New iPad Available March 16 Starting at $499

The new iPad will be available in 10 countries on March 16 beginning at $499, Phil Schiller, Apple’s SVP of worldwide marketing, announced at a press event in San Francisco Wednesday.

Apple will begin taking pre-orders on its website later Wednesday. Devices will arrive in Apple stores in the U.S., UK, Japan, Canada, Switzerland, Germany, France, Hong Kong, Singapore and Australia on the 16th.
Pricing for the device is identical to the iPad 2. Wi-Fi-only tablets cost $499, $599, and $699 for the 16 GB, 32 GB and 64 GB versions, respectively. iPads with 4G LTE connectivity are priced at $629, $729, and $829 for the 16 GB, 32 GB and 64 GB editions, not including carrier costs.

The new iPad’s key feature is its 9.7-inch, 2048 x 1536-pixel “retina” display powered by an A5X quad-core graphics chip. The display has a higher resolution than your standard, 1080p HDTV, and 44% greater saturation than the iPad 2.

“[It has] text sharper than a newspaper. Photos will look incredible. Fonts look amazing,” Schiller boasted. “[It has] the best mobile display that has ever shipped.”

 The tablet also comes with a significant camera improvements. An upgraded iSight camera has a resolution of 5 megapixels with backside illumination. A new “hybrid IR filter” allows for more advanced optics, Schiller said, along with autofocus, white balance and face detection capabilities. iPad 3 owners will also now be able to record HD (1080p) video with a built-in stabilizer and temporal noise reduction.
Other key highlights:

• It’s called “The New iPad.” Not the iPad 3.
• Can achieve download speeds of up to 72Mbps using AT&T’s or Verizon’s 4G LTE network and 21Mbps with HSPA+.
• Can function as a personal hotspot if the carrier supports that feature.
• Is 9.4mm wide and weighs 1.44 lbs (slightly heavier than iPad 2).
• The battery lasts nine hours running on 4G LTE and 10 hours running on Wi-Fi.
• Comes in black and white.
• Supports voice dictation for English, French, German and Japanese.

In an unusual move, the company also announced that it will continue production of the iPad 2. Pricing for the device starts at $399 with Wi-Fi-only connectivity.

The New iPad Details Hit Apple.com

The new 9.7-inch iPad has 2048 x 1536-pixel retina display, 5-megapixel camera (with the same optics sensor from the iPhone 4S) and 1080p video recording. It is available March 16 in black and white, powered by A5X chip (with quad-core graphics) and supports 4G LTE networks. It's 9.4 millimeters thick and 1.4 pounds.

Wi-Fi only iPads cost $499 for 16 GB, $599 32 GB and $699 for 64 GB, while 4G versions cost $629 for 16 GB, $729 32 GB and $829 for 64 GB. Pre-orders start today, and the devices will be in stores March 16 in these 10 countries: U.S., UK, Japan, Canada, Switzerland, Germany, France, Hong Kong, Singapore and Australia.

Apple.com Touts New iPad Features

"Pick up the new iPad and suddenly, it’s clear. You’re actually touching your photos, reading a book, playing the piano. Nothing comes between you and what you love. To make that hands-on experience even better, we made the fundamental elements of iPad better the display, the camera, the wireless connection. All of which makes the new, third-generation iPad capable of so much more than you ever imagined."

Retina Display

"Four times more pixels than iPad 2. Razor-sharp text. Richer colors. The Retina display transforms the entire iPad experience. So everything looks and feels incredibly lifelike and perfectly detailed."

4G LTE

Apple is working on two LTE versions of the iPad with AT&T and Verizon in the U.S., as well as Rogers, Telus and Bell in Canada. Both LTE U.S. models will be 3G ready, too.

Camera

"The new iPad features Apple’s 5-megapixel iSight camera. Designed with advanced optics, it lets you shoot gorgeous photos and 1080p HD video."

Built-In iPad Apps

The new iPad features all of these built-in apps.

iPhoto

Apple has put iPhoto on the iPad.

iPhoto Features

iPhoto on the iPad features smart browsing, multi-touch editing, professional quality effects, brushes, photo beaming and photo journals.

Brushes in iPhoto

"With brushes, touch-ups are exactly that you use your finger to paint adjustments onto an image. Swipe over an area to make it lighter or darker. Zoom in to brush away blemishes with the powerful Repair tool. Select the Sharpen brush to bring out the fine details. Or use the Soften brush to smooth hard lines and edges. (It works wonders on wrinkles, too.)"

