Customers in France, Germany, Ireland and the UK interested in the HoloLens can now preorder the mixed reality computing headset, following an initial US launch.

The device has been available in N. America since August 2016, and previous to that (specifically in March) Microsoft started shipping a number of HoloLens kits to a select list of organisations. Technically, in its current state the headset is aimed at virtual and augmented reality specialists, but in actual case all one needs to buy the device is a Microsoft account and €3299.

"When we set out to pioneer mixed reality we knew that many of the best innovations would be discovered only when developers and organisations started developing with HoloLens," the company says. "It has been nothing short of inspiring to see what our partners have built and what individual developers have created."

Logitech announces the K840-- a keyboard promising an "elevated typing experience" through the use of the company's Romer G mechanical switches.

Typically found in the Logitech gamer keyboards, the Romer G switches promise to make the K840 ideal for a "productive environment at home or in the office." Romer G switches claim a lifespan of over 70 million keystrokes and give "near instant" key feedback for improved typing, coding or programming.

Customers looking for a tough Chrome OS-powered notebook get an Acer option-- the Chromebook 11 C771, an 11.6-inch number featuring a few performance upgrades in a rugged design.

Primarily aimed at the education segment, the C771 is compliant with MIL-STD-810G US Military Standard, meaning it should resist drops of up to 122cm as well as up to 60kg of downwards force on the top. In addition it should also be resistant to dust and spills.

When it comes to the internals, on launch the C771 (and the C771T touchscreen variant) packs an Intel Celeron 3855U CPU, 32GB storage and 4GB RAM. On September it will also be available with 6th gen Core i3 and i5 processors. As for battery life, Acer says the C711 offers up to 13 hours of use on a single charge, while the C711T lasts for up to 12 hours.

Amazon wants the Alexa smart assistant to reside in more PCs-- so much so it now offers ODMs a choice of 4 Windows 10 PC designs to bring about what it claims is "the next major disruption in the PC category."

The PC lineup includes an All-in-One (AIO) desktop from Wistron and three convertible notebooks from Compal, Quanta and Wistron. All promise to be pre-tested, final-product designs built for a "far-field Alexa experience," with Intel CPUs, drivers, wake word engine and microphone arrays. The Wistron AIO PC features a 27-inch 4K display, 1080p webcam with an IR sensor, x4 microphones and x2 stereo speakers. In addition, the Taiwanese PC maker also has a convertible notebook with a 15.6-inch 4K touchscreen, HD camera, x4 microphones, x2 speakers and battery life reaching 8 hours.