Hardware

Apple says it sold 15.4 million iPads globally last quarter, more than double sales during the same period in 2010. This makes for an incredible 39 per cent increase over the iPad's former record quarter, when Apple sold 11.1 million units. Industry ... analysts at IDC (International Data Corporation) say they believe Apple sold more iPads than HP, Lenovo, or Dell sold 'traditional' computers in the quarter. Expert: Pressure From iPad Will Help PC Market However, it may not be all doom and gloom for the PC. David Daoud at IDC thinks that pressure from Apple's tablet could lead to widespread ... (view more)

Legendary rock musician Neil Young intends to release a digital music player and service, claiming to offer better-quality music than Apple's iTunes or Amazon.com's digital download platform. Young, widely known for hits like "Old Man," "Rockin' in ... the Free World," and "Heart of Gold," says he originally worked on a similar project with Steve Jobs, former Apple chairman, but the experiment was sidetracked and shelved by the Cupertino, California firm. Compression Reduces Quality of Music Young says his goal is to offer a device that plays music of the highest quality. For those who aren't ... (view more)

A new report reveals that only a tiny portion of all people with a tablet computer right now are using one that runs the Windows 7 operating system (OS). According to statistics from research firm Strategy Analytics, Microsoft's operating system ... provides the software basis for just 1.5 per cent of tablets sold during the fourth quarter of 2011. The report reveals that 27 million tablet computers sold in the fourth quarter of 2011, a big increase from the fourth quarter a year ago. "Global tablet shipments reached an all-time high of 26.8 million units in Q4 2011, surging 150 percent from 10.7 ... (view more)

If you've been shopping recently for a high-definition television (HDTV), you may have come across a relatively new brand name: Vizio. This year, Vizio plans to enter the computer market, with a family of slim, lightweight PCs first displayed at the ... Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. Vizio, founded just nine years ago in Irvine, California, builds most of its televisions in Taiwan, contracting with a local manufacturer there: AmTran Technology. The company's HDTVs -- known for their highly competitive pricing -- have sold well enough that the company has been looking to expand its ... (view more)

In 2010, Apple's iPad became an instant hit, and was widely praised by critics. Ever since then, hardware vendors have been trying to compete with the iPad, but attempts have been met with very little success -- and in some cases, downright failure ... . In the past few months, however, vendors have shifted their focus to "ultrabooks," a cross between an ultra-lightweight, thin laptop and a powerful PC. Dell Joins Ultrabook Bandwagon Asus, Acer and Lenovo have all previously announced plans to begin marketing devices in the ultrabook class, and now Dell has announced its own entrant ... (view more)

Tablet computers were among this past holiday season's hottest sellers, with many consumers opting for the budget-priced Amazon Kindle Fire or the feature-laden Apple iPad . A recent test revealed, however, that both these devices fall short when it ... comes to screen reflectance, making their displays much harder to read than that of the experiment's clear winner: the Barnes ... (view more)

Not only are televisions continuing to get bigger and better, but they're also continuing to display higher-than-ever resolutions. In fact, industry heavyweight LG has revealed plans to unveil its newest, largest television, a massive 84-inch 3D and ... "Ultra Definition" set, at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) later this month. It's important to recognize that LG's planned CES showpiece isn't your average high definition television set simply ballooned to an astronomical size. Instead, it represents a major feat in TV design and development because of the sheer number of pixels utilized in ... (view more)

Ultrabooks have been in the news lately as PC makers challenge Apple for dominance of the high-speed, ultra lightweight laptop-sized PC market niche. Apple's MacBook Air, which effectively set the standard for the Ultrabook market for several years, ... offers lightning-fast processing speed and a display size much larger than the average netbook. The price point for Apple's Macbook Air (and non-Apple Ultrabooks similar to it) sell at a price point upwards of well over $1,000. Until now, Ultrabooks lacked a DVD/Blu-ray optical disc drive; however, Samsung is hoping to change that. Optical Disc ... (view more)

Dying to get your hands on one of those high-powered, extremely portable new ultrabook PCs ? You might want to hold off just a little while longer. A new report suggests the price of those handy devices could drop considerably early next year. ... Ultrabook: Ultra Light Laptop An "ultrabook" is a high-powered, lightweight PC. In essence, it's a cross between a netbook and a laptop, but with a lot more computing power than a netbook, and, so far, a much higher price tag. A typical ultrabook weighs about three pounds, uses an Intel quad-core processor, boasts a 5-8 hour battery life, and ... (view more)

There's no doubt 2011 has been a very tough year for Research in Motion (RIM), makers of the BlackBerry smartphone and PlayBook tablet, as sales of both devices are down across the board. Now, after the Waterloo, Canada-based firm knocked hundreds ... off the price of its PlayBook last month, a new report says RIM is losing nearly half a billion dollars on the item. The PlayBook tablet first shipped way back in the spring of 2011 with very high expectations. Featuring BlackBerry integration, it was supposed to be the "must-have" item for fans of the company's popular smartphone. ... (view more)