The launch of Windows 8 has led to the birth of a new computer category: the tabletop PC. Whether the idea of using what's essentially a 20-inch touchscreen tablet on a flat surface will be successful is still very much to be determined, but HP is joining Sony and Lenovo in the nascent market with the new Envy Rove 20.

The Envy Rove is notable compared to the Sony Tap 20 and Lenovo Horizon for its support of Intel's Haswell processors (which could be added to those other systems, but they currently use Intel Ivy Bridge CPUs). It provides a 1,600x900 IPS display for users to tap and swipe on, along with built-in Beats Audio technology to provide superior sound. It also includes a stand so it can function as a "normal" all-in-one PC, which might come in handy sometimes because the Rove 20 weighs roughly 12 pounds.

According to Engadget, the Rove 20 will include a 1TB hard drive and 8GB of solid-state storage when it ships in July. Unfortunately, HP hasn't yet provided an official price, though it's supposedly under $1,000.

If you don't need to schlep something like the Envy Rove 20 around the house, you might prefer one of the two new Pavilion TouchSmart all-in-ones HP has also announced. There's a choice of a 20-inch model or a 23-inch flavor, the latter of which sports full 1080p HD resolution. Both offer touchscreens, though they are arguably trickier to use than if they could lay flat like the Rove 20, and will come with your choice of AMD or Intel Haswell processor.

The Pavilion 23 TouchSmart will be available on June 5 starting at $749.99, whereas the Pavilion 20 TouchSmart will start being available from June 26, but cost only $619.99 for the base configuration.

The school year hasn't ended in many places yet, but computer manufacturers have already started prepping new systems for the next school year. For instance, HP has just previewed its back-to-school refresh of its laptop lineup, including new Envy and Pavilion notebooks.

Pricing for many of these new portables is pretty aggressive, with the new Pavilion 11 TouchSmart starting at just $399. That price includes an 11.6-inch touchscreen with 1,366x768 resolution and an AMD processor. The Pavilion 14 TouchSmart Sleekbook offers similar resolution on a 14-inch screen starting at $479.99. Both new Pavilions will be available on June 26.

HP has also updated its pricier Envy line, with the Envy TouchSmart 14 Ultrabook even getting an ultra-high-resolution display option. The 3,200x1,600 screen rivals those of the Google Chromebook Pixel and Apple's MacBook Retina display lineup, though we don't know pricing for that version yet. The base price is $699, though that only gets you a 1,366x768 14-inch display.

There's also the Envy TouchSmart 15, which isn't an Ultrabook but does boost the base resolution of the 15.6-inch display to full 1080p HD. Likewise for the Envy 17, which will also feature Intel's forthcoming Haswell processors and Nvidia discrete graphics. The Envy TouchSmart starts at $529, while the Envy 17 will be priced from $699; both will be available starting on June 5.

[Via HP, Engadget]

When we last heard from the Lenovo ThinkPad Helix, a Windows 8 Ultrabook that can switch between tablet and laptop modes, it was reaching the FCC last December. It took awhile, but now the device is ready to order -- and hopefully you've been saving up.

That's because the Helix is priced higher than similar devices like the Dell XPS 12 and Lenovo's own Yoga 11S. The starting price -- starting -- is $1,679, with a $1,999 configuration also available. For the base model, you get an Intel Core i5-3427U CPU, 128GB solid-state drive, and the 64-bit version of Windows 8, while the pricier version boosts the processor to a Core i7-3667U, doubles the RAM, ups SSD capacity to 180GB, and adds Windows 8 Pro. You can also customize your configuration on the Lenovo website. 

All versions feature a 1,920x1,080 IPS display, built-in near-field communication, detachable keyboard, and front- and rear-facing cameras. Other options for the Helix include a pen digitizer to input using the touchscreen, Trusted Platform Module (TPM) support, and Intel vPro AMT, and CompuTrace security technology.

Is all that worth the high sticker price? Does this particular tablet-plus-laptop combination add up to more than the purchase of two separate devices? You can find out soon, since the first Helix models ordered will start shipping on June 7.

