Due out this summer, the Vaio E Series 15 and 17 laptops offer revamped designs and technology to speed boot-up times after the computer has been in sleep mode. The new models join the previously announced Vaio E Series 14, but bring with them the option of larger displays — the Vaio E Series 15 sports a 15.5-inch screen; the Series 17 has a 17.3-inch screen.

The laptops feature a wraparound design with rounded corners, and will be available in white, black or silver. Each of the new models has a large trackpad; some include a backlit keyboard.

A feature called Rapid Wake + Eco promises to have your laptop up and running in seconds after it has gone into sleep mode. The Vaio E Series 15 and 17 also offer a built-in Webcam and technology to boost speaker volume. If you want to watch movies from your laptop, there’s an option to add a Blu-ray disc drive.

In general, the E Series is designed for everyday tasks and is built with families and students in mind, so if you’re looking for something a little more portable and powerful, Sony’s Vaio S Series would be a better fit — and it just so happens that there are two new members in that family, too.

The Vaio S Series 15 and 17 laptops offer a 13.3-inch display and a 15.5-inch display, respectively, and are made from lightweight materials including magnesium, aluminum and carbon fiber. The Series 15 weighs less than 4.4 pounds, and also has the benefit of an HD display with wide viewing angles.

A smaller size doesn’t mean less power, though, as both the S Series 15 and 17 will get a boost from the latest processor from Intel, called Ivy Bridge. Sony will also offer optional accessories, such as a docking station and an extended battery.

Like the E Series, the S Series models are expected to ship this summer, but pricing and specific release dates for all the laptops have not been announced at this time. Current E Series models run in the $500 to $600 range, while laptops in the S Series cost between $725 and $1,500.

The PC maker has introduced new Ultrabooks that challenge the weight and size of its earlier entrants into the market. And it has also unveiled a new line of “Sleekbooks” that undercut the price of Ultrabooks and, in some cases, use chips from Advanced Micro Devices, therefore excluding them from the Ultrabook family.

First, there’s the Envy SpectreXT, a follow-up to the Envy Spectre 14 Ultrabook. The Envy Spectre 14 is more of a premium Ultrabook, due to its glass coating, $1,400 starting price point, preinstalled Adobe and antivirus security software packages, and the fact that it weighs just under a whopping four pounds.

The SpectreXT, in comparison, is 13.3 inches, weighs just 3.07 pounds, is 14.5mm thick, and has an all-metal body. It comes with an Intel Ivy Bridge processor and, like the Spectre 14, claims a long battery life of up to eight hours (although in my review of the Spectre 14, I got about five hours of battery life with programs running, power-savers turned off, and display set to full brightness).

The Envy SpectreXT also comes with Beats Audio, has an Ethernet port in addition to a USB port, and comes with the aforementioned software packages. It will be available in the U.S. on June 8 for $1,000.

HP also introduced new Envy-branded Ultrabooks, available in larger 14-inch and 15.6-inch models, also with Intel’s latest processors. The laptops are, at their thickest, 19.8 millimeters and come with a choice of solid-state or hybrid hard-disk drives.

What’s more interesting is this new category of Sleekbooks. The only notable difference between Ultrabooks and Sleekbooks, aside from price, is their chipsets. The former are thin and lightweight laptops, categorized as such due to an Intel-driven set of technical specifications, as explained here. The HP Sleekbooks are also thin and light, but feature chips from AMD.

The new 14-inch Envy Sleekbook will ship on May 9 for $700; the 15.6-inch model is just $600 — less than half the price of some other Ultrabooks on the market, and significantly less than the starting price of $999 for Apple’s MacBook Air. Both come with the latest AMD processors, with optional discrete Intel graphics built in for heavy multimedia users. Sleekbooks also claim up to eight or nine hours of battery life.

And for business users, the new HP EliteBook Folio 9470m will come to market this fall. This laptop has a 14-inch screen, but is slightly thinner than the Envy Ultrabooks and weighs 3.6 pounds. Another addition to HP’s enterprise offerings is the EliteBook 2170p Notebook, which has an 11.6-inch display, weighs 2.89 pounds and comes with solid-state drive options.

As HP notes, these laptops are “the first show of resolve” for the new HP Printing and Personal Systems group. Back in March, AllThingsD’s Arik Hesseldahl had the exclusive story on the company’s sweeping reorganization, which moved the Imaging and Printing Group under its PC-making Personal Systems Group, with Executive Vice President Todd Bradley in charge of the new unit.

First introduced in January at CES 2012 and available today, the Series 7 Gamer features a unique dial that allows you to switch into four different modes and optimizes the laptop’s performance, depending on whether you’re using the computer for gaming or less intense tasks, such as creating documents.

For example, in Gaming mode, the main gaming keys are highlighted in red, and the lights around the speakers pulsate to the sounds of the game. Meanwhile, General mode turns the Series 7 into more of an everyday laptop, on which you can surf the Web, work on documents or view photos.

There is also a Quiet mode that disables the fan and all sounds, as well as a Power Save mode designed to save battery life by turning off all non-critical components.

Gaming is at the core of this device, however, and the Samsung Series 7 Gamer has some of the latest technology to power the Windows 7 laptop. This includes Intel’s new Ivy Bridge i7 processor (2.3 GHz Intel Core i7-3610QM CPU), Nvidia’s latest Geforce GTX 675M graphics, 16 gigabytes of memory and a 1.5 terabyte 7200RPM hard drive.

Games should look spectacular on the Series 7’s 17.3-inch full-HD (1,920 x 1,080 pixels) display, which Samsung promises will offer 50 percent more brightness than traditional PCs. Samsung also packs in a Blu-ray player, Dolby Home Theater v4 speakers and a built-in two-megapixel camera.

A heavyweight in features, the Series 7 gamer is also just plain old heavy. At 13.34 pounds, this is definitely not a device for toting around town every day, especially with its rated battery life of 3.7 hours, but it could be an attractive option for gaming enthusiasts looking for a powerful, portable solution.

The Samsung Series 7 Gamer costs $1,900 and is available now through a number of retailers, including Amazon, Newegg and TigerDirect.

It turns out they did nothing of the kind. In fact, PC sales grew by almost 2 percent in the first quarter of 2012. Perhaps that’s not saying much. Last year, you’ll remember, was nothing less than the second-worst year for sales in the history of the PC industry after 2001 — except at Apple, which, no surprise, turned in its best year for Mac sales ever. Perhaps it might have been more realistic to predict a bounce-off-the-bottom moment.

Anyhow, here’s what Gartner saw and what its analysts think about it:

Europe and the Middle East did better than expected and grew by almost 7 percent. Asia was below expectations and emerging markets slowed down generally.

Also, the hard drive supply problem brought on by the floods in Thailand didn’t cause nearly as many problems as some had expected. As Gartner’s Mikako Kitagawa put it: “In general, the hard-disk drive supply shortage had a limited impact on PC supply during 1Q12. There was a moderate impact on selected markets, such as low-end consumer notebooks and the white-box market in selected regions. Still, low PC demand was able to mask the tight hard drive supply overall.”

So who led the market? Look at the tables. Worldwide market is first:

Lenovo grew the most, boosting its shipments by more than 28 percent, and was strong in the EMEA market, where growth was higher than expected generally. Dell underperformed, Gartner says, and saw declines in Asia year over year.

And now the U.S. market:

Overall, as you can see, the market declined by 3.5 percent. Dell’s share fell by nearly 4 percent, while HP and Apple grew. Acer’s share fell by an eye-popping 25 percent and change.

Not a bounce, at least not as far as the U.S. is concerned.

Toshiba’s new Excite line, which the Japanese electronics maker is officially announcing today, will include 7.7-inch, 10-inch and 13-inch models. All three Wi-Fi-only tablets are running Google’s Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich operating system; they are aluminum-encased, have Gorilla Glass displays, come with a five-megapixel rear camera and a two-megapixel front-facing camera, and include new Nvidia TegraTM 3 processors.

The Excite 7.7 also has an AMOLED display, a micro-USB port and a micro-SD card slot; while the Excite 10 has an LED-backlit display, micro-USB and micro-HDMI ports, and a full-sized SD card slot. At 1.32 pounds, the new 10-inch weighs just slightly less than Toshiba’s last tablet.

Most interesting might be Toshiba’s 13-inch entrant into the tablet market. The device has a 13.3-inch diagonal LED-backlit display and weighs 2.2 pounds. At first glance, it looks gigantic, but it isn’t really meant to be a take-it-with-you tablet. Toshiba’s aiming this one at tablet users who rarely, if ever, use their devices out of the home; the computer maker has said it envisions the Excite 13 as a kitchen-counter or coffee-table device.

The Excite 10 will hit the market on May 6, priced at $450 for a 16 gigabyte model — still $50 less than the starting price of the new LTE iPad — while the Exite 7.7 and Excite 13 tablets will go on sale June 10. Those base models will cost $500 and $650, respectively.

And at that point, Toshiba’s Thrive tablets will go away.

Toshiba first introduced its Thrive tablet in July of last year, and attempted to set its product apart from the iPad by incorporating some features one might expect on a PC. As AllThingsD’s Walt Mossberg pointed out in his review of the Thrive, the 10-inch Android tablet came with a full-sized USB port and HDMI port, a removable battery and a full-sized SD slot for flash-memory cards. Its base model originally cost $430 at launch, though Toshiba later lowered the price.

In September, Toshiba introduced the 7-inch version of the Thrive, again with easy connectivity through other devices, though with micro-versions of the USB, HDMI and SD card ports. That product just came to market in late 2011.

In addition to the new tablets, Toshiba is also introducing a redesigned HD All-in-One desktop computer, two new Qosmio gaming laptops, and a stable of upgraded laptops from the Satellite P and Satellite S series, as well as new, slightly lower-priced Satellite L and Satellite C Series laptops.

Microsoft disclosed on Wednesday that Windows on ARM won’t offer the same manageability features that businesses have come to rely on for overseeing their legions of computers.

