| No BS Podcast #190: Gordon Returns and an Intern Appears Posted: 03 Oct 2012 03:30 PM PDT 
This week it's a full-house in the Podcast room as Deputy Editor Gordon Ung is back from vacation (and IDF) and is joined by Online Managing Editor Jimmy Thang, Editor Josh Norem and our new intern Chris Zele who was offered the gig despite previously working for the Geek Squad at Best Buy. Kicking things off we have Gordon dishing the dirt he uncovered at the Intel Developer's Forum. He tells us all about all the gear he saw including Intel's Ivy Bridge successor, code-named Haswell. He then tells us what he thinks about AMD's current situation. We also talk about new GPUs from Nvidia and possibly AMD, how Borderlands 2 is awesome, the Dream Machine article which was (finally) posted online, everyone's favorite Apple phone and Steam's new Big Picture mode. To wrap things up we answer your questions from Facebook and Twitter, and Gordon concludes the show with a profanity-laden rant about – what else? – the iPhone 5. Click here to listen to the podcast. You can also subscribe to us on iTunes. And if we need to spell it out even further, this podcast is made by adults, for adults, and foul language is present - you have been warned. |
| Daily Deals 10/3/12: Roku 2 XD, Alienware M14x Price Drop, and More Posted: 03 Oct 2012 11:06 AM PDT |
| Hate Politics? You Should Probably Steer Clear of YouTube for Awhile Posted: 03 Oct 2012 10:47 AM PDT  Certain subjects, no matter how delicately presented, almost always seem to ignite flame wars on the Internet (feel free to make liars of us). Politics is one of them, and if you have an aversion to politics, well, you have our sympathies, this being an election year and all. Let us also offer some advice: Stay away from YouTube for a few days, because starting tonight, the video sharing site will begin live streaming the 2012 Presidential and Vice Presidential debates.
The schedule is as follows: - October 3 at 9:00PM ET: Presidential
- October 11 at 9:00PM ET: Vice Presidential
- October 16 at 9:00PM ET: Presidential
- October 22 at 9:00PM ET: Presidential
You can also catch the debates on TV, of course, but if you're stuck behind a PC and/or would otherwise prefer to watch President Barack Obama and Republican Presidential nominee Mitt Romney exchange barbs on a computer monitor, YouTube will be streaming them as they happen, in real-time. "In addition to the live broadcast of the debates, we will also have commentary and analysis from our eight YouTube Election Hub partners -- ABC News, Al Jazeera English, BuzzFeed, Larry King, New York Times, Phil DeFranco, Univision and the Wall Street Journal -- each of whom will be be providing their own unique live and on-demand coverage of the four debates before, during and after. And Univision will also offer a version of the debates translated into Spanish, live," YouTube announced in a blog post. 
On the flip side to our above disclaimer, if you live and breathe politics, be sure to stop by YouTube's 2012 Election channel for a ton of related content. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| No. 2 PC Maker Lenovo to Open First U.S. Manufacturing Plant Posted: 03 Oct 2012 09:37 AM PDT  Lenovo, the world's second largest PC player behind only Hewlett-Packard (HP), announced plans to open its first U.S.-based PC production line, which will reside in Whitsett, North Carolina, not far from Greensboro. The move is expected to create 115 new manufacturing jobs in the area, where workers will build Think-branded notebook and desktop PCs, tablets, engineering workstations, and servers for sale within the U.S., Lenovo said.
This is something that will likely to be well received by fans of the company. Lenovo has already been defying trends in the PC sector by growing its business and posting gains when other OEMs are struggling to figure out the landscape. Now it plans to create jobs in the U.S. at at time when outsourcing is all the rage. "Lenovo is establishing a U.S. manufacturing base because we believe in the long-term strength of the American PC market and our own growth opportunities here," said Yuanqing Yang, chairman and CEO, Lenovo. "As Lenovo expands globally, we are establishing even deeper roots in each major market. In addition to localized sales and marketing teams, in our major countries we are establishing an even stronger manufacturing footprint, investing in R&D and ensuring that we hire top local talent. This global reach with local excellence helps us become even faster, more innovative and more responsive to our customers around the world." 
The U.S. plant is currently under construction and, barring any unforeseen setbacks, is scheduled to open sometime in 2013. Hiring for the facility will take place later this year. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Paul Allen Finds Windows 8 "Promising" and "Puzzling" Posted: 03 Oct 2012 08:42 AM PDT  In just over three weeks from now, Windows 8 will launch to the public, and thus will begin the court of public opinion. Until then, there are plenty of reviews to digest (including our very own), and one of the newest is from Paul Allen, co-founder of Microsoft who, like Bill Gates, is no longer directly involved with the Redmond company. Still, it's interesting to read what he has to say about Windows 8, considering all that's at stake.
Summed up in the last paragraph, Allen says, "Touch seems a natural progression in the evolution of operating systems, and I'm confident that Windows 8 offers the best of legacy Windows features with an eye toward a very promising future." The keyword there is promising, though he also tossed around a few other adjectives before coming to that conclusion. Like "puzzling," as in, "I did encounter some puzzling aspects of Windows 8." Allen said the bimodal experience of catering to both tablets and PCs can introduce confusion in certain situations, though he followed it up by saying that after a short period of time, most of the changes Microsoft made to Windows 8 start to become familiar. He also devoted an entire section to the "puzzling aspects of the Windows 8 UI," which included things like having difficulties with multiple monitors, the silo effect between and Desktop and Windows 8 style, inadvertently switching modes, and a handful of other complaints. 
Overall it's an interesting read that's more favorable than critical of Windows 8, with a bunch of tips sprinkled throughout. Give it a once-over and tell us what you think in the comments section below! Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| HP Intros ElitePad 900 Windows 8 Tablet, Touts Unique 'Smart Jackets' Posted: 02 Oct 2012 10:38 PM PDT  Following the unmitigated disaster that was the TouchPad, Hewlett-Packard has kept a low profile in the tablet market, with the Windows 7-powered Slate 2 tablet PC being the only HP-branded tablet device to have hit the market since then. In August, John Solomon, senior VP of HP's Americas printing and personal systems division, said that the company's Windows 8 tablet would pack "some unique intellectual property." We now know what Solomon was talking about back then.
Hewlett-Packard is now all set to enter the Windows 8 tablet fray, having announced a 10.1-inch enterprise tablet on Monday. The ElitePad 900, as the upcoming Windows 8 tablet is called, is built around Intel's "Clover trail" Atom SoC. The 1.5-pound Elitepad 900 has a CNC-machined aluminum frame and a Gorilla Glass 2-covered display. But what really sets the ElitePad 900 apart from the competition, as per the company, is the "unique, productivity-enhancing ecosystem of HP Smart Jackets and additional accessories designed specifically for the HP ElitePad." Smart Jackets are essentially snap-on cases designed to supplement ElitePad's built-in capabilities; for instance, the ElitePad Expansion Jacket not only adds two USB ports, one HDMI port and an SD card slot, but also extends the device's battery life well beyond the usual 10 hours to around 18 hours. The ElitePad 900 packs a 1280x800 (16:10) display, 2GB of RAM, 32 or 64GB SSD, WiFi, Bluetooth 4.0, 8MP rear camera, 1080p front camera, card reader, NFC, GPS, and 3G/4G connectivity. With this Windows 8 tablet not scheduled to hit the market until January 2013, it's no surprise that the company isn't interested in revealing its price at the moment. |
