Rumors surfaced late last year that Intel was planning to ditch socketed processors once Broadwell, the 14-nanometer successor to Haswell, is released. The chip giant ultimately denied the rumor, claiming they would offer socket CPUs for the foreseeable future. That of course did little to quell rumors as we are now hearing that at least some Broadwell chips will indeed be soldered directly to motherboards.

According to the Tech Report, a trusted source in the motherboard industry told them that some Broadwell chips will be permanently mated to the motherboards they ship with. In fact, some low-end Broadwell pieces may not come in socketed versions at all. The source did note that Intel isn’t totally ditching socketed processors and that they are still on the roadmap until at least 2016.

The idea of a motherboard and processor coming in a single package may not thrill many enthusiasts but we are told that it will give larger motherboard makers an advantage over their smaller rivals. High volume customers will be able to cherry pick processors for higher-end CPUs which means they could ultimately offer pre-overclocked combos or at least guarantee a certain amount of headroom with regards to clock speed.

The RMA process could be a bit trickier, especially for board makers. Despite the fact that Intel would eventually reimburse them for faulty processors, manufacturers would be on the hook for making the repairs. This again would be easier for larger companies as they would likely already have the equipment necessary to remove and resolder a new processor in place.

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Yet another zero-day vulnerability in Java has reared its ugly head, and according to security researchers, early indications suggest it is already being 'widely exploited' by malicious sites.

A researcher going by the name @kafeine first spotted the exploit in action and noted it's being used by a number of sites to silently install malware in drive-by download attacks. According to reports, one particular group is even using the exploit to install ransomware on affected PCs.

Kafeine notified security firm AlienVault labs, which has independently verified that the exploit exists. What's more, it's already been added to a number of exploit toolkits such as Blackhole and Nuclear Pack, making it easy for criminals to deploy. The exploit is specific to Java 7 and there is no fix for it at the moment, although Oracle says it's working on it. There’s still no word on how long it's going to take.

Right now the only way to protect your machine against this exploit is disabling the Java browser plugin. Others, including US-CERT (United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team) have given the same advice, or recommended the more drastic measure of uninstalling Java entirely.

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Intel’s Haswell chip made an appearance at this year’s CES although it wasn’t the star of the show. The chip maker wasn’t keen on playing show and tell with the CPU itself but we did get a pretty solid look at what the integrated graphics on Haswell (codenamed GT3) are capable of courtesy of a comparison video recently posted by the Tech Report.

In the video below, one system was running Intel’s Haswell CPU with integrated graphics while the other system was packing a Core i7 Ivy Bridge chip and a discrete Nvidia GeForce GT 650M graphics card. Dirt 3 was running at 1080p resolution with all of the details set to high and as you can see for yourself, it’s tough to determine which system is which.

We are reminded that the GeForce GT 650M is a midrange graphics card with 384 ALUs, a 128-bit path that dips into dedicated memory and clock speeds as high as 900MHz. The part is Nvidia’s fastest mobile GPU under the GT banner and is used in Apple’s 15-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display.

The publication also points out that drivers have been a sticking point with Intel graphics for some time but they are now releasing updates on a quarterly basis. The fact that Intel has released a new QuickSync SDK will help to ensure developers will have compatible software by the time the chip launches. At last check, Intel is planning to launch Haswell by the end of Q2 2013.

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Products cross my desk regularly. Some are great, some aren't, and most are in between. It's a perk, to be sure, but review products aren't often made for me. On a case-by-case basis, the products I'm looking are often aimed at different market segments than my own. That isn't the case with Acer's Aspire S7.

The touchable, classy ultrabook is targeted right at the road-warrior, power-hungry, super-user. The S7 is an expensive machine. The starting price hovers near $1400, but our Core i7 configured spec clocks in at $1650. For the price customers do see a superlative spec sheet and a beautifully designed body. I know what you're thinking. The S7 had better be amazing for that kind of money. Don't worry, with a few qualifiers, the Aspire S7 easily ranks among the top Windows 8 machines. Is that enough to justify the cost?