“Although the ARM-based version of Windows does not include the same manageability features that are in 32-bit and 64-bit versions, businesses can use these power-saving devices in unmanaged environments,” Microsoft said in a document released ahead of its Windows 8 event in Barcelona.

A lack of manageability isn’t the only reason many big businesses probably won’t want to go Windows on ARM. It also won’t work with any traditional desktop apps other than Office.

Microsoft also outlined a “Windows To Go” feature that allows businesses to offer workers access to Windows 8 and corporate apps on a thumb drive.

“Growing mobility and consumerization trends pressure IT professionals to provide users with secure access to a corporate operating system and apps in situations when a device or network is out of the IT department’s control,” Microsoft said. “Windows 8 includes the ability to provide users with a full corporate copy of Windows (along with user’s business apps, data, and settings) on a USB storage device.”

The feature works with both Windows 7 and Windows 8 machines.

“When users insert their device into any Windows 7 or Windows 8 compatible PC and restart the PC, they get their entire personal environment, and operate as a fully managed device,” Microsoft said. “When they sign out, they can remove the USB device, and it is ready to use on another PC.”

RELATED POSTS:

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• A Lytro in Hand Helps Bring Mobile World Congress Into Focus
• Coming Soon: Phones That Learn to Rest When You Do
• Microsoft Won’t Support Some Business Features on ARM, but Will Offer “Windows to Go”
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• Microsoft Says Hola to Windows 8 Beta in Barcelona
• Microsoft Won’t Support Some Business Features on ARM, but Will Offer “Windows to Go”
• Google’s Schmidt Insists Android “A Real Operating System”
• Samsung’s Not Doing Well in the Tablet Market? You Don’t Say …
• Interview: Clearwire CEO Sees 4G Opportunities Where Rival LightSquared Stumbled
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• With Latest Galaxy, Samsung Looks to Project Its Android Lead
• Barcelona Subway Strike Averted on Eve of Mobile World Congress
• Complete Coverage of Mobile World Congress

]]> http://allthingsd.com/20120229/windows-8-on-arm-wont-offer-all-of-the-same-business-features/feed/ 0 http://allthingsd.com/20120229/microsoft-says-hola-to-windows-8-beta-in-barcelona/ http://allthingsd.com/20120229/microsoft-says-hola-to-windows-8-beta-in-barcelona/#comments Wed, 29 Feb 2012 11:52:36 +0000 Ina Fried http://allthingsd.com/?p=179159 Aiming to show its mobile chops, Microsoft is using the world’s largest cellphone show to debut a new test version of Windows 8.

The “consumer preview” version will feature a number of advancements over the early developer version released last fall. Perhaps most notably, this version will include the built-in app store that will be part of the next Windows. (Only free apps will be available, Microsoft has said.)

Windows 8 is one of the biggest bets in the company’s history. Aiming to respond to competition from both Macs and iPads, among other factors, Microsoft is making some big changes to its flagship operating system.

In particular, Windows 8 will be available (albeit with some different capabilities and compatibilities) on both ARM and traditional PC processors.

Microsoft has brought over the tiled Metro interface first introduced on Windows Phone (a look first shown at our D9 conference last year) and is introducing an entirely different type of application. In most cases, new-style apps will be distributed only through the Windows app store.

Earlier this month, Microsoft confirmed that Windows on ARM — complete with the next version of Office — should show up on new PCs around the same time as the operating system comes for PCs with chips from Intel and AMD.

However, Office and Windows 8 itself will be the only traditional desktop apps that run in Windows on ARM.

We’ll have live coverage of Microsoft’s Windows 8 event starting around 6 am PT. If you can’t wait to get some Windows 8 news, Microsoft has posted a guide for businesses on some of the corporate-oriented features contained in the new test build.

Earlier:

3:12 pm: Things haven’t kicked off. You haven’t missed anything. Just got situated.

3:12 pm: The event is at a swank venue overlooking Barcelona. Microsoft covered over a swimming pool to build this temporary facility.

Here’s the view from outside the event:

3:18 pm: “Please take your seats,” booms the invisible voice. “The show will begin shortly.”

The show?

3:20 pm: If you haven’t already, check out this story, which reviews some new business details about Windows 8, including a “Windows to Go” feature that lets Windows run on a thumb drive.

3:21 pm: Windows exec Tami Reller kicking things off, noting to half the crowd that they are on top of the pool.

It’s not my half, so we should be safe.

3:22 pm: Cue Windows President Steven Sinofsky. “We are really excited to be here,” Sinofsky said, before correcting himself to use Microsoft-preferred parlance of “super-excited.”

3:23 pm: Hits key points for Microsoft about Windows 8: Bold reimagining, from chipset to interface and application model.

Today, there are too many trade-offs, Sinofsky said.

We’re choosing between performance or battery life, consumption or content creation, touch or keyboard-and-mouse.

Win 8, I’m sure he’s about to say, is no-compromises.

Yep. Just said it.

3:26 pm: Okay. Here we go, changes in Windows 8 since the developer preview.

“Lots of the product” wasn’t done with developer release, Sinofsky said.

3:28 pm: Since developer preview, 100,000 code changes to Windows 8.

“It’s much more polished, much more refined,” he said.

“Windows 8 is a generational change in the operating system,” Sinofsky said. “Things are different than the last time we made a generational change with Windows 95.”

3:31 pm: Uh-oh. Sinofsky says one plus one, when it comes to apps in Windows 8, equals three.

I’ll tell you this, if that’s the case, I don’t want to use the calculator app.

3:32 pm: Demo time. It’s Julie Larson-Green, who heads design and vision for Windows 8, and Antoine Leblond, the VP who has headed up the Windows Store that is built into Windows 8.

3:34 pm: Larson-Green demoing, starting with login screen, including photo-based password that they have shown. Boots to start screen with a bunch of apps, including Kobo, some Xbox live games, as well as tiles for friends and Web sites.

“I can have as many as I want,” she said.

3:37 pm: The goal, she said, is that everything should be “fast and fluid,” and she said all features and tweaks were judged to make sure they lived up to that.

3:38 pm: Among the preinstalled apps in preview is Xbox Live Games, although that demo generated two error messages (but fast and fluid ones).

3:39 pm: Now demoing Cut the Rope, which its developer has taken from an HTML5 app to Windows 8.

3:40 pm: Windows 8 has a video and music store built-in, with rent and purchase options.

3:41 pm: Switching apps is easier than hitting alt-tab, as in traditional Windows. That was fast, but not so fluid. Now, choosing among open apps is a swipe away.

3:42 pm: There’s a people app that connects to Facebook, Windows Live, Twitter, Google and Exchange. This seems to work very similarly to the way they work on Windows Phone, which is to say nicely.

3:45 pm: Systemwide sharing allows apps to share with one another and share to services.

“That is a quick peek at Windows 8 running on this tablet PC,” she said, handing off to Leblond to show it on a laptop.

“Windows 8 isn’t just about tablets and touch devices,” Leblond said.

He’s showing things on a Lenovo Ultrabook.

Logs in with a four-digit PIN code, another of Windows 8’s login options.

3:49 pm: If you are taking a drink every time you hear “fast and fluid,” you are already too drunk to read this.

3:55 pm: Now he’s demoing the familiar desktop in Windows 8. He shows Office. (For you Windows nerds out there, it’s labeled “Build 8250.”)

3:57 pm: Desktop is just another app, Leblond says, showing how a Metro-style app can run next to the desktop.

All of the things you know and love in Windows 7 are still there, Leblond said.

Larson-Green is back to show an Acer all-in-one with touch and keyboard.

And she logs in with a password this time.

Cool thing is all the stuff from her other machine is there on this machine, just by signing in to that machine with the same Windows Live account. (Not instantly, I don’t think, but still.)

SkyDrive, Microsoft’s cloud storage, is integrated too.

Here’s the desktop app, by the way:

The consumer preview is now available, Microsoft says on its Web site.

4:04 pm: We’re getting a tour of the store from Leblond. I’m multitasking and reading the just-issued press release, too.

4:05 pm: Not much in the press release that looks new to me. New preview version of Internet Explorer 10; test ARM hardware being made available only to select partners, as they said earlier this month.

There’s also a mention of sharing across Windows 8 and Windows Phone, but they haven’t talked about that onstage yet.

Okay, back to the event. Leblond reminds audience that during beta — err — consumer preview, only free apps will be in the store.

4:07 pm: Leblond notes that the company had an apps contest to allow a few small app developers to join the big names in the Windows Store. There are eight winners, but they flipped by too fast for me.

SigFig and Air Soccer are a couple of them.

4:10 pm: Not surprisingly, some folks are telling me on Twitter that Microsoft’s servers are getting hammered, and downloads are going slow.

Patience, people, patience. (I know, I’m not patient, either.)

By the way, everything Microsoft has shown today could have been done on ARM, I believe. The only desktop app shown was Office 2010. (Slight difference: Office 15 will be built into Windows on ARM.)

4:11 pm: While OS is pretty ready, Sinofsky said, the add-on apps are at an earlier stage. Probably going to be updated, look may change and others may be added.

4:13 pm: Charms feature that allows for sharing among apps that don’t know about one another is kind of like a modern, cloud-connected clipboard.

One of the demos, for example, was a USA Today article being shared to WordPress.com.

4:14 pm: Talk shifts to hardware, with Sinofsky previewing some of the stuff partners have been working on.

Coming on stage is Mike Angiulo, who heads up some of the work with hardware makers.

Angiulo shows a Windows 8 ARM tablet.

4:19 pm: The “fast and fluid” thing has reached epidemic proportions.

4:21 pm: Angiulo showed a very brief glimpse of Office 15 on Windows on ARM.

I have a feeling people will be going back in the replay a lot to see that part.

I’ll spare you my blurrycam shot. I looked at it. Even I can’t tell which app it was.

Angiulo holds up a next-generation Intel Ultrabook, as well. It’s silver, and says “Ultrabook” on the hinge.

Inside, Angiulo said, is mobile broadband, touchscreen and Ivy Bridge chip.

