A number of Japanese companies, for example NTT, have announced or hinted at tablet PCs in the past months, but NEC is the first to actually name, spec and date its first model. Dubbed LifeTouch [JP], the NEC tablet will feature a 7-inch TFT LCD screen (800×480 resolution), weigh 400 grams, and run on Android 2.1. → Read More
Toshiba in Japan announced [JP] a new Qosmio laptop today, the Dynabook Qosmio V65. The main selling point of the device (of all Qosmios, in fact) is the “multi-media” capability: Toshiba promises that the laptop produces high-quality images, thanks to the SpursEngine coprocessor (that Toshiba has been using in its CELL TV and Qosmio laptops since 2008), LED backlight, and the 15.6-inch “Clear… → Read More
Teased last month, announced [JP] today: Fujitsu took the wraps off a 3D desktop PC that has a quite unique selling point: it comes with a camera that lets users shoot pictures and video in 3D. The ESPRIMO FMV FH550/3AM will not only display user-generated 3D content on its 20-inch screen but also 3D Blu-rays and 3D video from other sources. → Read More
Not a week passes without a Japanese company announcing a 3D-enabled device lately. Today, it’s Toshiba, which just unveiled [JP] a 3D-capable notebook, the dynabook TX/98MBL. According to the company, it’s the world’s first notebook that lets you view 3D content stored on Blu-rays (next to playing NVIDIA 3D Vision games). → Read More
Panasonic in Japan today announced [JP] the “Let’s Note CF-C1″, which the company says is among the world’s lightest convertible tablet PCs. The latest addition to Panasonic’s “Let’s Note” series of notebooks weighs just 1.46kg (including the battery, 1.67kg with two batteries). The company says it was able to push down the weight by choosing lighter materials and changing the display’s… → Read More
Valuestar N VN790/BS – that’s the name of the 3D PC that NEC today announced [JP] for the Japanese market. The company’s faster than expected: just last month, NEC teased such a machine in Tokyo, saying it’s likely to ship by October 2010. But Japan will get the PC as early as next month. And it appears to be a pretty cool machine. → Read More
Another day, another 3D-related tech news item from Japan. This time, it’s a 3D-powered desktop PC Fujitsu is currently demoing at a two-day company event (Fujitsu Forum [JP]) in Tokyo. It’s not only able to display 3D images but also has a 3D camera built-in (just above the display). → Read More
Sony Europe today unveiled their newest version of the “ultra-mobile PC” VAIO P, which was teased by the company late last month. And apart from a new design and fresh colors, Sony added quite a number of interesting features and functions. → Read More
Remember Sony Japan’s unusual promotion campaign for an 8-inch netbook (or ultra-mobile PC, as the Japanese like to call these devices) from December 2008? The target group was amused with the campaign. And it appears the marketing coup helped Sony actually sell the Vaio P, as the company today updated its Japanese site with yet another teaser for yet another “mysterious” netbook. → Read More
Long time no hear from Tokyo-based USB gadget maker Thanko. The company today announced foot switch pedals [JP] for use with Windows XP, 7 or Vista machines (I am aware this isn’t a world’s first, but the last Thanko post was too long ago). Just assign any key on your keyboard to one of the pedals, and you won’t need your fingers to press that key ever again. → Read More
We all know Japan is Gundam country (I’ll go cover the newly opened Gundam Cafe in Tokyo next week) and that Akihabara is heaven for PC geeks and modders. So what can you expect when you combine both things? Not one but two cool Gundam PC cases. → Read More
I often wonder if plumbers reach a point in their career, after cleaning clogged drain after clogged drain, that they begin to hate plumbing. They hate pipes. They hate plumber’s putty. They hate all the tricks they’ve learned over the years, and they hate the need to have to learn tricks. It’s plumbing, for goodness sake: pipes fitting together and substances flowing through… → Read More
Look at the palm of your hand. Imagine if you will a future that includes computers that size. Brother! Good news! The future is here with the Via ARTiGO A1100! → Read More
The Amiga lives! Yes, a company by the name of A-EON will resurrect the famous computer this summer, but not before pumping it full of growth hormone. One stat to whet your appetite: while the Amiga A100 had a maximum of 8MB of memory, the new guy will have 2GB. That’s 250 times as much memory. → Read More
Virtually every Japanese tech company has made some 3D-related announcement in the past months, but one remained suspiciously quiet in that area: NEC. We covered their (apparently very cool) glasses-free 3D 12.1-incher last year (it’s yet to be commercialized), and today NEC made some initial announcements about a 3D desktop PC that’s supposed to hit Japanese stores by year-end. → Read More