Hardware

Fashioned from aluminum and Gorilla Glass the S7's thin profile makes a great first impression. The deck and lid are completely rigid. There is zero flex in the laptops frame. It's very reassuring considering how light (2.29 lb) the machine is. The lid is framed with brushed aluminum that is soft and cool to the touch. That frame is filled with white glass that isn't nearly as fingerprint prone as I expected.

The same goes for the (more important) glass on the other side of the lid. I suspect that Acer applied an oleophobic coating to the glass surfaces on the machine. That oleophobic coating sparks a trend that follows through the construction of the rest of the laptop. On a laptop with a touchscreen, fingerprints are guaranteed to be a pain. That coating eases the user's pain, preventing all but the greasiest of fingers from greasing up the screen. Thoughtful design, and smart touches like these litter the Aspire S7.

Acer Aspire S7 - $1,650

• 13.3" 1920x1080 LED backlit multi-touch display
• Intel Core i7-3517U (1.9 - 3.0GHz)
• Intel HD Graphics 4000
• 4GB of DDR3 RAM
• 256GB SSD
• SD/MMC card reader
• 2 USB 3.0, HDMI, audio jack
• 802.11b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0
• 1.3-megapixel webcam
• Chiclet keyboard
• Multi-gesture touchpad with integrated buttons
• 4-cell Li-Polymer battery (4680mAh)
• 12.73 x 8.79 x 0.47 inches, 2.86 pounds

Consider another constant problem with the first wave of touch-enabled laptops: The hinges simply aren't designed to stand up to poking and prodding. It leads to awkward ergonomic situations where the left hand is holding the screen in place while the right is slicing fruit in Fruit Ninja. Acer's machine corrects this error The hinge is remarkably stiff, and becomes even more stiff at the normal viewing angle. This addition makes the touchscreen function infinitely more comfortable and practical.

There's a trade-off there though, the strengthened hinge makes the S7 a bit more difficult to open than I'd like. To compensate, the entirety of the lid has a slight indentation on the rim. It's perfect for sliding a finger under, and while the laptop still isn't the easiest to open, smart design makes a distinct design trade-off less of a...well, trade-off.

The S7's cooling solution is another of my favorite design decisions. Every external fan is situated on the rear of the laptop. Because of this, the S7 will never blow hot air over your hands. It's smart, user-facing design.

These qualities, when combined with the S7's gorgeous frame make a compelling argument. Beyond that, the hardware design, even with a few small quibbles is the S7's best quality.

Hands-On

Actually using the S7 is more of a mixed bag. Some things, like the tiny power supply and charging port are great, other things, like the placement of the power button are not. The power button is on the left side of the deck and is very easily pressed. More than once, when moving the laptop while in-use (the power button is inactive while the lid is closed) my palm found the button and turned the machine off by accident. It seems that the power button moved as a concession to making a clean deck for the S7.

It wasn't a smart call, but that is the exception rather than the rule.

   

Moving to the deck, the keyboard is wonderful to touch. The keys are soft, responsive and have great travel, and not just for an ultrabook. There is a quirk to the keyboard. There's no function row. Instead, keys like the number row end up with triple functionality under Acer's five-row arrangement. It's not the biggest loss in the world, but keep in mind there will be a learning curve to the deeper functionality of the S7's keyboard.

The Elan manufactured trackpad is not very good. The one-button sheet of aluminum is, like the rest of the laptop, pleasing to the touch, but it simply doesn't work well for some tasks. Two-finger scrolling works extremely well in the Metro Start Screen, but can be jerky on web pages. Pinch-to-zoom is as wonky on Windows as it has ever been. Unfortunately, the Elan device stumbles on basic tasks as well. Finger tracking is solid, but tapping the pad to click works about 60% of the time, a tragically low proportion. Actually clicking the trackpad works, but this is hardly my first choice for interacting.

 

The touchscreen is superlative. It is responsive in every case and works exactly as you expect and want it to. Curiously, I found myself using it much more than I expected in the traditional desktop segments of Windows 8. 

