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Dixons opens the first "store[s] of the future" at the Bluewater shopping centre, Kent-- a Currys PC World branch featuring a number of new store design concepts aimed at female and younger customers.

Reportedly the result of in-depth customer research and feedback, Dixons describes the new store as the first "urban toy shops." Thus the design in question is meant to be "more feminine" and attractive, with greater emphasis on "an engaging and interactive in-store experience."

Such emphasis seen through a number of sit and play areas (where customers can check products out or receive advice from shop staff), a Knowhow/Showhow area for the hosting of one-on-one or group tutorials, and a flexible store design replete with wheeled furniture and movable wall fixtures.

"You can't have an Intel presentation without talking about Moore's Law," Intel CEO Brian Krzanich says as he shows off the next stage of CPU shrinkage at Intel Developer Forum 2013-- the first 14-nanometer PC.

Seen inside a "fully operational" ultrabook (or at least one operational enough to play Cut the Rope), 14nm Broadwell architecture promises a 30% power consumption improvement over 22nm Haswell chips.

"14-nanometer is here, it's working, and will be shipping by the end of this year," Krzanich continues.

However, Intel is not quite done with Haswell yet-- seen at IDF is Haswell-Y, a fanless laptop processor using just 4.5W of power.

Hardnosed Dell mega-shareholder Carl Icahn gives up the fight against Michael Dell's ambitions of buying the company sharing his name back, and admits war against Dell and the board "would be almost impossible to win."

"The Dell board, like so many boards in this country, reminds me of Clark Gable's last words in "Gone with the Wind,"" Icahn says in a letter to fellow shareholders. "They simply "don't give a damn.""

Dell gives no comment on the story as yet.

In the letter Icahn blames his throwing the towel on procedural issues, such as the August refusal from the Delaware Chancery Court to fast-track a lawsuit against the company. Icahn was hoping the courts (via the upholding of appraisal rights under Delaware law) would force Dell would hold its annual meeting at the same time it was to vote on the buyout deal, giving him a chance to replace the current board with a new set of directors.

Asus launches the Zenbook UX301 and UX302 at IFA 2013-- a pair of flagship ultrabooks complete with sleek designs and lids featuring Gorilla Glass on top of the "spun" metal material.

According to the company the Gorilla Glass has "Native Damage Resistance" for superior scratch resistance, reduced scratch visibility and improved toughness, as well as an admittedly attractive high-gloss finish.

The ultrabooks feature either 13.3-inch 1920 x 1080 or 2560 x 1440 multitouch IPS displays, and are powered by 4th generation Intel Core processors and either Intel Iris or Nvidia GeForce GT 730M graphics.