The iPad hasn’t landed in Japan yet, giving domestic competitors some room for their own announcements for tablet PCs. Sharp, for example, today unveiled [JP] the NetWalker PC-T1, which looks like a tablet variant of the PC-Z1 the company introduced last year. Both models look pretty similar, it’s just that the older device lost the keyboard to become the T1. → Read More
First a Casio Exilim, now an ultra-mobile PC (or UMPC, as the Japanese say): Cult teddy bear Rilakkuma is on his way to dethrone Hello Kitty as the character of choice for Japanese electronics companies when it comes to giving gadgets that extra-cute touch. The bear is now to be seen on a special version of a Kohjinsha tablet PC [JP, PDF] that’s part of the company’s XS series. → Read More
What’s the opinion on buying pre-built gaming PCs? I’m pretty sure there’s a certain sense of pride that comes with building your own PC, but I also recognize that not everybody has all the time in the world to research motherboards, RAM timings, and all that jazz. Like, say, look at this PC. It’s the Digital Storm Black|Ops (The irony of promoting a black op!), and A) it looks pretty damn cool B)… → Read More
There was plenty of talk ever since Lehman Brothers exploded in mid-2008 about how would consumers cope. Would they keep buying widgets in the face of insane job cuts? Would they keep buying, but only at a fraction of what they had in the past? Let’s take PC sales, a pretty good barometer of where the average person is. (It’s a big purchase, but not like buying a car or house.) Shipments of new… → Read More
By request from one of our readers (see, we listen!) I zipped over to Marvell’s booth to check out the Plug Computer and got the added bonus of a demonstration of EyeconTroller, an iPhone/iPod touch/computer app that manages media. You can drag and drop media files into various containers, which will play back those particular files on connected household devices – TVs, computers, consoles… → Read More
All this CES coverage makes you just want to hear about a different event, doesn’t it? Well, if the more music tech inclined among you are looking forward to the NAMM trade show in one week’s time, keep an eye out for the Rain Computers booth. They will be showing off their new LiveBook Studio laptop and ION Studio rackmount unit, both geared for audio and video editing, and both with plenty of… → Read More
This is what happens when there’s no competition in an industry. Best Buy was the subject of Consumerist/Consumer Reports investigation re: “optimization.” Best Buy tries to sell computers to an unsuspecting public that have been “optimized” by the Geek Squad. And while the motives of the individual Geek Squad guy is probably on the up and up, the big bad corporation behind the guy in skinny black… → Read More
Ever tried to get rid of an old, sack o’ crap computer? It’s not as easy as it sounds. You can’t just throw it in the garbage (legally), charitable organizations have finally realized that it takes more time and effort than it’s worth to refurbish a 486 DX2/66 machine that nobody’s going to use anyway, and dumping the computer at your municipal recycling center often costs a pretty penny. → Read More
Ooh la la, this looks to be an interesting machine right here. Starting at $750, MSI’s latest “Wind Top” all-in-one features a big 21.5-inch 1920×1080 multi-touch LCD, NVIDIA ION graphics, Windows 7 Home Premium, and a wireless mouse and keyboard set. → Read More
[tab:Intro][flagallery gid=3 name="CrunchGear Gift Guide 2009"] The Year of the Netbook. That’s 2009. You can’t walk into a consumer electronics store without seeing netbooks everywhere. Actually you can’t really walk into a consumer electronics store, period, since they’re closing up faster than costume shops the day after Halloween. But that’s another story for another… → Read More
Dell just added a new model to their rather stodgy looking Vostro line, the excitingly named “Vostro 430″. This isn’t particularly newsworthy, however what IS newsworthy is that their new computers will protect you. From the future!!!11! → Read More
Here’s a project for a rainy year: a DIY Apollo Guidance Computer with 4K RAM, 32K words of ROM, and a 1Mhz processor. One John Pultorak built his own replica in 2004 and released the plans to the world, giving us a glimpse into what was essentially the first pocket calculator on the moon.
The Apollo AGC itself is a piece of computing history, it was developed by the MIT Instrumentation… → Read More
eMachines comes out swinging with the EZ1601-01 all-in-one PC. The “EZ” stands for “easy on the wallet” — I should have been in advertising — as the machine is priced at just $399. → Read More
In case you hadn’t heard, ViewSonic — fine purveyor of affordable LCD monitors — has crossed over into the all-in-one desktop market. The company’s new VPC100 is now shipping to US retailers with an MSRP of $599. → Read More
The 18.4-inch D1100 from Averatec showed up at my house recently and I thought, hey, lazy Saturday — let’s set it up. I had forgotten the specs, the price, and all the relevant details but when I had gotten everything together (a process which took less than ten minutes) I can tell you that I’m impressed by how nice the computer looks. Especially since — surprise! —… → Read More
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