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Last month, following weeks of hints and rumors, Valve CEO and co-founder Gabe Newell finally admittedthat his company will start selling PCs for the living room in 2013. How far along they were on the project was unclear, but now we're starting to see the first fruits of their labor emerge, with a still-in-development gaming-focused system tailored for Steam's Big Picture Mode being showcased at CES.

Codenamed "Piston", the cube-shaped rig is being developed by Xi3, a company that specializes in modular computers you can upgrade by switching any of three interconnected boards or modules -- the processor module and two I/O modules -- to change the capabilities or performance of the system. The idea is to make upgrading less intimidating and more efficient than upgrading an entire system.

Xi3 wouldn't discuss any specifics for Piston, but said that the Steam Box is based on its "performance level" X7A offering. For what it's worth the latter starts at $999 and has a quad-core AMD APU, up to 8 GB of DDR3 RAM, up to a terabyte of solid state storage and support for three monitors. Connectivity and expansion features include one ethernet, 1/8" audio in/out, SPDIF optical audio, four USB 3.0 ports, four USB 2.0 ports, four eSATAp ports, two Mini Display Port ports and one DisplayPort/HDMI port.

The use of a modular hardware design for its Steam Box is certainly interesting, though at first glance it looks like Valve is going for entry-level performance using integrated graphics. It remains to be seen how much the X7A and Piston will have in common and if higher end models with discrete graphics will be available.

Xi3 attempted to Kickstart its boxes in 2012 but fell far short of the $250,000 crowd-funding goal. Luckily they've now received an undisclosed investment from Valve to move the project forward.

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Display makers are really hyping 4K and OLED this year, with most of them unveiling new flagship big screen TVs. As a major Japanese electronics outfit, it's no surprise that Panasonic is also toeing the industry line, revealing a new 56-inch OLED Ultra HDTV among other displays.

The company's press showcase wasn't just more of the same, however, as it also yanked the covers off a jumbo-sized, pixel-rich tablet. We don't know what it'll be called when it goes on sale, but the system isequipped with a 20-inch 4k screen and that's enough to get our attention.

The slate is said to have fantastic viewing angles and color accuracy thanks to its IPS panel, while its 3840x2560 resolution (230ppi) makes for a crisp image. The device will be geared toward designers and other professionals who want extra precise stylus input thanks to the pixel density.

Most reports indicate that the units at CES are deemed prototypes, so their specifications might not match the final product. Nonetheless, here's what the current design has: a Core i5 3427U processor, GeForce graphics, 4GB of RAM (Panasonic might offer up to 16GB) and a 128GB SSD.

Besides its 4k resolution, the tablet's display touts 10-finger multitouch and Anoto's pattern-based pen input technology. Other details include 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, a USB 2.0 port, a microSD card slot and a 720p camera. The system can run for about two hours between charges and it measures around half an inch thick and weighs just over five pounds. No word on pricing or availability yet.

Project Fiona, the prototype portable gaming device that wowed CES attendees last year, is back yet again. This time around, however, it’s being showcased as a real product known as the Razer Edge that can be yours later this quarter for under a grand.

Razer is billing the 10.1-inch, sub 2-pound machine as the world’s first tablet designed exclusively for high-end gaming with a base model and a performance-boosted Pro model in the pipeline. The former will ship with an Intel Core i5 processor, 4GB of system memory, a 64GB solid state drive and a discrete Nvidia GT640M LE GPU.

The Pro edition will come with an Intel Core i7 chip, 8GB of RAM and either a 128GB or 256GB SSD. The GPU will remain the same between the two models, we’re told. Furthermore, both versions will carry a USB 3.0 port, Bluetooth 4.0 connectivity and run a full version of Windows 8. The latter means that games can be run on the system just as they would any other Windows PC without the need for porting or optimizing.

Aside from being a serious gaming tablet in terms of hardware specifications, Razer is also giving gamers multiple options when it comes to how they want to interact with the Edge. There’s tablet mode which is pretty self-explanatory; Keyboard Dock mode which essentially turns the Edge into a notebook so you can use a keyboard and mouse; Gamepad Controller mode which is the configuration you’ve mostly likely seen it in with controls on either side of the tablet and Docking Station mode which effectively turns the Edge into a home console.

