pc

If you're a lover of pop art and Absolut vodka (and who isn't?) you may be interested to know that an artist behind one of the Swedish libation's famous ad campaigns is now turning his talents to computers. No, Romero Britto isn't designing a new quad processor, but his work will be adorning the cases of NVousPC laptops. The first "Britto PC" will feature a custom-painted rendition of his work titled "Mia's Jungle" on the company's 15.4-inch "Ether" laptop, which has an Intel Core 2 Duo 2.… Read more

In 1964 congress passed the Civil Rights Act. Three years later came the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), followed by the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. This litany of legislation proves that politicians can actually get things done when they put their minds to it, all recent evidence to the contrary.

As an engineering manager for Texas Instruments in the mid-80s, I was careful about discrimination. Then I got a memo explaining that sexual harassment would not be tolerated. I was terrified until I realized the memo went out to all employees. Whew, that was a relief. I wish the memo proves that executives care about their employees, but I think it was more about avoiding litigation. And my relief was all about keeping my job.

Regardless of how or why any of this stuff happens, it's exactly the kind of thing that distinguishes our nation. We've made great strides toward putting an end to job discrimination and sexual harassment. But lately, something seems to have gone terribly wrong.… Read more

Companies are always looking for a gimmick to distinguish their products from the pack and, when the direct competition means the likes of Apple and Dell, they may well need all the help they can get.

That, at least, is the predicament Japan's NEC finds itself in where all-in-one desktop PCs are concerned. So what unique feature does it boast? A handle. Yes, NEC's "PowerMate P5000" series has grown a handle in what seems to be part of some odd trend that has seized part of the technology industry. Other than that, this "hybrid" … Read more

Most PC speakers are afterthoughts--the computer equivalent of those awful earbud headphones that come bundled "for free" with portable media players. But Canada's Axiom Audio is offering a high-end alternative with its new Audiobyte PC speakers. At 6.5 inches high by 5.5 inches wide by 4 inches deep, the stereo speakers aren't too much larger than standard computer audio offerings, but they're effectively miniaturized versions of high-quality bookshelf speakers, sporting two-way designs with a 1-inch titanium dome tweeter and 3-inch aluminum cone woofer.

The Audiobyte is now available in a variety of finishes … Read more

The state of the PC gaming industry is fine. Just ask any executive whose business depends on PC gaming.

Representatives from Nvidia, Intel, Microsoft, Electronic Arts, and Crytek held a combination political rally/pep talk for the PC gaming industry Friday at Nvidia's GeForce LAN 4 event in Alameda, Calif. The audience--several hundred rabid PC gamers with plans to spend the entire weekend playing Crysis--cheered the panelists as they reassured attendees that all was well in the PC gaming world.

The runaway success of gaming consoles like Microsoft's Xbox 360, Nintendo's Wii, and Sony's PlayStation 3 … Read more

We love feedback, and this great tip describes the behavior of the new Opera Mini 4 mobile browser on one phone, in a way that challenges iPhone browsing.

This from Marion in Texas:

"Good review on Opera Mini 4, but you should try it on a Pocket PC, too! The interface (using Java midlet) has "the O" working like the iPhone! You tap on the screen and the Web page enlarges, and you can scroll with your finger left to right or top to bottom to view the larger page, as well...who needs iPhone?! Opera Mini … Read more

When we reviewed the Asus Eee PC 4G a couple of weeks ago, our chief complaints about this otherwise excellent and affordable laptop concerned its small, low-resolution display, the minuscule hard drive, and a cramped keyboard. The 7-inch screen with 800x480 resolution necessitates horizontal scrolling on most Web pages. The 4GB flash drive (of which only 1.3GB is available) necessitates keeping an external drive on hand. The tiny keys necessitate adjusting your typing style or suffering more than the occasional typo. Now, it looks like next year's model will address two of our three gripes.

A German representative … Read more

Gamercize has been peddling and pedaling exercise machines for some time now, mostly making fitness gear designed to work with game consoles as well as the occasional digital cycle for kids. But this week it's releasing a product aimed squarely at the cubicle set.

The U.K. company has come up with a "GZ PC-Sport and Power Stepper" combination that can fit under the desk so worker bees can continue their duties uninterrupted while burning off calories without leaving their seats. And here's the kicker: It can be hooked up to the computer by USB so … Read more

If you are accident-prone and like choices, perhaps the new Panasonic 7 Series Toughbook is for you.

Panasonic will introduce three versions of the new business-rugged notebook Monday evening. The ultraportable W7, tablet T7, and slim Y7 notebook. All come loaded with an Intel Core 2 Duo processor and weigh between 3 and 3.7 pounds. (The 14-inch notebook is the heaviest of the three, if you can call 3.7 pounds "heavy.") They also come equipped with Bluetooth 2.0, and built-in Wi-Fi and mobile broadband from AT&T, Sprint, or Verizon. The notebook and ultraportable … Read more