Alienware M17x R4 review

While most manufacturers are busy paring down their Ultrabooks to the daintiest of proportions, Alienware’s M17x R4 looms somewhere at the other end of the scale. This giant of a laptop spills over the edges of the average lap, packs in the priciest components money can buy, and tops it all off with a 17in Full HD screen. And now that Intel’s Ivy Bridge has wormed its way inside, it promises to be seriously fast too.

Physically, the M17x R4 is much the same as ever. With the AlienFX lighting array capable of illuminating the laptop in multiple colours or being switched off completely, the M17x R4 can glow or adopt all the subtlety of a flashing, neon-lit Ibiza nightclub. It’s entirely up to you.

The thick, contoured body continues the air of brutishness, but there’s one downside to the bombproof construction: it’s almost impossible to carry with one hand, and with the M17x R4 tipping the scales at a considerable 4.37kg, it isn’t a laptop we’d relish carrying about with any regularity.

That bulk, however, proves the perfect ally for the kind of high-end gaming components secreted within, leaving plenty of room for sizeable internal heatsinks, large twin exhausts and a pair of internal 2.5in hard drive bays.

Those rear exhausts aren’t only for effect, either – they provide the quad-core processor and mobile GPU each with its own dedicated cooling, so temperatures remain reasonable even when they’re both working flat-out.

With the GPU cooled by a triple heatpipe and the CPU by a dual heat-pipe arrangement, the Alienware brushes off the demands of all-day gaming effortlessly. The only downside is noise – push the CPU and GPU flat out with a combination of Prime 95 and the devilishly challenging FurMark, and both fans spin up to intrusive levels.

The Hardware

The powerhouse behind all this is Intel’s Ivy Bridge quad-core Core i7-3610QM processor. It’s a 45W CPU whose nominal 2.3GHz clock speed Turbo Boosts up to 3.3GHz. As with all the new Ivy Bridge parts, the Core i7-3610QM hosts a range of advances over the previous generation.

The die shrink to 22nm combines with Intel’s Tri-gate transistor technology to leave the processors providing even more performance per watt. The integrated GPU, meanwhile, has been upgraded to Intel HD Graphics 4000, which adds DirectX 11 support and an extra four execution units to bring the total up to 16.

Tasked with the challenge of our Real World Benchmarks suite, the new Ivy Bridge hardware teamed up with the M17x R4’s 64GB Samsung PM830 SSD to produce a scorching result of 0.94. By comparison, the Samsung Series 7 Gamer we reviewed earlier this year, powered by a 2.2GHz Sandy Bridge Core i7-2670QM, scored 0.84. It’s also only 6% slower than our reference desktop PC, powered by a Sandy Bridge Core i7-2600K.

It’s a stunning achievement, and even more so when you consider the Alienware’s performance in the media encoding portion of our benchmarks, where it proved 3% quicker than the reference PC.

The CPU performance is undeniably impressive, but the Alienware doesn’t really get into its stride until gaming comes into the equation. Intel’s HD Graphics 4000 takes the reigns for everyday tasks, but the top-of-the-range AMD Radeon HD 7970M steps forward for games.

It’s a beast of a GPU: with 1,280 pixel shaders and 2GB of RAM at its disposal it tore through our Crysis benchmarks, pushing an average of 42fps with Crysis running at Full HD resolution and High quality. It wasn’t until we engaged Crysis’ Very High quality setting that the card dropped below 40fps, finishing with a final average of 35fps.

Intel’s HD Graphics 4000 architecture might pale in comparison to AMD’s top-end GPU, but it marks a solid improvement over Sandy Bridge’s HD Graphics 3000. With Crysis running at 1,366 x 768 and Low quality, Intel’s upgraded GPU managed an average of 43fps, 25% faster than its predecessor.

Upping the resolution to 1,600 x 900 and nudging Crysis up to Medium quality saw that drop to 22fps. Given that Ivy Bridge’s Crysis performance is almost on a par with AMD’s new Trinity platform, it’s certain that AMD is will have to work hard to remain price competitive.

If there’s one thing absent from the Alienware M17x R4, it’s any real sign of Ivy Bridge’s improved efficiency. The CPU certainly runs cool – we never saw the core temperatures exceed 83 degrees, even after running at 100% load for several hours – but the huge 17.3in display and high-performance components take their toll on battery life.

The M17x R4’s 90Wh battery ran dry after only 3hrs 2mins in our light-use test, and taxing the CPU flat-out with our looping Cinebench test saw the Alienware expire after only 1hr 10mins. We’ll have to wait for an Ivy Bridge Ultrabook, or a more down-to-earth laptop to see if Intel's new chip can really deliver on the battery life front.

