HP uses Gamescom to reveal what it claims is its "most powerful gaming laptop to date"-- the Omen X, a machine designed for overclocking, with factory-overclocked GPU and memory options, as well as appropriate thermals.

Being aimed at such high performance, the Omen X is a bulky machine. It comes in 15- and 17-inch options (with 4K or 120Hz 1080p display), weighs 5kg and packs high-performance fans and an integrated vapour chamber with four 3.5mm heat pipes pushing heat to four rear corner-mounted radiators. The result should ensure the GPU and CPU remain cool.

Specification options include unlocked Core i7 processors, XMP memory up to DDR4-2800 and factory overclocked GPUs up to GeForce GTX 1080. Storage comes via PCIe SSD in RAID 0 and a 7200 RPM HDD, while other features include mechanical keyboard with RGB lighting, DTS Headphone:X support, USB 3.1 and 3.0 ports, HDMI 2.0a with HDR support, multi-format card reader and a translucent window allowing one to check the laptop internals.

According to IDC the contraction of the W. European tablet market felt on Q2 2017 is of "just" -0.5% Y-o-Y as shipments reach 70 million units, an "almost complete recovery of the market in the region."

Driving such recovery are Apple tablets and improvement in the macroeconomic situation of several countries. In general, detachable see 1% Y-o-Y growth, while regular slate tablets show "resilience" with a decrease of just -1% Y-o-Y. Interestingly, the commercial segment shows positive 2.8% Y-o-Y growth, mainly driven by Apple and Android-based detachables (whose growth is 29.3% and 34.9% Y-o-Y respectively).

"Detachables are showing particularly strong growth within the corporate business, facilitated by the introduction of more commercially oriented models," the analyst remarks. "These models are geared toward operating primarily as a portable PC with the secondary benefit of a tablet, helping to compete against the growing commercial trend toward the adoption of convertibles."

According to IDC, the tablet market continued to slide downwards in Q2 2017-- global shipments total 37.9 million, a -3.4% Y-o-Y decline, despite notable product launches such as the new, lower priced iPad.

Not even detachable tablets could save the quarter, as customers prefer to wait for upcoming product refreshes from the high-profile likes of Apple and Microsoft. That said, new product launches towards the end of Q2 should leave detachables in a stronger position on H2 2017.

"There's been a resetting of expectations for detachables as competing convertible notebooks offered a convincing and familiar computing experience for many," the analyst remarks. "To date, the 2-in-1 market was bifurcated as Apple and Microsoft led with detachables while the PC vendors led with convertibles. Though that is slowly changing as smartphone vendors and traditional PC vendors begin to offer compelling alternatives, the pace has been rather slow as Surface and iPad Pro still dominate shelf space and mindshare."

Customers looking for a tough Chrome OS-powered notebook get an Acer option-- the Chromebook 11 C771, an 11.6-inch number featuring a few performance upgrades in a rugged design.

Primarily aimed at the education segment, the C771 is compliant with MIL-STD-810G US Military Standard, meaning it should resist drops of up to 122cm as well as up to 60kg of downwards force on the top. In addition it should also be resistant to dust and spills.

When it comes to the internals, on launch the C771 (and the C771T touchscreen variant) packs an Intel Celeron 3855U CPU, 32GB storage and 4GB RAM. On September it will also be available with 6th gen Core i3 and i5 processors. As for battery life, Acer says the C711 offers up to 13 hours of use on a single charge, while the C711T lasts for up to 12 hours.

At SIGGRAPH 2017 Dell celebrates the 20th anniversary of its Precision workstation with a special edition of the Precision 5520 mobile workstation, as well as the launch of the Canvas "smart workspace."

The anniversary edition of the Precision 5520 features an exclusive hard anodised brushed aluminium finish in a new colour, Abyss. It also includes an anti-finger print coating, and ships in two "high-end" configuration options. These include a 15.6-inch UHD IGZO touchscreen, Intel Core i7-7820HQ CPU, Nvidia Quadro M1200 GPU, 8GB DDR4 RAM, 256GB SSD, x2 USB 3.0 ports, card reader, HDMI out, Thunderbolt 3 port and headphone jack.

Chinese Android gaming device maker GamePad Digital (aka GDP) announces the Pocket, a 7-inch Windows 10 notebook, is now shipping following a successful Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign.

First announced back in February 2017, the Pocket represents something of a departure from the portable consoles that are GDP's usual product offering. Described as a combination of ultra-thin notebook and smartphone, the Pocket offers a 7-inch 1920 x 1080 display, Intel Atom X7-Z8750 quad-core CPU, Intel HD Graphics 405 GPU, 8GB LPDDR3 RAM, 128GB eMMC storage and a 7000mAh battery.

Dell claims to offer the "world's first wireless charging 2-in-1" mobile device-- the Latitude 7285, a 12-inch portable PC promising to be thin and light while meeting the needs of commercial clients.

First seen back at CES 2017, the Latitude 7285 is also described as the "world's thinnest Windows-based commercial 2-in-1." For the record, it is 7.25mm thick, 274.8mm wide and 209.2mm, while weight totals 0.68kg. It carries a 12.3-inch 2880 x 1920 resolution display with an anti-glare panel, and can be configured with a variety of processors, from Intel Core i5-7Y54 to Core i7-7Y75 (all 4.5W solutions), and M.2 PCIe NVMe storage from 128GB to 256GB.

The aforementioned wireless charging uses the WiTricity standard and requires extra hardware-- specifically either an included USB-C 45W adapter or an optional wireless charging mat (PM30W171). Use of the charging mat requires an optional Dell Latitude wireless charging keyboard.

The Eastman Kodak company joins Archos to offer Kodak-branded tablets-- available in 7- and 10.1-inch models with either full black or "radiant" yellow back casing.

Imaginatively dubbed the Kodak Tablet 7 and Tablet 10, the tablets fall in the lower end of the market spectrum. Both carry a quad-core Mediatek processor, 1GB RAM and 16/32GB storage (expandable via microSD). The 10-inch model offers a 720p display and a 6000mAh battery, while the 7-inch model has a resolution of just 1024 x 600 and a 2500mAh battery.