bridge

Ivy Bridge-based Dell XPS 14 ultrabook debuts on Amazon

Amazon appears to have, in effect, preannounced a Dell 14-inch Ivy Bridge-based ultrabook.

The new XPS 14, which Amazon just listed on its site ("temporarily out of stock," it says), looks pretty enticing, including a thickness of only 0.7 inches, 12 hours of claimed battery life, and the latest version of Intel's Ivy Bridge processors: the most power-efficient U series. Let's check out the specs of the two models. … Read more

'Bay Lights' would create curtain of light a mile and a half long

The Golden Gate Bridge turned 75 this past weekend, with a spectacular fireworks show to celebrate.

Unfortunately, some of us were home with spring colds and could only listen mournfully to the endless booming while imagining the historic show that was passing us by. Luckily, though, there's another bridge birthday happening in the Bay Area, with a related light-based extravaganza which, if all goes according to plan, should be pretty amazing -- and pretty hard to miss.

As our friends at Wired noted recently, artist Leo Villareal and his supporters want to honor the neighboring Bay Bridge on its 75th birthday by festooning it with 25,000 individually programmable white LED lights. "The Bay Lights" project will create a gigantic, shimmering "light sculpture" that responds to environmental stimuli such as the underlying water, the overriding traffic, and the surrounding weather, and will remain in place for two years.… Read more

Dell upgrades Latitude laptops with Ivy Bridge

Along with Lenovo's ThinkPad, the Dell Latitude is the laptop brand we see most often issued by corporate IT departments. While more and more office workers are using consumer-level systems (including MacBooks), there's still a need for laptops and desktops designed around the security and corporate infrastructure concerns of big IT departments.

The Latitude line has just been updated by Dell, most importantly to include the option of the latest third-generation Intel Core i-series CPUs. The new models include:… Read more

New 27-inch Dell all-in-one matches iMac pixel for pixel

HP and Asus released the first 27-inch Windows-based all-in-ones this year, but with 1,920x,1,080-pixel resolution screens, they failed to match Apple's high-density, 2,560x1,440 iMacs. Dell's new XPS One 27 does.

Dell says the starting price for the new XPS One 27 is $1,399. That puts it ahead of the $1,249 HP Omni 27, but on par with the Asus ET2700I. All are also at least $300 below the most affordable 27-inch iMac.

At least for now, those other 27-inch all-in-ones also all use second-generation Intel Core CPUs, aka Sandy Bridge. The XPS One 27 has third-generation Core i5 and Core i7 CPUs, aka Ivy Bridge.… Read more

The Golden Gate Bridge, a wonder of the world for 75 years

SAN FRANCISCO--It's one of the wonders of the world, and one of the most photographed things on the planet. And this Sunday, the Golden Gate Bridge turns 75.

While New York may have dozens of world-famous landmarks, and Paris is, well, Paris, San Francisco -- a great city in its own right -- may be best known for its outstanding red bridge, a masterpiece of workmanship that connects the city to its northern neighbor, Marin County.

In the late 1800s, the only way to cross the Golden Gate was by ferry, and those who ran the local vessels were … Read more

Intel's latest desktop board: Finally Thunderbolt and USB 3.0 coexist

More than a year after it was first launched exclusively for Macs, the Thunderbolt standard is now officially available for PCs, too. And by "officially," I mean you can literally buy a motherboard and build a system on your own that supports Thunderbolt.

There's been a lot of talk about Thunderbolt getting to PCs since the standard was first launched. Rumor had it Intel would show off PC motherboards that supported Thunderbolt at CES 2012 (which it didn't). On Monday, however, Intel quietly launched the standard for the PC platform, and today I have in my hand the Intel Desktop Board DZ77RE-75K, the first Thunderbolt-certified motherboard that comes with a built-in Thunderbolt port. The wait is finally over.… Read more

Intel vs. AMD: Who's got the fastest chip now?

Advanced Micro Devices new Trinity chip doesn't deliver the performance trifecta necessary to threaten Intel's market-leading position, according to most initial evaluations.

It's an old story line now: AMD comes out with a new processor that offers better graphics performance, but, overall, does little to change Intel-AMD market dynamics -- which of course heavily favors Intel.

And AMD has done it again. Tapping into the graphics processing unit (GPU) expertise it got when after acquiring ATI in 2006, the Sunnyvale, Calif.-based company continues to ding Intel on GPU performance.

But AMD fails to threaten Intel on … Read more

Windows RT devices will see limited release initially

Only a handful of Windows RT devices will appear initially, as Microsoft wades slowly into new Windows waters, sources told CNET.

Chipmakers Nvidia, Qualcomm, and Texas Instruments will initially get two "slots" each for devices, according to sources familiar with Microsoft's plans.

"ARM is restricted to two designs each, meaning six total initial designs," one source said, referring to the chip design from U.K.-based ARM that those three suppliers use.

Windows RT -- aka, Windows on ARM -- is the first mainstream, desktop-class Windows operating system to run on ARM chips. This presents … Read more

Sony Vaio laptop Ivy Bridge upgrades spotted

Add Sony to the list of PC makers embracing Intel's third-generation Core i-series CPUs. According to CNET UK, the Vaio S series is getting updated CPUs, with the E moving into new screen sizes. The Vaio S currently only lists updated quad-core Ivy Bridge processors, as the dual-core versions have not been released by Intel yet.

The previous iteration of the S Series was designed to be slim and portable while still packing in enough power to tackle any task you could throw at it. The same principles are kept in this new refresh, but they've been upgraded … Read more