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Laptops, Tablets, eReaders

Tough Acer Chromebooks for Students

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Tough Acer Chromebooks for Students

Acer presents a pair of rugged 12-inch Chromebooks aimed at the education segment-- the Chromebook 512 and Chromebook Spin 512, both featuring a 3:2 aspect ratio falling somewhere between that of books and mobile devices.

The two Chromebooks have a 1366 x 912 resolution IPS panels, with the taller (by 18%, Acer says) making it easier to see more content from text, photos and websites. Inside is a choice of either quad-core Intel Pentium Silver N5000, quad-core Celeron N4100 or dual-core Celeron processor, together with 4/8GB RAM and 32/64GB eMMC storage. Connectivity includes Intel Wireless-AC 2x2 802.11ac MU-MIMO wifi, Bluetooth 5.0, x2 USB-C and x2 USB 3.1 ports.

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Alienware Claims Upgradeable Gaming Laptop

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Alienware Claims Upgradeable Gaming Laptop

Alienware presents a gaming laptop promising "multiple firsts" at CES 2019-- the Area-51m not only carries a 9th generation 8-core desktop processor, but it also offers upgradeable internals, a first from the company in 20 years.

As the next Alienware flagship, the Area-51m features a new Legend brand identity while packing desktop specifications in a portable form factor. As such, it is configurable with up to an Intel i9-9900K processor and Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 graphics. The processor is socket swappable, while a DGFF (Dell Graphics Form Factor) slot houses the GPU. Customers can also upgrade the memory and storage, to a maximum of 64GB RAM.

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Asus ROG Shows Off Gaming Mothership

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Asus ROG Shows Off Gaming Mothership

CES is a regular home for unusual PC form factors, and the 2019 show is no exception-- take the Asus ROG Mothership GZ700, a 17.3-inch laptop users can transform into the gaming equivalent of the Microsoft Surface.

When not in use, the Mothership looks like any oversized laptop. Opening it, however, is a different story. One needs to stand it vertically on a surface to pop out a kickstand, before a foldable wireless keyboard detaches from the device. Thus, the Mothership turns from laptop into a desktop all-in-one PC complete with a 17.3-inch 1920 x 1080 resolution display featuring 144Hz refresh rate, 3ms response time and Nvidia G-Sync support.

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An "Extreme" Snapdragon CPU for Laptops

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Qualcomm claims to have the most "extreme" Snapdragon processor yet-- the 8cx (the x stands for, well, you guessed it) is an 8-core chip designed to power laptops, specifically always-connected Windows 10 notebooks and convertibles.

Presented at the Snapdragon Tech Summit 2018, the 8cx is a larger and more power-hungry chip compared to the previous Qualcomm PC platform, the 850. Purpose-built using a 7nm processor, it features an octa-core design with 4 high-performance Cortex A76 cores and 4 low-power A55 cores. Dubbed the Kryo 495, the CPU promises to be the fastest yet with a larger L2 cache, L3 cache and system cache. On the graphics side the chip carries the Adreno 680 GPU able to handle the latest DX12 APIs.

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HP Intros ProBook 400 G6 Series

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HP Intros ProBook 400 G6 Series

HP announces the 6th generation of ProBook 400 series laptops-- aimed mainly at SMB customers, the machines feature 8th generation Intel Core i3/i5/i7 "Whiskey Lake" processors inside a slimmer aluminium chassis.

Dubbed the 430, 440 and 450, the laptops respectively offer 13.3-, 14- and 15.6-inch displays in either 1920x1080 or 1366x768 resolution. The "ultra-slim chassis with crisp lines, clean edges, and a natural silver finish" weighs up to 2kg, and is 2cm thick. The laptops also feature a 180-degree hinge, spill-resistant keyboard and XMM 4G/LTE Cat 6 or Cat9 modems in case customers want to get some work done on the road.

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IDC: iPad Sustains W. European Tablet Volumes

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IDC: iPad Sustains W. European Tablet Volumes

According to IDC, W. European tablet shipments total 7.5 million units in Q3 2018-- a -2.9% Y-o-Y decline, with decent slate results in both commercial and consumer markets helping sustain an ailing market.

Strong back to school sales and "solid" enterprise growth help slate tablets in the enterprise segment, in good part thanks to "exceptional" iPad performance. Meanwhile smaller companies prove susceptible to consumer promotions, leading to healthy growth in SMB space. On the consumer side, strong iPad sales, Amazon Prime day and early seasonal promotions (such as Black Friday and Cyber Monday) bring slate shipments to a positive for the first time since 2013.

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IDC: Tablet Market Continues to Struggle in Q3

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IDC: Tablet Market Continues to Struggle in Q3

According to IDC, global tablet shipments are down by -8.6% Y-o-Y to reach 36.4 million units in Q3 2018-- with declines in both slate and detachable/hybrid tablet shipments.

Slate tablet shipments account for majority of market with 31.6m units, a -7.9% Y-o-Y decline. Detachable tablets, in the meantime, see a 13.1% Y-o-Y drop on shipments reaching 4.8m.

"The detachable market has failed to see growth in 2018, a worrying trend that has plagued the category off and on since the end of 2016," the analyst says. "In October we finally saw the highly anticipated refreshes of Apple's iPad Pro and Microsoft's Surface Pro, as well as new products by Samsung and Google, which lead us to believe that the last quarter of the year will turn the detachable category around, at least for the time being. Increasingly sparse are new products by the top-tier PC OEMs as they remain more focused on their convertible portfolio, a move that will ultimately affect the overall trajectory of the detachable market going forward."

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Apple Updates iPad Pro for 2018

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Apple Updates iPad Pro for 2018

Apple confirms months of rumours as it presents an iPad Pro redesign-- one offering an "all-screen" design bereft of Home button, Face ID facial recognition, a USB-C port and, of course, more powerful internals.

The 2018 iPad Pro comes in 2 sizes, 11- and 12.9-inch, with thinner bezels leading to smaller tablets. The 11-inch model actually measures as much as the previous 10.5-inch model, while the 12.9-inch model is smaller than the screen size suggests. Other than size both devices are essentially identical, with the same curvy unibody holding the A12X Bionic, a processor described by Apple as "the smartest and most powerful chip in a tablet."

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HP adds to x360 Laptop Range

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HP adds to x360 Laptop Range

HP announces additions to the x360 laptop range under both Spectre and Elite banners-- specifically the Spectre x360 13, Spectre x360 15 and, for business customers, the EliteBook x360 1040 G5.

“Traditional boundaries between personal and professional lives are blurring. People want technology that seamlessly adapts to the way they live and work, as well as devices that allow them to express who they are as individuals,” the company says. “Our latest Spectre and Elite innovations deliver an unmistakable sense of style, while also setting new standards for performance, connectivity, and security. From the world’s longest battery life in a quad-core convertible to the world’s smallest and lightest business convertible, HP continues to raise the bar for innovation that enables amazing new PC experiences.”

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