Multi-Touch Editing in iPhoto

"iPhoto completely changes the way you edit photos. You don’t need to be a professional or watch hours of web tutorials to know how it works. Simply touch the part of an image you want to change, then drag up, down, left, or right to turn any piece into a masterpiece."

Effects in iPhoto

"Choose from dozens of beautifully designed photo effects to give your pictures that little extra something. Something dramatic, something soft and dreamy, something from another era, or something just plain quirky. Use the swatch book to change the look and feel of each photo. Then pinch, zoom, or slide to adjust an effect. And just like that, you’ve applied hours of professional edits in the blink of an eye."

Specifications 

Windows 8 on a Tablet: First Impressions [VIDEO]

After the Windows 8 Consumer Preview was released on Wednesday, it took me a few hours to decide if I wanted to install it on my old HP TouchSmart tm2. I bought that tablet a while before the original iPad was released, and use it daily. After the Windows 8 setup program told me just about everything I had already installed would be compatible, I decided to take the plunge.

It turns out Windows 8 is going to be a lot like Windows Phone 7 and that’s probably a good thing. You’ve got full screen “Metro” style apps that have no reminants of application chrome or even operating system controls. There are gorgeous live tiles that animate with pictures, social network notifications, messages, emails and weather. Everything is smooth and responsive to the touch.

However, there are some big differences. First of all, I was quite content with the Windows 7 touch interface. You touch the buttons and they activate. That’s pretty simple. But now that I’ve been using Windows 8, I’m much more impressed. The touch UI is designed to be both ergonomic, highly efficient, and clutter-free.

The main controls are right next to the bezel where your thumbs would be if you were holding a tablet. Just swipe your thumb along the left side to flip between open apps. Swipe across it and then back to show a list of thumbnails representing open apps that you can easily tap to open the one you’re looking for. Then swiping on the right side with your thumb opens the “charms” for other types of operating-system interactions.

It’s really quite nice once you learn how to use it, and there’s only one issue: There’s nothing on the screen giving you any kind of indication on how to interact with this new user interface.

Overall, I’m impressed with the speed, usability, and preview apps in the Windows 8 Consumer Preview. I’m glad Microsoft went this direction for their new tablet initiative rather than scaling up a mobile operating system like Windows Phone 7. The fact that you can easily jump back into a desktop computer interface to run all of your high-end content-creation programs (even though they may not be designed for touch UIs) is fantastic for mobile productivity.

LG to Unveil Stylish New Lineup of Smartphones

LG is gearing up to unveil a new line of smartphones that will be focused on sleek design.
The company will be revealing three smartphones under a new line called L-Style next week at the 2012 Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

The Android-powered devices include the 3.2-inch Optimus L3, the 4.0-inch Optimus L5 and the 4.3-inch Optimus L7. The Optimus L3 will debut in the European market in March, while the other two devices are expected to become available in the first half of 2012 and will run on Android’s latest mobile operating system, Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS) 4.0.

“Design is consistently the top or second most important factor for customers when choosing a mobile phone,” said Dr. Jong-seok Park, president and CEO of LG Mobile Communications. “With smartphones, we sometimes took a more functional approach to design but with L-Style we’re going back to our roots as a company focused on how our products fit into the lifestyle of our customers.”

L-Style’s design is comprised of several key elements, including a modern square-style for a comfortable grip, a seamless layout for a more intuitive arrangement of keys, design contract with metallic accents and a “sensuous slim shape” that naturally draws one’s attention, according to the company.

Gorgeous iPhone 5 Concept Looks Insanely Great [PICS]

The iPhone 5 might not be arriving any time soon, but that hasn’t stopped artists and design firms from creating their own mock-ups.

After analyzing the various iPhone 5 rumors, Italian designer Federico Ciccarese came up with these gorgeous renders.

Ciccarese’s vision of the iPhone 5 predicts a slightly curved back. The body of the phone, in fact, looks similar to Apple’s Magic Mouse. The display is flat and “retina” in nature and the phone tapers off at the top and bottom.

The headphone jack has moved to the side to accommodate the new design and the back looks to be blasted aluminum, similar to what is used on the MacBook Pro, MacBook Air and iMac.

This isn’t the first time Ciccarese has mocked up his own version of future Apple products. In addition to previously trying to design the fifth-generation iPhone (what would become the iPhone 4S), Ciccarese has also taken on concepts such as the iScreen, his vision of the rumored integrated television from Apple.

