This year's Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Nevada, has so far managed to throw up all kinds of interesting surprising and often bizarre innovations. We've seen Parrot showcasing the insane Jumping Sumo, listened to Pebble introducing the next-generation of smartwatch and watched as Orbotrix highlighted the features and versatility of the new Bluetooth controlled Sphero 2B. The show isn't over yet, so there's still plenty more to come, including Intel’s announcement of the Edison, a "full Pentium-class PC" that's the size of a standard SD card.
Thunderbolt 2, which has hitherto been recognized only under its code name "Falcon Ridge," is real, and Intel is planning on launching it later on in 2013. Most notably, Thunderbolt 2 offer bandwidth of up to 20 Gbps, which would not only facilitate simultaneous high-speed transfers, but also be capable of transferring and displaying 4K video.
At its prominent CES keynote on Monday, Intel unveiled its 4th-gen line of Core i processors processors, previously code named “Haswell”. The new processors are yet another update to its Intel Core line, this time with much-increased energy efficiency in order to power a new generation of ultrabooks.
The previous-gen iPod nano certainly whet the appetites of those dreaming an iWatch. For some reason, the idea of the wearable iOS device is something people seem to really yearn for, and although said nano was little more than a trumped-up, iOS-ified iPod nano with a separately-sold wrist strap, it gave us a glimpse, perhaps, into the future. Today, the iWatch rumors have been reignited once more, and as well as the possibility of a release in the first half of 2013, the speculators are touting a possible 1.5-inch OLED display, Bluetooth 4.0, and - get this - the involvement of chip-making extraordinaire Intel.
Wireless charging has constantly been spoken of in the past as a technology the consumer market will eventually adopt with natural progression, and according to a report over at DigiTimes, Intel could be launching a new system that'll allow wireless charging of smartphones powered by its processors. The technology has been approved by the Wireless Power Consortium as the Qi standard, and is another leap in the quest of hardware manufacturers to minimize the cables and wires - something we definitely agree with.
Taking time out from readying the eagerly-awaited Ivy Bridge chips for the latest spate of MacBooks, Intel showed off its new inductive charging solution at the Computex event. Smarphones gobble up an unholy amount of battery, and those low juice warnings are a constant bane of the lives of most mobile device users. Finding a charging cable is often a scramble, and the whole process in general is just inconvenient. It would be nice if all you had to do was plonk your device next to your notebook for the charging process to commence in an unattended fashion, wouldn't it?
With Intel's Thunderbolt connector not exactly taking off as quickly as it would have liked, the company is apparently working on a new, standardized docking system which would give ultra-portable notebooks both a Thunderbolt and non-Thunderbolt connector to use, with the latter being reportedly used for things such as power and Ethernet connectivity.
In case you haven't heard the reports, it's pretty clear that a next-generation MacBook Air is due for release in about a month. Now, a new report has surfaced claiming that the new Air will come with a new black version.
One thing about Apple is they like to stick to release cycles, and one of those release cycles tells us that iMac is getting ready for an update. According to CNET’s Brian Tong, it could be sooner rather than later.
Oh those lucky, lucky fellows. Engadget's Nilay Patel has had his hands on one of the new 15" MacBook Pros to test, and it's one impressive-looking machine. Just running through the specs sheet makes my wallet cry, but is it worth it?