4:25 pm: Demo of fast start-up, which Angiulo says can be done in as little as eight seconds from “cold boot.”

4:26 pm: Cool laptop with motorized door that flips down to reveal ports.

For road warriors, Sinofsky said, “ports aren’t an option. You really, really need them.”

4:27 pm: Second-generation Samsung Series 9 is the latest in the hardware wheel-of-Windows 8-fortune.

Next up, carbon fiber Dell XPS 13, a 13-inch laptop in a 12-inch design.

Not just fast boot and resume, Angiulo said. Network connectivity can happen in under a second.

Other wireless networking features — cost-aware network switching to auto-switch from mobile broadband to known Wi-Fi or your carrier’s Wi-Fi.

4:31 pm: In many cases, Sinofsky promises, your PC will be able to log back into a known network before a user types in their password (for those who need a password to resume).

4:32 pm: Lenovo’s IdeaPad Yoga, an interesting device from CES, makes an appearance. It can fold into a tablet, laptop, as well as a presentation-style mode.

Trivia time: Microsoft Mouse turns 30 this year, Sinofsky said.

Giant 82-inch Gorilla Glass screen in the back isn’t a monitor, but a Windows 8 PC from Jeff Han’s Perceptive Pixel. He’s the guy who builds that high-end CNN touchscreen.

They also demo NFC-pairing of a wireless speaker.

4:41 pm: Windows 8 can treat a bunch of hard drives like one big physical drive, as part of “Storage Spaces.”

4:43 pm: Last demo was actually done on a Windows 7 PC that was running Windows 8 off a flash drive using the “Windows to Go” feature that leaked out earlier today, thanks to a business guide posted to Microsoft’s Web site a wee bit early.

More Windows 8 enterprise talk at CeBit in a few days, Sinofsky promises.

4:46 pm: 4:46 pm: “Touch PCs are on the way, in all shapes and sizes,” Sinofsky promises.

Notes that it won’t have to be a trade-off of touch or mouse-and-keyboard. Can have both, or keyboard and mouse only, when you want it.

4:48 pm: Sinofsky starting to wrap up, it seems.

4:48 pm: Consumer preview in five languages — English, German, French, Japanese and simplifed Chinese.

Sinofsky is his trademark vague on timing, noting that the next milestone is the release candidate.

“We delivered the consumer preview just as we promised,” he said, noting that it was being downloaded almost immediately in more than 70 countries.

Coming up on the blog: System requirements and other details not offered up today.

And … that’s it.

RELATED POSTS:

• Tablets That Have a Certain Feel to Them
• A Lytro in Hand Helps Bring Mobile World Congress Into Focus
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• Microsoft Won’t Support Some Business Features on ARM, but Will Offer “Windows to Go”
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• Barcelona Subway Strike Averted on Eve of Mobile World Congress
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]]> http://allthingsd.com/20120229/microsoft-says-hola-to-windows-8-beta-in-barcelona/feed/ 0 http://allthingsd.com/20120117/amd-gets-ultra-competitive-in-skinny-laptop-market/ http://allthingsd.com/20120117/amd-gets-ultra-competitive-in-skinny-laptop-market/#comments Tue, 17 Jan 2012 19:11:05 +0000 John Paczkowski http://allthingsd.com/?p=164327 Advanced Micro Devices is planning to mount an aggressive challenge to Intel in the nascent, but soon-to-be-very-crowded Ultrabook market.

Early this summer AMD will debut its new Trinity chips, which promise to deliver the same performance while consuming half the power of AMD’s A-series chips. Launching alongside them: A new class of ultrathin, lightweight laptops to run them.

Why are they called “ultrathin” when we’ve been taught to refer to these devices as “Ultrabooks”?

Because Ultrabook is a moniker trademarked by Intel and entirely off limits to AMD.

So what’s to distinguish an ultrathin laptop from an Ultrabook, keeping in mind that they’re really both just laptops with sillier names?

Evidently, the biggest difference between the two will be price. Sources tell the occasionally reliable Digitimes that AMD is looking to seriously undercut Intel on this front by pricing Trinity 10 percent to 20 percent lower than its rival’s offering.

If that is indeed the case, these ultrathin machines could end up being $100-$200 cheaper than their Ultrabook couterparts. A troubling development for Intel, which is hoping the Ultrabook will carve out a 40 percent slice of the laptop PC market. The company has said in the past that it plans to drop the Ultrabook’s price over time. With AMD now aiming to undercut it, it may need to make those price cuts earlier and deeper.

]]> http://allthingsd.com/20120117/amd-gets-ultra-competitive-in-skinny-laptop-market/feed/ 0 http://allthingsd.com/20120112/hps-former-cto-ultrabooks-are-nothing-new-webos-still-has-life-yet/ http://allthingsd.com/20120112/hps-former-cto-ultrabooks-are-nothing-new-webos-still-has-life-yet/#comments Thu, 12 Jan 2012 22:02:37 +0000 Lauren Goode http://allthingsd.com/?p=163254 Phil McKinney, the former chief technology officer of Hewlett-Packard’s PC unit, is taking a hard stance on Ultrabooks.

“There’s nothing new,” he told AllThingsD in an interview at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. “And many look the same. If you covered up the label on them, you can’t tell them apart.”

Ultrabooks, in case you’ve missed the ultra-noisy hype this week, are Intel-driven lightweight laptops, with Dell, HP, Lenovo, Samsung, and Acer getting into the game, to name a handful. In addition to portability, some computer makers are punching up the laptops with features like carbon fiber and Gorilla Glass coatings, flexible bodies, NFC chips and battery boosters.

“At the end of the day, they have Intel chips; they’re running Microsoft Windows operating systems,” McKinney said. He pointed to the HP Voodoo Envy 133, which hit the market in 2008, had a 13.3-inch display and weighed only 3.4 pounds (albeit at a $2,000-plus price point).

McKinney was attending CES as a member of the press — he’s writing a column for Forbes. He was also promoting his upcoming book, “Beyond the Obvious.”

McKinney exited HP last fall, following a tumultuous couple of months that included a CEO swap, the abandonment of webOS hardware, and reports that HP might spin off its PC unit. During McKinney’s nine years at the PC maker, he guided much of the company’s innovation and R&D. More recently, that included the development of Ultrabooks, he said.

McKinney also offered his thoughts on webOS, which HP acquired with Palm back in 2010, and which recently became an open source project. “I was disappointed by the decision to kill the hardware. I still think, though, there’s a lot of life left in webOS,” he said.

He hears from developers and tinkerers, he said, who are still excited to work with webOS, but are waiting for the code, the access and the governance model from HP in order to really begin developing on the platform.

“Ultimately, I think webOS could become the alternative OS that you can download on devices that come with another operating system built in,” McKinney said. “Apps from developers are continuing to grow for webOS. The interest is still there.”

(Photo courtesy of the DEMO Conference/Flickr)

MORE CES NEWS:

• Complete coverage
• HP’s Former CTO: Ultrabooks Are Nothing New, webOS Still Has Life Yet
• Walt Shows Off CES Gadgets for Fox Business News (Video)
• What Kind of Web Video Plans Does Sony Have? (Video)
• Fujitsu Seeking Way Into Crowded U.S. Smartphone Market
• Why Rhapsody Is (Probably) Bigger Than Spotify — In the U.S.
• Microsoft Beefing Up CeBit Presence Even as It Pulls Back on CES
• Inside the CES Lost & Found
• FCC Chairman Has New Tablet, but Same Script: More Spectrum!
• Verizon Wireless: We Want to Connect Five Devices for Every Subscriber
• Ultrabooks From HP and Lenovo That Are (Kinda, Sorta) Different
• Walt and Katie Take a Tour of CES (Video)
• Schmidt-Storm Alert: The Google Chairman Didn’t Like Your Question
• T-Mobile Expands Bobsled Messaging Service
• Intel Shows Just How It Plans to Get Into Phones (Video)
• Motorola CEO: We’re Going to Release Fewer Phones This Year
• Kinect Helps Keep Aging Xbox at the Top of Its Game
• More From T-Mobile CEO: On Pricing, LTE and That Ever-Elusive iPhone
• Exclusive: New Boss Acknowledges Windows Phone Still Has “Awareness Problem”
• And You Thought Jawbone UP Was Going to Miss the CES Party!
• Interview: T-Mobile CEO Says No Second AT&T Deal Out There
• Grover Is at CES and I Am Missing It
• BlueStacks Bringing Android Apps to Windows 8
• Why the Future of TV Won’t Be Here Soon
• Nvidia’s Tegra 3 Tries to Save Battery in All Sorts of Different Ways
• Dynamic Dual Coverage: Ballmer’s Last Act in Vegas and the BCS Championship in 3-D
• Microsoft Phoning In Its Last CES Keynote
• Myspace — Yes, Myspace — Says It’s Going to Sell You Web TV
• Samsung Unveils “Super” 55-Inch OLED TV
• Nokia Unveils That LTE Windows Phone It’s Been Dying to Share
• Steve Ballmer Gives Ralph De La Vega a Very … Vigorous Greeting (Video)
• Interview: AT&T’s De La Vega on LTE, Tablets and Life After T-Mobile
• AT&T’s De La Vega: Shared Data Plans Still in the Works
• LG: 55-Inch Glasses-Free 3-D Screen Is on the Way
• LG Pushes 4G Smartphone Through Verizon: The LG Spectrum
• Live: AT&T’s Vegas Act Stars LTE and, Making Her Return to the Stage, Nokia
• CES Notebook: The Constant Search for Power and Vegas’ Worst-kept Secret
• Belkin Bringing Mobile TV to Lots of Cellphones, Will Anyone Tune In?
• Acer Introduces “World’s Thinnest” Ultrabook and a “Me-Too” Cloud Service
• There Better Be Some Cool Stuff at CES, Because CE Holiday Sales Data Bytes!
• CES 2012: Snooki and Bieber Are In, Gaga Is Out!
• Coming to a Smartphone Near You: Gorilla Glass 2
• RIM Hopes Next PlayBook OS Will Impress at CES
• Ultrabooks, the Ultra-Fancy New Name for Laptops
• At CES, Expect More Gadgets Telling You to Get Off the Couch
• Intel to Detail Its Phone Plans at CES Next Month
• Microsoft Pulling Out of CES After Upcoming Show
• Intel to Detail Its Phone Plans at CES Next Month
• Dell Will Drop the Flashy Vegas Act for CES This Year
• Ultrabook Conga Line Preps for CES 2012

]]> http://allthingsd.com/20120112/hps-former-cto-ultrabooks-are-nothing-new-webos-still-has-life-yet/feed/ 1 http://allthingsd.com/20120105/at-ces-control-your-computer-screen-with-your-gaze/ http://allthingsd.com/20120105/at-ces-control-your-computer-screen-with-your-gaze/#comments Thu, 05 Jan 2012 13:15:06 +0000 Lauren Goode http://allthingsd.com/?p=160196 At last year’s D9 conference, Sweden-based Tobii demonstrated cool eye-tracking technology that enables users to control a PC without hands.