We love the way the mockup details the glowing Apple on the back of the phone. It’s the sort of design touch that we think Jony Ive and company could even appreciate.

iPhone 5 Concept by Ciccarese Design 

 iPhone 5 Concept by Ciccarese Design 

 iPhone 5 Concept by Ciccarese Design 

 iPhone 5 Concept by Ciccarese Design 

New Photo App Erases the Photobomb

It doesn’t matter whether you’re taking photos at a cheesy tourist trap or at the Golden Globes there’s always a risk that a stranger (or Tina Fey) will ruin your memories with a cameo appearance in the background.

Photo technology company Scalado has developed a way to correct the so-called photobomb. It announced on Tuesday a technology called Remove that automatically deletes unwanted objects from the background of mobile phone photos.

The technology, which has not yet been released commercially, takes a series of photos in quick succession and then pinpoints moving objects in the collection, giving you the option to remove them with a click. The company will be demoing it at Mobile World Congress later this month.

Unboxing the Samsung Galaxy Note [PICS]

We took a few pictures when we unboxed the phone, and we couldn’t resist comparing the Note’s gigantic phone screen (5 inches!) to the most popular phone out there, the Apple iPhone. From a pure size perspective, it’s clearly a David-and-Goliath fight.

Besides the gargantuan screen, the Galaxy Note is, uh, notable for including a stylus, letting users do things such as write notes while running any app or draw their own directions on maps. The stylus hasn’t been entirely well received, with many criticizing it for being a throwback to the Palm Pilot days after Samsung ran a Super Bowl ad for the Note that prominently featured the “pen.”

While there’s been some discussion of the Galaxy Note blurring the line between tablet and phone, it’s clearly the latter. It’s sold through AT&T ($299 with a two-year contract), and there is no Wi-Fi only version. It’s a phone, just one with an enormous screen.

We’ll have a review of the Galaxy Note up soon. But in the meantime, please browse our photos of the unboxing (sorry if any look upside-down  it’s a bug in our photo-editing software). And if it excites you enough already, you could always just pre-order it now.

Samsung Galaxy Note Box 

‘Baseball Boyfriend’ App Lets You ‘Date’ The Players

If you’ve ever been interested in participating in fantasy sports but also wanted to combine a teenage-like element of crushing on professional athlete, Baseball Boyfriend is just the app for you.

For $2.99 you can create your own “BBBF” (that’s Baseball Boyfriend) through CBS Sports, then follow his stats or dump him when his team does poorly. Anyone who has a CBS Sports fantasy sports account can access Baseball Boyfriend.

 The app has received a lot of online criticism since it launched about one week ago. Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle wrote an article titled, “A fantasy baseball game for girls who happen to live in the 1950s.” Schulman said he first thought news of the app was a joke put out by the Onion. A post on NBC Sports said, “Women do not need to be treated like love-struck teenagers to be drawn in.”

Here’s the description from CBSSports.com: “Baseball Boyfriend is a single draftee, fantasy sports, mini game for those who love baseball. Pick your boyfriend for the season or a day. BBBFs earn you points daily. Player with the most points at the end wins.”

With Baseball Boyfriend you can have one boyfriend per league and participate in up to three leageus. The number of boyfriends you go through per season is up to you; choose a new boyfriend each day or stick with one the entire season. You can choose from the “clean” design that just features players’ photos, or the “a pirate” design so the players look more reminiscent of Captain Jack Sparrow. The original design also features red hearts around the players’ pics  just like you’d draw in a notebook if you were 10 years old.

“The game itself started three or four years ago, jokingly between nine-to-12 women,” Panko says. “Last season we turned it into a website so everyone could keep up with their favorite players through the season. It also gave us the opportunity to come up with the algorithms that level the playing field between pitchers and batters.”

Panko says the initial goal with the first version of the app was simply to make tracking “baseball boyfriends” easier for his wife and her friends.

“We wanted something fun for us, we weren’t trying to get rich or target a new market,” he said. “Making it an app through CBS Sports simply made it possible for me to automate stats so we wouldn’t have to plug them in by hand every day. At the same time, we didn’t see the need to keep this all to ourselves. It’s something we’ve enjoyed for years, we thought others might enjoy it as well. So we opened it up to everyone.”

Panko does admit, though, they hope the success of this app will bring attention to their main project, aviewfrommyseat.com. That app that lets fans share photos from their seats at sports games and view sports venues before buying tickets.