Look for the Razer Edge to hit retail sometime this quarter starting at $999 for the base model with no accessories. Pricing for the Pro version with the 128GB SSD is $1,299 while the i7 with a 256GB SSD will set you back $1,449.

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Las Vegas: Sony Corp is finally pressing its advantage as a conglomerate that owns both high-tech gadgets and the content that plays on them by being the only electronics maker to offer ultra-HD TVs — and a way to get movies to the new super clear screens.

Ultra-high definition TVs, which quadruple the number of pixels of current high definition technology, have been the talk of the International CES gadget show so far. But only Sony has offered a content solution to go with them.

With the 84-inch (213-centimeter) ultra-HD set it launched in November, Sony threw in a tablet and computer server that has 10 movies preloaded on the device — for $25,000. The movies came from the library of Sony Pictures or its subsidiary Columbia Pictures, like The Amazing Spider-Man and The Karate Kid.

On Monday, Sony unveiled 55-inch (140-centimeter) and 65-inch (165.-centimeter) ultra-HD sets that will sell this spring for an undisclosed price believed to be below $10,000. The Japanese electronics maker said it would launch a download service this summer in the US so buyers of the smaller sets would have access to movies in the clearer format.

For now, it will offer the same 10 movies from its library for download.

This undated publicity image provided by Sony shows an  ultra-HD 4K TV set. AP

After unveiling the service, Sony CEO Kazuo Hirai told reporters that the ultra-HD movies could be made available to other makers like Samsung or LG later. The company is eyeing coordination with other movie studios, but not immediately.

“That’s a key differentiator from a Sony perspective that really speaks to the advantage of what we have in terms of both the electronics business and the content business,” he said. “For the time being, that’s something we bring exclusively to our customers.”

Sony is betting big on ultra-HD, and is a leading supplier of high-end cameras that shoot in the format, which renders moving images at a resolution of 3,840 pixels wide and 2,160 pixels tall. That is twice the length and width of high definition, resulting in four times as many pixels, or more than 8 million.

The company also makes projectors that show movies in so-called 4K, and Hirai said that anyone who has been to the movies lately has probably experienced it firsthand without realizing it.

Getting these higher resolution files to home televisions is no small matter. A Blu-ray disc format has not been created yet and broadcasters are years away from offering TV signals at the higher resolution.

Sony representatives said that buyers of its 55-inch (140-centimeter) and 65-inch (165-centimeter) TVs may be asked to buy an ultra-HD server separately, although a final decision hadn’t been made. It is also unclear how much downloadable movies will cost.

The company said it would offer Blu-ray discs that are mastered in 4K but compressed to fit on a current Blu-ray disc. The TV’s embedded technology presents the compressed movie at close to 4K resolution, but not quite as good as when they are played from the 4K media player.

But with all new technologies, there were glitches.

Hirai had an embarrassing moment Monday when he introduced the world’s first ultra-HD TV using organic light-emitting diodes (OLED), only to see the screen go blank as the computer running it had an error.

“This revolutionary TV combines the world’s largest OLED display with dazzling 4K resolution, including this beautiful … interface screen,” he said, then turned to see a blank screen as chuckles rippled through the crowd.

Later, Hirai looked back at the 56-inch (142-centimeter) display only to see the error continue.

“Excellent,” he said.

A Sony staffer rolled the TV further away and Hirai carried on his presentation. He later appeared to be good-natured with journalists.

Hirai said the ultra-HD OLED set is a prototype and didn’t announce price or availability.

In the Sony booth after the presentation, other ultra-HD OLED screens played without a problem.

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Microsoft's ARM-based version of Windows is only intended to run Metro-style apps downloaded directly from the Windows Store as well as a pre-loaded, touch-oriented version of Office and IE10. But an enterprising hacker claims to have come up with a workaround that would in theory enable any unsigned application, even those designed for the old Windows desktop, to run on Windows RT.

According to the hacker, who goes by the online moniker "clrokr", the restriction of installing only Metro-style apps on Windows RT is enforced through a code integrity mechanism that checks the application's signature before allowing it to be installed. This mechanism is hardcoded in the kernel itself and cannot be modified permanently in systems using UEFI Secure Boot.