Lenovo dubbed its convertible Ultrabook family the "Yoga" no doubt because it has the flexibility to serve as either a tablet with its display laid flat or as a traditional laptop. But the 11-inch version released several months ago, which was powered by an ARM processor and running Windows RT, apparently wound up giving users less than the best of both worlds,

Fortunately for Lenovo, it was already working on a full Windows 8 version of the Yoga 11, which it revealed at CES in January. Now, the company has finally made the Yoga 11S available to order on its website and BestBuy.com, with it being available in Best Buy brick-and-mortar locations starting on June 23.

Also unlike the original Yoga 11, the 11S runs the full version of Windows 8 or, in the case of the $1,349.99 model, Windows 8 Pro. (Making it more like the Yoga 13.) Windows RT has elicited very strong and mixed opinions (just check the comments for any RT-related post here on ZDNet), with Baxter-Reynolds glumly arguing that "Windows RT is a pointless curiosity with zero market potential."

With the Yoga 11S, Lenovo is giving those who feel like Baxter-Reynolds an alternative to Windows RT, at a price point not much more than the original Yoga 11. Are you more interested in the Yoga 11 now that there's an option for running a full version of Windows 8? Let us know in the Talkback section below.

One of those manufacturers is Dell, which cut the price of its XPS 10 tablet a bit last month and is now at it again. The company has just reduced the starting price for its 32GB Windows RT slate to just $299.99, or $200 less than what Microsoft is charging for its Surface RT tablet. You can get a case thrown in for an additional $30, or a keyboard dock for $50 more.

Dell is trying to spin the price cut, calling it an "exclusive online price" and a "limited time offer" and pointing out the "market value" of $449.99. But you don't need to resort to such semantics if you have a hot-selling product. And while it looks like Windows 8 tablets are starting to get a bit of traction in the marketplace, signs like Dell's latest price cut point to Windows RT failing to match Microsoft's expectations for the new OS. Maybe the Windows Blue update to RT can breathe some life into it — or maybe it will wind up being a last-ditch effort to save it.

There are plenty of reasons to be skeptical of Shield. Nvidia doesn't have a background in consumer electronics, and even established brands like Nintendo and Sony are having trouble pushing portable game consoles. (Sony just dropped the $99 fee to publish games on PlayStation Mobile in a bid to get more going on the PlayStation Vita.) The Razer Edge, a high-powered gaming tablet, has gotten some positive reviews, but is only available through the company's website. The trend is clearly toward integration of features such as gaming in smartphones and tablets. To top it off, Shield will cost more than an iPad mini with the same 16GB of storage (though Shield also has a microSD expansion slot).

But, after trying out an early prototype at Nvidia's annual GPU Technology Conference in March, I'm not writing off Shield just yet. The design is unusual, but it feels good in the hands, and the Xbox 360-like gamepad works well (and that was before Nvidia made some tweaks to make it more responsive). Even as a prototype, with a Tegra 4 quad-core processor and 2GB of memory, Shield was stable and responsive, and the 5-inch, 720p multi-touch display looked great.

In addition to games from TegraZone and Steam, Shield runs what Nvidia likes to call "pure Android", which means you can add any apps, games, and content from the Google Play store (though a few may not work, since Shield doesn't support portrait mode). Finally, the ability to wirelessly stream full PC games from any system with a GeForce GTX 650 graphics or better to Shield is a differentiator. For now, you'll have to use an HDMI cable to connect Shield to a TV, but Nvidia has also talked about wireless streaming to a TV. Together, these features would make it a replacement for a game console.

I'm not suggesting that Shield is going to give Apple or Samsung a run for their money. It is clearly intended for a niche audience, and it will be available only through Newegg, GameStop, Micro Center, and Canada Computers, as well as Nvidia's Shield site. But it doesn't need to sell in huge numbers to succeed. This year, Nintendo expects to sell 18 million 3DS consoles, and Sony hopes to sell 5 million handheld consoles (PS Vita and PSP combined). The Android-based Shield offers some compelling advantages over these, and if only a fraction of customers opt for it, it will succeed as a showcase for Tegra 4 and TegraZone games.

