and, by 2017, tablets will have “taken over” the world of work.
Its report comes after Mark Anderson, founder of Strategic News Service and host of Future in Review, predicted that next year will see cheap, sub $100 smart phones dominate while Microsoft will reinvent itself and vastly improve its market share.
Tigerspike’s report, entitled Welcome to the Future, predicts technology trends all the way up to 2023, when we will apparently be able to control smartphones with our minds.
Last week data from the IDC suggested global PC shipments will see their “most severe yearly contraction on record” this year, and Tigerspike predicts that this decline will continue into 2014 and 2015, when we’ll finally see the fall of the PC.
Next year shopping on the iPad will become the norm, with consumers starting to differentiate between smartphone and tablet experiences, and 95 per cent of e-commerce sites will have an iPad presence, the report says.
In 2015, tablets will outsell desktop and notebook PCs combined, Tigerspike predicts, and the “tablet takeover” will come in 2017, when nearly half of first time computer purchases in the workplace will be tablets or ultra-mobile PCs.
2016 will see the introduction of “different textures” on touchscreen devices with smartphones and tablets able to deliver electrostatic charges to your fingers, mimicking the effect of different textures, according to the report.
Mark Anderson’s 2014 predictions include the domination of sub-$100 smartphones and sub-$250 tablets, with these two categories proving to be the top two consumer electronic categories for the year when measured by volume.
He also predicts that mainstream medicine will embrace tech that tracks the health of individuals on-the-go, whilst a new Microsoft CEO will help the company’s stock grow dramatically.

http://www.t3.com/news/future-tech-report-pcs-will-be-dead-by-2015#null

Windows 9 coming in 2015, will try its hardest to distance itself from the Windows 8 train wreck

To distance itself from the Windows 8 snafu, Microsoft’s next major update — Threshold — will reportedly skip Windows 8.2 and jump straight to Windows 9. Windows 9 is expected to arrive in April 2015, with internal sources saying that Windows 9 will make good on many of the Windows 8 features that caused such cruel and unusual distress to Desktop users. The Start menu is expected to make its illustrious return, and you should be able to run Metro apps on the Desktop in windows. Microsoft is still on schedule to release Windows Phone 8.1 and a service/feature pack for Windows 8.1 at the Build conference in April.
This latest information comes from the ineffable and surprisingly handsome Paul Thurrott, who usually has pretty accurate sources when it comes to Microsoft leaks. We had previously heard about Threshold, but at the time we thought Microsoft would stick with the Windows 8 naming scheme. By moving to Windows 9, it definitely signals that Microsoft is looking to make drastic, significant changes. Windows 8 is almost completely characterized by the maligned Metro Start Screen. We would be surprised if Windows 9 did not change the primary interface in some way, so that it’s visually distinct from Windows 8 — so that users know that that it isn’t ewww Windows 8. Windows 9 might even boot straight to the Desktop, by default — at least on laptop and desktop PCs, anyway. (Read: How to bring back the Start menu and button in Windows 8.)

Windows 9 is also expected to feature Metro 2.0 — some kind of maturation of the current Metro design language that dominates the Windows 8 Start Screen and apps. It’s not immediately clear what Metro 2.0 will be exactly, but part of it appears to be the ability to run Metro apps in separate windows on the Desktop. Presumably, if Metro apps are going to be on the Desktop, they will also gain the ability to be controlled with a mouse and keyboard. (Navigating current Metro apps with your keyboard is unpleasant to say the least.) Windows 9 may also feature complete cross-platform app compatibility between Windows 9, Windows Phone 8.1, and the Xbox One — but really, it’s too early to tell at this point.

Steven Sinofsky, holding a Windows 8 tablet. The beginning of the end.

