Hardware

These days many people have flat-screen HDTVs (high definition televisions), whether it's in the plasma, LCD (liquid crystal display) or LED (light-emitting diode) format . But most of those fancy televisions are big power wasters, which is why the ... next wave in television innovation may involve energy-efficient TVs like Toshiba's new Regza 32BE3. Toshiba is hoping to set its new Regza TV apart by making it more efficient both when it is in stand-by mode (not on or off, but ready to jump into action) and when it's actually displaying a picture. Regza 32BE3 Uses No Power in Standby Mode You ... (view more)

Not long ago Amazon released its very own tablet computer in an attempt to siphon off part of Apple's domination over this nascent market. A new report suggests that the company's plan is proving successful so far, particularly if recent Black ... Friday numbers are to be believed. Amazon's Kindle Fire tablet was released in early November for an impressively low price of $199 -- less than half the price of Apple's iPad. Early reviews were generally positive , though most critics complained that its web browsing remained a tad slow. Others, however, went so far as to suggest that it fails ... (view more)

The price of the slow-selling PlayBook tablet -- built by BlackBerry-maker Research in Motion (RIM) -- has been slashed by U.S. retailers. It's a desperate move by RIM to clear out inventory of a product that has struggled since its launch earlier ... this year. Sales of RIM's PlayBook have been extremely disappointing for the Waterloo, Canada-based company. The tablet first shipped back in April, with RIM reportedly expecting to sell about five million units in its first year. Instead, sales were only 200,000 units in the last quarter, and only about 700,000 in total. (Source: wsj.com ) Experts ... (view more)

Microsoft is launching a tablet computer that isn't quite your average slate. What the Surface SUR40 lacks in portability, it makes up for with its 40-inch HD touch-screen. The price hasn't yet been confirmed, but rumors place it somewhere between ... $8,400 and $15,000. Wherever it falls in that range, the device is clearly not going to be a popular consumer product. Instead, the Surface SUR40 is expected to appeal primarily to business users and agencies involved in such sectors as education and healthcare. Microsoft says both FujiFilm and the Royal Bank of Canada plan to be among the first ... (view more)

Google is cutting the price of its very own Chromebook laptop to $299. The new $299 puts it in the same price range as netbooks, the lowest cost version of computers with a physical keyboard, designed mainly for online activity. The Chromebook runs ... the Chrome operating system (OS), which is effectively an upgraded version of the better-known Chrome web browser. The device links directly to tools such as Gmail, the Google Docs office suite, and online image editing, requiring an Internet connection. Originally, all files were stored online, though an update earlier this year added support for ... (view more)

A Nokia executive recently let slip that next summer the firm will release a tablet computer running Microsoft's upcoming Windows 8 operating system. In an interview with a French newspaper, Paul Amsellem, who heads up Nokia France, was quoted as ... saying: "In June 2012, we will have a tablet that runs on Windows 8." (Source: fnno.com ) In an effort to reduce speculation and diminish the impact of Amsellem's lip-slip, a Nokia spokesperson later retracted the statement and told the media: "We have not announced any specific plans as it relates to tablets." Not the First Hint at a Nokia Windows 8 ... (view more)

A few weeks ago Amazon.com announced it would be stepping into the tablet arena with an adaptation of its popular Kindle e-reader. Now, it appears that Barnes & Noble will be releasing a similar device, which has been a major rival for the ... Kindle for the last few years. Details about the Nook tablet were leaked to the media this past week. Some of the specifications are impressive, though it appears the slate will retail for slightly more money than its major competitor. (Source: slashgear.com ) Nook e-Reader Hardware Specs According to reports, the upcoming Nook tablet will house 16GB of ... (view more)

The heavily discounted Hewlett-Packard (HP) TouchPad has returned to store shelves and is currently available for a still very reasonable $149. Unfortunately, there's a rather steep requirement to the deal: those interested in the TouchPad will have ... to purchase a select computer in order to get the HP tablet at the reduced price. And even then, the HP Touchpad is still considered obsolete. TouchPad Price Reduction Leads to Buyer Frenzy The TouchPad buying 'bonanza' started this past summer when HP announced it would discontinue the unit only 2 months after its initial launch in July, slashing ... (view more)

There's one market Apple virtually owns but everyone seems to forget about: the ultra-powerful and ultra-portable PC market. The Cupertino-based firm's MacBook Air has really dominated the ultra-portable laptop segment of the computer market, but ... that may be about to change with the release of comparable 'Ultrabooks' from PC makers Acer and Asus. Acer S3 UltraBook Weights Less than 3 Pounds First, Acer's offering. Coming in at just $899, the company's S3 Ultrabook weighs less than three pounds but still manages to pack in a 20GB SSD for Windows 7, a 320GB HDD for all other storage, 4GB RAM, ... (view more)

According to a new report, Amazon's highly-anticipated Kindle Fire tablet (which offers full color, a 7" multi-touch display, and Wi-Fi access) could take a big bite out of Apple's iPad sales. A leaked chart shows that Amazon has already received ... more than a quarter of a million pre-orders for the device. For those that missed it, last week Amazon unveiled its 7-inch WiFi-enabled Kindle Fire tablet , originally designed to view eBooks. The latest Kindle offering is much more than an eBook reader, however. The latest version of the Kindle (Amazon's page) states that the Kindle is now much more ... (view more)