Unlike competitors that rely on mobile chips like ARM processors, iConsole.tv is readying a device that uses an x86 CPU, 8GB of DDR3 RAM, a 500GB hybrid disk drive/SSD, and an undisclosed GPU. In other words, it's built more like a mini-gaming PC than a feeble Android console.

It also will run a Linux Desktop mode, which means users will be able to access Steam for Linux to get even more games than the Android ecosystem already provides. Mobile Media Ventures even throws in support for CableCard to turn iConsole.tv into a home theater PC.

Currently, the company is offering a $999 developer kit that features an Intel Ivy Bridge processor, but only integrated graphics. It explained that Ivy Bridge vastly outperforms other chips running Android, and that the graphics card that will ship with the actual console will be "at least two to three times more powerful" than Intel's integrated graphics.

The device lacks a price yet, as well as a firm release date. Right now, Mobile Media Ventures said it hopes to launch iConsole.tv in Q4. That vagueness leaves open the possibility that this will turn out to be vaporware, but the company did let Engadget gets its hands on a developer kit to show off its capabilities. In an interview, CEO Christopher Price extolled the potential of Android, not only for serious gaming, but also as "the future of personal computing". He also said iConsole.tv will be priced well below the cost of the developer kit.

Does iConsole.tv have a future as a gaming PC for your HDTV and built on Android? Hopefully we'll have a chance to find out several months from now.

More than five years after Intel first announced Atom, the company has introduced the first top-to-bottom redesign of its low-power processor. The new Silvermont microarchitecture is designed for everything from tiny embedded devices to micro-servers, but Silvermont’s real target is clear: smartphones and tablets. Does Intel finally have all the ingredients to challenge ARM in mobile?

There is little doubt Intel has superior manufacturing technology. It is manufacturing processors with features as small as 22 nanometers while competitors rely on contract manufacturers, or foundries, that are currently using a 28nm process. Furthermore Intel has already shipped more than 100 million chips using 3D transistors, known as FinFETs. The rest of the industry won’t start cranking out chips with FinFETs until the end of 2014--three years after Intel started production. All other things being equal, better process technology results in chips that are faster, use less power and are cheaper to make. Intel aims to use this advantage to work its way into tablets and smartphones by speeding up the Atom roadmap with 22nm Silvermont this year followed by 14nm Airmont next year.

Great manufacturing helps, but you also need a competitive chip design. The current Atoms are based on the 32nm Saltwell microarchitecture, a derivative of the original 45nm Bonnell processors. Silvermont, however, is an entirely new design. Like the Core and Xeon processors, it uses out-of-order execution to speed up operation. The multi-core architecture and system fabric is based on up to four modules, each of which has two CPU cores and 1MB of shared cache. Interestingly Silvermont SoCs do not use Hyper-Threading--an acknowledgement that the number of physical cores has become a selling point in smartphones and tablets. Silvermont also supports new instructions and has better power management features.

The combination of better process technology and a new microarchitecture delivers three times more peak performance and five times lower power than the current Atom Z2580 (Cloverview), a 32nm Saltwell SoC with two cores and four threads running at up to 2.0GHz, according to Intel. The company also showed data comparing a Silvermont favorably (of course) to unnamed ARM-based dual- and quad-core chips for smartphones and tablets. One of the new features of Silvermont is the ability to dynamically share power not only among the CPU cores, but also between the CPU and graphics, depending on the workload. Silvermont SoCs can support a wide range of performance and power levels, which Intel says is a better solution than mixing and matching different types of cores like ARM’s big.LITTLE architecture or Nvidia’s fifth “battery-saver” core.

Until we actually see devices using Silvermont SoCs, it’s impossible to say how it will really stack up to ARM. The first ones, part of the Bay Trail platform, should be available in Windows 8 and Android tablets in time for the holidays. Intel said Bay Trail will also be used in entry-level laptops and desktops with “innovative form factors,” which primarily means less pricey convertibles. The Merrifield platform will be in production by the end of the year, but won’t show up in Android smartphones until the first half of 2014. The Silvermont microarchitecture will also be used in Avoton chips for micro-servers; Rangeley for routers, switches and security appliances; and an unannounced embedded processor for entertainment devices, perhaps including the set-top box for Intel’s upcoming TV service.