The details

Sensible isn’t a word that features in Alienware’s vocabulary, though. Every ounce of the M17x R4 is being geared towards high-end gaming performance, and it hard isn’t to warm to such an extrovert character. Fire up one of the latest titles, such as Diablo 3, and the Alienware delivers a full-bodied, luscious experience.

Our model came with the Full HD 17.3in panel option, and while colours are a little cold, the 621:1 contrast ratio and 298cd/m2 maximum brightness are plenty enough to make games really pop off the screen.

Audio, meanwhile, is hugely refined by laptop standards. With Klipsch speakers firing out of the glowing front grilles, audio is crisp, detailed and underpinned by only enough bass to make us hesitate before reaching for the headphones.
In the core areas, the M17x R4 also has it nailed. The backlit keyboard has a delightful soft-touch feel under the finger, and the keys have plenty of travel and a cushioned break at the end of the stroke – it’s a pleasure to type on. In addition, while few gamers will ever need to use the touchpad, it’s equally good. The discrete buttons are a welcome sight, and the wide touch area provides lag-free cursor control and responsive two-fingered pinching and scrolling.

Look around the M17x R4’s huge chassis, and you’ll see acres of space for connectivity. With four USB 3 ports, HDMI 1.4, mini-DisplayPort, D-SUB, Gigabit Ethernet, an SD card reader, an optical digital output, separate headphone and microphone jacks, and a dedicated headset output, there’s absolutely nothing lacking.

If there’s one minor quibble, it’s with the wireless – the single-band 802.11n Centrino chipset seems a little out of place on such a high-end laptop. We’d recommend shelling out the extra £15 for the killer Wireless-N upgrade with its triple stream and dual-band support.

Indeed, the sheer level of customisation on offer is astonishing. The base model starts at a reasonable sounding £1,300 inc VAT, and it’s easy to send the price soaring over the £2,000 mark by adding faster CPUs, dual hard drive setups, RAID arrays, SSD boot drives, swapping the AMD or Nvidia graphics, or upgrading to a 120Hz 3D-capable, Full HD display. As gaming laptops go, the Alienware M17x R4 is a pretty flexible beast.

Verdict

Alienware’s M17x R4 is a heavyweight in every sense of the word. The Ivy Bridge processor delivers outstanding performance, the AMD Radeon HD 7970M is more than a match for the latest games and the gargantuan chassis just oozes quality from every port.

It isn’t cheap, but spend some time juidiciously sifting through the myriad customisation options and it’s possible to drop the price closer to the £1,500 mark. If you’re looking for a multimedia powerhouse to take the place of a bulky desktop PC, this Alienware machine is simply out of this world.

Author: Sasha Muller
PC Pro

HDTV Review : Panasonic TC-P50ST50

Panasonic plasma HDTVs have a well-deserved reputation for producing very dark black levels, and the TC-P55ST50 continues that trend. The 55-inch plasma panel not only delivers inky blacks, it's out of the box color accuracy is outstanding too.  At $1,699.99 (list) it's not exactly a steal, but it's not quite as expensive as our reigning Editors' Choice plasma, last year's Samsung PN51D8000 ($2,299.99, 4 stars). The TC-P55ST50  is 3D ready, but it doesn't include glasses, which means you'll have to shell out upwards of $300 for active shutter 3D glasses for a family of four. You'll also pay more to run this set, since like many plasmas, it's not particularly energy efficient.

Editors' Note: This review is based on tests performed on the Panasonic TC-P55ST50, the 55-inch model in the same series. Besides the screen size difference, the $1,399.99 50-inch TC-P50ST50  is identical in features, and while we didn't perform lab tests on this specific model, we expect similar performance.

Design and Features

With the TC-P55ST50 Panasonic moves away from the glossy black bezel design used on earlier models, including the Panasonic P50GT30 ($1,199.99, 3.5 stars) we reviewed last year. This time around the panel is framed by dark gray bezels with a slice of clear trim around the outer edge. A silver brushed aluminum base complements the cabinet and gives the set a touch of elegance. The stand does a fine job of supporting the 61-pound cabinet, but it doesn't swivel.

Behind the right-hand bezel are power, channel, and volume controls and an input select button that doubles as a menu button when you press and hold it. The rear of the cabinet holds all of the I/O connections; three HDMI ports, two USB ports, and an SD card slot are vertically mounted and face left for easy access. Ethernet, TV/antenna, and digital audio out connections sit horizontally under a recessed space notched into the back panel. Here you'll also find a proprietary mini-component video input port for use with the included component dongle. It's odd that Panasonic only equips this model with three HDMI ports considering most HDTVs have four, and in the case of the Sharp Elite Pro-60X5FD ($5,999, 4 stars), five.

The 9-inch remote has 43 buttons and a four-way directional rocker with an Enter button. The main keys have red backlighting that makes them easy to identify in a dark room. The three main keys (Menu, Internet, and Viera Tools) are situated above the rocker assembly, while the number keys and player controls are at the bottom of the remote along with a Help key that launches a built-in user manual.