At next week’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Tobii plans to show off how its interactive eye-tracking software, called Gaze, works with Microsoft’s Windows 8 Metro interface.

Gaze would go in a compact rectangular device — smaller than the current 8-inch Tobii IS-1 tracker — that sits below the laptop screen and tracks a user’s eye movement using sensors built into the bar. You activate Gaze by tapping the trackpad once, and Gaze takes a few seconds to find your pupil and calculate the point of gaze using mathematical algorithms. An imaginary “head movement box” is created to delineate a range of motion in which you can still move your head and have the device track you.

In terms of precision, Tobii says the sensors measure within a quarter-inch of the tile or icon you’re looking at. For smaller icons or small text, Gaze still allows a user to navigate the cursor using the laptop’s trackpad, by pressing their fingers down on the pad instead of tapping it once.

Here’s a video showing how it works on Windows 8:

Gaze could, theoretically, work on tablets, too. But Tobii business development manager Anders Olsson says that tablet interaction is so smooth to begin with — with capacitive touch within an arm’s length of the user — that tablets don’t need much improvement. It’s boring old laptops that could use a boost.

“Gaze takes away the whole intermediate step of having a mouse or even using touch technology,” Olsson said in an interview. “We see this as an important innovation because, compared to tablets, laptops feel very ancient right now, in terms of user experience.”

While eye-tracking tech like Gaze could make sense for TV viewing as well, given the growing interest in gesture technology, Olsson said Tobii’s technology isn’t quite up to speed for TV. In fact, it could be a couple more years before Gaze hits the mass market.

Tobii doesn’t plan to sell Gaze directly to consumers, but will work with electronics manufacturers to ship on laptops. While the company says it is in talks with computer makers and electronics manufacturers, it hasn’t officially partnered with anyone, including Microsoft, for the development of Tobii Gaze (although Microsoft is expected to show Tobii eye-tracking demos at its CES booth, as well).

Eye-tracking technology isn’t new, but until now it has been used primarily in niche markets, as a tool for people with severe physical disabilities, or for psychological researchers who monitor eye movement to determine cognitive abilities.

Tobii has been around since 2001, and currently holds 13 patents in the area of eye-tracking tech.

(Image credit: Flickr/Mike Garza)

MORE CES NEWS:

• Complete coverage
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• Walt Shows Off CES Gadgets for Fox Business News (Video)
• What Kind of Web Video Plans Does Sony Have? (Video)
• Fujitsu Seeking Way Into Crowded U.S. Smartphone Market
• Why Rhapsody Is (Probably) Bigger Than Spotify — In the U.S.
• Microsoft Beefing Up CeBit Presence Even as It Pulls Back on CES
• Inside the CES Lost & Found
• FCC Chairman Has New Tablet, but Same Script: More Spectrum!
• Verizon Wireless: We Want to Connect Five Devices for Every Subscriber
• Ultrabooks From HP and Lenovo That Are (Kinda, Sorta) Different
• Walt and Katie Take a Tour of CES (Video)
• Schmidt-Storm Alert: The Google Chairman Didn’t Like Your Question
• T-Mobile Expands Bobsled Messaging Service
• Intel Shows Just How It Plans to Get Into Phones (Video)
• Motorola CEO: We’re Going to Release Fewer Phones This Year
• Kinect Helps Keep Aging Xbox at the Top of Its Game
• More From T-Mobile CEO: On Pricing, LTE and That Ever-Elusive iPhone
• Exclusive: New Boss Acknowledges Windows Phone Still Has “Awareness Problem”
• And You Thought Jawbone UP Was Going to Miss the CES Party!
• Interview: T-Mobile CEO Says No Second AT&T Deal Out There
• Grover Is at CES and I Am Missing It
• BlueStacks Bringing Android Apps to Windows 8
• Why the Future of TV Won’t Be Here Soon
• Nvidia’s Tegra 3 Tries to Save Battery in All Sorts of Different Ways
• Dynamic Dual Coverage: Ballmer’s Last Act in Vegas and the BCS Championship in 3-D
• Microsoft Phoning In Its Last CES Keynote
• Myspace — Yes, Myspace — Says It’s Going to Sell You Web TV
• Samsung Unveils “Super” 55-Inch OLED TV
• Nokia Unveils That LTE Windows Phone It’s Been Dying to Share
• Steve Ballmer Gives Ralph De La Vega a Very … Vigorous Greeting (Video)
• Interview: AT&T’s De La Vega on LTE, Tablets and Life After T-Mobile
• AT&T’s De La Vega: Shared Data Plans Still in the Works
• LG: 55-Inch Glasses-Free 3-D Screen Is on the Way
• LG Pushes 4G Smartphone Through Verizon: The LG Spectrum
• Live: AT&T’s Vegas Act Stars LTE and, Making Her Return to the Stage, Nokia
• CES Notebook: The Constant Search for Power and Vegas’ Worst-kept Secret
• Belkin Bringing Mobile TV to Lots of Cellphones, Will Anyone Tune In?
• Acer Introduces “World’s Thinnest” Ultrabook and a “Me-Too” Cloud Service
• There Better Be Some Cool Stuff at CES, Because CE Holiday Sales Data Bytes!
• CES 2012: Snooki and Bieber Are In, Gaga Is Out!
• Coming to a Smartphone Near You: Gorilla Glass 2
• RIM Hopes Next PlayBook OS Will Impress at CES
• Ultrabooks, the Ultra-Fancy New Name for Laptops
• At CES, Expect More Gadgets Telling You to Get Off the Couch
• Intel to Detail Its Phone Plans at CES Next Month
• Microsoft Pulling Out of CES After Upcoming Show
• Intel to Detail Its Phone Plans at CES Next Month
• Dell Will Drop the Flashy Vegas Act for CES This Year
• Ultrabook Conga Line Preps for CES 2012

]]> http://allthingsd.com/20120105/at-ces-control-your-computer-screen-with-your-gaze/feed/ 1 http://allthingsd.com/20111216/dell-ditches-netbooks/ http://allthingsd.com/20111216/dell-ditches-netbooks/#comments Sat, 17 Dec 2011 00:45:22 +0000 Lauren Goode http://allthingsd.com/?p=154818 Dell has said it is no longer going to be making consumer netbooks, as the computer maker — and others — shift toward the emerging category of thin, powerful ultrabooks. Netbooks, which first debuted in 2007 and are typically smaller and less powerful than traditional notebooks, saw their day in the sun quickly fade following the advent of tablets. Though Dell is ditching the Inspiron Mini netbook, the company is still selling the business-aimed Latitude netbooks on Dell.com, as pointed out by The Verge.

]]> http://allthingsd.com/20111216/dell-ditches-netbooks/feed/ 4 http://allthingsd.com/20111116/hewlett-packard-dons-its-ultrabook-suit/ http://allthingsd.com/20111116/hewlett-packard-dons-its-ultrabook-suit/#comments Wed, 16 Nov 2011 17:11:23 +0000 Arik Hesseldahl http://allthingsd.com/?p=144802 It’s been about three weeks since Hewlett-Packard announced its decision to keep its PC division, formally known as the Personal Systems Group, or PSG. Today marked the first serious batch of new PC introductions from HP since that decision.

The one getting all the attention is an offering in the Ultrabook category that’s priced at $900. It’s called the HP Folio¹³, and aside from its price, its headline feature is that it delivers a full nine hours of battery life.

The Ultrabook is a concept primarily being pushed by Intel, so much so that Intel even owns the trademark rights to the name. Inside the Folio¹³ are the latest Intel Core processors. It represents the hopes of a PC industry that has seen anemic sales with little sign of a bounceback, though that depends on whom you ask.

Major challenges have been the continued popularity among consumers of Apple’s iPad, and to a lesser extent other tablets, and the impressive sales of Apple’s MacBook Air, which now accounts for nearly a third of Apple’s notebook sales. It may not be an Ultrabook technically, but conceptually the similarities are substantial: Thin, light, sporting solid-state drives and speedy boot-up times.

And while the MacBook Air is a big winner for Apple, there’s as yet little evidence that there’s much demand for a similar product running Windows. Last month, it emerged that Acer and Asus expect to sell only 100,000 each by the of 2011, which would amount to between one third and one half of what they originally hoped.

Yes, it’s early days for Ultrabooks — machines that support Intel’s full design vision won’t be on the market for another several months. And the industry is just now starting to bang the drum seriously for the Ultrabook. Asus Chairman Jonney Shih talked about the category in an interview with Walt Mossberg at AsiaD last month.

In its press releases, HP expressed the hopes of an entire industry when it quoted IDC analyst Crawford Del Prete saying he expects PC makers — including HP — to sell 95 million Ultrabooks by 2015. At their current levels, there’s nowhere to go but up.