Even if Silvermont matches ARM on performance and power, it may not be enough. Smartphones will continue to be a tough sell. Last year ARM cores were used in 2.2 billion chips in smartphones (each handset contains multiple chips with ARM cores)--good for around 90 percent market share. Smartphone companies rely on the extensive ARM ecosystem and support to help them design products and launch them quickly. Apple and Samsung use their own chips, and others are used to working with ARM customers such as Qualcomm, MediaTek and Spreadtrum, so it will be tough for Intel to break in, especially without an integrated cellular baseband.

Tablets are more promising because that market is still in flux with new hardware and platforms emerging. Smaller, less expensive Android tablets are chipping away at the iPad’s market share. Windows 8 and Windows RT are off to a slow start in tablets, but Microsoft says the Windows Blue update will enable tablets and convertibles in a broader range of sizes and prices. Asus CEO Jerry Shen told The Wall Street Journal last week that he’s “very optimistic” about smaller Windows 8 tablets with prices as low as $300 available later this year. In tablets, Intel will have to contend not only with ARM quad-cores but also with AMD’s Temash APU, which is already in production. Still this might be the year Intel finally makes up some ground in tablets with Bay Trail.

The good news is that by the holiday season, rather than choosing between an iPad or a low-cost Android tablets, there should be a lot more to choose from in terms of design, price and platform.

The new series joins the Entertainment, Performance, and Radeon Editions that the chip company introduced about a year and a half ago. It tops those families by running at 2,133MHz with CAS 10 latency (10-11-11-30). The previous top performer in AMD's line-up runs at 1866MHz.

For cooling, AMD's RAM eschews fancy heat sinks for a simple heat spreader. That still doesn't mean you won't pay a premium price for the extra performance boost, as the Radeon Gaming Series will run $155 for a 16GB kit. For that price, AMD bundles a 64GB version of Dataram's RAMDisk — a virtual RAM drive that claims to speed up internet usage and the like.

The RG2133 is already tipping up at Newegg if you're in the market for new desktop RAM and you buy AMD's claims that its memory delivers "a superior solution" for its processors.

[Via AnandTech]

Featuring Windows 8 and optional touchscreens to take advantage of the touch capabilities of the new OS, both the Fit and Fit E include a 14-inch and 15-inch model. The Fit E is the more cost-conscious of the new two series, starting at just $549, while the Fit lineup starts at $100 more.

All Vaio Fit laptops offer Intel third-generation Core (aka, Ivy Bridge) processor options, with the Fit's 14-inch display sporting 1,600x900 resolution, and the Fit's 15-inch screens featuring 1,920x1,080 resolution. There is also an option to add Blu-ray drives and Nvidia discrete graphics, or in the Fit's case, solid state drives (or hybrid storage options).

The Fit is also differentiated from the Fit E with its chassis materials: The Fit is housed in brushed aluminum, while the Fit E makes do with plastic. Either line is available in black, white, or pink. The Fit 15-inch also comes with a number pad as part of its backlit keyboard. Targeted at younger buyers, the Fit E gets what Sony describes as "big box speakers", with the 15-inch adding a subwoofer.

Sony hopes to improve the performance of the Fit's webcams by integrating its Exmor R CMOS sensors — used in its Xperia phones — to boost the image in low light. It's also integrated NFC technology, giving you direct Bluetooth and wi-fi connections with other mobile devices just by touching them to the laptop.

The Fit and Fit E are due later this month, but aren't currently available for pre-order on Sony's online store, so we're unable to see all the configuration options. However, our sister site CNET has already managed to score a Fit 14 for review.