It can, however, be changed in memory.

Using some clever reverse engineering, clrokr discovered the location of this setting in memory, and then used Microsoft's remote debugger to execute some code and alter its value.

So what exactly does this mean? For one thing, since the procedure requires changing a setting in memory, the "jailbreak" will be reverted after every reboot and just must do the whole thing each time to run unsanctioned apps. This isn't something the average Windows RT user will be able to do.

Another limitation is that x86 desktop programs can't simply be installed on Windows RT, they need to be recompiled for the ARM architecture. According to a discussion thread on the XDA-Developers forums, some users have already managed to get Putty and TightVNC working on Windows RT, and there's talk about porting Chromium as well. For open-source programs like these that might be easier to do, but for closed-source programs the original developers would have to create versions for ARM.

Clrokr concludes that Windows RT is a clean port of Windows 8, and that the decision to ban traditional desktop applications was not a technical one. Microsoft on the other hand has argued the reason for the lockdown boils down to making sure Windows RT tablets are stable and have long battery life.

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The USB 3.0 Promoter Group has announced that a major update for the ubiquitous interface is currently in the works, in an effort to double today's 5Gbps transfer rate to a Thunderbolt-matching 10Gbps. The speed boost is still a bit far off, though. The updated specification should be done in mid-2013, which "will enable initial products to appear in late 2014 with a much broader availability of products in 2015."

The group is retaining the USB 3.0 denomination, even though computers and other devices will need new chipsets to take advantage of the speedier transfer rates. The same connectors will be used, but while existing USB devices can be plugged into the higher-speed ports, the USB Promoter Group says it's possible cables available today might not work at 10Gbps since they're not certified for those speeds.

The updated standard will also bring better data encoding for transfers and significant improvements to the ability of transferring power over USB. Although no specifics were mentioned on the latter, BGR caught up with the USB Promoter Group at CES and was shown a laptop transferring video to a monitor (using DisplayLink) while simultaneously charging itself through the same cable -- using 65w in the process.

USB 3.0 has seen some healthy adoption over the last year, with hundreds of certified devices now on the market. It took quite a while to get here, though, considering the specification was finished in 2008.

Meanwhile, Thunderbolt has yet to make a dent in the market, making an appearance on just a few devices, notebooks and enthusiast motherboards besides Apple's line of desktops and laptops. The Intel-backed interface currently supports 10Gbps, with plans for a speed bump eventually through optical cables, and supports daisy chaining up to six devices. It's also more expensive than USB.

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Nvidia just surprised a whole bunch of people by announcing, of all things, a dedicated gaming handheld during the company's CES press conference. Based on the new Tegra 4 mobile chip, also announced at the show, it's code-named Nvidia Shield. There are 5-10 hours of battery life, and it's based on a clamshell design, sort of like a DS (only without the bottom screen).

Running on Android (they say "pure Android", so hopefully no Nvidia skin), it's got a MicroSD slot, micro USB and HDMI output (which supports 4K output so long as your display does). The Shield's 5" screen is a touchscreen, and is capable of 720p display at 294dpi (they're calling it a "retinal display").

A small shield on the back of the top screen is removable and customisable. Below you'll see a size comparison, facing the Shield off against an Xbox 360 pad and a Wii U Controller.

Nvidia say the Shield has "console-grade controls", which sounds like they're actually using the same kind of thumbsticks and buttons you get on proper controllers, not the smaller/lesser kind you get on portable platforms.

Here's the Shield's media library UI, which can be augmented by the fact it can access the Android versions of apps like Netflix and Hulu.

In addition to running its own Android games, the Shield can also stream games from your PC to the controller, where you can either play them direct on the small screen or, more practically, output to your TV.

A demonstration showing Need For Speed Most Wanted and Assassin's Creed III being beamed from a PC to the controller was impressive, to say the least. Because Steam now has its Big Picture mode, the Shield can be used to navigate the store without having to move back to your PC.

Sadly, there was no price or release information provided.