]]> http://allthingsd.com/20111116/hewlett-packard-dons-its-ultrabook-suit/feed/ 0 http://allthingsd.com/20111109/a-guide-for-pc-buyers-not-looking-for-a-tablet/ http://allthingsd.com/20111109/a-guide-for-pc-buyers-not-looking-for-a-tablet/#comments Thu, 10 Nov 2011 02:02:27 +0000 Walter S. Mossberg http://allthingsd.com/?p=142638 If you’re shopping for a laptop this autumn, you’ll find most of the capabilities and prices in the sluggish market unchanged. You’ll still likely be considering whether it’s time to get a tablet instead of a new laptop.

But if you’re focused on a Windows machine, and you look carefully, you’ll see that a new class of portable PC is beginning to appear. It’s called the “ultrabook,” and is essentially the Windows version of Apple’s popular, nearly four-year old MacBook Air—an ultraskinny, light, speedy, versatile laptop with long battery life.

The arrival of the ultrabook is a welcome development, not only because it spices up the market, but because I consider the MacBook Air the best all-around consumer laptop available, and anything that emulates it is a good idea, if done well.

There are only a few ultrabooks available this season and they aren’t for everybody. Most have limited storage and, like the MacBook Air, are priced near the $1,000 range—rich territory in a tight economy where Apple buyers seem comfortable, though not many others. Still, this new class of Windows laptop is the only fundamentally fresh choice in the laptop market.

If the price is too high, you should be able to get a capable major-brand laptop for between $500 and $800, with plenty of storage and memory.

My annual fall laptop buyers’ guide today offers tips for wading through the technobabble in computer ads, and in online and physical stores. As always, these tips are for average consumers doing common tasks, such as email, Web browsing, social networking, general office productivity, photos, music, videos and simple games. This guide isn’t meant for corporate buyers, or for hard-core gamers or serious media producers.

The recently unveiled Asus Zenbook

The tablet question: Tablets like Apple’s iPad 2 and Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1 can perform many, though not all, of the functions of a laptop. Most tablet lovers find themselves reaching for their laptops less often to do things like email. If your budget is limited and you’re thinking of shelling out $500 for a full-size tablet, consider whether you can put off getting a new laptop this year instead of buying both.

Future Windows: If you’re shopping for a Windows laptop, be aware that in 2012, Microsoft will offer a new version of Windows, called Windows 8, with a radical new multitouch interface that makes use of a touch screen. The software giant stresses that Windows 8 won’t require such a screen, and will still work with a mouse or touch pad. But unless you have a laptop with a multi-touch screen, you won’t be able to take advantage of the Windows 8 touch-screen features.

Ultrabooks: Four companies make this class of laptop: Acer, Lenovo, Asus and, shortly, Toshiba. These machines are under 0.8 inch thick, weigh less than three pounds, and generally claim long battery life and almost-instant startup times. All run Windows 7; none has a touch screen. Like the MacBook Air, they use solid-state drives (though some combine these with standard hard disks) and have screens of either 11 inches or 13 inches. Prices generally run from around $900 to $1,100.

Windows vs. Mac: Mac laptops cost more and offer less variety than Windows laptops. The least expensive Mac laptop is $999, while a few stripped-down Windows portables can be had for under $300. Well-equipped Windows laptops start at $500 to $600. But Apple laptops combine beauty, ruggedness and long battery life with good customer service. Macs also come with better built-in software, including the new Lion operating system, which includes some tablet-like features. And they can run Windows, at extra cost.

Finally, Mac users don’t fear viruses and other malicious software, because virtually none work on the Mac.

Memory: Get at least 4 gigabytes of memory, or RAM, on a new Windows computer. On a Mac, most consumers can get away with 2 gigabytes.

Processors: Intel’s latest chips are the i3, i5, and i7 Core models. But a laptop with chips from rival AMD, or older Intel dual-core chips, also is OK.

Graphics: Usually less expensive machines have wimpier graphics hardware, and costlier ones have more powerful graphics. Better graphics can make your whole machine faster, because more and more software is designed to offload general processing tasks onto the graphics chips.

Hard disks: A 320-gigabyte hard disk should be the minimum on most PCs. Solid-state disks, like those in the new ultrabooks or the MacBook Air, generally come in sizes of 128 GB or 256 GB. They omit moving parts and use flash memory to store your files, as on a smartphone or tablet. They are costlier, but faster, and use less power.

Ports: Many PCs now come with a port called HDMI, which makes linking to a high-definition TV easy. There is a new, much faster USB port, called USB 3.0, but few peripheral devices can use it. And Apple has introduced yet another high-speed connector that has little practical use so far, called Thunderbolt.

As always, be wary of sales pitches and don’t buy more laptop than you need.

Email Walt at mossberg@wsj.com.

]]> http://allthingsd.com/20111109/a-guide-for-pc-buyers-not-looking-for-a-tablet/feed/ 0 http://allthingsd.com/20110913/microsoft-releases-first-test-version-of-windows-8/ http://allthingsd.com/20110913/microsoft-releases-first-test-version-of-windows-8/#comments Tue, 13 Sep 2011 16:05:03 +0000 Ina Fried http://allthingsd.com/?p=119674

After playing coy for several months, Microsoft is finally letting developers get their hot little hands on a test version of Windows 8.

At its developer conference in Anaheim, Calif., Microsoft is detailing the new software and offering a preview version of the forthcoming operating system. Although the company is giving the early code to developers, Microsoft isn’t saying when the operating system will ship.

What is clear is that Steve Ballmer wasn’t kidding when he called Windows 8 one of the company’s riskiest bets in some time. Microsoft has laid out an ambitious goal for Windows 8, stating that it wants the operating system to be as at home on a tiny touch-only tablet as it is on a large, powerful desktop hooked up to several large displays.

To reach this goal, Microsoft is pushing developers to write a whole new type of application, designed to occupy the full screen and be extremely touch-friendly.

“Windows 8 is a bold reimagination of what Windows can be,” Windows unit president Steven Sinofsky said in a briefing with journalists on Monday. Sinofsky showed a peek at Windows 8’s new interface at D9 in June, but the company has released few technical details until this week.

The changes to Windows are immediately obvious from the moment it boots up. In addition to hopefully starting up more quickly, the operating system launches to a lock screen that displays a photo and login information, as well as a glance at status information such as calendar appointments, incoming mail and other messages.

Once users log on — either through a password, PIN or by making certain gestures on a photograph — they are taken to a start screen that bears more resemblance to Windows Phone 7 than to the traditional Windows desktop. From there, users can run various programs, including many new-style Windows apps that are designed just for Windows 8.

The familiar Windows desktop is there to run traditional programs, such as Office and Photoshop, but what was the entire Windows experience is now just an app that runs alongside new-style Windows apps, which run full screen and have none of the familiar menus such as “file” and “edit.” Instead, controls for the new apps are hidden until a user swipes the top or bottom of a screen. Swiping the right side brings up a series of universal “charms” designed to allow common actions such as searching and sharing, which can work across applications. Swiping in from the left side allows users to flip between open applications.

The other big change coming to Windows 8 is on the chip side. Microsoft has already said that Windows 8 will run on the same kind of ARM-based chips that power smartphones and tablets. However, the key question here is how far Microsoft has gotten.

“The progress is phenomenal,” Sinofsky said on Monday. “Everything you are seeing works equally well on ARM today.”

That said, Microsoft is showing mainly new stuff, as opposed to the kinds of older applications that will need to be tweaked or rewritten entirely to run on ARM-based chips. Sinofsky said that, in general, Windows on ARM is designed to run the new-style applications, rather than classic Windows applications. Back in January, Microsoft did show a technology demonstration of Office running on an ARM-based machine, although Sinofsky declined to elaborate on whether an ARM version of Office will be released.

It is unclear when developers will be able to get their hands on an ARM-based version of Windows 8. As for the version that runs on Intel and AMD chips, Microsoft didn’t give dates, but Sinofsky said to expect this developer preview to be updated periodically and then followed by a single beta version, followed by a near-final release candidate and then the final release.

With Windows 7, a similar process took about a year to go from developer preview to final release.

Related posts

• Exclusive: Making Sense of Our First Look at Windows 8
• Windows 8 Gets Ready for Its Big Debut
• Gearing Up for Microsoft’s Big Week
• Microsoft Details Windows 8 at Build Conference in Anaheim
• What We Just Learned About Windows 8
• Microsoft Releases First Test Version of Windows 8
• Windows 8 Forces Some Compromises After All
• Boys and Their Toys: Developers Rush to Get Windows 8 Tablets
• Windows 8 Shows Its Server Side
• Ballmer: 500,000 Downloads of Windows 8 Since Last Night

]]> http://allthingsd.com/20110913/microsoft-releases-first-test-version-of-windows-8/feed/ 0 http://allthingsd.com/20110620/buyers-remorse-this-is-the-real-decision-engine/ http://allthingsd.com/20110620/buyers-remorse-this-is-the-real-decision-engine/#comments Mon, 20 Jun 2011 12:00:51 +0000 Tricia Duryee http://allthingsd.com/?p=88019 Ever wonder if you should buy a new digital camera or wait for a better one just around the corner?

Even worse, did you buy the brand-new HDTV right before 3-D came out?

A new electronics shopping service is launching today to eliminate buyer’s remorse by providing consumers with enough information to help them make a better decision.

The Seattle-based Decide.com is the brainchild of the folks behind Farecast.com, which helped predict whether it was the right time to buy an airline ticket or if a price drop was coming.

Farecast, which was purchased by Microsoft three years ago for $115 million, is now Bing Travel.

Similarly, Decide.com is trying to provide the same information for the consumer electronics industry, which often moves too fast for the average person to keep up.

The concept plays off the same fears that Best Buy’s new Buy Back promotion is addressing. The promotion, which allows you to return products for the latest model for a fee, is the subject of a hysterical TV commercial.

In one scene, a man is happily receiving his new 3-D TV, only to find out that 4-D is coming soon — no glasses needed! The man slaps himself, while his daughter runs around the yard, teasing: “You got the wrong TV, sillyhead!”

Decide’s CEO Mike Fridgen said on average six new laptops and one new TV come out every day, and a camera comes out every other day. “We are the only site that says ‘wait,’ there’s a newer model available at a cheaper price.”