The 200 Series is the value-priced offering, starting at just $249, with 14-inch and 15.6-inch varieties available with either AMD or Intel processor options. The 255 G1 is the only one HP currently lists, and spec info is minimal beyond a 15.6-inch display, AMD CPU, and choice of operating system including Windows 8 Pro. All models do feature HP's 3D DriveGuard software, HDMI output, and Altec Lansing speaker.

The ProBook 400 Series is a fuller slate, with models available in 13.3-, 14-, 15.6-, and 17.3-inch sizes, with prices starting at $499. As with the 200 Series, both AMD and Intel processor options are available, and HP has given the lineup some design flair with "Meteorite Grey casing", aluminum accents, and a thinner and lighter build. You also get a hybrid disk drive option that combines a traditional hard drive with some flash storage to speed up booting. Again, only one model has been listed, the 430 G1, with limited spec info.

Both new laptop series will be available later this month. While they won't be setting the world on fire, they do show HP's renewed interest in the PC market that it seemed destined to exit no too long ago.

Curiously, the company's press release failed to mention the word "Android", though it noted that the A1 "delivers the Google experience". (Our sister site CNET pointed out that it runs Android Jelly Bean 4.2.) It's powered by a quad-core MediaTek processor and comes with either 8GB or 16GB of capacity (with a microSD card slot if you need additional storage).

The display is LED backlit, featuring IPS technology and 1,024x768 resolution. You also get front- and rear-facing cameras, with the rear-facing one able to record 1080p video at 30fps.

The A1 is priced to compete against the likes of the Kindle Fire, as the 8GB version will start at $169 and the 16GB flavor at $199.99 when it hits in June. But it also has to compete against the Apple iPad mini, Google Nexus 7, Samsung Note 8.0, and a plethora of other 7- and 8-inch tablets.

And maybe it's going to be competing against another, more intriguing small tablet from Acer — potentially the first mini-model that runs Windows 8. Whether it can stand out amid all of that competition remains to be seen, though pricing aside, there's nothing about the A1's specs that suggests it definitely will.

The design allows you to use the Aspire R7 in a variety of modes, from a traditional laptop to tablet style with the screen laying flat to what Acer calls "Ezel" mode, where the hinge allows you to bring the display closer or even flip it around. Despite that flexibility, the company promises that you can use the 15.6-inch display's touchscreen capabilities without it moving all around, and, in theory, the Ezel mode makes using touchscreen features easier, as you can pull the screen closer to you.

As a notebook, the R7 includes an Intel Core i5 CPU, 6GB of RAM, a 500GB hard drive with 24GB of solid-state storage for faster boot-ups, and Dolby Home Theater sound. But the unique design is the selling point here, and fortunately Acer has made buying the R7 not so difficult on the wallet. It will be available through Best Buy for $999, and start shipping on May 17.

While not as radical as the R7, the new Aspire P3 is a convertible ultrabook that's also moderately priced. The Windows 8 system will come with a choice of either Intel Core i3 or i5 CPUs, and its 11.6-inch IPS display detaches to function as a tablet. (You can also use it with an optional stylus.) The keyboard is tinier than a typical notebook sports, and it lacks a touchpad, though there's a USB 3.0 port that you can use to attach a mouse or other input device to. ZDNet's sister site CNET has listed some additional specs, including either 2GB or 4GB of RAM, and either 60GB or 120GB SSD.

Priced starting at $799.99 and available now, the P3 might be a better alternative for some users than dedicated Windows 8 tablets for a similar cost, as you essentially get a bigger screen and a keyboard and case/cover in a 3-pound package. If nothing else, it delivers on the promise of Windows 8 ushering in some different types of portable devices.

The new CPUs are part of the FX family of performance chips. The FX-4350 consists of four "Vishera" cores each clocked at 4.2GHZ, with a turbo frequency of 4.3GHz, while the FX-6350 has six cores running at 3.9GHz and 4.2GHz in turbo mode. Each new processor has a TDP of 125 watts — far higher than the 95 watts of the FX-4300 and FX-6300 — and features 8MB of L3 cache. The FX-4350 is priced at $122, and the FX-6350 would set you back $10 more.