The Wall Street Journal reported this month that CBS Sports opened its site to developers to create fantasy apps in an effort to tap into a lucrative market.

When the app launched the site went from 24 visitors to 10,000 in 24 hours, Panko says. At this time, he can’t give out any specific numbers for downloads but said fans have been asking if the app will be available for other sports, too. Panko says if BBBF turns out to be a success this season, they’ll likely release other versions.

“As far as I know, no players have commented on the app,” he says. “I don’t expect to ever hear from any of them, just know that they are admired in a myriad of ways.”

The Baseball Boyfriend season officially starts on March 28th. You can earn points through October 3rd, notes the site.

Withings Smart Baby Monitor drops through FCC's chimney

Baby monitors. If you're in the market for one (er, congrats) and you run an Apple-flavored household, then this Withings device looks sufficiently over-specced for your needs. It's been out in the UK for a couple of months already priced at £269 ($425), and judging from the FCC filing it's coming to the US too, where it'll face sibling rivalry from the likes of Samsung, Evoz and the Exmobaby bodysuit. The base station fixes to the side of the crib, hooks up over WiFi or Ethernet, and streams audio and three-megapixel video (with night-vision mode) over the web, so you can access it via the iOS app using 3G or any good internet connection -- not only when you're within range of your router. It's even said that if you turn the mic's sensitivity right up, you'll hear the sounds of your old life, calling to you.

GEAR4 AirZone Series 1 hits the Apple Store

While we have been making strides in becoming a paperless society, you still cannot live without some sort of paper, somewhere. After all, electronic records are not always that reliable, since they can get hacked, stolen or altered. As for a wireless society, that is another different story altogether. Most decent phones these days all fall under the smartphone category, and alongside the tablet category, Wi-Fi connectivity has been incorporated within. The wireless revolution is well and truly underway, although there is still a long, long way to go before we are truly free from wires.

We now have wireless charging for gadgets (although that is not widespread yet) and electric cars, and here is GEAR4 with their latest AirZone Series 1 that boasts AirPlay technology – all without having you being tethered down to a wire, anywhere and everywhere around your home. This chic, clean and curvaceous speaker will come alongside Apple’s AirPlay technology.


It does not matter what kind of Apple device you use, you can still stream those tunes wirelessly, be it from iTunes from a Mac or PC as well. Not only that, your home will have one less speaker dock, since there is also no need to dock your device. All you need to do is hook up the AirZone to a Wi-Fi network, and allow the airwaves to get their job done. With Airzone, multitasking is made easier, where from the comfort of your palm, you are able to stream music anywhere in your home or office – while you get up and about your tasks with renewed vigor since your favorite tunes are being played in the background.

The AirZone speaker itself will feature its own FM radio, half a dozen audio equalizer settings, a built-in amplifier and a remote control. AirZone’s dock will ensure whatever is docked, be it the iPhone, iPod or iPad, will be juiced up, while those who rock on to other portable media players can always rely on the line-in port. Expect the AirZone Series 1 to retail for $279 a pop.

Why Google Shouldn’t Bother With a Home Entertainment Gadget

There’s a rumor going around that Google is planning some kind of home-entertainment device possibly and answer to the (also rumored) Apple iTV. Apparently Google’s living-room product will be Google-branded, controlled via Android phone or tablet and may eventually expand to do things like control your room lights or kitchen gear. It really sounds like a wonder gadget.

It’s also not going to work. Google’s already tried playing this game and lost. Google TV, launched to much fanfare in 2010, ended up being a boondoggle for the company. Although it promised to properly bridge the web and the television, it hit the same roadblock that other devices, like Boxee, stumbled over much earlier: content providers.

After the first Google TV device, the Logitech Revue, was launched, sites belonging to NBCUniversal, Viacom and Fox quickly began blocking their content from the Revue’s special version of the Chrome web browser. As they see it, they’re the ones who get to decide which screens customers can watch their content on  not Google.

Reviews of the Revue were mixed, with many pointing out the inherent clunkiness of using a keyboard to “watch TV,” but even if the device were perfect, it wouldn’t have mattered. Without the right content there’s simply no compelling reason to own the device. No one buys the “hockey puck” Apple TV because of its design the get it because they know iTunes has movies and TV shows they want on demand.