The site is designed to help with deciphering product cycles and pricing trends.

Decide’s VP of Product and Market Michael Paulson said 20 percent of prices fluctuate daily, and it’s just as likely for prices to go up as down because of dynamic pricing models.

By keeping track of this information for the past two years, Decide has gathered 60 terabytes of data to be able to predict with some accuracy when a new model is coming out or when the price might change.

For example, on Amazon the Canon PowerShot G11 gets nearly five stars and costs $650. Fridgen says there’s no obvious reason not to buy it. But if you check Decide.com, you’ll find out that it’s already been on the market for 19 months and that a newer model is available now for only $450. With 78 percent confidence, it believes the price will hold steady.

Decide.com also aggregates information from news and rumor sites, which provide information on when products are coming.

The company anticipates making money through referral fees to e-commerce sites, where people will make purchases.

Right now, Fridgen says retailers are a little scared of the idea because it may suggest that a consumer should wait; however, he believes that it will ultimately benefit retailers because customers will be happier with their purchases and be less likely to make returns.

The company was co-founded by Oren Etzioni, who is also a computer science professor at the University of Washington. It has raised $8.5 million from Maveron, which was started by Starbucks’ Howard Schultz, and Madrona Venture Group, which was founded by one of the original investors in Amazon.

]]> http://allthingsd.com/20110620/buyers-remorse-this-is-the-real-decision-engine/feed/ 0 http://allthingsd.com/20110614/part-i-nintendos-iwata-hopes-the-wii-u-will-steal-back-couch-time-from-the-ipad/ http://allthingsd.com/20110614/part-i-nintendos-iwata-hopes-the-wii-u-will-steal-back-couch-time-from-the-ipad/#comments Tue, 14 Jun 2011 13:00:48 +0000 Tricia Duryee http://allthingsd.com/?p=86367 Nintendo’s next console is not just about playing games, but will act as another screen in the living room that will compete against laptops, tablets and phones for a consumer’s spare time spent on the couch.

Here’s the first part of my interview with Nintendo’s Global President Satoru Iwata from E3, where he discusses — through an interpreter —  the successor to the original Wii, called the Wii U.

He not only tells me that the devices have higher-end components, capable of displaying hardcore games, but that the controller’s 6.2-inch display will attract a very wide audience of people looking for a casual way to connect to the Internet.

Stay tuned for the second part of the interview, where Iwata explains why Nintendo will continue charging for its games and not get caught up in the the frenzy to release free-to-play games. (Update: Here is a link to the rest of the interview.)

Let’s get started by talking about the Wii U. What does it accomplish for the company?

We consider the Wii U the next step for the Wii … By that I mean, the mission this time is that we would like to transform the relationships between the family, the video game and the Internet into a new shape. Many things can be changed with the introduction of the Wii U into the household, especially how video games want to be played, how people are going to watch TV, and how the relationship with the Internet and family members will be changed.

The Wii U represents a big shift from casual and family-friendly gaming that Nintendo is known for to hardcore gaming and first-person shooters.

In the case of the original Wii, our intent was to extend the gaming population, but of course we needed to think about how we were going to motivate non-gamers to play with video games, so we came up with Wii Sports and Wii Fit, as well as how the Wii system was designed.

For example, in the case of our products, approximately 50 percent of our users are a female audience, the other platforms are around 30 percent.

So, the Wii has already achieved very impressive things, but there were two things we were not able to realize: We could not keep up with the hardcore gamers and the Wii original was not compatible with HDTVs.

This time around, Wii U is compatible with HDTV, so we now expect the Wii console to be as powerful as any other console and all the necessary buttons are there [Iwata holds the new controller and demonstrates its use].

When we approached the third-party publishers to tell them about the Wii U, all the publishers volunteered to make advancements in the field of shooting games that they are very good at. For example, ordinarily when you are playing a shooter type of game, your main TV screen is the battlefield; however, oftentimes you have to open a new window to select items or weapons or to see the entire map.

But you don’t have to do that anymore with Wii U because you’ll have a screen that will show you that information.

But this is just one of the roles. It will also have another mission, as well. By having another screen, we believe it will pave a new way in the opposite direction to attract the non-gamers today. It’s no denying that we’ve expanded the so-called gaming population, but there’s still a number of people that have yet to be interested in the Wii at all, even after we introduced them to such applications as Wii Sports and Wii Fit.

Even those people, we want them to utilize Wii U one way or another.

For example, there’s video chat or they may want to do Web browsing while watching the screen on the big TV and managing operations with the screen in your hands.

For the past decade or so, many attempts have been made to link the TV and the Internet, but so far, nothing has been popular. So, the PC is still the strongest device to take advantage of the Internet, and now increasingly smartphones and tablets.

The ordinary TV sets in the household are located 10 feet away from yourself, and so it’s not the optimal solution to see the small letters of the Internet. You may also have problems with inputing and browsing.

On the other hand, when you look at this controller, it’s one foot away from your eyes — it has almost the same distance of the PC and other smartphones. In other words, this device is capable of handling such activities for you to input the letters in the palm of your hands.

In the future, if the TV and Internet can be used together, the TV will have a remote with a screen — and it will look very similar to how the Wii U controller is today.

So, the Wii U is the TV remote of the future?

Yes.

While on one hand we are trying to reach out to the hardcore gamers, we are also trying to make something that can be used as the TV remote of the future. The point is we are trying to reach out to both directions at the same time with the Wii U.

So, do you see the audience continuing to be 50 percent women?

A number of the videogame genres will be for male audiences, and the male audiences will increase, but on the other hand, this device is capable of many other things. On this device you can see video streams of Netflix, or you can use in conjunction with the TV. Regardless of the gender, you may want to use it … Our hope is it will be equal number of males and females who will be interested in this device.

After you announced the Wii U, I wrote that you are competing for time spent on the living room couch — whether someone is using their laptop, or using a tablet to Skype, or playing a game on the phone. Is this a response to trying to take couch time back?

I think it’s an accurate and acute insight into the situation.

Our mission is to try to shorten the distance between people and gaming, and in order to do so we tried to remove any possible barriers. If you like to play console games, you have to do so on the TV and you have to change the TV’s input and other things. We wanted to remove even these barriers. One of the ways to take advantage of that is to get access to some game-related information [on the Wii U's tablet]. It’s competition for couch time.

Once again, even though, we used a system that caters to the needs of the most skillful players, we are also trying to reach out to the people who are not interested in video games.

I think that we have been able to reduce a number of issues with this.

Because the Wii U can always be on?

Yes.

Photo Credit: Nintendo.

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• Justin.tv Broadcasts Gamers’ Every Move on TwitchTV
• Who Needs War? Sparks Will Fly in EA’s New Sims Game for Facebook.
• Sony Unveils Vita Gaming Device at E3; Will Launch This Year for $249
• E3: Nintendo Unveils the Wii U With Tablet-Style Controller
• Three Key Takeaways From Nintendo’s Wii U (Plus Photos!)
• No Hacks to Report at Xbox, But Microsoft Isn’t Letting Its Guard Down
• Forget About 99 Cents, What If You Could Rent Mobile Games for 25 Cents?
• Digital Game Revenues Hit $5.9 Billion in 2010

]]> http://allthingsd.com/20110614/part-i-nintendos-iwata-hopes-the-wii-u-will-steal-back-couch-time-from-the-ipad/feed/ 0 http://allthingsd.com/20110601/microsofts-windows-8-demo-from-d9-video/ http://allthingsd.com/20110601/microsofts-windows-8-demo-from-d9-video/#comments Thu, 02 Jun 2011 02:19:28 +0000 Ina Fried http://allthingsd.com/?p=81767 You’ve heard about it and now you can see it.

Here’s the full Windows 8 demo from Microsoft Windows Unit President Steven Sinofsky and VP Julie Larson-Green.

For more on Windows 8, check out our analysis, as well as a post on several factors still unknown about the forthcoming operating system.

]]> http://allthingsd.com/20110601/microsofts-windows-8-demo-from-d9-video/feed/ 0 http://allthingsd.com/20110425/michael-dell-looks-beyond-pc-business/ http://allthingsd.com/20110425/michael-dell-looks-beyond-pc-business/#comments Mon, 25 Apr 2011 18:02:40 +0000 Ben Worthen http://voices.allthingsd.com/?p=39339 Michael Dell doesn’t want to talk about personal computers anymore. As Dell Inc.’s chief executive works to turn around the once high-flying PC maker, he has bet on diversifying away from the company’s best-known product.

The 46-year-old has been acquiring high-end technologies—such as storage and security systems—that Dell can sell to businesses to lessen its reliance on selling low-margin desktop and laptop computers.

Dell bought services provider Perot Systems Corp. for $3.9 billion in 2009. Last year, it lost a high-profile bidding war for 3PAR to rival Hewlett-Packard Co. but later scooped up another data-storage company, Compellent Technologies Inc., for $960 million.

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]]> http://allthingsd.com/20110425/michael-dell-looks-beyond-pc-business/feed/ 0 http://allthingsd.com/20110314/when-does-it-pay-to-trade-up-your-technology/ http://allthingsd.com/20110314/when-does-it-pay-to-trade-up-your-technology/#comments Mon, 14 Mar 2011 11:00:54 +0000 Cristina Lourosa-Ricardo http://voices.allthingsd.com/?p=37590 When Apple introduced its newest laptops last month, the company bragged about faster processors, dazzling graphics, new connectivity and a better camera. But all these improvements–to a series of computers that was already by most accounts pretty good–left some critics with a pointed question: Who really needs all that?

It’s a question that nags the tech industry with almost every new advancement. But experts say the pitch for faster, more tricked-out technology has reached a new peak.

Here, in four categories, is what you need–and what you don’t.

Broadband. Most Internet service providers now offer different levels of high-speed connectivity. If you want to stream TV shows or movies, play games or download big files, you may need more juice. Ditto if you have an entire household that’s trying to get online after dinner. Before you change plans, however, make sure you’re actually getting the speed that your provider promised. You can assess the speed of your current connection via a free test website such as Speakeasy.net or Speedtest.net.