The day after AMD announced these new processors, it disclosed that it was reducing the price on 10 older chips, including the ones that the new CPUs are replacing. The FX-4300 is now $14 cheaper, at $108, while the FX-6300 is $20 less, at $112. A third FX processor, the eight-core FX-8320, is now $153, down $16 from its original price.

A half-dozen A series processors have also seen their prices trimmed — $10 off in the case of the A6-5400K, A8-5500, and A8-5600K. The biggest reduction comes to the A6-3600, which gets an 18.9 percent reduction to $77. The ancient (in processor terms) Phenom II X4 965 BE also gets a cut, from $91 to $81.

(Via CPU World [1], [2])

New process technology and microarchitectural enhancements will, as always, play an important role. But increasingly, the industry is looking toward a concept known as heterogeneous computing to save the day.

It turns out that personal computers and mobile gadgets already have lots of specialized cores for dedicated tasks. That's because while CPUs are great at general-purpose, single-threaded jobs, other types of cores can handle different tasks more efficiently. The most obvious is the graphics processor (GPU), which was designed to play games at high resolutions and quality settings, but is also very good at parallel number crunching. Other hardware engines handle tasks such as cryptography, video encoding and decoding, image processing, and audio. The idea behind heterogeneous computing is to harness the power in these cores to do other things.

Nearly everyone agrees that this is a great idea. It was one of the big themes at a recent a chip conference, the Linley Group's Mobile Processor Conference, which I attended. But it quickly became apparent that there's still a lot of work to be done. The hardware isn't designed to do this efficiently, it is difficult to write heterogeneous applications, and there are numerous overlapping efforts to make programming easier. The Khronos Group, an industry consortium, promotes the OpenCL standard; Nvidia has its CUDA APIs; Microsoft has DirectCompute extensions to DirectX for GP-GPU computing on Windows; and Google has the Renderscript API for heterogeneous computing on Android.

AMD is pushing a different approach, known as Heterogeneous Systems Architecture (HSA), which involves changes to the hardware platform, as well as a software runtime (known as HSAIL) and a set of interfaces for HSA-accelerated applications. This week the company shed a little light on exactly how HSA will work.

One of the biggest challenges in heterogeneous computing has to do with memory. In the traditional system architecture, the CPU and GPU are separate, and each has its own pool of memory. To do computation on the GPU, the data has to be copied from the system memory to the GPU's memory, and when the work is completed, copied back to system memory. All of this shuffling data around negates the advantages of doing computation on the GPU.

AMD's first mainstream APU (Accelerated Processing Unit), known as Llano, combined the CPU and a capable GPU — each with a separate slice of system memory — on the same chip. With the current Trinity APU, AMD introduced its first HSA features (a memory management unit that allowed the GPU to see all of the physical system memory, shared power management, and support for OpenCL C++ and Microsoft C++ AMP). But the basic software model has remained the same; the CPU and GPU can't work together on the same data.

The next step for HSA, heterogeneous Uniform Memory Access (hUMA), promises to solve this problem with three features: the CPU and GPU use the same pointers (addresses) to access the entire memory space to read and write data; they are cache coherent, so they can work on data at the same time without issues; and, like the CPU, the GPU supports paged virtual memory, which makes it possible to work with larger datasets. The net result is that the CPU and GPU can work together much more efficiently, and it should be easier to write applications that take advantage of both. AMD said developers will be able to write HSA-accelerated applications using standard programming languages such as Python, C++, and Java.

AMD's next mainstream APU, known as Kaveri and slated to ship by the end of this year, will be its first processor to support hUMA. The PlayStation 4 will also use an AMD APU, and based on some of the comments from the console's lead architect, it is possible it will use these HSA features. The next version of the Xbox, which will be announced on May 21, is also rumored to use an AMD processor. Since hUMA is a part of the HSA Foundation's public specifications, other members could also use it in future processor designs.