This has often been Google’s problem: too much focus on the product (whether hardware or software) and not enough on the ecosystem of the customer experience. Think back to the first Nexus phone: Google actually believed it could actually re-invent the way people buy phones, offering it up online, contract-free, for $529. It turned out that, as good as the product was, people loved getting cheap phones more than they hated the carriers.

For Google’s foray into the living room to succeed, it needs to offer up some compelling reason (read: content) that a customer simply can’t get from Apple, Netflix, Amazon and Hulu. Sure, there’s YouTube, but it barely counts since it has virtually no studio content and is only just starting original programming. And if Google offers better YouTube through Google devices, what happens to all the YouTube widgets and apps, which are on everything?

Some have pointed out Motorola, which Google owns and is rumored to be building the device, could leverage its clout as a cable-box manufacturer to give this new system a boost. It obviously depends on what this mystery device ends up being, but if it’s something people need to actually buy, this isn’t going to work.

Google and Motorola, though powerful brands, don’t have the same credibility Apple has in consumer products. Tons of people will line up for an Apple TV even before it’s even on sale  that would never happen with the other two.

So it really doesn’t matter if this new Google gadget connects to all your devices, lets you seamlessly control it with your phone and transforms into a jet. It really even doesn’t matter if it integrates with Google’s Android ecosystem better than any device. Google needs to get credibility in content before it can make a big splash in your living room.

Google+ for Android Update Promises ‘Massive’ Performance Gains

Remember last month, when Google delivered some new features to the mobile web edition of Google+, but hadn’t yet gotten around to updating the smartphone apps themselves? Well, we’ve yet to see those changes made to the iOS version of Google+, but today they finally come to the Android edition, along with some pretty impressive-sounding improvements of their own.

From that mobile web edition, the What’s Hot section has now been added to Google+ for Android, as has the ability to see just which users have been +1ing posts and comments. What we really like the sound of, though, is Google’s promise of a much smoother Google+ experience, thanks to what it describes as “massive performance improvements” to the underlying code.

There are a couple tweaks to how streams are displayed, now displaying more information on your phone’s screen at once, and not automatically flipping back to the top each time something new gets posted. Lastly, you can now sit back and watch an infinite feed of photos pulled from users in your circles.

Google Chrome Update Brings Faster Browsing

The new stable release of Google’s web browser Chrome brings several improvements, most importantly faster browsing and more protection from malicious downloads.

From now on, when you start typing in Chrome’s address box (or omnibox, as Google calls it), as soon as Chrome autocompletes the URL you’re likely to visit, it will prerender the page, making your overall browsing experience faster.

As far as security goes, Chrome now does checks on executable files you’ve downloaded from the net. It matches the executables against a whitelist – a list of programs known to be safe – and if it can’t find the file there, it does some additional checks. For example, if the site you’re visiting hosts a high number of malicious downloads, Chrome will let you know.

The update comes just one day after Google announced Chrome for Android mobile devices.
Google also promises some updates to Chrome OS for the “near future,” including a new image editor and an improved Verizon 3G activation portal.

LG Optimus Pad LTE announced

When it comes to the world of tablets, only two behemoths on the operating system front rule – Apple with their iPad range, and Google’s Android ecosystem that has seen (safe to say) hundreds of tablets hit the market already, with no signs of abating anytime soon. LG, who has churned out its fair share of Android-powered smartphones in the past (and even a 3D-capable handset), continues to explore the possibilities of Android on a tablet – hence rolling out their first LTE-capable tablet which is known as the Optimus Pad LTE.

Originally launched in South Korea, LG throws in LTE technology and a True HD IPS display that is guaranteed to wow whoever looks at it, and these are the the two features which have assisted LG in differentiating its latest smartphone, the Optimus LTE, from the rest of the competition.


Dr. Jongseok Park, President and CEO of LG Mobile Communications Company, says, “With tablets generating five times more traffic than the average smartphone, it’s not a huge jump to assume that tablet users need and want faster connectivity. The combination of LG’s LTE technology with the tablet form factor is a clear advantage for consumers who use a tablet as their primary consumption device when on the move.”
The LG Optimus Pad LTE will come with a 1280 x 720 True HD IPS display that is more or less guaranteed to wow whoever looks at it for the first time, and that display also works great in displaying your creativity as you snap photos of your surroundings with the 8-megapixel camera located at the back. This camera too, can shoot high definition video for posterity. Not only that, the Optimus Pad LTE is proud to be the world’s first tablet that supports an SD memory card of up to 32GB in size, so you need not worry about storage space. Other features include Android 3.2 Honeycomb as the operating system of choice, a 2-megapixel camera in front, and a 1.5GHz dual-core processor, all crammed into a body which measures a mere 9.34mm slim and tipping the scales at 479 grams.

