OnePlus One is a high-end phablet with CyanogenMod for $299 unlocked

Launching in late May, the device is cheaper than the Nexus 5 and has better specs.

via Ars Technica http://arstechnica.com

Windows Phone 8.1 review: Microsoft's mobile OS finally feels whole

Android, iOS, Windows Phone. Each of these mobile platforms had to start somewhere, and none were anywhere near perfect on the first try. Fortunately, each OS gets better with every iteration until, at some point, it all just clicks. Arguably,...

via Engadget RSS Feed http://www.engadget.com

Acer's Switch 10 is a shape-shifting tablet with four display modes

You gotta hand it to Acer for giving its products self-explanatory names. The company just announced the Aspire Switch 10, and it's pretty much exactly what it sounds like. Which is to say, it's a 10.1-inch Windows device that switches (get it?) from...

via Engadget RSS Feed http://www.engadget.com

Acer announces new devices including new 2-in-1 laptop and 23-inch All-in-Ones

Acer is announcing new devices today that include a really slick new 2-in-1 laptop and 23-inch All-in-Ones.

Acer Aspire Switch 10:

The Aspire Switch 10 is a new 2-in-1 laptop from Acer that comes with a special magnetic detachable Acer Snap Hinge that lets the device switch between 4 different modes for seamless touch, typing and viewing: Notebook mode, Pad (or Tablet) mode, Display mode, and Tent mode. The Acer Snap Hinge has two hooks that connect the tablet to the keyboard and a 2-way connector that holds the tablet for convenient two-side viewing.

 

The Aspire Switch 10 is really thin measuring less than 8.9mm thin in Tablet mode and only 20mm with the keyboard docked. It is also light weighing in at just 1.17kg. It has an aluminum rear cover that features an architectonic cross-brush pattern achieved through nano imprint lithography technology. In short, it feels really nice and durable in your hand. You also get a 10.1-inch display with a 1366x768 screen resolution and IPS technology for 178-degree viewing angles.

On the inside, the Aspire Switch 10 features up to 64GB of storage and 2GB of memory and is powered by an Intel Atom (Bay Trail) quad-core processor. If you want more storage, there will be integrated hard drive options for the keyboard up to 500GB. The Precision Touchpad that also comes as part of the keyboard offers support for Windows 8 touch gestures.

And it also comes with Microsoft Office Home and Student 2013 which includes Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote.

The Aspire Switch 10 starts shipping in May starting at $379.99 (U.S.).

Acer Aspire U5-620 and Aspire Z3-615:

Acer is announcing two new 23-inch All-in-One PC models. The Aspire U5-620 is a perfect All-in-One for a student heading off the college as it’s designed to help you stay in touch with friends and family. It is Skype certified and offers amazing video and audio communication capabilities. For example it has a front-facing dual array microphone that includes features like Far-Field Pick-up (“FFP”) and Keystroke Suppression (“KSS”). FFP helps pick up the audio from people who are at a distance from the microphone, without any reduction in volume and KSS helps to filter out the sound of keyboard typing so you can multi-task without annoying the folks on the your end of your call. It also has a 1080p webcam with a wide field of view for super clear video communication.

The Aspire U5-620 is built with an ergonomic back hinge allowing it to be effortlessly adjusted for many viewing angles, from completely flat to 90°. It also has a capacitive 10-point edge-to-edge multi-touch screen with an anti-fingerprint coating to reduce smudges and messy fingerprints all over the screen.

The Aspire Z3-615 is the perfect All-in-One for the whole family offering up some amazing entertainment capabilities. It has a Full HD display with IPS technology for great viewing angles and comes powered by a 4th generation Intel Core processor and NVIDIA GeForce graphics. It also has front-facing speakers powered by Dolby Digital Plus Home Theater. The Aspire Z3-615 has a sleek metallic stand with a small footprint that lets you tuck away cables to save space on a desk or table. And the ergonomic display can be adjusted from -5 degrees to 25 degrees. And finally, it also has HDMI input and output ports so you can connect another device up to its screen or project its screen onto another display such as a TV.

The Acer Aspire U5-620 and Acer Aspire Z3-615 will start shipping in May. The Acer Aspire U5-620 will be available starting at $999 (U.S.) and the Acer Aspire Z3-615 will be available starting at $599.99 (U.S.).

Acer Aspire E 14 and E 15 Series:

 

Acer is also announcing new Aspire E 14 and E 15 series laptops. The Aspire E 14 comes with a 14-inch screen and the Aspire E 15 comes with a 15.6-inch screen. Both offer your choice of a touch or non-touch, Full HD/HD, and glare or matte display. Both have a Precision Touchpad with support for Windows 8 gestures. They also have chiclet keyboards. And the Aspire E 15 has a built in optical drive. The Aspire E 15 is also Skype certified for great audio and video communication. On the inside, the Aspire E 14 and E 15 can come with up to 16GB of memory, 1TB of storage and the latest NVIDIA GeForce 800M or AMD Radeon discrete graphics. They come also powered by either 4th generation Intel Core processors or AMD processors. These new laptops come in a variety of really cool colors too. The Aspire E 14 comes in 6 colors and post geometric pattern on the cover: Piano Black, Pearl White, Glossy Copper, Ruby Red, Topaz Blue, and Jade Green. The Aspire E 15 comes in 5 colors and a elegant hairline pattern on the cover: Midnight Black, Titanium Silver, Tiger’s Eye Brown, Sapphire Blue, and Garnet Red.

