April 13 - 11:15am EDT   MSI today updated its smallest gaming notebook by launching the GX403. The new version keeps the 14-inch display but adds a GeForce GT 130M to speed up its gaming performance without a significant energy hit. It also gets support for up to 500GB hard drives (up from 320GB). The system continues to have unique gaming touches like a highlighted W/A/S/D keyboard for first-person shooters and a Turbo Mode that overclocks the CPU when on AC power. [full story]

March 9 - 1:50am EDT   Asus has expanded its line of G-series gaming notebooks with the G71Gx. The device is based on Intel's Centrino 2 platform and features the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260M GPU with 1GB of DDR3 VRAM, doubling the graphics memory of the previous G71. The company also integrated three SODIMM slots, allowing configurations with up to 12GB of RAM, while a 17-inch display offers a resolution of 1920 by 1200 pixels. [full story]

March 5 - 11:35am EST   BenQ on Wednesday announced the release of the new Joybook S57, a media-centric notebook with a 15.6-inch, LED-backlit screen capable of a greater-than-720p (1366x768) resolution. The high-spec screen, which also has a relatively quick 8ms response time, plays movies at their native 16:9 ratio. The system is also taxed only lightly when playing HD video from the optional Blu-ray combo drive thanks to hardware decoding on an ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4650 graphics chipset, which also brings mid-range gaming to the notebook. [full story]

March 5 - 12:00am EST   MSI has released the GT725, a gaming notebook featuring the ATi Radeon HD4850 GPU with 512MB of VRAM and a 2.4GHz Intel Centrino 2 processor. The device offers a 17-inch LCD screen with options for either 1920 by 1200 pixel or 1680 by 1050 pixel resolutions, along with an HDMI output for connecting to an external display or projector. The standard configuration includes 4GB of RAM, a 9-cell battery, and a 7200RPM 320GB SATA hard drive. [full story]

March 4 - 5:30pm EST   At the CeBIT show currently taking place in Germany, ASUS introduced two new business-oriented notebooks, the 13.3-inch P30 and 14-inch P80, the former using Intel's new Consumer Ultra Low Voltage (CULV) processors, while the latter will use Centrino 2-era CPUs. The P30 on display at the show uses the 1.2GHz SU9300 Intel Core 2 Duo CPU and has 4GB of RAM. Both new products have LED-backlit displays with 16:9 aspect ratios and 1366x768 resolutions that are matte, to avoid glare. [full story]

February 23 - 10:50am EST   Ahead of an expected official debut at CeBIT at the start of May, Taiwan's MSI showed off two new X-Slim laptops, the 13.4-inch X340 and 15.6-inch X600 notebooks, revealing some of their specs. Either has an HDMI output as well as a VGA connection, with both powered by a processor based on Intel's Centrino 2 platform instead of the Atom in the X320. The X600 sports an eSATA port in addition to two USB connections. [full story]

February 10 - 8:25am EST   (Updated with pricing) Dell as promised has launched the Latitude XT2 as the second-generation of its convertible tablet PC. The new version comes with multi-touch support out of the box and uses pinches, swipes and other gestures to zoom and scroll through apps that support the features, such as web browsers and photo viewers. It also continues to carry a second digitizer and will work with a bundled stylus for more precise control or for drawing. [full story]

January 27 - 11:35am EST   Panasonic today updated its most hardened Toughbooks to make them both faster and more usable. The Toughbook 19 tablet and Toughbook 30 notebook are both based on Intel's Centrino 2 platform and use both faster and more efficient low-power Core 2 Duo processors that Panasonic estimates can get up to 10 hours on a single battery. They also get new, much brighter 1,000 nit LCDs with anti-glare, anti-reflection and circular polarizer filters that improve their viewability even in direct sunlight. [full story]

January 14 - 7:55am EST   Intel is prepping a new Atom processor whose platform will be significantly faster than any existing model, a new roadmap shows. The Atom N280 chip will only be slightly faster at 1.66GHz versus the N270's 1.6GHz but will jump the system bus from 533MHz to 667MHz, giving the chip more headroom for data. It should also introduce a much more modern integrated graphics chipset, the GN40, that brings the 3D and video features of modern Centrino 2-based notebooks to very small portables. [full story]

January 5 - 8:45am EST   Lenovo today abandoned its traditional business desktop focus with its first all-in-one IdeaCenter PC. The A600 is billed as a home entertainment computer and comes with a rare motion-sensitive remote similar to the Nintendo Wii remote or Gyration offerings: users can play games or otherwise control the onscreen cursor by gesturing at the PC rather than using a directional pad or mousing on a flat surface. [full story]

November 7 - 2:40pm EST   ASUS in a low-profile release has outed the N20A, one of the company's newest full-feature ultraportables. The 12-inch system uses the latest Centrino 2-era processors and manages to fit up to a 2.53GHz Core 2 Duo into its small-profile chassis. It also incorporates an internal DVD burner and still finds room for more advanced expansion like an ExpressCard slot, external SATA and an HDMI video output. [full story]

November 5 - 2:10pm EST   The FCC late yesterday approved Sprint's deal with Clearwire for a national WiMAX network. The deal will allow the two to spread an effectively unified 4G wireless Internet service across the US that should cover as many as 140 million users by the end of 2010. FCC Commissioners, including Chairman Kevin Martin, describe the approval in historic terms and suggest it will create a genuine new competitor for high-speed Internet access in the US. [full story]

November 3 - 5:05pm EST   Over the weekend, ASUS introduced a new flagship notebook to its line-up, the 14.1-inch B80A. Buyers will be able to pick from a choice of four Intel Core 2 Duo processors, with clock speeds that include 2GHz, 2.16GHz, 2.4GHz, and 2.5GHz. While 1GB of RAM is standard, it can be optioned up to 4GB. The B80A will support a fast 7,200RPM SATA hard disk drive that can be found in a desktop PC, with an optional 250GB HDD. Otherwise, there are 5,400RPM SATA drives available in 160GB, 250GB and 320GB capacities. For wireless connectivity, a Draft-N Bluetooth connection is built-in. [full story]

October 31 - 4:55pm EDT   OCZ on Thursday announced the introduction of its first 15-inch Gaming Notebook based on an Intel Centrino 2 platform. As with the company's previous DIY (Do It Yourself) products, the idea is to let users spec their own systems for their own applications. All of the new 15.4-inch, 1280x800 notebooks include an ATI Radeon HD 3650 GPU with 512MB of dedicated memory and DirectX 10.1 compatibility. There is also a choice of optical drives, ranging between a dual-layer DVD drive or a slower multi-drive that includes Blu-ray support. CPU support includes Intel's range of Core 2 Duo and Extreme processors, ranging from 2.0 GHz to 2.6GHz. [full story]

October 29 - 12:35pm EDT   Hardware makers Intel and ASUS have announced a new project, which the two companies say is designed to foster a "community-designed" PC. Through the creation of a website called WePC, the corporations say they hope to gather suggestions for the ideal qualities of a new computer, to be produced at an unspecified point in the future. Some participants are expected to be awarded prizes, but neither the prizes nor their criteria have been formalized. [full story]