Connectivity options include HDMI and DLNA, and you also have functions such as the Smart Movie Editor for editing pictures and videos in a jiffy. No idea on pricing or availability Stateside, although we do hope to see the LG Optimus Pad LTE make its way to the FCC – and soon.

I do have one particular concern though – such a display, coupled with LTE connectivity – will the 6,800mAh battery be able to hold up? After all, LTE-enabled devices are notorious for guzzling battery life like nobody’s business, and I am willing to go out on a limb to say that the LG Optimus Pad LTE will not be able to hold a candle to Apple’s iPad 2 in terms of battery life with LTE turned on all the time. What do you think?

Head-mounted computer system

You never know what you wIill find at CES, especially when you are not looking for it. In my case, I was just wandering past the Verizon booth, and was quite prepared to ignore it. I usually ignore the larger booths at CES, as they are the bigger companies, and I have usually already heard what they have to say.

I was stopped by someone who wasn’t really related to the Verizon booth, and he wanted to show off this head-mounted computer that you see this handsome man wearing in the picture. Even though it makes me look like one of the Borg from Star Trek, on my left eye is a display. I found that I could view images just by focusing, and it was sort of like aiming an arrow with one good eye.

As for interacting with the display, that requires vocal commands, the man who was showing me the product called the computer “Golden-i”. To turn on the display, he would say “Golden-i, wake up”. From there, it was all about accessing a menu like an iPad, except with my voice and not my fingers.

In case you are worried about the small amount of real estate that this tiny screen has to offer, let me alleviate your concerns. The user is allows to bring up many images, and can turn his or her head to see each one. In other words, it makes up for lack of space.

Sadly, one cannot just go to the store and buy one of these. I believe that the future of this tech is a pair of video goggles that will fold up and slip into the pocket, but I’m not certain how far away we are from that.

BluCan Bluetooth Vibration Speaker and Speakerphone from GiiNii

GiiNii, makers of the AudioBulb, had a new product on display at CES with the BluCan.

The BluCan is a Bluetooth speaker that is a little smaller than a can of soda. What you can’t see in this picture is that one twist will cause it to elongate so it is taller. The BluCan can seamlessly pair with Bluetooth enabled devices, in order to play your music off the headphones and on the go. When it is resting on a flat, solid surface, it becomes a 360 speaker capable of good range.

Of course, there are a lot of speakers that can do that. The BluCan has an integrated speaker, so you can actually use it as a phone when it is wirelessly connected. By the way, the Blucan has controls for play, pause, track forward, track backward, as well as answer, volume, and hang-up. So if your phone is charging across the room, you can still have the power of your speaker.

I’m not certain when the BluCan is due out, but it will be sometime this year. I also don’t have a price either. By the way, GiiNii also announced that the AudioBulb will be in a smaller size, in case you wanted to know.

Dell XPS 13 laptop is part of the Ultrabook brigade

It seems that this is set to be the year of the Ultrabook, as companies that dabble with notebooks churn out one model after another with the intention of eating into Apple’s MacBook Air market. Dell does not want to be left out of the game either, and their latest foray into the Ultrabook market would come in the form of the Dell XPS 13. The XPS 13 is said to be the most compact 13.3″ Ultrabook to date, boasting an edge-to-edge glass, near “frameless” display, coupled with all-day battery life (claimed, and not tested yet) as well as all the relevant bells and whistles, crammed into a body that tips the scales at just 2.99 lbs, while measuring under 02.5″ at its thinnest point. Let us look at what else the Dell XPS 13 holds underneath the hood after the jump.


You will find the XPS 13 carry a choice of second-generation Intel Core i5 or i7 processors, where its graphical capability provided by an Intel HD 3000 graphics chipset, while its 13.3″ high definition WLED display has a 300-nit display. Storage-wise, your budget determines just how much space you have – you will have to make do with either a 128GB or 256GB solid state drive. Just in case that is not enough, another 100GB of cloud storage is made available through Dell DataSafe for seamless content backup – for free, of course.

Another nice touch from Dell would be a 12-month Skype Premium subscription to help you stay in touch, as Dell probably knows the reason why you got something so light is because you do a lot of traveling – hence making sure you can keep in touch with your loved ones at all times.

