MSI is on a roll with its Wind Top line of all-in-one machines, the AE2220 being the latest and, for the moment at least, the greatest. Its 21.5-inch screen (curiously .1” smaller than when originally announced) supports multitouch, backed by Windows 7 Home Premium to ensure you’ll never have a completely smudge-free image coming from the ION chipset. 4GB of DDR2 memory is included along with either a 2.2GHz T6600 or 2.1GHz T4300 Intel processor, while storage is now provided by a 500GB drive. Dual PCIe expansion slots gives it some hope of being upgradeable in the future, and VESA wall mount compatibility means you won’t even have to clean up your desk. It hasn’t shown up at retailers just yet, but Amazon is still listing a pre-order page at $699, $50 under MSRP and what we’d consider to be a very fair price indeed.
Filed under: Desktops, Displays
MSI’s 21.5-inch multitouch Wind Top AE2220 all-in-one now shipping originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 18 Nov 2009 16:16:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
We haven’t seen a ton of
ION-based case mods just yet, but it looks like NVIDIA itself has kick started the scene in a pretty big way with a case mod design contest, and it’s now crowned a winner. Built by Bill Owen of Mnpctech.com, the so-called ION Cube draws on a few fairly obvious influences, and makes use of a combination of CNC milled sheets of aluminum and laser cut pieces of acrylic which, combined with the rest of the build, apparently took over a hundred hours to complete. On the inside, and one of the impetuses for the contest, is the ZOTAC ION ITX 330 motherboard, which is intended for small, low-power systems just like this (and less flashy ones, too). Head on past the break a video, and hit up the link below for a look at the build.
Continue reading ION Cube case mod wins NVIDIA design contest
Filed under: Desktops
ION Cube case mod wins NVIDIA design contest originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 13 Nov 2009 14:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
You know what the world needs? Another company peddling their take on the touch interface as being “just like
Minority Report!”
Sun,
Raytheon,
Oblong — it’s a pretty obvious press hook (as well as a pretty awesome area of
research), but every once in a while some such technology does come around that begs for a closer look. A collaboration between Sony Europe and Atracsys (a Swiss company specializing in optical tracking) ICU is a dual camera-based system that tracks and analyzes body movements in three dimensions, in real-time. Initially designed for use with a computer in a sterile operating theater, the interface not only notices subtle changes in the position of your body, arm, hand, or finger position, but it’s also determine rough age, sex, or facial expression of the user. We’re guessing that this bad boy has some novel gaming potential as well (count on the folks at Engadget to bring everything down to their level)! PR / videos after the break.
Continue reading Sony and Atracsys develop 3D interface for ORs, sci-fi franchises (video)
Filed under: Desktops
Sony and Atracsys develop 3D interface for ORs, sci-fi franchises (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 06 Nov 2009 11:37:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | Comments
While today’s Windows might not look completely out of place next to a Windows of yore, Microsoft Research certainly has some wild ideas for how to progress computer interaction. In a talk during Microsoft’s college tour, Craig Mundle has been touting his research wares, including some pretty reasonable advances like auto completion of common concepts; automatic, intelligent sorting of large amounts of data; and a movable, modular work surface. One of the odder demos involves moving the LCD so it’s flat on the desk and then using huge arm movements to manipulate a 3D model projected onto a piece of glass, and the demonstration of eye-tracking is intriguing while not altogether convincing. Of course, we’ve got a while before we’ll see any of this stuff in real products, but perhaps we won’t have to wait so long as ten years for that “2019″ vision of the future to come to pass. Hit up the read link for the videos.
Filed under: Desktops, Displays
Microsoft messes with ‘natural’ user interface, featuring eye tracking, voice control and wild body gestures originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 06 Nov 2009 09:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
Oh, boy. Just when you thought NVIDIA ’s feud with Intel couldn’t rise above endless
name-calling,
lawsuits and
production shutdowns, NVIDIA does
this. I
n a series of not-so-subtle cartoons on the recently established Intel’s Insides website — which NVIDIA’s spokesperson has confirmed is, in fact, hosted by NVIDIA — NVIDIA takes aim at Intel (and CEO Paul Otellini, specifically) over a range of alleged ill doings, and even goes so far as to include a cheeky disclaimer that the site “is not provided, sponsored or endorsed by Intel Corporation.” Hit up the gallery below for a quick retrospective, and stay tuned for what we can only hope is a decent comeback from Intel.