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Intel made a smattering of announcements during its press event at CES today, with topics spanning from cellphones and ultrabooks to natural human interfaces and shared all-in-one computing. We have a summary of the different subjects below, though you may want to read this press release for more information.

Phones
Following up on its initial push into the smartphone market with Medfield last year, Intel has revealed a new Atom-based solution that will target the budget-oriented market, particularly in developing regions. Codenamed "Lexington," the new platform will include the Atom Z24020, which runs at 1.2GHz and supports Hyper-Threading as well as 1080p hardware encoding and decoding, two cameras including one that can handle 7fps bursts in 5MP quality, dual SIM, dual standby and microSD cards. To start, Acer, Lava and Safaricom will use this platform.

For the upper-end segment that is currently occupied by Medfield, Intel is preparing its "Clover Trail+" chip (marketed as the Atom Z2580), which carries a dual-core processor, a dual-core graphics engine and Hyper-Threading support. Intel says this part will deliver up to twice the performance of its current-generation mobile solution (the Atom Z2460), yet it will remaining competitive on power consumption and battery life.

Tablets
With the Atom powering Windows 8 slates from Acer, Asus, Dell, HP, Lenovo, LG, Samsung and others, Intel is under pressure to deliver solid platform refreshes, and that's precisely what it plans to do. The company has unveiled a new 22nm Atom SoC (codenamed "Bay Trail") that touts four processing cores -- a first for the series. It's said to be the most powerful Atom chip to date, offering more than double the performance of Intel's existing tablet processor, along with improved security, all-day battery life and lower prices.

Ultrabooks
Although Intel plans to launch 10W fourth-generation Core processors (codenamed "Haswell") later this year, the company has taken the liberty to build an ultra-low power Ivy Bridge chip that should be available in devices such as the Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 11S sometime this spring. This new part more than halves the TDP of older Ivy Bridge mobile chips, though it isn't clear how this was accomplished or how much it will dent performance.

Intel also plans to tighten the product requirements for next-generation ultrabooks. In order to qualify for the branding, manufacturers will have to include support for touch input and WiDi, Intel's wireless display standard. Haswell-based ultrabooks will also bring a leap in battery life, with systems expected to withstand up to nine hours of continuous usage.

All-in-Ones
As with many other vendors at CES, Intel showed off an "adaptive" AIO with touch support that can lay flat on a table and has a battery so it can be easily moved around a home or office. The company defines "adaptive AIOs" as systems with large touchscreens that can be used for multiplayer games and many other shared experiences. "Simply put," Intel says, "these devices will help bring 'game night' back to its roots through shared experiences where families and friends gather around the system to interact, play and have fun."

In that same vein, the chipmaker revealed that it's working with video service providers including Comcast and Bouygues Telecom to deliver live and on-demand TV content to Intel users. By using its Puma 6MG-based XG5 multi-screen video gateway, the company plans to let customers stream Xfinity TV in the US and Bbox TV in France across Intel-based tablets, ultrabooks and AIOs. No word on when this will go live.

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3M is showing off its 84-inch multi-touch table at CES this year and The Verge has provided its own, brief hands-on. Reminiscent of Microsoft's original "Surface" tabletop touchscreen (video), the gigantic capacitive table is the successor to last year's 46-inch model; however, the device is still under development until its expected launch during the second half of this year.

Interestingly, the company's table-sized touchscreen differs from last year's smaller model in a couple of ways -- well, aside from just being huge.

The most obvious difference is a substantial bump in resolution from 1080p (1920 x 1080)  to UHD (3840 x 2160). Additionally, the screen can handle more simultaneous inputs -- 40 at a time. That's double the amount of concurrent touch inputs the old model could handle. The Verge says 3M expects that number to increase to 100 though, before it makes it into production later this year.

3M has also switched from ITO-based sensors to a "wire-based" solution, which the company says allowed them to achieve such a large size without "degrading touch performance". Large touch screens in particular are prone to input lag, an issue which a number of companies have been working to address over the years. There are few specifics on the touch technology being used, but the only "wired-based" touchscreen technologies I've heard of are resistive -- not capacitive -- so this may be a novel technology developed by (or for) 3M.