The HSA Foundation has attracted some big names, including ARM, Qualcomm, Samsung, Texas Instruments, MediaTek, and Imagination. But there are also some notable omissions, namely Intel and Nvidia. The question is whether AMD has the clout to get the industry to adopt this architecture and to get developers to build HSA-accelerated applications. Hopefully, the industry will eventually move toward hardware and software standards for heterogeneous computing so that applications will work across different platforms, automatically taking advantage of the best core for the chore.

The ThinkPad S431 (shown above) does look sleeker than its predecessors, though you still might not confuse it with a MacBook Air or luxury ultrabook. Nonetheless, it does manage to squeeze a 14-inch display into a 13-inch frame, which is offered in silver in addition to the traditional black chassis. There's also more curve to the edges, contributing to the "floating design" Lenovo extols.

The new laptop offers a touchscreen to take advantage of Windows 8's touch capabilities, while also having a glass touch pad that supports the gestures available with the new OS. The legacy ThinkPad TrackPoint pointing stick remains in the center of the keyboard.

Lenovo offers Intel Ivy Bridge processors for the S431, along with up to 8GB of RAM and up to 500GB of storage. The S431 also supports the company's OneLink Dock, which provides additional USB 3.0 ports, video and Ethernet jacks, and recharging capabilities. It is due on May 21.

The S431 will start at $699 and be available beginning in June. If you're looking for a cheaper alternative, Lenovo has also unveiled the ThinkPad Edge E431 and E531 laptops. Neither is quite as fashion-forward as the S431, but they contain many of the same features, including touchscreen options, Ivy Bridge processors, and OneLink technology support.

The E431 starts at $599 and offers Core i3, i5, and i7 processor options, up to 16GB of RAM, and either hard drive or solid state storage options. It also includes a DVD burner and 14-inch display. Starting at the same price, the ThinkPad Edge E531 includes a 15.6-inch screen instead, with the subsequent bump in weight of several ounces. Either system can be configured with Windows 8 or Windows 7 for those businesses not yet interested in jumping to the latest Microsoft OS.

The truth is that things began to change some time ago. The writing has been on the wall since Microsoft released Windows 7, the first version of the operating system with essentially the same system requirements as its predecessor. (Nowadays, system requirements make news only when they are loosened.) But the rapid growth of cheap tablets, fueled by $20 ARM processors and the (sort of) free Android OS, has hastened the decline of traditional PCs. The industry is responding to this with new chips designed for low-cost convertibles and tablets.

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Intel’s fourth-generation Core processor, which we now know will be announced at Computex in early June, will almost certainly deliver better performance, especially with graphics. But the focus of Haswell is clearly on better battery life (Intel promises the biggest generational improvement in its history) and improved thermals so that it can squeeze into thin, fan-less Ultrabooks and convertibles. The company says that touch-enabled Haswell Ultrabooks will be available later this year starting at about $600.

That’s a good start, but the real story may be Bay Trail, an overhaul of Intel’s Atom processor due later this year. The platform, which is designed for Windows 8 and Android devices, will be manufactured on a 22nm process, will have a quad-core CPU, and will deliver more than twice the performance of the current Clover Trail tablets. Intel said the Bay Trail platform will be in “touch-enabled thin notebooks with really good performance” starting at around $300 and Android tablets around $200. Most of the least-expensive devices are likely to be convertibles, or what most people consider tablets with detachable keyboards. Last week, an Intel executive told CNET that Windows 8 versions will be a little more expensive — depending on Microsoft’s pricing — but consumers may be willing to pay a bit more to run legacy Windows apps.

Meanwhile, there are rumors that Microsoft is toying with lower prices. Last month, The Wall Street Journal reported that the company has been offering computer makers big breaks on Windows 8 and Office licenses for devices with smaller displays. Also in March, Microsoft lowered the screen resolution requirements for Windows 8, making it a better fit for devices with smaller displays. The upcoming Window 8 refresh, code-named Windows Blue, could reportedly include new editions targeting smaller tablets and convertibles with lower prices.