There's also a 3D button that lets you view 2D content in a simulated 3D mode. As I found with the Sharp Elite Pro-60X5FD , converted 3D picture quality isn't up to snuff compared with true made-for-3D image quality. You don't get the depth and clarity that true 3D offers, and there's a good deal of crosstalk. As with the P50GT30 , the P55ST50 does not include active shutter 3D glasses, so be prepared to part with an additional $80 per pair.

Image settings include five preset picture modes (Standard, Cinema, Custom, Vivid, Game) and your basics: Brightness, Contrast, Color, Tint, Sharpness, and Color Temperature. Panasonic's Pro settings allow you to adjust color space and set high and low white balance for reds, greens, and blues. Other Pro settings include panel brightness and gamma adjustment.

The Audio setting menu offers Bass, Treble, Balance, and Surround settings, as well as a volume leveler to keep those pesky commercials from blasting you out of your seat. The TC-P55ST50's 8-Train speaker system, consisting of eight mini domes and a slim but powerful subwoofer, provides a solid wall of sound with a good amount of bass, but the surround effect sounds thin.

Panasonic's selection of Web apps is top notch; streaming movie channels include Vudu, Netflix, Hulu Plus, Amazon Instant video, and CinemaNow, and you get Facebook, Twitter, Skype, and YouTube. Internet Sports channels include MLB, MLS, NBA, NHL, and Fox Sports. The Viera Market Connect menu offers plenty of free services as well as pay-for apps like Uno, Apple Muncher, and Let's Golf 2. And, there's a built-in Web browser.

Performance

I tested the TC-P55ST50 using images from the DisplayMate suite of HDTV diagnostic tests, SpectraCal's CalMAN software, and a CS-200 Chroma Meter. After a basic calibration the panel produced a nice dark black level reading of 0.02 cd/m2, but it could only manage a peak brightness of 85.45 cd/m2, which is tad darker than the P50GT30 (88.58 cd/m2) and quite dim compared with the Samsung PN51D8000 (244.92 cd/m2).

Out-of-the-box color accuracy was excellent. The panel practically hit the CIE (International Commission On Illumination) chromaticity coordinates for red, green, and blue on the nose, as shown in the CalMAN-generated diagram below. More importantly, the P55ST50 delivers an excellent picture; colors popped from the solid black background in the Seasonal Forests chapter of the BBC's Planet Earth Blu-ray, and shadow detail was outstanding in the darker Ocean Deep chapter. What's more, there was no evidence of the fringing effect that plagued the P50GT30. Off angle viewing was typical of a good plasma panel. There was no loss of luminance from an extreme side angle and colors remained bright and true.

3D performance was good, but not on a par with our Editors' Choice high-end LCD, the Sharp Elite Pro. I noticed some crosstalk while watching clips from IMAX Under The Sea 3D, but the artifacts were minor and didn't detract from the overall experience. Panasonic's glasses are lighter than most active shutter glasses, but aren't as comfortable as today's passive glasses, like the six pairs that come with the Editors' Choice Vizio M3D550KD ($1,429.99, 4 stars).

Plasma HDTVs aren't known for energy efficiency, and the P55ST50 is no exception. With Power Saving mode disabled, the set used 305 watts during my testing; that number dropped to 245 watts with it enabled. The P50GT30 averaged 225 watts, while the Samsung PN51D8000  used 105 watts in Standard mode. If energy efficiency is a deal breaker, consider an LED-backlit LCD model like the LG 55LM6700 ($2,299.99, 4 stars), which only consumed 67 watts.

Conclusion

The Panasonic P55ST50 is a tastefully designed 55-inch plasma HDTV that delivers very accurate colors, deep dark blacks, and wide off-angle viewing. Its $1,700 price tag is not unreasonable considering its performance, but you'll end up spending around $2000 if you need four pairs of 3D glasses. You don't get the brightness and superior image quality of the Samsung PN51D8000, but you do get a slightly bigger screen and a much smaller price tag.

PC Magazine

No Ice Cream Sandwich for Sony's Xperia Play

Sony confirmed today that it will not upgrade the Xperia Play, also known as the "PlayStation phone," to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich.

"After extensive in-house testing with our developer teams and working with our partners, we have concluded that a consistent and stable experience, particularly with gaming, cannot be guaranteed for this smartphone on Ice Cream Sandwich," Sony said in a Friday blog post. "Therefore, we will not make the Android 4.0 upgrade available for Xperia Play."

Sony said its decision was "verified" when developers, testers, and game content providers had the same feedback after using the ICS beta ROM for unlocked Xperia Play smartphones.

