Centrino 2 hits tablet PCs

HP's business tablet PC, the 2710p, was anything but cheap. In fact, while its consumer HP Pavilion tx2000 Tablet PC is one of the most affordable touchscreen models in the market, its corporate sibling went with style, features and long battery life instead.



So it's no surprise that the next-generation HP tablet PC is getting some Centrino 2 love. First broken by AVING News, the actual report was quickly taken down (most likely due to embargo issues). Fortunately, Engadget managed to grab some details and even an image. According to the report, the 12.1-inch convertible tablet HP Compaq 2730p will hold a 1.86GHz low-voltage Core 2 Duo processor, 2GB RAM, 120GB harddisk and an integrated graphics chipset. No news on availability or price yet, though.

LG joins the Centrino 2 gang

They might be a little slow out the gate, but it's no surprise that LG will soon be joining the Centrino 2 crowd. Though details are almost non-existent, Akihabara News managed to score a couple of pictures of the Korean company's new offerings.



There are three models mentioned, the high-end S510, entertainment-focused R410 and R510 laptops. All that is known about the S510 is that it holds a 2.53GHz Core 2 Duo processor, 3GB RAM, 15.4-inch display and an Nvidia GeForce 9600M GT graphics card. Nothing has been mentioned for the other two models, though it doesn't take a stretch of imagination to figure out that the R410 is a 14.1-inch machine, while the R510 sports a 15.4-inch display.

We're still awaiting confirmation on these new laptops for Asia. So if you love LG's design, keep a close eye on this space.

E3 2008: Toshiba is a lonely hardware vendor

As one of the only PC hardware vendors at this year's stripped-down E3 video game tradeshow, Toshiba at least hasn't had to compete with bigger names such as Alienware and Voodoo for attention.

The company is here at the Los Angeles Convention Center to show off some of its latest laptops, including the just-announced gamer-friendly Qosmio X305-Q701--a 17-inch Best Buy exclusive. (Matt Elliott has previously blogged about Toshiba's direct-sale version of the redesigned X305).

It's not exactly cutting-edge, with an Nvidia GeForce 9700M graphics card and an Intel Core 2 Duo P7350 CPU, but at around US$1,500, it's a decent deal on a dual-purpose gaming and multimedia rig. Gateway has had a lot of success recently with similar midrange gaming systems designed for retail shoppers.

We've always liked the Qosmio line for its attractive designs and excellent build quality, and Toshiba has recently expanded the line to include its gaming laptops (now decked out in a fiery red chassis), which previously were part of the more pedestrian Satellite line. Stay tuned for a full review of this new X305, which we expect in the CNET Labs shortly.

Via CNET Crave

Centrino 2 laptops in Asia to get WiMAX from 2009

It looks like notebook users in Asia will have to wait a little longer before they can get their hands on the new WiMAX-enabled Centrino 2 laptops.

While Centrino 2 machines (from ASUS and Acer) are expected to go on sale tomorrow in selected Asian markets such as Singapore, these laptops will feature the Intel Wi-Fi Link 5000 series chipset with wireless-N support. The WiMAX/Wi-Fi Link 5050 series chipset, which offers WiMAX connectivity, will be launched later this year in Centrino 2 laptops sold only in the US. WiMAX-compatible Centrinos are slated to reach Asian shores in the first half of 2009. A company representative estimates that machines equipped with the WiMAX option will cost an average of 10 to 15 percent more than those with just the regular 802.11a/b/g/n chipset.
Read more »

Lucid's Hydra to revolutionize PC graphic upgrades

LucidLogix Technologies seeks to make your video card's processing more efficient. The Israel-based company claims its new Hydra technology will direct graphic-processing traffic between multiple GPUs, using several "intelligent parallelization algorithms". This is a system-on-a-chip solution that will be embedded into video cards and motherboards. LucidLogix claims this will result in the following:

1. "Cost-effective graphic performance with a near-linear to above-linear performance."
2. "Eliminate bottlenecks that exist in typical 3D graphic applications."
3. "Provide interoperability with all GPUs and chipsets."
4. "Work with the latest versions of DirectX and OpenGL."

The key things that stand out to me are the "above-linear performance" claim and the "all GPUs and chipsets" detail. The current video card in my PC is the ATI Radeon X1950. So, supposedly with Hydra, I'll be able to add an Nvidia GeForce 8800 card to get better performance than the two cards are normally capable of. Whether or not the technology will actually work remains to be seen. LucidLogix claims this will improve the performance of any 3D application dynamically without developers having to write specific code. The trick here will be getting all of this to work seamlessly. I hope they can pull it off, as I'm in need of a "cheap" upgrade and I don't want to deal with any headaches. Hydra is set to be available starting in the first half of 2009.

Via CNET Crave

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