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Laptops, Tablets, eReaders

Compal Pivots the Laptop Display

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Compal Pivots the Laptop Display

Taiwanese ODM Compal might be best known for being one of the biggest contract laptop manufacturers in the world, but it actually has a history of original hardware concepts-- such as the Pivobook, an innovative laptop with a pivoting display.

A product design winner in the 2020 iF World Design Guide Awards, the PivoBook has a 14-inch OLED display users can rotate between landscape and portrait views. Details on the actual laptop are scarce, but Compal says the display is extra-thin and lightweight, while "hinge ingenuity" allows for easy rotation. Tech specs are not available, but the intriguing concept means it should find use in any applications, particularly since the vertical orientation can be useful for heavy web browsing or video conferencing.

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Samsung Claims First 5G Tablet

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Samsung Claims First 5G Tablet

Samsung announces what it claims is the first 5G tablet-- the Galaxy Tab S6 5G, a variant of last year's Galaxy Tab S6 featuring a 5G modem, specifically the Snapdragon X50, instead of the integrated X24 LTE modem.

Set to initially go on sale in Samsung's home S. Korea, the Galaxy Tab S6 5G features otherwise identical specs as the previous model. It is a 10.5-inch device with a QHD+ Super AMOLED display and quad speakers with Dolby Atmos, and inside are the same Snapdragon 855 processor, 6GB RAM and 128GB storage. An S-Pen is also included for stylus input.

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IDC: Tablet Decline Continues in Q4 2019

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IDC: Tablet Decline Continues in Q4 2019

According to IDC, global tablet shipments are down by -0.6% Y-o-Y to 43.5 million units in Q4 2019, while full year 2019 shipments total 144m units, a -1.5% decline in comparison to the previous year.

The IDC numbers include traditional slate tablets and hybrid devices with detachable keyboards. They show Apple remains not only in the lead in Q4 2019, but also seeing 22.7% Y-o-Y growth thanks to the new iPad launch. In fact, the latest iPad accounts for nearly 65% of shipments for the quarter, and helped the company gain 36.5% share, compared to the 29.6% of the previous year. That said, as Apple moves more towards detachables, slate tablet shipments are at an all-time low with a -79.3% decline.

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Dynabook Intros "Lightest" Portégé X30L-G

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Dynabook Intros

Dynabook launches what it claims is "the world’s lightest 13.3-inch fully featured business laptop with Intel 10th generation processors"-- the Portégé X30L-G.

While featuring the same Onyx Blue magnesium alloy chassis from previous models, the Portégé X30L-G has a 13.3-inch 1920x1080 resolution display with 470 nits brightness, slimmer bezels and a different hinge. Weight is also down to 870g, and the chassis is "engineered to meet" MIL-STD-810G standards for drop, temperature, humidity and dust resistance. As for the battery, Dynabook claims it provides up to 14.5 hours of use on a single charge, with Quick Charge functionality adding 4 hours of battery life after 30 minutes of charging.

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Asus Presents AniMe Lid Display With ROG Zephyrus G14

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Asus Presents AniMe Lid Display With ROG Zephyrus G14

It is sometimes hard for a piece of hardware to catch the eye at CES, but Asus tries its best at the 2020 show with the ROG Zephyrus G14, a laptop an an "AniMe Matrix" display on the lid able to show custom graphics and animations.

The "display" is of the dot matrix kind, and consists of 1215 mini LEDs embedded in the lid. The LEDs have 256 levels of brightness control, and allow users to customise the lid with different illuminated designs, such as animated GIFs, text messages, music visualisers or even simply the time. A future update will even have the lid show email notifications. The effect is striking, and provides a fun touch in a laptop with an otherwise more professional look (and in any case is an optional extra).

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Lenovo Boosts Laptop Graphics With Legion BoostStation

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Lenovo Boosts Laptop Graphics With Legion BoostStation

Lenovo takes on gaming laptops at CES 2020 with the announcement of the Legion BoostStation, the first eGPU enclosure from the company similar to offerings from the likes of Razer, if with a wider selection of GPU bundle options.

In fact, Lenovo offers the BoostStation with GPUs ranging from the GeForce GTX 1660 Ti through the RTX 2080 Super. AMD customers also get an option with the Radeon RX 5700 XT. Construction is in aluminium, and it can accommodate any dual-wide graphics card up to 300mm long together with one 2.5/3.5-inch SATA drive and two M.2 PCIe SSDs. Like other such enclosures it connects to laptops via Thunderbolt 3, and it doubles as a hub with two USB 3.1, one USB 2.0 and an HDMI ports, plus an ethernet controller.

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Qualcomm Snapdragon 7c, 8c SoCs for Lower-Cost Laptops

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Qualcomm Snapdragon 7c, 8c SoCs for Lower-Cost Laptops

Qualcomm follows on the 2018 announcement of the Snapdragon 8cx SoC for high-end always-connected PCs with a lower-cost option-- the Snapdragon 7c for entry-level and the 8c for mid-tier always-connected notebooks.

Aimed, as mentioned earlier, at entry-level machines, the Snapdragon 7c platform promises a 25% performance boost and up to twice the battery life compared to "competing platforms." It consists of an octa-core Kryo 486 CPU and Adreno 618 GPU, as well as an AI Engine able to deliver up to 5 trillion operations per second (TOPS). In addition, an X15 LTE modem delivers wireless connectivity.

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IDC: Surface, iPad Refreshes Keep EMEA Tablets Alive

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IDC: Surface, iPad Refreshes Keep EMEA Tablets Alive

EMEA tablet shipments total 10.9 million units in Q3 2019, IDC reports-- a -8.2% Y-o-Y drop brought about by the continued contraction of the consumer segment, even if demand remains healthy on the commercial side.

In fact, while consumers still lack compelling reasons to refresh devices, enterprise tablet shipments see a 4.2% Y-o-Y increase due to a digital transformation bringing a larger number of usage scenarios.

"In a quarter usually marked by seasonality, where there is a balance between the top two companies, Apple maintained and consolidated its market leadership," the analyst remarks. "The growing market saturation is driving consolidation, as the top 5 companies become increasingly dominant, and in developed economies, like in W. Europe, the top 5 represented more than 75% of the market."

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Acer Presents Rugged Chromebook Spin 311

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Acer Presents Rugged Chromebook Spin 311

Acer announces a rugged Chromebook aimed primarily at the education and corporate markets-- the Chromebook Spin 311, a 2-in-1 notebook featuring an AMD processor and long battery life in a more compact and durable chassis.

The Spin 311 has an 11.6-inch 1366 x 768 resolution LCD touchscreen complete with Corning Gorilla Glass protection. It runs on the entry-level AMD A4-9120C processor consisting of a dual-core Excavator module running at 1.8GHz and a Radeon R4 integrated GPU. Also included are 4GB DDR4 RAM and 32GB of NAND flash storage.

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