"Our priority has and always will be, to provide the best possible user experience on Xperia smartphones," Sony continued. "In this instance the ICS upgrade would have compromised stability, where we look to ensure a quality gaming experience with games optimized and developed for Xperia Play."

The news comes shortly after Sony published a blog post in which it outlined a list of reasons existing phone owners may not want to jump up to the sleek new interface of Ice Cream Sandwich.

The company is not totally avoiding ICS upgrades, however. The Xperia arc S, Xperia ray and Xperia neo V got Android 4.0.3 last month, and will soon be upgraded to Android 4.0.4. Other Xperia devices are also on track to get Android 4.0.4.

"The first smartphone to be upgraded will be Xperia S, starting from the end of June," Sonys said. "Then Xperia P will follow, whilst Xperia U will receive it a little later in Q3."

The Xperia arc, Xperia neo, Xperia mini, Xperia mini pro, Xperia pro, Xperia activem and Sony Ericsson Live with Walkman will also start receiving their updates next week.

PC Magazine

Canon EOS 650D coming in June - specs leaked

Canon has been rather tardy with the release of its 2012 mid-level DSLR, the EOS 650D (Rebel T4i in the US and other regions). Its predecessors, the Canon EOS 600D and EOS 550D, were released in March 2011 and April 2010 respectively, but this year's spring has passed and there's still no sign of the new model.

It is believed, however, that Canon-ites won't need to wait much longer: sources claim its launch will be next month. As dedicated website Canon Rumours states: "An announcement is slated for June."

The same site has also heard some leaked specifications for the 650D, including the adoption of an 18-megapixel CMOS sensor that may or may not be the same as in last year's 600D. Also listed is a 9-point AF (again, the same as found on the 600D) and the very welcome continuous auto focus in live view and video recording modes.

Perhaps the most tantalising rumour is that the EOS 650D will come with a touchscreen LCD screen. After the superbly large one on the 550D and swivel version on the 600D, this comes as the next evolutionary step.

That's about all that's come out for now, but if the June announcement is correct, Pocket-lint fully expects the speculation to ramp up in volume over the next couple of weeks.

Pocket-lint

Smartphones with quad-core chips and 4G LTE coming soon

Quad-core processors have not yet been combined with 4G LTE in smartphones, but that could change soon.

Nvidia on Thursday said a quad-core Tegra 3 chip and a third-party LTE modem will be used in the Fujitsu Arrows X LTE phone, which will come to Japan in "summer." A company spokesperson could not provide a specific date, and further details of the smartphone were not immediately available.

Nvidia's own Icera 410 LTE modem was also approved for use on the AT&T wireless network in the U.S., paving the way for smartphones with quad-core chips and LTE modems.

Nvidia and Qualcomm are the only companies that offer a package of quad-core processors and LTE modems for smartphones, but the technologies have not yet been paired. For example, HTC's One X smartphone is offered with a quad-core processor in the non-LTE variant, but with a dual-core processor in the LTE variant. ZTE offers the Ascend D Quad smartphone with a quad-core processor, but the handset does not support LTE.

LTE will offer fast download speeds and quicker access to websites, and quad-core chips speed up smartphone performance. But there have been troubles matching the two technologies together, with one of the issues being smartphone battery life, said Jim McGregor, an industry analyst.

"When you add more cores, you should be able to do things faster and shut down cores. That's theoretically," McGregor said. "But the minute 4G kicks in, it's the same old theory: You run something faster, you're going to run out of power."

Some of those issues could be resolved as chip circuitry gets smaller and LTE modems are integrated in processors over the coming years, McGregor said.

Qualcomm's latest Snapdragon chips integrate 3G/4G inside the chip, and the company has said its quad-core chips will be used in LTE phones in the future. Nvidia's Icera 410 LTE modem isn't integrated, and a company spokesman said the part is best suited for tablets and clamshell devices. Nvidia's integrated Tegra processor with a CPU and modem is coming in 2013, and that chip will go into devices such as tablets and smartphones.

Smartphone chip supplier Texas Instruments has opted not to provide quad-core chips for smartphones because of cost and heat concerns.

PC Advisor

Opera Mini on Android and bada OS via Samsung Apps

We speculated on whether the bada OS from Samsung has reached the end of the road just last week, and it seems as though nothing came out of it – so there is still some life left in the bada OS’ legs for the moment. Opera Software has made an announcement concerning the availability of Opera Mini on the Android and bada platforms, where the latter can be downloaded for any bada 2.0-powered device via Samsung Apps, which is Samsung’s very own dedicated application store. Alternatively, you can do so via Kies (the PC software) or www.samsungapps.com for free.

