Asus reveals next-gen Eee PCs-14 Hrs battery life

At the CeBIT tradeshow in Germany, Asus has unveiled the next lot of Eee PC netbooks that it'll be thrusting upon the world. There's the Eee PC 1018P, the Eee PC Seashell 1015 range and the Eee PC 1016P.

The Eee PC 1018P has a metal shell, with a mere 18mm of thickness. It has a 10.1-inch display, comes in four different colours and will be equipped with next-generation USB 3.0, for blinding 4.8Gbps transfer speeds. It should manage up to 14 hours of battery life, and there's 500GB of cloud storage bundled.

Alongside, there's also the Eee PC 1015P - which has a removable battery, wider touchpad and wide range of colour options, and the EE PC 1016P - which also has the aluminium shell, but specs slightly lower. We're trying to get more details of what those specs are, exactly. When we hear back from the company, we'll let you know.

Asus unveils DR-900 E-Reader

At the CeBIT 2010 technology tradeshow, Asus has unveiled the DR-900 - an e-Reader product that joins similar models from the company's technological rivals.

We know some information - it'll have a SiPix 9-inch e-paper touchscreen display, a profile about the thickness of a pencil, and connectivity options that include Wi-Fi and optional 3G. It'll have a battery life of about 10,000 pages and an auto-rotate function that allows you to choose exactly how you'd like to orient your device.

What we don't know, though, is what file formats it'll support, how much onboard storage it'll have, how much it'll cost, and when and where it'll be available. We've got in touch with Asus to ask all of those questions, and when we get a response we'll be sure to let you know.

Asus exhibits Xonar Xense headset

At the CeBIT tradeshow in Hannover, Germany, Asus has announced a range of gaming products. Of particular note is the mildly-unpronounceable Xonar Xense headset - which is a combo soundcard and pair of gaming headphones.

It's able to push out a startling 7Vrms of power, thanks to an inbuilt headphone amplifier that'll no doubt do some serious damage to your ears. Of course, an explosion in real life might do the same thing, so you could argue that this just provides greater realism.

There's 118dB sound clarity, and a number of standards are supported - EAX, DirectSound, Dolby and several others. Asus is also talking up its GX 2.5 audio engine, which allows users to customise the sound profile of their cans to a particular game genre - emphasising different frequencies.

It's not clear when it'll be available in Britain, or how much it'll cost, but when we hear back from the company we'll let you know.

Acer reveals Aspire One 752 multimedia netbook

Acer has launched what appears to be the Jacques Kallis of laptops at CeBIT 2010 - a high end all-rounder. It looks to provide mobility as well as some decent power as well. Unlike Kallis, however, the Acer Aspire One 752 is nicely lightweight at 1.4kg which is where the analogy falls down.

Branded a netbook, this unit rather spans that grey area with an 11.6-inch LED backlit screen with 1366 x 768 HD resolution and a 16:9 aspect ratio. It has an Intel Celeron processor 743 ULV; an integrated Intel GMA 4500MHD graphics unit for HD playback and 3D gaming; up to 4GB of RAM and all the Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, 3G, HDMI, and Gigabit Ethernet connectivity you could need.

On top of that lot, there's an impressive 320GB HDD given the size, a built-in webcam, gesture control mouse pad, 5-hour battery life and Dolby-optimised audio to complete the multimedia but portable profile.

No prices as yet - don't expect it to be a gift - and we should be seeing its 22mm-thick frame on UK shelves in black, white, blue and red come May. 

Acer updates laptop ranges with Core CPUs

i3s, i5s & i7s all over the place...

Acer has unveiled a whole host of laptops at CeBIT 2010 - a technology tradeshow in Hannover, Germany. There's the Acer Aspire 8942, Acer Aspire 5942, Acer TravelMate 6594, Acer TravelMate 7740, Acer TravelMate 5740, and the Acer TravelMate 8x72. Almost all of them are slightly-updated versions of old models with an Intel Core i3, i5 or i7 processor inside.

