hybrids

Future PCs threat to Apple? Yes, says Citibank analyst

Apple's "limited innovation" in tablets this year will make it vulnerable to newfangled PCs -- so says a Citibank analyst.

Yes, you heard that right, PCs. While financial analysts write lots of research notes about Apple every week, this one from Citibank analyst Glen Yeung -- sent out early in the week -- got my attention.

We believe Apple will launch an iPad Mini Retina and a thinner/lighter iPad5 (both likely sporting newer processors) in 3Q13...iPad innovation of this nature is insufficient to reverse share loss.

Whereas we see limited innovation in tablets in 2H13, … Read more

Microsoft Surface Pro versus the competition

By some standards, the Microsoft Surface Pro is the best-ever hybrid of tablet and laptop, combining a full windows 8 OS with an Intel Core i5 CPU, and a best-in-class detachable keyboard cover.

But, at over $1,100 if you include a 128GB SSD and the keyboard, it's also very expensive, especially if a slim Windows 8 touch-screen ultrabook, Atom-powered tablet, or something non-Windows-based would work for your needs.

The following is a quick survey of the major alternatives to the Surface Pro, from other Core i5 tablets to Apple's new 128GB iPad.

Windows 8/Core i5 tablets (Example: Acer Iconia W700) … Read more

Splittable laptop-tablets: The U1 Hybrid had it right all along

Sometimes, even if it's vaporware, it doesn't mean its maker isn't on to something.

Three years ago, the Lenovo IdeaPad U1 Hybrid caught my eye -- and many others -- at CES in Las Vegas. The idea -- a laptop that had its own detachable tablet -- seemed revolutionary, and at the time it was an idea ahead of even the iPad, which debuted just months later.

The IdeaPad U1 Hybrid was a great idea, with one problem: it never arrived. After surfacing again in 2011 as a Windows/Android detachable hybrid, it again disappeared from view.… Read more

Eating your own, Microsoft style

Eat your own, or somebody else will. That's the new mantra in the device world.

Here's what Apple said this week on that topic.

In terms of cannibalization and how we think about this, I see cannibalization as a huge opportunity for us. One, our base philosophy is to never fear cannibalization. If we do, somebody else will just cannibalize it and so we never fear it. --Tim Cook.

This was said in response to an analyst's question during the company's first-quarter earnings conference call. Earlier in the call, Apple, in its prepared remarks, said that … Read more

VW shows off new hybrid system, engine in Detroit

DETROIT--Volkswagen has been much better known for its high-mileage diesel models than hybrids. Yet here at the 2013 North American International Auto Show, VW showed a concept car featuring a new transmission that will let it turn almost any car in its lineup into a hybrid. The company also showed a new, more efficient direct-injection 1.8-liter engine making 250 horsepower.

The CrossBlue concept, a diesel hybrid, relies on what VW board member Ulrich Hackenberg referred to as an eDSG in an interview with CNET. The eDSG is a new version of VW's Dual Shift Gearbox (DSG), a transmission … Read more

WD starts off big in the hybrid market with WD Black SSHD

LAS VEGAS--As a fan of internal storage drives, I was like a boy in a candy store meeting up with Western Digital at CES 2013.

The major storage vendor for the first time showed off its very first solid-state hybrid hard drive, the WD Black SSHD. This is the final working product that's being sampled to OEM manufacturers. And it's WD's answer to Seagate's hybrid drives, not only the existing Momentus XT, but also the prototypes it showcased at CES 2013.

SSHD is the new name, used across the industry, for a hybrid drive that uses … Read more

Seagate embraces SSHDs, phasing out 7,200rpm laptop HDDs

LAS VEGAS--You might want to stockpile Seagate 7,200rpm laptop hard drives now. Soon they will be no more.

Or maybe you shouldn't. From what I've witnessed at CES 2013, what Seagate plans to replace them with is going to be much better. That's the company's third generation of hybrid drive, a type of drive that's now being referred to across the industry as a solid-state hybrid drive, or SSHD.

For many years a hard drive's spinning speed was the factor that determined how fast an internal drive is. That's not necessarily true … Read more

Windows 8 wrestles with PC's legacy

I'm by no means the first one to say this but Windows 8 and older PCs make an odd couple.

But let me back up for a second. Before the release of Windows 8 on October 26, I tested Windows 8 on tablets only, such as the Intel-based Samsung slate that Microsoft sold in its stores. And I was impressed with Metro.

That was then. Windows 8 Pro 64-bit is now installed on my Dell Adamo laptop. And I rarely venture into the Metro UI unless if I'm forced to.

Of course if you're one of the … Read more

2013 Toyota Avalon charges Qi-enabled phones without wires

People have been modding wireless inductive phone chargers into their cars since the Palm Pre and its magnetic Touchstone, but Toyota claims today to be the first automaker to offer the tech with its announcement that the 2013 Toyota Avalon will be available with Qi wireless charging.

Specifically, the Qi wireless charging will be available as part of the 2013 Avalon Limited's and Hybrid Limited's $1,750 Technology package, so you'll also want to make sure that you're interested in the radar cruise control, precollision system, and automatic high beams that also come as part of … Read more