Basically, Opera Mini helps those who are on a pay-per-use data plan the most, as it will have a heavy duty server backend that does all the webpage crunching down to a fraction of its original size before sending it over to your smartphone, letting you enjoy “the super-fast web while staying under your data plan cap.” According to Erick Lee, Vice President of Sales and Country Manager for Korea, Opera Software, “We want to make Opera Mini available everywhere to everyone. For owners of Samsung bada and Android devices, why are you even reading this far? Head over to Samsung Apps and download Opera Mini. I promise you’ll never look back.” Do you think Mr. Lee has kept to his promise after you’ve given Opera Mini a go?

Ubergizmo

No Apple iTV until 2014?

Analyst reckons that contract negotiations with Hollywood studios will delay Apple's rumoured television set.

Apple's rumoured Siri-powered television set, the iTV – or iPanel, depending on who you ask – may take a little longer reaching the shelves than previously thought. JP Morgan analyst Mark Moskowitz has shot down hopes of a 2012 or even 2013 release date for the iTV, pointing to protracted negotiations over contracts with Hollywood studios and the parlous state of the TV market.

"We are not sure that the Apple premium could prevail in the TV market," Moskowitz writes. With the TV market currently in decline, Apple needs to bring something new to the table – "a radical change of the user interface, integration of the TV programming and data content, and use of gesture or voice control."

Citing the long development times for the iPhone and iPad, Moscowitz reckons we won't see an Apple iTV before 2014.

More likely in the meantime, according to the analyst, is an iPhone 5 with NFC technology, tying into an iPay (or iWallet) payment system.

PC Authority

Reverge announces cross-platform PS3/PC play for Skullgirls

When it comes to fighting games that aren’t Street Fighter or Tekken, they’re pretty much a dime a dozen. So in order to stand out, every fighter game that a small studio tries to develop needs to have some sort of really cool distinguishing feature. It could be the art style, the control system, the intensity of violence…or it could be something completely different. Case in point – Skullgirls.

The game is already unique enough in that it has an emphasis on female characters – something that anyone who’s ever had a crush on Chun Li will appreciate – but what’s more interesting is that it will offer cross-platform online play. So people who are playing the PS3 version will be able to seamlessly compete against those on the PC version. This is something you would never see for an Xbox 360 title, even though Microsoft owns both Xbox Live and Games For Windows Live.

Microsoft has pledged not to offer cross-platform play. The company agreed to a pilot test when Final Fantasy XI was released but quickly decided it wanted its online experiences to be closed off. Microsoft has made some solid arguments about the experience for PC and console games and how they are so different that one side would always have an unfair advantage. Nevertheless, Reverge’s game Skullgirls will try to prove that it is possible.

Slash Gear

Verizon to offer texts to 911 by 2013

There are a number of legitimate reasons why someone in danger might not be able to call 911. The person might be hard of hearing or unable to speak, or perhaps the situation is just too dangerous for speaking to a 911 operator. There will be a solution soon as Verizon announced that it will be working with TeleCommunication Systems to allow its customers to send text messages to 911 centers by 2013. FCC spokesperson Tammy Sun was shining about the plan saying that the agency, "commended the company for offering consumers another way to reach 911 that is consistent with how millions of consumers already use mobile devices in their daily lives."

Back in 2010, the FCC itself said that it wanted to bring 911 into the Digital Age by offering SMS service. Outside of asking for ideas and exhorting the carriers on, nothing really has come of the FCC's involvement. For some time, there has been a need to update 911 services to allow those with low battery strength or a poor wireless signal, to summon help. In 2009, two girls stuck in as storm drain updated their Facebook status before seeking emergency help. In another case, a man sent out a tweet to report that a woman was having a seizure because he did not have enough battery life to make a call.

Verizon will be using its current CDMA SMS network to handle the texts to 911 and the service will be available to all Verizon customers sporting a phone that supports text messages and have a service plan that includes text messaging. Ironically, back in January 2011 during a snowstorm in Washington D.C., 8300 calls to 911 on the Verizon network in the area failed which led to an FCC probe.

PhoneArena.com

Microsoft reported to have begun Xbox 720 production

Ahead of E3 2012 Microsoft is reported to have begun production on the first Xbox 720 consoles which are reportedly bound for developers

Despite having confirmed it will not unveil the Xbox 720 during its upcoming E3 2012 conference, new reports have suggested Microsoft has already begun the manufacturing process on its next-generation console.

With Microsoft continuing to prolong the lifecycle of its current Xbox 360 gamer industry blog IGN has suggested that manufacturing partner Flextronics has already started piecing together the console that will eventually rival the Nintendo Wii U and heavily rumoured Sony PS4.

"Prior to reaching the manufacturing stage, Flextronics created a new testing group separate from the rest of the company," the newly outed report has claimed. "This team was solely dedicated to comprehensive marketing, software, and hardware tests of the next Xbox. With that activity concluded, Flextronics started building the hardware."

