ConsumerIT - For Europe's High Volume PC Retailers, Distributors & Builders

PCs - PC Components

Laptops and Desktops Still Relevant Moving Forward

11 December 2013 Wee Teck Loo PCs - PC Components

Laptops and Desktops Still Relevant Moving Forward

Insight by Wee Teck Loo, Head of Consumer Electronics, Euromonitor International.

Acer Inc’s Chairman and CEO, JT Wang, tendered his resignation on 5 November 2013 after the company reported a net loss of US$446 million for the third quarter of the year and announced plans to reduce its number of staff globally by 7%. Just a week earlier, Dell Inc had announced the completion of its acquisition by Michael Dell (founder and CEO) to take the embattled company private. With the exception of Lenovo Group, all other PC manufacturers are struggling financially or are reporting declining sales every quarter. Retail sales of tablets are forecast to exceed 140 million units by the end of 2013, overtaking laptops as the most popular computer for consumers. The naysayers have started to declare the death of personal computers (PCs) – desktops and laptops - running on the Windows operating system.

How to Hide a SteamOS PC

11 December 2013 Marco Attard PCs - PC Components

British PC maker PiixL comes up with an elegant means of keeping a SteamOS-powered games machine out of sight-- the Jetpack, a home theatre PC (HTPC) slim enough to attach on the back of a flatscreen TV.

An update on PiixL's earlier EdgeCenter HTPCs, the JetPack features an expandable chassis users can mount on larger TVs (32- to 70-inch) via standard VESA mounts. It will be available in multiple "deeply optimised" configurations complete with overclocked Intel Core i7 processors, Nvidia Titan/GTX780 GPUs and up to 1TB SSD storage.

Work on Next Gen USB Kicks Off

04 December 2013 Marco Attard PCs - PC Components

The USB 3.0 Promoter group starts working on the next generation of USB connector-- the USB Type-C connector, a supplement to the USB 3.1 specification promising a thinner and (yes!) reversible design.

Based on existing USB 3.1 and 2.0 technology, the Type-C connector will support scalable power charging within a design size similar to existing USB 2.0 Micro-B connectors. However the connector will not be compatible with existing USB ports (Type-A, Type-B, Micro-B et al), demanding the creation of passive new-to-existing cables and adapter for use with legacy devices.

The Next Wonder Material: Tin?

04 December 2013 Marco Attard PCs - PC Components

Another material joins the likes of graphene and carbon nanotubes in the silicon-killer arena-- "statene," a single layer of tin atoms theoretically able to conduct electricity with 100% efficiency at the temperatures computer chips operate.

The discovery of US, Chinese and German researchers, the properties of statene are detailed in a paper titled "Large-Gap Quantum Spin Hall Insulators in Tin Films." Apparently the material is a "topological insulator," meaning it conducts electricity only along the edges or surfaces of their structure, not through the interior.

Such a property comes into play when the structure is all of 1 atom thick, since it allows for 100% efficient electrical efficiency through "complex interactions between the electrons and nuclei of heavy atoms in the materials."

First Steam Box Prototypes Debut

27 November 2013 Marco Attard PCs - PC Components

Custom PC maker iBuyPower reveals a first prototype of a console-style PC running on Steam OS, the Linux-based operating system designed around the Steam gaming service created by Valve.

As seen in the picture (left), the prototype looks less like a PC and more like white glowing PlayStation 4. iBuyPower tells Engadget the actual hardware will come in two versions (cutely codenamed "Gordon" and "Freeman") and is still very unfinished-- the prototype currently runs on an early SteamOS version devoid of media playback or streaming options.

Page 91 of 125