3M continues to challenge the size limitations of high-performance multi-touch technology, and the investments we have made in developing robust and proprietary PX electronics platform are enabling us to achieve our innovation goals,” says Diego Romeu, business operations manager, 3M Touch Systems. “Our 84-inch multi-touch prototype display demonstrates 3M’s ability to scale PCAP electronics and sensor manufacturing to meet the need of our customers for increasingly larger format touch solutions.

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Dismayed that family members are spread out over the house, each with a separate PC or tablet? Lenovo has something it believes will get them back together: a PC the size of a coffee table that works like a gigantic tablet and lets four people use it at once.

Lenovo Group Ltd., one of the world’s largest PC makers, is calling the IdeaCentre Horizon Table PC the first “interpersonal computer” — as opposed to a “personal computer.”

At first glance, it looks like a regular all-in-one machine in the vein of the iMac: It’s a 27-inch (685.8-millimeter) screen with the innards of a Windows 8 computer built into it, and it can stand up on a table.

An image provided by Lenoovo shows the IdeaCentre Horizon Table PC that they say is the first “interpersonal computer.” It is a PC the size of a coffee table that works like a gigantic tablet and lets four people use it at once: AP

But you can pick it up off the table, unhook the power cord and lay it flat for games of “Monopoly.” It’s big enough to fit four people around it, and the screen can respond to ten fingers touching it at the same time.

As a tablet, it’s a monstrosity. The screen is the size of eight iPads stitched together, and it weighs 15 pounds (6.8 kilograms). It’s almost as homebound as a flat-panel TV.

The Table PC will include plastic “strikers” for “Air Hockey,” and joysticks that attach to the screen with suction cups for other games, including multiplayer shooter “Raiding Company.”

In a demonstration at the International CES on Sunday, photos and videos could be rotated with fingers. Spreading five fingers at once on the screen cleared the screen of clutter, while squeezing them together brought the photos and videos back.

Lenovo, a Chinese company that owns IBM Corp’s former PC business, said the Table PC will go on sale this summer starting at $1,699.

Microsoft Corp. pioneered the idea of a table PC with the Surface, a PC with a 30-inch (762-millimeter) touch-sensitive screen released in 2008. It was designed for store displays and other commercial applications. The concept is now called PixelSense, as Microsoft started using the “Surface” name for an unrelated tablet computer last year.

More recently, Sony Corp. released the Tap 20, an all-in-one PC that can also be laid flat. But it’s smaller than the Lenovo model, at 20 inches (508 millimeters) diagonally, and doesn’t have as much table-oriented software as the Table PC.

Read More @ Sony Website

Sony has officially launched its flagship device, the Xperia Z, at the Consumer Electronic Show (CES) in Las Vegas. There has been several leaks and rumours about the Xperia Z ahead of the launch. The key features of the device are as follows:

• It has a 1.5 GHz Snapdragon S4 Pro quad-core processor.

• The device has a 5-inch full HD screen. The screen resolution is 1920 x 1080.

• The OS is a bit of a disappointment. The device runs Android 4.1 aka Jelly Bean. One would think that the Sony might have gone for the latest 4.2 version of Jelly Bean.

• The smartphone has 2GB RAM and up to 16GB of memory space. This is expanable to 32GB via a microSD card slot.

Sony has officially launched its flagship device the Xperia Z. AP

• Like the iPhone 5, the Samsung Galaxy S III and other high-end devices, this one will also support 4G/LTE band for high-speed Internet.

• The camera is probably the biggest advantage. The Xperia Z comes with a 13.1 megapixel rear camera and a 2.2MP front-facing camera. This is much more than both the iPhone 5 and Samsung Galaxy S III, each of which has an 8 megapixel rear camera.

• The device supports Near field communications (NFC).

• The device is water and dust resistant.

Read More @ Sony Website

The Windows 8 version of Microsoft's Surface tablet will be hitting store shelves in January 2013 at $899 for the 64GB version and $999 for the 128GB version.