AMD is used to competing on price, and company executives keep talking about how tablets and good-enough computing play to its strengths with $300-$400 devices. Its current Z-60 processor hasn’t gotten much traction (Vizio uses it in an 11.6-inch tablet), but it has two newer processors, already shipping to computer makers, which should be more competitive. Kabini is a quad-core designed for low-cost ultrathin laptops and Temash, which comes in dual- or quad-core versions, is for Windows 8 convertibles and tablets. At Mobile World Congress, AMD showed some prototype convertibles based on these new chips. These should help to push down prices of all Windows 8 tablets.

These upcoming platforms should make Windows convertibles and tablets more competitive by this holiday season. The PC market isn’t going to disappear overnight, but it is likely to look very different a year from now.

The ATIV Book 5 (pictured above) is a 14-inch Ultrabook that weighs a shade over 4 pounds and is under an inch thick at its narrowest point. It includes an Intel Core i5-3337U processor, 4GB of RAM, a 500GB hard drive, and makes use of integrated graphics. You can pre-order it today at $949.99, with arrival slated for the end of May.

For $250 more, you can step up to the ATIV Book 6, a non-ultrabook laptop with a 1,920x1,080, 15.6-inch display, Core i7-3635QM CPU, 8GB of RAM, 1TB hard drive, and AMD Radeon HD 8770M graphics (but apparently no optical drive). You can likewise pre-order the Book 6 now, but it should arrive a couple of weeks earlier than the Book 5.

Both new notebooks run Windows 8 and support Samsung's SideSync technology, which allows your Samsung PC and tablet or smartphone to interact more smoothly together when connected via USB. For instance, you can text from your computer in response to messages on your phone, and you can view maps from your phone on your PC screen. The company hopes this is a clincher if you have a Samsung phone and you are looking to buy a new computer, but that remains to be seen.

AMD has fired the latest salvo in its never-ending graphics card war with Nvidia, announcing the Radeon HD 7990, a dual-GPU monster with a monstrous price tag of $999.

The new card squeezes a pair of Radeon HD 7970 GPUs and 6GB of DDR5 memory onto a single board, matching Nvidia's own dual-GPU GeForce GTX 690, which is similarly priced. To cool all of that graphics power, the Radeon HD 7990 features three cooling fans and a heatsink for each GPU. To sweeten the deal, AMD is bundling a whopping eight games with the new card, including Crysis 3, Bioshock Infinite, and Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon.

Unfortunately for AMD, early reviews (like from HotHardware) aren't showing the Radeon HD 7990 as a slam dunk across the board against the GeForce GTX 690. The biggest issue seems to be frame latency, which results in some stuttering that Tom's Hardware reports may get fixed with a new driver, but one that won't arrive for a few months. The good news is that the card appears to run much quieter and cooler than previous AMD monster boards, though reviewers found the GeForce GTX 690 still a touch quieter. 

As is often the case with new graphics card announcements, gaming PC companies are already updating their systems with options for the Radeon HD 7990. Maingear will offer it for its F131, Shift, and Vybe desktops, while Origin PC is adding it as an option to its Chronos, Genesis, and Millenium lineups. No doubt more boutique builders will be offering the card in the coming weeks.

If you already have a system and you want to drop a grand on the new AMD beast, you'll need to wait a couple of weeks for it to be available. That should give you a little more time to save up for it.

The new version of the Blue 2.5-inch laptop drive is 47 percent thinner than 9mm drives, and WD claims it weighs 36 percent less. The company also said it has built the new Blue with stronger aluminum and cell phone miniaturization technology to improve shock performance, and makes use of the new small form factor SFF-8784 connector. WD is selling the 500GB drives to OEMs for $89.95, giving system builders a little more flexibility to build new, svelte notebooks.

Another option for ultrabooks and similar slim laptops is the new 5mm Black SSHD, which uses WD's solid state hybrid technology to give a boot-up boost with flash memory, along with traditional hard drive storage. WD gives OEMs the option to use its hybrid technology or standard SATA technology when building with the Black drives.

Considering the sleekest laptops tend to use SSDs, and usually cost over $1,000, the 5mm WD drives could allow manufacturers some more design freedom at the lower end of the notebook market. We'll have to wait and see when and how that actually comes to fruition in the coming months.

[Via Engadget]