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Is it OK to have a boring laptop?

Here's a question for you: Are laptops becoming the ultimate commodity products? And, as such, does sexiness simply not matter anymore?

I say this because of the overwhelming response I got to a piece I wrote on why the 13-inch MacBook Pro needs to go away. I argued in favor of the Air's sleek design and equivalent everyday performance; many readers argued fiercely that the 13-inch Pro has features and functionality--more hard-drive capacity and more robust RAM, not to mention an Ethernet jack--that still make it a strong favorite.

I also say this because, at CES 2012, sexed-up laptops--aka "ultrabooks"--were the Theme of the Day. Everyone seems quick to come up with a New, Cool Laptop.

I've been encouraging forward-thinking laptop design, and yet I understand that laptops, in an age of ever-smaller, ever-cooler smart devices, just might for many be destined for a role as a reliable commodity device. Yes, I've been bored by laptops...and yet, maybe boring laptops are just what many people need. … Read more

Hey Intel, lower chip prices for Windows 8 stuff, says Asia pub

Asia-based DigiTimes posted another in a series of articles that call for Intel to lower its chips prices. In this case, for Windows 8 gadgets.

This isn't the first time DigiTimes, which has close connections to Asia-based device makers, has expressed the sentiment of Taiwan's manufacturers (aka, OEMs and ODMs). It has been a recurring theme with ultrabooks. Device makers obviously want lower prices so they can turn more of a profit.

This time, the publication is calling for Intel and Advanced Micro Devices to lower prices of their most power-efficient processors that will go into, among other … Read more

Apple iPad breaks HP's hold on top PC spot

Apple is out-shipping traditional PC vendors by a wide margin on the back of strong iPad sales, a marketing research firm has found.

In the fourth quarter, Apple became the leading worldwide client PC vendor by shipping more than 15 million iPads and 5 million Macs, representing 17 percent of the total 120 million client PCs shipped globally in the fourth quarter, according to Canalys.

Hewlett-Packard was a distant No. 2 with about 12.7 percent.

"We're going through the biggest shift the PC industry has seen in 20 years. It's very difficult to grow in the … Read more

Get a Lenovo IdeaPad A1 7-inch tablet for $167.20 shipped

I've said it before and I'll say it again: prices always come down. (OK, hard-drive prices recently went up, but that was after years of drops.) If you're not ready to pull the trigger on an item because you think it's too expensive, just wait a while.

Or, in this case, a week.

A mere six days ago, I wrote up the Lenovo IdeaPad A1 at $199. Today, it's quite a bit less.

Update: Sorry, everyone, looks like the price is back up to $199. I had it on good authority that this deal would … Read more

New Intel chip takes fast jabs at iPhone, Galaxy Nexus

Intel's new chip for phones is surprising in many respects, but the biggest shocker is speed.

The "Medfield" Atom Z2460 chip for smartphones, announced at CES, handily beats some of the fastest phones on the market, review site Anandtech said in this post.

Is this fast enough to be smartphone-market disruptive? Will battery life measure up? Only Lenovo and Motorola know for sure (Anandtech thinks Medfield will be fine on battery life). One thing is for certain, though: neither of those companies are signing up for Medfield out of pity, as Anand Shimpi points out.

And--another shocker--the … Read more

Should Siri be jealous of voice recognition competitors?

LAS VEGAS--Looks like Siri was just the beginning.

Okay, even Siri wasn't the beginning. The ability to do voice-command isn't particularly new, but the marquee feature for Apple's iPhone 4S has gotten the masses to recognize and appreciate its benefits. For the first time, voice-command was a feature people talked about and coveted.

At CES, there were better implementations and voice-commands popping up on different devices. Big-name companies got into the mix. Dieter Zetsche, head of Mercedes Benz, said voice would play a major role in its cars, calling them a driver's "digital companion." … Read more

Get a Lenovo IdeaPad A1 7-inch tablet for $199 shipped

Um, remember that Samsung 7-inch tablet I wrote about the other day, the one that was refurbished for $259? [Waves hands mysteriously] That neeeever happened.

While supplies last, Lenovo is offering the new IdeaPad A1 7-inch Android tablet for $199 shipped, plus sales tax where applicable. That's after applying coupon code WEEKLYSAVEA1 at checkout.

(You'll see four models listed on the landing page; the black one is the one on sale. The blue one, FYI, is only $10 more.)

To be fair, this tablet lacks the Galaxy Tab's built-in 3G option, so don't feel too badly … Read more

PCs take the lead at CES 2012: Laptops, desktops, and hardware

LAS VEGAS--It's a rare CES for which most of the digital ink spilled is about computers and hardware, rather than giant televisions. But 2012 was just such a year, thanks to the never-ending drumbeat of Intel's ultrabook platform.

Yes, ultrabooks again It seems like you couldn't walk more than a hundred steps across the velvety carpet of the CES show floor without running into a giant ULTRABOOK or WINDOWS 8 sign. The first official ultrabook-designated laptops (it's an Intel marketing term) arrived during the 2011 holiday season, but CES 2012 was a coming-out party for a host of new designs from nearly all manufacturers.

The laptops ranged from the diminutive (the Acer Aspire S5) to the large and bold (the HP Envy 14 Spectre), and to the copycat (the MacBook-Air-alike Dell XPS 13). And 14- and 15-inch models, some with optical drives, dedicated graphics, and hybrid solid-state/hard drives, have begun to blur a category only in its nascency, leading us to ask if the category will suffer from unnecessary mission creep.

Will that mean that consumers will have a hard time identifying what an ultrabook is, or even feel the category has become overhyped and overexposed by the end of this year? Ultrabooks may be the industry's next great hope, judging by Intel's ultrabook-obsessed keynote presentation, but that doesn't mean consumers are never going to want anything different.

But not just ultrabooks Only a handful of other, non-ultrabook laptops really stood out.… Read more

Android Atlas Weekly 80: It's a camera, it's a phone, it's a tablet! (Podcast)

Motorola has Droid RAZR deja vu (twice!) and Samsung's Ryan Bidan stops by to show off the Galaxy Note and explain why we should be excited about an Android-powered refrigerator.

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Buzz Out Loud 1575: What mattered at CES day 1 (Podcast)

After our first day of CES we discuss what tech is making waves in Vegas. What grabbed your attention and which products will never see the store shelves. Molly breaks down her interview with Google's Eric Schmidt and Brian Tong reflects on his time with LL Cool J live on the CNET stage.

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