MSI launches an upgrade of the Gaming 24 All-in-One (AIO) gaming PC through the addition of the Skylake-H (HM170) chipset and a choice of either Nvidia GeForce GTX 950M or 960M GPU.

The CPU is comes in either Intel Core i5-6300HQ or 6700HQ flavours, with support for up to 32GB dual-channel DDR4 (SODIMM, 2-slots) RAM. The chassis has enough space for x1 3.5-inch HDD, x2 M.2 PCI-E SSD and x1 2.5-inch SATA III, with Super RAID 4 technology allowing "blazing fast storage possibilities with speeds up to 32Gb/s."

Intel announces the second generation of Compute Stick PCs-on-a-Stick at CES 2016-- one featuring more powerful Atom and Skylake Core m3- and m5-based processors.

The new Compute Sticks are slightly larger in size than the first generation, and are available with either Core m5-6Y57 vPro or m3-6Y30 processors together with 4GB RAM, 64GB eMMC storage. Further improvements include faster 802.11ac wifi with 2x2 antenna arrays, Bluetooth 4.2 connectivity and x3 USB 3.0 ports. In addition the m3-6Y30 version gets a variant with Windows 10 pre-installed.

Gartner and IDC have the same news on the state of the EMEA PC market in Q4 2015-- shipments see yet another round of double-digit Y-o-Y decline, as Windows 10 fails to reverse the ongoing negative trend.

Not helping the situation is vendors too busy with clearing out older Windows 8 inventory, the late availability of Skylake-based systems and a combination of economic instability and currency volatility hitting IT budgets.

According to Gartner EMEA shipments total 22.5 million in Q4 2015, a -16% Y-o-Y decline. The analyst points out some W. European regions do see positive results (namely the UK and France), while E. Europe experiences "modest" low-single digit shipment growth thanks to hybrid devices and Windows 10 replacements.

Acer continues working on Chrome OS hardware as it reveals the Chromebook CB3-131 (an update on the Chromebook CB3-111) and the Chromebase 24 AIO PC.

The CB3-131 features an 11.6-inch 1366x768 resolution display, an unspecified quad-core Intel Celeron CPU (possibly the Braswell-based N3150), 2/4GB RAM and 16/32GB storage. Further details include 802.11ac wifi, Bluetooth 4.0, USB 2.0 port, USB 3.0 port, full-size HDMI and an SD card reader.

Acer says the battery offers up to 9 hours of use on a single charge, and the Chromebook is clad in a "nano-imprinted pattern" for a more premium look and increased durability.

EVGA claims the 700B PSU offers "the best value for your next build" through a continuous power supply reaching 700W with a single +12V offering 56A together with a budget-minded price.

The 80 Plus Bronze standard certified PSU offers 85% efficiency under typical loads, and can provide steady power for most high performance dual-GPU systems. It also has a number of heavy-duty protection features, including OVP (Over Voltage Protection), UVP (Under Voltage Protection, OCP (Over Current Protection), OPP (Over Power Protection), and SCP (Short Circuit Protection).

Customers wishing for 2 PCs inside a single chassis are in luck-- the Phanteks Enthoo Mini XL DS ("Dual System") allows users to build two independent systems in one case, with a single PSU powering both.

The Enthoo Mini XL DS has space for a micro ATX and a mini ITX motherboard. The mini ITX motherboard fits on top of the chassis via Phanteks mini ITX upgrade kit (included), while a pre-installed Power Splitter accessory divides power from the PSU to the two motherboards.

Each system gets a front I/O section and a power button.

Customers thinking about holiday season stocking filler should be interested in the Raspberry Pi Zero-- a new version of the popular micro-computer with a price tag of just £5.

The Pi Zero might be low cost, but the Raspberry Pi Foundation says it is still a "full-fledged" device. It features a Broadcom BCM2835 application processor with a 1GHz ARM11 core (making it 40% faster than the original Raspberry Pi), 512MB LPDDR2 SDRAM, microSD card slot, mini-HDMI socket, unpopulated 40-pin GPIO header and unpopulated composite video header, all within a board measuring 65 x 30 x 5mm.

Asus ROG announces the Maximus VIII Hero Alpha-- a Skylake Z170 motherboard promising "significant upgrades" on the popular Maximus VIII Hero motherboard.

The Maximus VIII Hero Alpha features 5-way optimisation auto-tuning technology providing easy performance boosts, power savings and ultra-quiet operation, as well as custom game audio/networking settings. Meanwhile Pro Clock technology and TurboV Processing Unit (TPU) boost the base-clock frequency of the Skylake processor.

The motherboard also features Intel Extreme Memory Profile (XMP) and 2nd generation Asus T-Topology for superior DDR4 memory overclocking, with support for up to DDR4 3800+ memory.