I took the Lenovo Lynx back to my retailer today (because of this keyboard issue) and came away with a Samsung ATIV 500T and docking keyboard. I’m desperately looking for a good, long-battery life Windows 8 Touch writing / blogging laptop and even though the Samsung ATIV 500T is expensive and doesn’t come with an additional battery in the keyboard dock I decided to give it a try. I’ve unboxed it, presented it and tested the keyboard in the video below. I’ve also hit a deal-breaker. The connector between the keyboard and […]

Seven software development companies are about to embark on a interesting journey into perceptual computing. Another Ultimate Coder Challenge has started. The teams will be working with the amazing Perceptual Computing hardware and SDK to produce an application that showcases what perceptual computing is all about. 3D object tracking, facial analysis, gesture and voice input are at their disposal; Leading edge hardware and techniques that one day could be in the frame of your Ultrabook.

Apple has announced new lower pricing and improved Intel CPU’s across its 13 & 15″ MacBook Pro with Retina display range and also lowered the price for its 13″ MacBook Air.

Always-on is the a feature you’ll find with Connected Standby-capable Windows 8 PCs. Some people think they don’t need it. Let me explain why you need it. Connected Standby (or Always On, Always Connected AOAC) is the mark of a ground-breaking new category of PCs that will not only be always-on capable but will have hardware that is so efficient that it will completely change what you think is good battery life.

There’s an interesting story developing out of an investor call that Microsoft held yesterday. We’ve discussed 7-inch Windows 8 tablets before, confirmed they are technically possible, analysed the market for them and we came out positive but it takes more than just a small set of potential customers to make a product. Microsoft say they’re “set up inch for 7 inch Tablets so it’s really up to the manufacturers now. 7-inch Windows 8 Tablets could be on the way.

A big thank-you to Hector Gomez for writing up this excellent and detailed owner-review of the dockable Samsung Series 7 Tablet / Smart PC Pro ATIV 700T. Hector has owned many other mobile devices in the past and recently reviewed the Smart PC ATIV 500T for us over at UMPCPortal. The 700T review paints a very positive picture of this Ultrabook Convertible and Surface Pro alternative.  Pay attention!

The Acer Iconia W510 Tablet review went out a few weeks ago and since then I’ve had a driver-set update that is worth mentioning. I can also add that I’m still using the W510. It’s really finding a place in my life.   Acer W510 Driver Set V2.04 (08 Jan) is available here and I advise everyone with the W510 to update. The main feature here is that there’s a huge improvement in stability and it appears that the audio problem is fixed. The touchpad response, for me, is still a problem and […]

On Friday we will be announcing our participation in a new Intel-sponsored competition to develop showcase applications that use gesture, tracking and voice input using the new Perceptual Computing developer hardware and SDK that Intel have developed with their partners. In this article I want to put some thoughts forward about perceptual computing, how it can be used, some of the issues and a few ground-rules but first we need to talk about the past.