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]]> http://allthingsd.com/20110314/when-does-it-pay-to-trade-up-your-technology/feed/ 0 http://allthingsd.com/20110309/companies-ask-workers-to-byot/ http://allthingsd.com/20110309/companies-ask-workers-to-byot/#comments Wed, 09 Mar 2011 23:14:06 +0000 Michael Hickins http://voices.allthingsd.com/?p=37429 An increasing number of companies are asking employees to bring their own smartphones to work, pulling back from the standard practice of procuring and assigning company-owned equipment.

Executives discussing their companies’ plans for managing fleets of smartphones, laptops, tablets and other mobile devices at a technology conference in Palm Desert, Calif. this week said they are either testing or implementing policies for having employees bring their own technology, and then reimbursing them for part or all of the associated costs.

Kevin Summers, the chief information officer at Whirlpool, said that, eventually, the appliance-maker expects 60 percent of such equipment to be employee-owned.

Some, like insurance company USAA, will provide employees with stipends to cover their expenses, with any overages being the employees’ responsibility, while others, like pharmaceutical research company PPDI, will allow employees to charge a portion of their expenses back to the company. Brad Wright, vice president of global communications technology for international engineering firm Jacobs, told Digits during a break at the conference that his firm gave employees a one-time raise to cover the cost of acquiring this equipment.

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]]> http://allthingsd.com/20110309/companies-ask-workers-to-byot/feed/ 0 http://allthingsd.com/20110216/motorola-atrix-android-phone-laptop-review/ http://allthingsd.com/20110216/motorola-atrix-android-phone-laptop-review/#comments Wed, 16 Feb 2011 22:37:55 +0000 Walter S. Mossberg http://ptech.allthingsd.com/?p=1768 Today’s best smartphones are really hand-held computers. They run a vast variety of applications, from productivity programs to games, that mimic what laptops do. Their biggest limitations for serious work, gaming, Web surfing and multimedia are their small screens, cramped keyboards and tinny speakers.

So, what if you could use the brains and connectivity of such a hand-held computer to drive a laptop-size screen, keyboard and speakers, thus overcoming these limitations? Well, Motorola Mobility has devised a new phone and accessory that aim to do just that: to make the phone the only computer you need.

I’ve been testing this new phone, the Atrix 4G, an Android device that will cost $200 with a two-year contract and will run on AT&T’s network. It’s slated to be available by March 6. I’ve also been testing its unusual and clever accessory called the laptop dock, which looks like a large netbook, with an 11.6-inch screen, full keyboard, touch pad, and stereo speakers. This dock, the price of which depends on when you buy it, has no processor, no file storage and no connectivity of its own. It’s dormant until you plug the Atrix into a slot behind the screen.

When you dock the phone, the faux laptop comes alive. It duplicates the phone’s screen on its larger display and lets you use its connectivity and apps. It also contains a battery that charges the phone. The image of the phone’s screen, and any of its apps you run, can be actual size or blown up to use the dock’s larger screen.

With Motorola’s Atrix 4G smartphone, the laptop is the accessory. The phone shown docked to the laptop dock.

Full-Screen Firefox

Even more interestingly, the dock gives you access to a full, and full-screen, PC version of the Firefox Web browser. Firefox is tucked away inside the Atrix but is available only when the phone is plugged into the laptop dock or a second, smaller dock that’s meant to connect to a TV or desktop monitor. The smaller dock lacks a built-in keyboard, battery or screen.

The laptop dock costs $500, but AT&T will knock the price down to $300, after rebates, if you buy it at the same time you buy the phone. That brings the combined price of both devices to $500—the same as the separate price for the dock. The smaller dock, called the multimedia dock, costs $190.

In my tests, the Atrix and the laptop dock performed mostly as advertised. The phone had no trouble driving the larger screen or the full Firefox browser.

I was even able to insert a flash drive into one of the dock’s two USB ports and copy songs, photos, videos and documents into the phone’s internal memory using the keyboard and touch pad. I edited and wrote text in an app called Quickoffice on the phone using the laptop dock’s keyboard, and ran various other apps, including the popular game Angry Birds, on the larger screen.

The Firefox browser worked as normal, using either the phone’s cellular or Wi-Fi connections to access the Internet. And both the phone itself and Firefox can run Flash videos, which mostly played fine.

But the combination of the phone and dock wasn’t as fast, smooth or versatile as having a real laptop, even though to use them you’re essentially carrying around a light laptop (the dock weighs 2.4 pounds). Many apps on the phone aren’t as polished or powerful as typical PC apps, and I found them clumsier to use with the keyboard and touch pad, as opposed to the touch screen for which they were designed.

Installation Issue

Also, other than Firefox, you can’t install PC programs. You can use Web apps inside Firefox, such as Google Docs or the stripped-down Web versions of Microsoft’s Office apps. For email, you can either use the program based in the phone or any Web-based program via the Firefox browser, such as Gmail or Yahoo Mail. But you can’t, say, install iTunes, or PC-based games, or the full versions of Outlook or Microsoft Word.

And there is only a primitive file system, limited to the capacity of the phone, which is just 16 gigabytes, with an option to expand to 48 gigabytes.

The dock’s screen required a lot of scrolling when using Firefox, partly because the browser has a lot of menus and toolbars. To address this, Motorola lets you convert Web pages to versions with the Firefox controls stripped out, so you just see the content.

There’s another problem with the laptop dock. When you make or receive a voice call while the phone is docked, you must rely on the phone’s microphone and speakers, hidden behind the screen of the dock. As a result, calls sounded muffled on both ends, even though the phone automatically switches into speakerphone mode. Motorola says it is working on this issue.

Despite the drawbacks, some folks will surely be attracted to this innovative combination.

If you mostly do your computing tasks on a phone or a PC Web browser, storing files in the cloud and using phone or Web-based apps, Motorola has you covered. And the fact that the dock can charge the phone is a big plus.

Motorola’s Atrix 4G

The Phone Side

What about the phone itself?

Well, it’s one of the nicest smartphones I’ve tested. Its processor makes it fast, and it has a 4-inch, high-resolution screen—almost as high as the iPhone 4′s, though not quite as sharp to my eye. It runs an older version of Android, but Motorola is promising an upgrade.

The phone also has good battery life. It lasted a full day while I was testing it and Motorola claims up to nine hours of talk time. Photos and videos I took with the phone were sharp, and it has a front camera for video calls.

The Atrix also has two other notable features. First, it can take advantage of AT&T’s souped-up 3G network, which the carrier calls 4G because it can supposedly achieve 4G data speeds.

In my tests, in the D.C. and New York areas, the speed wasn’t especially impressive, averaging just a bit better than 3G speeds on other AT&T phones I’d tested.

There is also a fingerprint sensor built into the phone, which you can use instead of a pass code to secure the phone. It worked fine for me.

Overall, this is a very nice Android phone that can imitate a limited version of a laptop. That may be enough for some folks, but fall short for others.

Write to Walter S. Mossberg at walt.mossberg@wsj.com

]]> http://allthingsd.com/20110216/motorola-atrix-android-phone-laptop-review/feed/ 0 http://allthingsd.com/20110202/intels-chip-troubles-cause-pc-shipping-schedules-to-slip/ http://allthingsd.com/20110202/intels-chip-troubles-cause-pc-shipping-schedules-to-slip/#comments Wed, 02 Feb 2011 20:50:44 +0000 Arik Hesseldahl http://newenterprise.allthingsd.com/?p=2738 The discovery of “design errors” in a chip that’s connected to Intel’s latest generation of processors, known by the code name Sandy Bridge, is disrupting the shipment plans of PCs from several vendors.

The first signs of trouble came in the form of a cancellation of a media briefing scheduled by Hewlett-Packard for Feb. 15 in New York concerning a new batch of HP business notebooks. I’m now told the event will be rescheduled. (Update: See HP’s statement below.)

Meanwhile, Dell told Bloomberg News that four of its PCs are affected, all of them in the higher end of the lineup: XPS and Alienware, both gaming-oriented machines, and the Vostro line, aimed at businesses.

Update: Dell spokeswoman Elizabeth Shine just sent a statement.

“Dell and Intel are in communication regarding the design issue in the recently released Intel 6 Series support chip set, code-name Cougar Point. This affects four currently-available Dell products, the XPS 8300, the Vostro 460, the Alienware M17x R.3 and the Alienware Aurora R.3 as well as several other planned products including XPS 17 with 3D.

For customers impacted by this issue, Dell offers a couple of solutions. Customers experiencing issues will be supported under the warranty and service terms. Once we have new chip sets from Intel in early April, we will provide a motherboard replacement that corrects the design issue at no cost to our customers. Replacements will be provided at the customers’ location and convenience via authorized Dell service providers. Affected customers may also take advantage of the applicable return policy, which may vary by region.

We will provide further details as they become available.”

What’s not clear yet is whether any shipments at Apple will be affected. As usual, Apple’s product plans are shrouded in the mists of corporate secrecy. The company declined to give a statement, citing a policy of not commenting on future products. But if history is any judge, it’s about time for Apple to update the MacBook Pro. The last update, as the MacRumors Buyer’s Guide helpfully reminds us, was on April 13, 2010, or nearly 300 days ago. The average number of days between updates is closer to 200. Though even if Apple is running later than it would like to on introducing certain Macs, it would probably never admit it.

Intel, for its part, is now starting to help people who recently bought PCs to figure out if they’re affected by the problem. A page on its support Web site walks users through the process of determining whether they have the chipset in question and, if they do, directs them to contact the “place of purchase” or an Intel field sales rep.

Update 2:I just received a statement from HP spokeswoman Marlene Somsak on the issue:

“HP is working with Intel and our distribution partners to address this industrywide issue. The issue relates to only a small fraction of HP PCs sold or ordered since on or about January 9 2011 when the Intel technology became available commercially. HP and Intel are working together to minimize any inconvenience to customers.