Thurrott’s other interesting tidbits revolve around April’s Build conference, which occurs a couple of weeks after the company finishes its huge internal reorganization. While the conference will be mostly focused on Windows Phone 8.1 and the Xbox One, there will apparently be a “vision announcement” for Windows 9 — something that we haven’t seen since 2003, when Microsoft unveiled Longhorn (which later became Vista). During Sinofsky’s rein, Microsoft’s Windows division has been incredibly secretive — this Windows 9 keynote probably won’t be quite as crazy and freewheeling as the olden days, but Microsoft hopes that it will enough to begin the process of healing the wounds left by Windows 8.
Of course, now that I mention Longhorn, it’s impossible to ignore the parallels between Vista and Windows 8. Both were victims of Microsoft’s long and slow development cycle: Slow and bloated Vista arrived just as netbooks were taking off, and Windows 8 — though its heart was almost in the right place — was a couple of years too late. Hopefully the successor to Windows 8 will be as good as good as Vista’s successor. Microsoft kind of needs a miracle for Windows Phone 8.1, too — if you think that adoption of Windows 8 has been bad, it’s even more anemic on the smartphone side of the equation. The next 12-18 months will be very important for Microsoft: It must either field a compelling OS and ecosystem for smartphones and tablets, or it runs the risk of fading into consumer obscurity.




http://www.extremetech.com/computing/174583-windows-9-coming-in-2015-will-try-its-hardest-to-distance-itself-from-the-windows-8-train-wreck

Hello, gorgeous! Meet the laptop you'll use in 2015

A lot has changed in the 20 years since the first laptop computers appeared, including gigahertz processors, color screens, optical drives and wireless data. However, one thing that has stubbornly stayed the same is the conventional clamshell format with its hinged display lid that opens to reveal a mechanical keyboard.

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That's about to change. The rules of notebook design and the components that go inside are being rewritten to make the road a better place to work and play.
"Between now and 2015, we expect to see a series of big changes that will redefine what a notebook is and what it looks like," said Mike Trainor, Intel Corp.'s evangelist for mobile products.
With crystal ball in hand, we talked to designers, engineers and marketers about how notebooks are likely to change over the next seven years. Here's what they told us.

Concepts for the future

First, let's take a look at some concept notebooks. Just as futuristic show cars give us insight into what we might be driving in the future, concept notebooks offer a sneak peek at how we'll be computing.
These concept notebooks typically are created by independent designers and firms retained by laptop vendors. This is highly secretive business -- the designers we spoke were willing to talk about some of their concepts but couldn't tell us who they were working for.
Rarely does a concept notebook make it to the real world as a whole unit, but certain aspects often make it into production. Early 1990s concept devices contained integrated pointing devices, speakers and webcams, all of which are now standard equipment. It's likely that at least some of the new ideas, components and features showcased below will be coming to a notebook near you.
For example, several concept laptops rely on touch-sensitive screens that act as the system's keyboard and mouse and go beyond today's multi-touch technology. Imagine being able to slide your finger across the screen to immediately shut off the display and keep what you're working on confidential, and you get an idea of its potential.

Compenion

The Compenion concept notebook from independent designer Felix Schmidberger in Stuttgart, Germany, borrows heavily from slider cell phones to move beyond the clamshell. Rather than lifting the lid open, just slide it up.

The Compenion. Click for larger view.

The pair of superbright organic LED panels slide into place next to each other, with the lower panel acting as keyboard or scribble pad. The whole thing is only three-quarters of an inch thick.
"It reduces thickness, but the slider was more about the feel of using the notebook," said Schmidberger. "The idea is to break free from traditional notebook hardware without having to adapt to new ways of using a computer."
Together, the 11-in. screens will yield about 16 inches of usable workspace, so the system has the dimensions and weight of a thin and light system but the screen of a larger one.

Canova

Dual-screen systems could well be the rage in seven years. The Canova from V12 Design, a Milan, Italy-based design firm, is closer to the tried and true clamshell layout, but with a twist.
Instead of a display and a mechanical keyboard, the device has two touch-sensitive displays: The upper screen is primarily for viewing applications, and the lower screen is for the mundane activities of typing, drawing and jotting notes. But the Canova can also lie flat for a large expanse of working space.

The Canova as standard notebook and e-book. Click for larger views.

According to designer Valero Cometti, "the idea was to close the gap between man and machine." This notebook changes personality depending on how it's held. Opened all the way, it's a sketch pad. Fold it half open and rotate it 90 degrees, and it's an e-book. By emulating a musical keyboard on the lower half, when it's flat on a table, it can be a go-anywhere piano.
http://www.computerworld.com/article/2537902/mobile-wireless/hello--gorgeous--meet-the-laptop-you-ll-use-in-2015.html