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Laptops, Tablets, eReaders

IDC: Tablet Shipments Continue to Drop

07 August 2018 Marco Attard Laptops, Tablets, eReaders

Global tablet shipments total 33 million in Q2 2018, IDC reports-- a -13.5% Y-o-Y decline, with shipments of both slate and detachable/hybrid tablets falling, in part due to a lack of updates to the high-profile devices launched in Q2 2017.

"The detachable market is at a crucial stage as it has been driven primarily by premium products from Microsoft and Apple and growth has slowed in recent months," the analyst says. "Though consumers and businesses alike have shown interest in the detachable form factor, those operating on tighter budgets have had very few options available to them and hence some have opted for traditional PCs. However, with the launch of the Surface Go, Chrome OS-based detachables, and hopefully a more affordable iPad Pro in the future, the detachable category still has a bright future, provided the performance and software lines up with users' expectations."

Origin PC Intros Gaming Laptop Duo

02 August 2018 Marco Attard Laptops, Tablets, eReaders

Origin PC announces a pair of gaming laptops, both offering Intel Core i9 options for the latest in mobile PC hardware-- the lightweight EON15-S and the more powerful 17-inch EVO17-S.

The EON15-S weighs just 1.5kg, making it lighter than a MacBook Pro. It features a 15.6-inch 1920 x 1080 resolution display and is based on the Intel Coffee Lake-H platform with a choice of either 6-core Corei7-8750H or Core i9-8950HK processors (overclocking optional). Graphics come through an Nvidia GeForce 1060 GPU with 6GB GDDR5 RAM, memory tops up at 32GB DDR4-2667 RAM and storage comes through up to two M.2/NVMe SSDs adding up to 4TB.

A Sequel to the GPD Pocket Mini Laptop

31 July 2018 Frederick Douglas Laptops, Tablets, eReaders

Chinese Android device maker GamePad Digital (GPD) announces a sequel to the Pocket mini Windows laptop-- the imaginatively named Pocket 2, a sleeker device offering updated internals and and improved keyboard.

The Pocket 2 has a 7-inch 1920 x 1200 resolution multi-touch display within a magnesium alloy unibody clamshell design, just like the first version. It measures 1810 x 113 x 8-14mm, weighs 464g and carries a 2C/4T Intel Core m3-7y30 processor. Further tech specs include 4/8GB LPDDR3 RAM, 128GB storage (expandable via microSD card) and a 6800mAh battery promising up to 8 hours of use on a single charge.

MacBook Pro Lineup Gets Refresh

17 July 2018 Alice Marshall Laptops, Tablets, eReaders

Apple looks to appeal to power users with the MacBook Pro update-- the 13- and 15-inch notebooks get 8th generation Intel Core processors, better GPUs and more RAM, plus a tweaked keyboard promising quieter typing.

Externally the two notebooks remain identical to the previous 2016 models, with all changes being under the hood. The 13-inch model gets a quad-core processors, while the 15-inch carries 6-core processors Apple claims is up to 70% faster compared to the 2016 model. Graphics also get a boost. The 13-inch models features Intel Iris Plus Graphics 655, and the 15-inch get a choice of either Radeon Pro 555X or Radeon Pro 560X, both with 4GB DDR5 RAM.

The Smallest Surface Yet

11 July 2018 Alice Marshall Laptops, Tablets, eReaders

Microsoft confirms rumours of a smaller Surface tablet as it announces the Surface Go-- a smaller and lower cost Surface device featuring a 10-inch screen and a Pentium Gold 4415Y processor.

The Go might be smaller, but it retains all core features of the Surface line, including the 3:2 display aspect ratio (1800 x 1200 resolution), built-in kickstand, 5MP front-facing camera with facial recognition login, 8MP rear-facing camera and the Connector port for charging and connecting to a dock. On the tech spec side it is something of a downgrade though, with 4/8GB RAM, 64/128GB storage and reduced battery life (around 9 hours).

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