We'll start at the top. The Aspire 8942 and 5942 are large desktop-replacement machines that come in 18.4- and 15.6-inch screen sizes. The larger offers a full HD 1920 x 1080 resolution, and the smaller comes in 1366 x 768. Both have Intel Core processors, and integrated TV tuners, Blu-ray disc drives and a multi-touch, gesture-recognising trackpad. They come with upto 8GB of memory, and upto 2 x 640GB of hard disk space.

Then there's the slightly more-mobile TravelMate 8x72 timeline series, which comes in 13.3-, 14-, and 15.6-inch screen sizes. They have Intel Core i3, i5 and i7 processors available, as well as energy saving LCD displays that promise more than 8 hours of battery life on one charge. The lightest model weighs just 1.6kg, and the machines come with upto 640GB of HDD or 160GB of SSD.

Moving on down the list, the Acer TravelMate 6594 has the choice of Intel Core i7 and i5 processors, and there's also the option of discrete graphics in the form of the ATI Radeon HD 5670. The screen size is 15.6 inches, with a 16:9 aspect ratio, and there's upto 8GB of DDR3 RAM and a "spacious" hard drive. There's an optical drive that can be swapped out for a second hard disk or extended battery. Without, the machine should manage upto 5 hours of battery life.

Lastly, there's the Acer TravelMate 7740 and 5740. These contain Intel Core i5 or i3 processors, upto 8GB of DDR3 RAM, and the option of either integrated graphics or the ATI Radeon HD5470. The difference between the two models is screen size - 17.3-inch in the 7740 and 15.6-inch in the 5740. There's a 16:9 aspect ratio, and a high-brightness LED backlit panel. 5 hours of battery life is promised.

Unfortunately, we don't have any pricing details for Britain - and with the exception of the 5942 and 8942 which are available now, all other products will be unavailable in the UK until at least mid May. When we hear more about Acer's plans on that front, we'll let you know.

Predator G7750 unleashed by Acer

Acer has updated its desktop hot rods at CeBIT 2010 with the launch of the Predator G7750 desktop gaming PC.

Typically, this beast comes with all the mod cons and usually in triplicate just to make sure. At the heart is, of course, an Intel Core i7 CPU which you can overclock with software and use to process a total of eight threads at a time in the four cores.

It comes with the option of either an ATI CrossFireX GPU or Nvidia SLI, up to 12GB of RAM, and four slots for 3.5-inch 3Gbps HDDs of up to 2TB each in either RAID 0,1, 5 or 10 formation that can be removed while the machine is still on.

Naturally, you might be afraid that this monster will burn its way through your carpet, so there's a liquid cooling system included which can run for 5.7 years of continuous operation without fear of pump failure or coolant evaporation - both comforting and precise.

The faceplate lifts to reveal 6 x USB slots, 2 x eSATA ports, an optional Blu-ray drive and two LAN ports if you happen to want to be on multiple networks at any one time. This machine is designed to be perfect for 3D gaming with the Acer 3D monitor and Nvidia 3D system and it'll process sound very nicely too with a Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium sound card and THX support. It'll also make a colourful door stop once it's outmoded.

It's out in the UK from May and will cost lots

Asus announces most pretentious router ever OR RT-N56U

Asus has launched what appears to be a tray in a spaceship designed circa 1974. Not content with a ridiculous silvery-grey metallic sheen, the company has added a quilting effect on the case, and a star filter on the lights that wouldn't look out of place in Dynasty. It practically oozes shoulderpads.

It's a wireless router which has been announced at tech tradeshow CeBIT 2010 by Asus, which calls it the RT-N56U. It offers 30,000 concurrent sessions, dual band support and simultaneous printing and scanning so that you can wirelessly hook up a printer. It's got what Asus describes as a plug-and-surf interface. Pretty high spec, really.

But we're not too bothered about any of that. It's pretty much the glitziest, gaudiest router that we've ever laid eyes on. What's next - satin power strips? snake skin USB cables? Porsche-designed USB hard drives? Oh.. wait...

Panasonic unveils Toughbook CF-C1

Panasonic has launched a new Toughbook - the Toughbook CF-C1. It's a lightweight, business-oriented machine which promises to take rather a lot of punishment. You might even manage to get it to survive a commuter train journey, which only the hardiest of laptops manage.