The Dell XPS 13 is truly a sight to behold, boasting an edge-to-edge display with hardened Gorilla Glass, a full-size backlit keyboard with a large glass touchpad with integrated buttons and multi-gestural support, and a 47WHr 6-cell battery that is said to offer up to nearly nine hours of juice.

It is interesting to note that its design allows the 13.3-inch high definition display with slim bezel fit within a body size that is similar to the form factor of an 11-inch product.

Those with a heart for the environment can also make this purchase with peace of mind, since Dell designed the XPS 13 with the environment in mind by including energy-efficient LED displays that do not have any mercury or arsenic, while Dell also ensured that harmful toxins such as Brominated Flame Retardants and Polyvinyl Chloride (BFR/PVCs) are eliminated during the manufacturing process.

The packaging material of the XPS 13 is also green, as it is shipped in many locations with sustainably harvested bamboo packaging material. Other hardware specifications include a 1.3-megapixel webcam, Wi-Fi connectivity, USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 ports, and 4GB RAM. Prices start from $999 onwards, depending on the configuration.

HP ENVY 14 Spectre unveiled

HP has taken advantage of CES 2012 to be the platform where they will roll out their latest masterpiece which comes in the form of the ENVY 14 Spectre. Take a look at it above and you will know what I mean – this nifty little consumer Ultrabook that resides in the premium category is capable of commanding anyone’s attention thanks to its clever and unparalleled use of glass. Couple that with the kind of stunning performance that you thought would exist only on a desktop, and you could very well have a winner here.


The HP ENVY 14 Spectre will rely on lightweight, scratch-resistant glass on the lid, display, palmrest and HP ImagePad, clearly making it an industry first. The 14-inch screen that is located within a 13.3-inch body – while it does not really make sense at all when you read it, it does mean one thing – seeing is believing, and you might want to get your booty down to the nearest HP showroom when this arrives.

The HP Spectre’s high-definition HP Radiance Display is said to offer some of the industry’s highest resolution and richest color for better brightness and wider viewing angles compared to traditional notebook displays, and there is also a matching audio-grade speaker mesh alongside Beats Audio, an exclusive, high-performance technology that was developed by HP and Beats by Dr. Dre. To up the ante in the class department, the HP Spectre also comes with an aluminum analog volume dial.

Expect the HP ENVY 14 Spectre to arrive in the US this coming February 8th for $1,399.99 onwards.

iShower Bluetooth-enabled Shower Speaker

Love singing in the shower, never mind that the neighbors absolutely loathe your vocal range? Here is the iShower Bluetooth-enabled Shower Speaker that will debut at CES 2012, where it is compatible with Bluetooth-enabled devices within a 200 feet radius, so that means you can leave your iPad, iPhone, iPod or Android device right outside the bathroom without missing a beat.

Brought to you by the very same people who manufactured the iGrill Bluetooth cooking thermometer. This water resistant, Bluetooth-enabled speaker will be able to play music straight from all Apple devices (including iPhones and iPods) and Android devices.

The iShower is mounted in your shower, and you can also opt to bring it outdoors with you to the beach or pool for up to 15 hours, although there is no word on what real life performance is like. The iShower is capable of remembering up to 5 Bluetooth pairings· Key features include play/pause/forward/rewind & volume functions, running on a trio of AA batteries, showing off the current time, and doubles up as an optional anti-fog shower mirror. Expect to fork out $99.99 for the iShower.

WowWee AppGear combines augmented reality with real toys

I’m sure that most of you coolest-gadgets readers are familiar with WowWee, as they make some really cool robot toys. Last year at CES, they unveiled the Cinemin Slice, and CES 2012 will be the year of the AppGear.
I have a video of it after the jump, and it apparently uses augmented reality apps for both iOS and Android, combined with physical toys. I’m not certain how it all works, but it could be the next generation of gaming.
After all, who doesn’t want to see their toys come to life? It looks like the Alien Jailbreak works by placing the alien jail toy in front of you and then shooting the aliens with an iOS or Android augmented reality application of some type.

There will be six of these games/apps available, which will be available sometime in early 2012. They will cost about $9.99 and $19.99, and include the aforementioned Alien Jailbreak, Zombie Burbs, and Elite Commander.

I’m sure that more games will come, especially with Star Wars franchise tie-ins. that’s just a theory, but who wouldn’t make more money for Lucas if they can?