Whilst it is likely that such hardware will be for development purposes as opposed to consumer release models, the reports, if accurate, mark an important phase in the next-generation console’s birth with studios already confirmed to have been working on future console titles for some time.

"While we appreciate all the interest in our long-range plans for the future, we can confirm that there will be no talk of new Xbox hardware at E3 or anytime soon," Microsoft’s head of corporate PR, David Dennis said in a recent interview. He added: "For us, 2012 is all about Xbox 360 - and it's the best year ever for Xbox 360. The console is coming off its biggest year ever-a year in which Xbox outsold all other consoles worldwide."

T3

Upcoming Nokia Drive 3.0 and Nokia Transport 2.0 features revealed

The folks over at WP7Forum.ru got a sneak peek at the new, upcoming update for Nokia Drive and Nokia Transport. Unfortunately it didn’t provide an estimate as to when we might see these Windows Phone apps get updated, but it did share a feature list.

First off, Nokia Drive will updated to version 3.0 and will include several new features such as:

• The application "learns" based on the style of driving
• Time travel and the density of traffic movements are tracked in real time, displaying information on the "live" tile
• Automatic determination of time of day, with the change of color scheme cards
• Manual adjustment of routes
• Off-line favorite lists with the possibility of fixing tiles on the desktop.

The Nokia Transport app will be updated to version 2.0 and will feature:

• Search for public transport based on the user's location 

• Display nearby transportation: buses, trains, trams, subways, taxis, marked stops
• Show the route with transfers
• Support Schedule in 87 countries around the world
• Support for fast access to Favorites
• Advanced Search
• Saving query history
• Change the query without a new route
• Faster search and installation of the route
• Optimized application performance

Packard Bell EasyNote LV and TV Laptops Brings Ivy Bridge to Europe

Many of the notebooks that have seen the upgrade to Intel’s Ivy Bridge processors have most been international brands but like everyone else, European notebook users also want a piece of the pie. In its latest move, Acer’s local (European) Packard Bell brand has made the transition as well. With the company’s 15.6-inch EasyNote TV and 17.3-inch EasyNote LV, Packard Bell has decided to use Intel’s 22nm processors to push the boundaries of the notebooks’ performance. With the addition of the Ivy Bridge processors, users will be able to get an average battery life of 5 hours from the notebooks.

To support rich media and games the laptops will ship with GeForce GT 620M and GeForce 630M graphic cards from Nvidia respectively. In addition to that, Packard Bell is delivering a multi-touch trackpad which is allegedly 20% more responsive than before, dedicated music and social keys as well as a bamboo-patterned top casing which it hopes will add to the aesthetics. Both the laptops will hit retail outlets in Europe in June with their prices starting at 499 Euros or $656. In the past, Acer has brought Packard Bell PCs over to the US with them being basically equal in specifications so don’t be surprised if both the LV and the TV make their way Stateside before its been too long. As for that point however, nothing has been officially announced yet, but who knows right?

Ubergizmo

B&W P3 headphones launched

High-end audio experts Bowers & Wilkins have launched a successor to their acclaimed P5 headphones, the sensuous B&W P3 headphones.

B&W P3 headphones features

Claimed to be Bowers & Wilkins’ most portable on-ear headphones yet, these beautiful cans have comfortable memory foam earpieces, a choice of cable leads for iPhone and other devices, and ‘superior drive unit terminals’ according to B&W.

In our brief time with the P3s at a launch event we noted that the build quality was as impressive as ever, while audio quality was - if anything - better than the excellent predecessor P5 models.

We’ll have a full B&W P3 headphones review for you very soon, in the meantime check out the competition in our current Best Headphones list.

B&W P3 headphones release date and price

The Bowers & Wilkins P3 headphones will come in black or white, available from June 2012 priced £169.99

T3

Proporta unveils first Samsung Galaxy S3 cases

Giving wannabe Samsung Galaxy S3 owners a selection of design options, Proporta has unveiled its first Samsung Galaxy S3 cases

Following yesterday’s Samsung Galaxy S3 unveiling, accessories great Proporta has unveiled its first range of Samsung Galaxy S3 cases ahead of the handset’s in-store release.

With a broad range of back and softcover cases, Proporta’s upcoming collection of Samsung Galaxy S3 cases will see the company expand its branding partnerships with the likes of Quicksilver as well as offering new S3 owners a wide selection of unique designs in which to coat their 4.8-inch handsets.
With prices kicking off at just £14.95, Proporta has confirmed that it will introduce its first Samsung Galaxy S3 cases “in Mid June, 3 weeks after the Galaxy becomes available in the UK.” A Samsung Galaxy S3 UK release date has been set for May 30th.