The Aspire E 14 and E 15 series laptops will be available at the end of May starting at $299 (U.S.).

via The Windows Blog http://ift.tt/U0CK3V

Meet the One, OnePlus' $299 Nexus killer

Rarely do we see a tech startup spending five months actively hyping up an unborn product; and when we do, most of them end up being vaporware. Luckily, that's not the case with OnePlus. Today, the Shenzhen-based company has finally unveiled its...

via Engadget RSS Feed http://www.engadget.com

Rip Curl's new watch tallies waves, tracks speed in the surf

Whether you're a runner, swimmer or cyclist, there are plenty of fitness tracking wearables to choose from, ripe with features to help you make the most of a morning run or laps at the YMCA. But what about something for the surfer? Well, Rip Curl...

via Engadget RSS Feed http://www.engadget.com

Chrome Remote Desktop for Android browses a PC or Mac from your phone

While we'd seen rumblings that it was in beta testing, Google's Chrome Remote Desktop app for Android made its official debut today. This means that those who fancy Mountain View's mobile OS can take a gander at files that reside on a Windows or Mac...

via Engadget RSS Feed http://www.engadget.com

Mohu Channels wants to give cord-cutters a unified menu

Not interested in paying a cable bill? You've certainly got options -- but between disparate streaming services, set-top boxes and your over-the-air digital antenna, managing all your content can be a bit of a hassle. Mohu is trying to fix that. The...

via Engadget RSS Feed http://www.engadget.com

Tesla Model S gets not-quite-official makeover as a convertible

Let's say you love everything about the Tesla Model S except its static roof. Well, Newport Convertible Engineering wants to help fix that. The aftermarket company has announced that it's received an order for 100 of its new droptop conversions from...

via Engadget RSS Feed http://www.engadget.com

Virtuix Omni treadmill will get gamers off the couch in July

If you pre-ordered the Virtuix Omni virtual-reality treadmill, it's time to start rearranging the living room furniture. Early backers will be able to strap on their Oculus Rift and start shooting in the virtual battlefield of their choice come July....

via Engadget RSS Feed http://www.engadget.com

Sprint's cellphone for kids lets parents keep a close watch

Many parents are comfortable with giving cellphones to teens, but young kids are a different story -- how do you introduce them to mobile technology without also exposing them to all kinds of dangers? Sprint thinks its new WeGo phone is a good answer...

via Engadget RSS Feed http://www.engadget.com

Qualcomm's 2015 chips may make you regret getting a new phone this year

Thanks to Moore's Law, anybody can predict that even the most powerful smartphones and tablets coming out right now (the HTC One M8 and Samsung Galaxy S5, for instance) will be made obsolete by whatever flagships get announced in 2015. These...

via Engadget RSS Feed http://www.engadget.com

This Android add-on lets you multitask with your Chromecast

There are already quite a few Chromecast-savvy apps out there, but João Dias' newly completed AutoCast may be one of the most flexible. The Tasker add-on for Android lets you send a wide range of content to Google's media stick in your choice of...

via Engadget RSS Feed http://www.engadget.com

Synology offers a Dropbox substitute—meet the personal cloud

Cloud Station doesn't do everything you might need, but it does several things well.

via Ars Technica http://arstechnica.com

Letter: Why I won't re-enlist

Tired of waiting for deployments to slow down and other hardships of military life, Staff Sgt.

via airforcetimes.com http://ift.tt/12PGOZz

Sony's 13-inch 'Digital Paper' is just like paper, except it costs $1,100

Despite years of development, E Ink's displays haven't yet replaced traditional paper everywhere. Sony's trying to change that with this 13.3-inch Digital Paper device intended for legal, educational and business environments and after we got a brief...

via Engadget RSS Feed http://www.engadget.com

Review: Asus crafts a tiny $179 Chromebox out of cheap, low-power parts

It's too bad that booting into non-Chrome OS operating systems is so difficult.

via Ars Technica http://arstechnica.com

Sprint to launch HD Voice calls nationwide in July

Sprint's HD Voice impressed our ears two years ago, but the feature's been placed on the company's back burner since then. Sure, it's already available in a handful of locations, but it's only now that the carrier's announced its plans to make it...

via Engadget RSS Feed http://www.engadget.com

NASA captures over half the galaxy's stars in new infrared panorama

Keeping a steady hand when snapping panoramic pictures is a valuable skill, but NASA's upstaged your photographic prowess with something a tad more impressive. Using over 2 million infrared pictures shot with the Spitzer Space Telescope over the...

via Engadget RSS Feed http://www.engadget.com

Microsoft makes MS-DOS and Word for Windows source code public

Microsoft believes the children are our future, and to prove it, it's teamed up with the Computer History Museum to make source code available for two groundbreaking programs: MS-DOS and Word for Windows. In a blog post that outlined the deal, Roy...

via Engadget RSS Feed http://www.engadget.com

Popcorn Time reinvents the seedy process of torrenting

A pretty Netflix-like app that does bad things to copyrights.

via Ars Technica http://arstechnica.com

Shuttle runs a Haswell Core i7 in a case barely bigger than a disk drive

The Intel NUC proves just how small a desktop-class, 4K-capable Haswell PC can go. What the NUC doesn't do, though, is let us switch out the processor - it comes with either a Core i3 or i5 soldered to the mainboard. Now, Shuttle's DS81 is slightly...

via Engadget RSS Feed http://www.engadget.com

Noah: Skip the Movie, Read the Book

Don’t go see the movie Noah—and here’s why. I’ve recently been encouraging people to support the many Christian movies that will be released this year. (See list below.) But I’ve heard from many people that Noah is so bad, that it’s really better that you don’t see it. Although I love this year’s trend of […]

via LDS Media Talk http://ldsmediatalk.com