Hardware

Oorah! Marines to get hybrid power generators for the field

U.S. Marines may have a reputation for persevering in primitive conditions and dealing with whatever comes their way, but they like their electricity just like everyone else.

Yet bringing fuel-guzzling generators with them when on forward deployment is inefficient work, requiring carting around heavy loads of diesel and taking a toll on the local environment.

But not for much longer. Today, the Office of Naval Research awarded Raytheon a contract to develop a hybrid power generator for the Marines, a system that when completed should help Marines in the field consume as much as 40 percent less fuel than … Read more

Tap 20 desktop tablet, Vaio Duo 11 lead parade of Sony Windows 8 PCs

The time has come for each Windows PC manufacturer to announce its unusual and frequently convertible offerings for the launch of Windows 8 at the end of October. Sony's announcement of new Vaio laptops and desktops puts a square focus on touch and multipurpose use, with two brand-new desktop and laptop products, the Vaio Tap 20 and the Vaio Duo 11, as the centerpieces.

There are other, less exciting revisions as well: the E Series now offers a touch-screen aluminum E Series 14P, and the Vaio S Series now comes in burgundy red. We had a chance to test … Read more

Vizio updates its PCs for Windows 8, touch

TV manufacturer Vizio made a splash earlier this year with the launch of a line of laptop and desktop PCs, showcasing designs that felt high-end and unique compared with the competition. Its latest updated lineup of PCs timed for the Windows 8 launch doesn't change the equation much, but the desktop systems finally get touch-screen displays that they lacked before.

Vizio's new 24- and 27-inch All-In-One Touch PCs add 10-finger capacitive multitouch to their 1080p displays, whereas previously these desktop PCs relied on wireless touch pads and remotes. These new desktop systems start at $998, although deeper specs … Read more

Why one shutterbug sides with digital dorks, not Holga hipsters

I'm happy for N.V., the Economist correspondent who revels in the joys of film photography by shooting with a Rolleiflex twin-lens reflex medium-format camera. But there's no way I'm going back to analog photography.

The digital revolution is here to stay, of course, but film photography isn't extinct. The Economist's reporter, after inheriting and refurbishing a 1937 camera, sings its praises. For example, the reporter "enjoys the challenge and forethought involved in setting up a shot with an analogue camera. The discipline of having only a dozen shots on a roll of 120 … Read more

Rumor Has It: The ultimate cable killer coming from Boxee?

According to the report, the rumored new device would combine a TV tuner with a DVR and media-streaming capabilities, so you could record over-the-air TV. Do you care? Emily does, but she could be alone on this one -- just like she's alone in not knowing who one of America's favorite stars is.

Also, Facebook might finally release a native Android app so HTML5 will stop holding everyone back from stalking their friends at the speed of light.

Speaking of light, Sony's next flagship phone could be made out of a Norse god's lightning bolt and … Read more

Lenovo gets flexible with new Windows 8 laptops

NEW YORK -- Lenovo today unveiled several new laptops it hopes will appeal to customers looking for a more tabletlike experience.

During a New York event, the Chinese computer giant, which passed Dell a year ago to become the world's second-biggest PC maker by shipments, introduced four "convertibles" that use Microsoft's new Windows operating system. Such devices -- with names like the IdeaTab Lynx and the IdeaPad Yoga 13 -- twist and transform from notebooks into tablets.

"What people want is flexibility," David Schmoock, Lenovo's president of North America, said in an interview … Read more

Did a bug in Deep Blue lead to Kasparov's defeat?

It's part of the conventional wisdom now that machines are smarter than us, especially when it comes to specific challenges. Chess, for instance. World champion Garry Kasparov's defeat at the hands of IBM's Deep Blue computer in 1997 was a milestone in the story of artificial intelligence.

But did the machine merely psych him out? Statistician Nate Silver's new book "The Signal and The Noise: Why So Many Predictions Fail--But Some Don't" contains an anecdote about how a glitch in Deep Blue may have led Kasparov to overestimate the machine's smarts, according to The Washington Post.

Despite the machine's ability to evaluate 200 million moves per second, Kasparov easily won the first game of the match. In the 44th move, however, Deep Blue made an inexplicable play, moving a rook for no apparent purpose. … Read more

How Windows 8 will shake up the laptop market

Starting October 26, laptop shoppers will be inundated with a flood of new PCs designed around Microsoft's new operating system. In fact, I've counted about 50 new laptops, tablets, hybrids, convertibles, and all-in-ones on my back-of-the-envelope list already.

A handful of these have already been announced, a healthy chunk will be announced early in October, and the rest will simply go on sale on October 26, alongside Windows 8.

Having seen a good number of these upcoming systems in person already, I can safely outline three big trendlines that will drive laptop and related device sales through the Windows 8 launch season and into 2013. If you're looking to buy a laptop anytime soon, keep these in mind as you dig through the dozens of upcoming new choices. … Read more

Baked electronics: Taste the technology

I love baking. I love technology. I just never thought to put the two together. Israel-based artist and designer Debbi Nitsan, however, is already on the case.

Nitsan created an entire collection of electronics with their original casings removed and replaced with new, 100 percent more delicious, bread casings. The items include clocks, radios, and flashlights.… Read more

Medium-format update: Phase One launches 645DF+ camera

COLOGNE, Germany -- Phase One and Mamiya Leaf, the medium-format camera maker it controls, announced its new 645DF+ medium-format camera with new mechanics and improved focusing abilities.

The companies also announced at the Photokina camera show here the new Schneider Kreuznach 28 LS f/4.5 Aspherical, a very wide-angle 28mm leaf-shutter lens built by Schneider Kreuznach for the Mamiya Leaf-Phase One cameras. The camera and the lens are priced the same; each costs $5,990 or 4,290 euros, and each will ship in October.

Compared with the earlier 645DF, all moving parts of the 645DF+ have been completely … Read more