Samsung Galaxy S3 Specs
Repeatedly leaked ahead of launch the Samsung Galaxy S3 was officially unveiled yesterday as a monster of the smartphone market with a 4.8-inch HD Super AMOLED with 1280 x 720p resolution lining up alongside a speedy 1.4GHz quad-core processor.
With 1GB of RAM, the 8.6mm thick Samsung Galaxy S2 follow-on boasts an 8-megapixel rear mounted camera with 1080p video recording capabilities and a second 1.9-megapixel snapper on the front. The handset is available in 16, 32 and 64GB storage capacity options.

T3

iPhone 4S now goes for $114 at Walmart

Apple’s iPhone easily beats all other handsets in sales quarter after quarter, and even the slightest drop in price results in huge crowds getting the handset. Now, Walmart has the best deal out there with the iPhone 4S price dropped to $114 for the 16GB model.

The deal was caught by the Cult of Mac in Edmond, Oklahoma, and we don’t know whether it’s a local affair, or a nationwide promo, so you’d better check with your local Walmart. It seems that only some stores have this offer.

The price cut brings the cost of an 8GB iPhone 4 to $34. Overall this means that the cost of AT&T upgrades and new activations drops by $54 (for the iPhone 4) and $74 (for the iPhone 4S).

Last year, we saw the same cuts in Walmart a month before the iPhone 4S arrived, but now it seems way too early for the next iPhone, but you never know what's Apple got in store.

PhoneArena.com

White LG Optimus L7 with Ice Cream Sandwich on sale in UK today

Announced for roll-out across Europe this week, the white edition of the LG Optimus L7 will actually be available in the UK from today, through Phones 4u. The device is one of LG's mid-range handsets and comes pre-installed with Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) from the box.

Other key specifications for the smartphone that Pocket-lint had a brief play with at Mobile World Congress in February include a Cortex A5 1GHz processor, 4.3-inch WVGA touchscreen, 5-megapixel rear camera with LED flash, and is a svelte 8.7mm thin.

There's 2.7GB of storage on board, with a microSD card slot capable of expanding that be up to an extra 32GB. The battery is of the 1700mAh variety, but we wouldn't expect it to take too much of a bashing considering this is a mid-range device.

"LG Optimus L7 offers beauty and performance in one smart package," said Dr Jong-seok Park, president and CEO of LG Electronics Mobile Communications Company.

"The L7 is a significant addition to our L-Series portfolio and we are confident that it’ll prove highly attractive to users. We expect it to be one of our most popular smartphones."

Global release of the smartphone will ramp up soon, with Asia next to get it after Europe. There's no news on when the black version will arrive in shops.

Pocket-lint

Xbox 360 gamepad mod replaces buttons with 9mm bullets

If games like Call of Duty and Battlefield or any type of action game that involves guns sounds like something you’d be interested in, you might want to check out this modified Xbox 360 gamepad. Spotted anything different yet? In case you haven’t, this particular Xbox 360 gamepad has had its buttons removed in place of real 9mm bullets! Apparently these are real bullets that have actually been fired.

Talk about hardcore! So much how will this modified gamepad cost you? Considering that regular gamepads go for around $40, Diesel Lace Design is asking for double that price, $84.95 to be exact. We guess bullets aren’t cheap. However there are cheaper options but this would involve you doing the modifications yourself. Either way to place your order, pop on down to Diesel Lace Design’s Etsy page for the details.

Ubergizmo

HTC One S receives a kickstand case of its own

HTC One S owners, if you wish that your phone came with a built-in kickstand, unfortunately that will not be happening. However an alternative has been provided by none other than HTC themselves by introducing a series of protective cases designed for the One S in mind. These hard plastic cases will come in a variety of different colors and will offer owners some level of protection, although we do not recommend you put it to the test. Based on the design (pictured above), it should be sufficient to prevent scratches at the back of your phone at the very least.

However we guess that isn’t the point and if you’re willing to fork out an additional $15, you can get your hands on the same case except this time it will feature a spring-loaded aluminum kickstand. These cases are expected to be made available “soon” and will set you back $24.99 for the regular version, and $39.99 for the kickstand version. So, any takers?

Ubergizmo

Nvidia GeForce GTX 690 review

Nvidia smashed it out of the park with its GeForce GTX 680, but that clearly isn’t enough graphical grunt for the green team. In a surprise unveiling at the Nvidia Game Festival 2012 in Shanghai, CEO Jen-Hsun Huang gave us its dual-GPU beast, the GeForce GTX 690.

The formula for building one of these super-powerful cards is surprisingly simple. Two of Nvidia's GTX 680 cores are soldered onto a 280mm-long piece of PCB, with a small chip between the two to allow them to work together.

As is usual in dual-GPU cards, the cores have been clocked down a little, with the 1,006MHz stock speed of the GTX 680 now standing at 915MHz. Nvidias Turbo Boost technology remains intact, though, so that core clock will adjust up or down depending on how much work the GPUs are doing. Adjustments are made every millisecond, and the GTX 690's 915MHz core will hit a peak of 967MHz when it's at maximum load.