It can be used in tablet or clamshell form, and comes with an ergonomic strap that allows one-handed data entry. There's the option of a resistive multi-touch display, which will work with gloved hands, or a multi-touch and digitizer screen. There's a toughened triple-hinge that allows the screen to stay rigid while you're using it.

You should get 10 hours of operation thanks to a pair of twin hot-swappable batteries. It also offers an exterior battery charge indicator, but even with the batteries installed it weighs just 1.69kg. It's really focused on environments where you don't have a surface to put the machine down on.

Inside, there's a Core i5-520M processor, which comes with 3MB of cache, and a range of connectivity options - 802.11 a/b/g/n, Bluetooth 2.1 and an option for a 3G module. It'll show up in July 2010 in the digitizer version, and September for the gloved edition. It'll cost from 2000 euros upward, depending on spec.

Intel® Wireless Display On Toshiba Laptops

Now you can use your Toshiba laptop to savor multimedia, online entertainment or other content on your big screen TV, enjoying great image clarity and sound without sacrificing quality. The thanks goes to award-winning Intel® Wireless Display available on our Satellite® E205laptop. Together with 2010 Intel® Core™ i5 processors, it lets you punch up your viewing and listening on a moment’s notice.


Get a front row seat—every time

It’s time to stop crowding around your laptop screen to enjoy vivid pictures, video and other content. Intel® Wireless Display makes the show so much more enjoyable, letting you easily stream videos, photos and music from your hard drive, home network, or the internet straight to your HDTV—easily and wirelessly.

Press once to connect

The Intel® Wireless Display feature on your Toshiba laptop is all about easy. Simply connect the PUSH2TV adapter to your TV, follow a few simple steps, then sit back and enjoy. You set it up once. And, after that, sharing your screen is quick as pushing a button.

Forget about cables

One of the best things about Intel® Wireless Display is how it lets you cut down on clutter. You don’t need to scramble for special cabling, or litter your living room, to connect your laptop to a home entertainment center and reap all the benefits.

Next-gen Nvidia ION announced

Nvidia has pulled the covers off its next generation ION chipset, bringing a host of advantages to users looking for a low power solution. Rumours circulating the internet had the next-gen chip down as ION2, but Nvidia confirmed to us that it would be simply known as Nvidia ION.

The next-gen chip will supplant the previous version and be found on a number of Intel Atom N450 (Pine Trail) netbooks, nettops and all-in-ones, giving you 512MB of video memory. The new ION also incorporates Optimus technology, so you get the auto-switching advantages of graphics power when you need it and long battery life when you don’t.

Nvidia tell us that the new chip brings 10x to graphics power to a Pine Trail netbook, giving you advantages in both video playback, graphics rendering in gaming as well as video transcoding.

We were lucky enough to get some time with the next-gen ION, to watch a Blu-ray disc being played (from an external drive), as well as YouTube HD and full HD film trailers -all the things a regular netbook won't do.

We also had a quick glance at Monkey Island playing, with Nvidia name-dropping Spore, Sims 3 and World of Warcraft as the sort of games likely to be played. It isn't designed as a gaming chip per se, but will let you do a little more with your netbook or nettop.

Another distinct advantage that Nvidia ION will give you the power to Windows 7 Home Premium, rather than the bland Windows 7 Starter Edition that most netbooks come with.

The next-gen Nvidia ION has a completely new architecture and comes in two flavours, an 8-core version that will find its way into 10-inch netbooks, and a 16-core version that will feature in larger units, depending on thermal demands. The chip itself is 40% smaller.

The first netbook to launch with the next-gen ION is the Acer Aspire One 532G, announced at Mobile World Congress. Acer tell us that to top spec models will be coming in a £399-420, compared to £299 for the 532h, so you do pay a price for all that graphical loveliness, but you will get a 720p HD display with that.

Expect a number of announcements to come out of CeBIT, we already know there will be a 12-inch Asus EeePC 1201PN announced, as well as the Asus EeeTop 2010PNT all-in-one.