For HP, the issue is primarily limited to certain consumer notebooks and certain consumer desktops. One commercial desktop PC model marketed to small business customers in the Europe-Middle East-Africa region is affected. No other commercial desktop products currently shipping are affected. No HP commercial notebooks, ProLiant servers or workstations are affected.

To deliver a high-quality experience to our customers, on January 31 2011 HP stopped manufacturing products with the affected Intel technology and initiated a shipment hold on products in HP and channel inventory.

Customers can return their affected product and choose a comparable product or receive a refund. We will continue to work closely with Intel and our retail partners to address the needs of our customers.”

]]> http://allthingsd.com/20110202/intels-chip-troubles-cause-pc-shipping-schedules-to-slip/feed/ 1 http://allthingsd.com/20110127/netflix-gets-social-extensive-facebook-integration-is-coming/ http://allthingsd.com/20110127/netflix-gets-social-extensive-facebook-integration-is-coming/#comments Thu, 27 Jan 2011 08:00:57 +0000 Liz Gannes http://networkeffect.allthingsd.com/?p=2859 Netflix revealed it is in the process of implementing “an extensive Facebook integration” on Wednesday, marking a significant change from its previous absence from the social Web.

Netflix’s dramatic growth in user base and market cap have had a lot to do with the company anticipating market changes and making audacious bets, but it has been relatively plodding and hesitant about getting social.

Netflix explained in the shareholder letter (PDF) accompanying its quarterly earnings report that its Facebook integration will accompany an effort to split household accounts into multiple personal accounts.

In part because of the company’s history as a DVD mailing service, a Netflix account is affiliated with a particular address. That’s also the way traditional television providers measure their market: In terms of households.

But online video, Netflix notes, “is more naturally individual, since it is watched on personal screens like phones, tablets, and laptops, as well as on shared large screen televisions.”

In addition to helping identify discrete people within a household, Facebook integration would presumably allow Netflix to help users do things like share their personal viewing history in their newsfeed and recommend videos to friends. Understanding social networks could improve Netflix’s famously honed recommendation algorithm. It might also be an opportunity for Netflix to create social viewing experiences.

Currently, Netflix lacks much in the way of social features; it had yanked a previous effort to offer social sharing last year after saying that relatively few subscribers used it.

However, the company has recently staffed up for a renewed social effort.

Mike Hart, previously Netflix’s director of engineering for APIs, is now director of engineering for social. Hart told Fast Company in November that Netflix sees social as an international user acquisition strategy and an opportunity to avoid disruption by a competitor that is more social.

Netflix also appears to view personal accounts as an opportunity to charge more money. The company said in the shareholder letter that later this year it will start offering new account options that include multiple simultaneous streams. (So, for instance, you could stream TV episodes in the bedroom on your iPad while your spouse watches a movie in the living room through the Roku.) The streaming-only plan Netflix recently launched costs $7.99 (which some industry watchers say is too cheap) and allows just one stream at a time.

Netflix noted in the letter that its new grand internal vision is to target the number of active mobile phones in an area, rather than the number of households (though that might be a bit ambitious in places where it’s common for people to have more than one phone!).

Please see the disclosure about Facebook in my ethics statement.

]]> http://allthingsd.com/20110127/netflix-gets-social-extensive-facebook-integration-is-coming/feed/ 7 http://allthingsd.com/20110126/counting-tablets-apple-is-third-in-global-pc-sales/ http://allthingsd.com/20110126/counting-tablets-apple-is-third-in-global-pc-sales/#comments Wed, 26 Jan 2011 16:44:47 +0000 John Paczkowski http://digitaldaily.allthingsd.com/?p=56469 Apple is now the third-largest PC maker in the world, according to research firm Canalys, which has decided to include tablets like the iPad in its definition of a PC. Cupertino shipped 11.5 million Macs and iPads in the fourth quarter of 2010, vaulting it into third place in global shipments, ahead of Dell and Lenovo and behind Acer and HP. While the industry’s PC sales grew 19.2 percent from the same period in 2009, Apple’s PC sales grew a jaw-dropping 241 percent. The catalyst for that growth: The iPad.

“Each new product category typically causes a significant shift in market shares,” said Canalys senior analyst Daryl Chiam. “Apple is benefiting from pads, just as Acer, Samsung and Asus previously did with netbooks. The PC industry has always evolved this way, starting when Toshiba and Compaq rode high on the original notebook wave.”

And to those who contend that the iPad and similar devices shouldn’t be tallied in the same category as laptops and desktops?
“Any argument that a pad is not a PC is simply out of sync,” said Chiam.

[Image credit: Gizmodo commenter Ahubbuch]

]]> http://allthingsd.com/20110126/counting-tablets-apple-is-third-in-global-pc-sales/feed/ 11 http://allthingsd.com/20110125/three-funky-mice-made-for-laptops/ http://allthingsd.com/20110125/three-funky-mice-made-for-laptops/#comments Tue, 25 Jan 2011 22:23:19 +0000 Katherine Boehret http://solution.allthingsd.com/?p=1613 It isn’t easy being a computer mouse these days. While laptop sales grow and desktop sales decline, more people rely solely on laptop touchpads, many of which offer more functionality than mice. And tablets like Apple’s iPad and Samsung’s Galaxy Tab shun the mouse altogether.

But before you toss your tethered friend, it’s worth paying homage to the many things this gadget can do. From precisely cropping one of cousin Fred’s fleeting girlfriends out of a family photo to selecting just the right number in a spreadsheet filled with thousands of digits, the mouse is just the right tool for such precision jobs. And sometimes it’s just a lot more comfortable to use for long stretches of work on a laptop.

This week, I tested three computer mice that laptop users will actually want to bring along with them. Their designs make them simple to pack in a bag, use while sitting on the couch or recharge directly from the laptop. I tried Microsoft’s $70 Arc Touch Mouse, Logitech’s $50 Couch Mouse M515 and the $70 Swiftpoint Mouse.

At first glance, Microsoft’s Arc Touch Mouse looks like nothing more than a flattened mouse. But it’s cleverly designed to bend into an arc that serves as a comfortable rest for the hand. As soon as the Arc Touch Mouse is bent into this shape, its battery turns on. It holds this shape until you flatten it with your hand. When it’s flattened, the mouse turns off to conserve battery. Microsoft claims this battery will last up to six months. The flattened Arc Touch is much easier to pack in a carry-on or to slip into a side pocket than its rotund relatives.

On a Mac, the Arc Touch is limited to basic functions, including use of its touch-sensitive scroll strip that scrolls super quickly when a finger flicks up or down on it. This strip makes a subtle sound like that of a roulette wheel as it scrolls, and a tap on the strip stops the scrolling at a specific location on the screen. I caught myself looking down at this mouse a few times to make sure I wasn’t using a real scroll wheel because the sound effects and feel of the scroll strip are so wheel-like.

On a Windows PC, installing software will give the Arc Touch extra functions. Double tapping the middle of the scroll strip gives it the same function as a regular mouse’s middle click. Or this button can be programmed to open a link in a new tab within Microsoft’s Internet Explorer browser. This mouse’s tiny USB receiver can be plugged into a laptop almost unnoticed or it will magnetically stick to the base when not in use.

Logitech’s Couch Mouse M515 seems like it was made with me in mind. I often sit on my bed or couch using my laptop, and this mouse has a sealed underside so its sensor doesn’t collect fuzz from fabrics after passing over them several times. I used it on carpets and on a blanket and liked its base, which is designed to glide easily over all types of surfaces. This mouse felt fast and responsive.

To conserve battery, the Couch Mouse is only on when a hand grips it. So if someone stops to watch TV for a while, then accidentally sits on the mouse or the mouse slips between couch cushions, its buttons won’t continue clicking away. An underside switch turns it entirely on or off. The Couch Mouse also uses a USB receiver, and it can be stored inside the mouse for travel.

Like the Couch Mouse, the Swiftpoint Mouse from Swiftpoint Ltd. of New Zealand, is designed for use with laptops in less than ideal working environments. This tiny mouse was designed to operate directly on the laptop wrist rest area or on the laptop touchpad, itself. In fact, the mouse comes with a large, clear sticker labeled “Swiftpoint Parking Accessory” that goes on the laptop so the mouse doesn’t slip off when the laptop’s tilted.

The simple sticker worked well, creating a magnetic square in the center of the wrist rest area that kept the mouse from slipping off when I was leaning back and typing at an angle.

The Swiftpoint Mouse is made for maneuvering directly on a laptop.

A scroll wheel on the right of the Swiftpoint Mouse works by rolling it with one finger or by turning the mouse on its side and moving it up or down, which made for faster scrolling. I found this feature awkward and unnatural at first, but after a lot of use, I grew accustomed to it. Touching the left click button while scrolling up or down zooms in or out, respectively, on any screen.

This mouse is so small that rather than its USB receiver fitting inside or on it for storage, the mouse magnetically attaches onto its USB receiver, resting on it while the receiver is plugged into the laptop. This allows for the Swiftpoint Mouse to recharge its battery; Swiftpoint says 30 seconds of charging will give the mouse an hour’s worth of juice and a 90-minute charge will last two to four weeks, depending on how much you use it. The former proved to be true for me, but I didn’t have enough time to test the latter claim.

When I set this mouse onto the USB receiver for charging, it flashed a rapid green charging indicator light, which slowed after about a minute. Using a rechargeable mobile mouse means not worrying about getting stuck somewhere with dead batteries.

For those looking to have more control in the Windows 7 environment, Microsoft is bringing out in May an $80 model called the Touch Mouse. It will work specifically with Windows 7, using a touch surface that responds to gestures so as to perform tasks like docking, minimizing or maximizing and displaying the desktop.

It’s an awful lot like Apple’s $69 Magic Trackpad, a square surface that came out last summer and enables gestures within the Mac operating system for desktops.

Though these three mice are easy to port around and work well in a variety of work environments, they can’t replace many of the clever gestures built into so many laptops nowadays, especially Macs. But if you’re looking for comfort and function on the go, they do the trick.

Write to Katherine Boehret at mossbergsolution@wsj.com

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