Aside from the clock drop, little of the GTX 680 has been changed. Each core is still accompanied by 2GB of 6,008MHz GDDR5 RAM, for a total of 4GB across the board. There have been no architectural changes, either, with the eight huge clusters serving each core still packing 192 stream processors each. Across the entire GTX 690, that means there are a mighty 3,072 stream processors and just over seven billion transistors.

Thats a formidable amount of pixel-pushing power and, as expected, it translated to ridiculous benchmark results. At Full HD, the card clearly isn’t being pushed: its 73fps in our 1,920 x 1,080 Very High quality benchmark, for instance, isn't that far ahead of the HD 7970's 60fps or the GTX 680's 57fps.

Crank up the resolution and detail, though, and the two cores get to work. Running Crysis at 2,560 x 1,600 saw its score barely drop to 70fps; the GTX 680 and HD 7970, by way of contrast, ran through the same test at 42fps.

Performance in other games was just as impressive. Crysis 2 at 1,920 x 1,080 and its Ultra settings - the trickiest the game offers - saw the GTX 690 average 57fps, the same score as a single GTX 680, but the HD 7970 fell behind with a 36fps average. Again, though, upping the resolution put clear air between the cards: the GTX 690 averaged 55fps, and its single-core stablemate scored 33fps at 2,560 x 1,600.

DiRT 3 and Just Cause 2 didn't provide much of a challenge to the GTX 690. In the former the card averaged 122fps at 2,560 x 1,600 and Ultra quality settings, and in the latter it brushed aside high resolutions and quality settings with disdain. With everything turned up and at 2,560 x 1,600, the card averaged 128fps.

The only way to see what the GTX 690 can really do, though, is to run benchmarks across three screens, and at the huge resolution of 5,760 x 1,080. After a lot of fiddling we managed to get it up and running, and the results were impressive: 108fps in Dirt 3, 83fps in Skyrim, and 56fps Battlefield 3, all with 4x anti-aliasing enabled, blowing every other card out of the water.

Nvidia has made plenty of play of the GTX 690's frugality when it comes to power, noise and heat and, while it's certainly at the high end of every scale - it requires two eight-pin power sockets, after all – it performed relatively well in our tests. At idle and full load, the power consumption of our test rig came in at 96W and 373W - not that much more than that of the GTX 680. And its thermal properties were even more eye-opening: under full load the temperature topped out at only 65°C.

Those decent results can be attributed to the card's pair of vapour chamber coolers, both of which are visible through one of the GTX 690's unique features - two polycarbonate windows. The rest of the card has an air of luxury about it, too: it's made from cast aluminium and protected with a hi-tech chromium coating, the fan housings are constructed from injection-moulded magnesium alloy, and the GTX 690 logo on the side of the board is laser-etched plastic with LED backlights.

Of course, given the luxury feel and stupendous levels of speed, you'd expect the GTX 690 to come with a ludicrous price - and at £840 you'd be right. That's a ridiculous amount to spend on a single component, and we cant possibly recommend you do unless you're planning to game on three screens at the highest quality levels. That's the only place this card makes sense, but as an exercise designed to further cement Nvidia's status as top dog in graphics, it certainly does the trick. Your move, AMD.

Author: Mike Jennings
PC Pro

Microsoft to stream E3 2012 conference via Xbox Live

Despite having confirmed it will not out the eagerly awaited Xbox 720, Microsoft has revealed it is to stream its E3 2012 conference via Xbox Live

Microsoft has confirmed that it is to bring consumers closer to its upcoming E3 press than ever before with the new product showcase to be streamed in real time across the global via Xbox Live.

Set to be held on the same day as the Sony press conference, Microsoft will kick off the Los Angeles based June 4th proceedings with its ‘Xbox: Entertainment Evolved' to get under way at 10am Pacific time, 6pm here in the UK.

Allowing gaming fans to get the low-down on all the latest and upcoming additions to their Microsoft branded console from the comfort of their living room, the Microsoft E3 2012 unveiling will take place prior to Nintendo’s confirmation of the final Nintendo Wii U features list.

Previously tipped to be planning the long awaited Xbox 720 release unveiling during its E3 2012 conference, Microsoft personnel recently confirmed that it has no intentions to out its next-generation console in the near future.

"While we appreciate all the interest in our long-range plans for the future, we can confirm that there will be no talk of new Xbox hardware at E3 or anytime soon," Microsoft’s head of corporate PR, David Dennis said.

"For us, 2012 is all about Xbox 360 - and it's the best year ever for Xbox 360. The console is coming off its biggest year ever-a year in which Xbox outsold all other consoles worldwide."

T3