Nvidia told us there would be over 30 designs featuring the next-gen ION this year, including nettops such as the EeeBox and Zotac ZBOX.

We will keep you posted.

Archos expands Android tablet range

Archos has announced a further expansion in its range of Android-powered portable media players. The Archos 5 is being joined by the Archos 7 and Archos 8. Both will offer an ARM 9 processor, running at 600 MHz, and 7-inch and 8-inch screens respectively.

The Archos 7 has Wi-Fi, a USB port for transferring data, and upto 7 hours of video playback, or 44 hours of music. It weighs 350g and will be 12mm thick, with a form factor that's rather like the current Archos 5. It'll come in 2GB and 8GB variants, costing £130 and £150 respectively from April.

The Archos 8, despite retaining plenty of hardware similarities, has more of a photo frame form factor. Weighing 400g and measuring 12mm thick, the device has an always-on touchscreen display, and comes in a 4GB capacity. It'll be showing up in May, costing £130.

While we see the appeal of the Archos 7, we're a little bit puzzled by the photo frame aspects of the Archos 8. Will it sell? Either way, the company also promises a full range of tablets, with screen sizes between 3-inch and 10-inch, and 1GHz processors, will be launched in Summer 2010. You might want to hang on for those instead.

Chrome 5 to auto translate websites for you

Google's Chrome browser is to offer on the fly translating so you won't have to worry about installing an extension or manually doing it.

The news, which has been uncovered in Chrome 5, the latest developer channel version of the browser, shows that Google is continuing to build on its "you don't have to learn a language" mantra its CEO outlined at Mobile World Congress last month. It also appears to be present in the latest 4.1.249 beta.

Although you can get an extension already for the browser, Google has now added it as default with the ability to turn it off if you want, as well as isolating it for specific sites.

"When you are at a site that is in a different language than yours, Chrome 5 automatically detects that and asks you if you want to translate the page. It takes a few seconds, then you will be able to read the page in your language", says Daniel Cawrey from thechromesource.com.

The software will only auto translate words rather than pictures or flash animations.

Google's translate button is already getting executives in trouble after the press pick up dodgy translations from Google's service. Is this likely to continue that trait? Have your say in the comments below.

Mio Moov V780 takes on the iPad

Mio, the satnav company that owns Navman in the UK, has announced it's taking on the Apple iPad with a new tablet device launching at this year's CeBIT in Germany.

The new model, which looks to follow on from the company's Spirit TV range but going under the new name of the Moov V780, will sport a 7-inch screen and according to the makers is, "designed to provide the best navigation, entertainment and Internet experience" on the go.

But rather than just being a satnav device, the unit will let users watch YouTube videos, email and surf the Internet thanks to wireless connectivity.

On the entertainment front you'll get 720p playback, a photo viewer and digital TV making this much more than a device that'll simply let you get from A to Z.

You'll even be able to get an optional keyboard with it. 

No word on pricing, but expect it to be available in the next couple of months.

Windows browser ballot screen rolls out

Microsoft's browser ballot screen, the EU-mandated move which offers users the option to replace Internet Explorer on their Windows installation, has begun to roll out to computers across the world that have Internet Explorer set as the default browser.

The instruction from Europe follows a long-running campaign from Mozilla to reduce Microsoft's dominance on the browser market. It's finally borne fruit, though since launching the campaign Mozilla has managed rather successfully to erode Internet Explorer's marketshare with its rather popular Firefox browser.

Soon, however, Windows users who are still running Internet Explorer in 30 European countries will be offered the choice between twelve different browsers - Internet Explorer, Chrome, Safari, Opera, Firefox, GreenBrowser, Maxthon, K-Meleon, Flock, Avant Browser, Sleipnir, and SlimBrowser.

The first five will be presented in a random order, and then the other seven are offered by scrolling to the right in the box. You almost certainly won't have heard of some of the ones lower down in the list - in most cases they represent tiny specialist marketshares, albeit ones that will no doubt grow as a result of the change.

It'll be very interesting to see what effect the ballot screen will have on the different browsers' marketshare. Expect a flurry of stats to emerge in a month or so's time. Will users try something different, given the option, or just stick with what they know?