[Via ExtremeTech]
Filed under: Desktops, Laptops
NVIDIA takes its feud with Intel to cartoonish new levels originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 05 Nov 2009 20:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
We suppose dreams really do come true. Nearly a full year after we heard that VIA was toiling on a new processor line to really give Intel’s aging Atom a run for its money, the company has come clean and confessed that those whispers were indeed true. The Isaiah-based Nano 3000 Series is a range of six new CPUs clocked between 1GHz and 2GHz, all of which boast an 800MHz FSB, 64-bit support, SSE4 instructions, Windows 7 / Linux compatibility and power ratings that check in some 20 percent more efficient than existing VIA Nano processors. There’s also the promise of 1080p multimedia playback, and VIA swears that we’ll see these popping up in all-in-one desktops as well as thin-and-light laptops in the very near future. How soon, you ask? Samples are shipping now to OEMs, with mass production slated for Q1 2010.
Filed under: Desktops, Laptops
VIA Nano 3000 CPU series finally launches to rival Intel’s Atom originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 03 Nov 2009 10:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
It’s not at all clear what the root cause of the problem is, but we’ve noticed a big uptick in people complaining about performance issues on new 27-inch iMacs on Apple’s support boards. The most common symptom seems to be incredibly slow Flash video playback, but people are also claiming that there’s a bug forcing the hard drive to spin down, that there’s a corrupted Snow Leopard build preinstalled, and even that the problem is bad permissions, which is basically how an OS X user gives up trying to figure things out. Apple hasn’t said anything yet, but neither of the 27-inchers we have here are having problems, so we’re keeping our fingers crossed while we wait for an official resolution. Video of the issue after the break.
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Read – First Apple Discussions thread
Read – Second Apple Discussions thread
Continue reading 27-inch iMacs having performance issues?
Filed under: Desktops
27-inch iMacs having performance issues? originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 29 Oct 2009 19:17:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | Comments
It’s October 2009 which means something very special for Linux fans: a 9.10 release of Ubuntu. Today we see the launch of “Karmic Koala” featuring a faster graphical boot sequence (no more scary text scrolls), a revamped audio framework that improves sound control across multiple applications, and a new Software Center that visually simplifies the Add/Remove Applications tool. These are just a few of the user-centric improvements meant to have a “transformative effect” on the OS experience and help bring “the world of open source closer to the user.” It’s available in desktop, server, and netbook editions now so get to it, before you know it you’ll be updating to Lucid Lynx.
Filed under: Desktops, Laptops
Ubuntu 9.10 ‘Karmic Koala’ released, could decide your OS fate originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 29 Oct 2009 08:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
The kids at Liliputing got their hands on the Asus Eee Top ET2002 all-in-one recently and were cool enough to both put it through its paces and clue us in on their findings. According to the reviewer the device, which sports a 1.6GHz Dual Core Atom 330 processor, a 20-inch / 1600 x 900 pixel display, 2GB of RAM, and a 320GB hard drive, was “impressive… in many ways.” It easily handles 1080p playback and video games that would cause “most Intel-Atom based PCs to choke.” Aside from the ION graphics, unfortunately, this guy comports itself like a “typical” Atom netbook: unzipping large files takes forever, boot times are slow, and the system sometimes felt overtasked when browsing the web. Then again, when you’re spending less than $600 on a machine (Amazon’s currently selling ‘em for $581) you’re going to have to make some compromises. Hit the read link to see for yourself.
Filed under: Desktops
Asus Eee Top ET2002 reviewed, thoroughly enjoyed originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 09 Oct 2009 19:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
Sony has a long history of VAIO all-in-one machines, usually taking the party line by offering swank aesthetics combined with slightly cringe-inducing price tags. When we went hands on with its latest, the VAIO L, we found it to look just as good as those earlier ones, but its $1,300 price tag to be rather fair. Built into a 24-inch, 1920 x 1080 (1080p) touchscreen it’s meant to serve as both an HDTV and a PC, featuring an HDMI inport where you can plug in your PS3. Yes, that’s what mom calls it before she starts rocking out with the kiddos in the video after the break. It has a 500GB drive for your apps and for DVR recordings through Windows 7 Premium, packs a Blu-ray writer, a Core 2 Duo processor, and “loads of RAM.” Sure, there are cheaper ways to get an all-in-one, but only one comes standard with an inport.
Continue reading Sony’s VAIO L 1080p all-in-one PC is perfect for rockin’ moms (video)
Filed under: Desktops, Displays, Media PCs
Sony’s VAIO L 1080p all-in-one PC is perfect for rockin’ moms (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 09 Oct 2009 08:26:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