The "Surface Pro" is the more powerful version of the current Surface tablet, which debuted on October 26 for $500. That original Surface tablet has received mixed reviews (including from CNET), largely because of its Windows RT operating system, a less powerful variant of Windows 8 that includes some notable limitations.

If the Surface RT tablet represents a direct assault by Microsoft on the "computer-light" tablets like Apple's iPad and its various Android-based competitors, the forthcoming Surface Pro seems like a more significant attempt to reinvent laptop computing. Its design is very close to that of the Surface RT tablet -- 10.6-inch touch-screen display, magnet-connected keyboard cover -- but the Surface Pro also ships with a full-fledged, third-generation Intel Core i5 processor, not the less powerful (and less power hungry) ARM process found on the Surface RT.

The combination of the full Intel CPU and the full version of Windows 8 brings the ability to run traditional desktop PC software programs (in addition to all of the apps that Windows RT can run).

	Surface with Windows 8 Pro	Surface with Windows RT
Starting price	$899	$499
Screen size and resolution	10.6 inches, 1,920x1,080	10.6 inches, 1,366x768
Dimensions (HWD)	10.81 x 6.81 x 0.53 inches	10.81 x 6.77 x 0.37 inches
Weight	<2 pounds	1.5 pounds
CPU	Intel Core i5	Nvidia Tegra 3
Memory	4GB	2GB
Storage capacity	64GB (128GB option)	32GB (64GB option)
Ports	USB 3.0, microSDXC, headphone, DisplayPort video out	USB 2.0, microSDXC, headphone, HD video out

The two tablets have other hardware differences. The Pro version weighs a little more, has a larger solid-state hard drive, and has a higher-resolution screen, among others. But because it can run full-blown Windows 8, the Surface Pro is as much a laptop, ready for serious productivity and entertainment duty, as it is a traditional tablet.

Microsoft has also confirmed that the Surface Pro is expected to have half the battery life of the Surface RT tablet. That would net out to four to five hours -- not exactly notable for a tablet or a laptop.

The Surface Pro starts at $899 for 64GB of storage, or $999 for a 128GB configuration. Comparatively, the Samsung Ativ Smart PC Pro 700T, a Windows 8 tablet that will also have a Core i5 CPU option, is currently listed for $1,199. It may be more affordable, but the Surface Pro still sits firmly in laptop territory, and will find itself in competition with a broad array of other Windows 8 devices.

Whether the Surface Pro is the best product in its price range will be determined. We've already seen a number of hybrid and convertible laptop/tablet designs from Microsoft's usual hardware partners, including the Lenovo Yoga 13, the Dell XPS 12, and the Acer Iconia W700.

The Surface Pro will compete with those devices and others. One advantage for Microsoft's design might be the snap-on keyboard cover (in either the soft Touch or mechanical Type variation), which seems an effective blend of tablet portability with a full typing surface. Many of the other hybrid or convertible designs out there look cumbersome or flimsy in comparison, but those keyboards will cost Surface owners extra.

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The Velocity Micro Cruz D610 fails to turn heads with its unimpressive reveal at CES 2013. The 10-inch tablet ships with Android 4.0 and houses a 1.5GHz dual processor and 1GB of RAM.

The Cruz D610 comes with 8GB internal storage, a microSD expansion slot, a front .3 megapixel camera, and 1024x768 resolution. Ports include microUSB and mini-HDMI. According to Velocity Micro, prices will start at $199 with a release by end of the first quarter this year.

The tablet's specifications are underwhelming, especially when compared to the other Velocity Micro tablet premiering at CES 2013. The Cruz Q610 outshines the Cruz D610 with a quad-core processor and Android 4.1 for a small price difference -- $249 instead of $199.

The Cruz D610's specifications fail to compete with those of other tablets in the $199 price range. The Google Nexus 7 outshines the Cruz D610 when it comes to screen quality, OS, and processor. In the last year standards for screen quality has increased significantly, and a tablet with a 10-inch screen and a 1,024x768 resolution just isn't impressive, especially with 7-inch tablets like the Nexus 7 available for the same price.

Look to CNET for new information on the Velocity Micro Cruz D610 as it's released.

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