Samsung's AF315 All-in-One 3D PC targets the sophisticated woman and those who aspire to be one

Say what you will about Samsung's questionable chaebol business practices and KIRFy ways, at least the company's got the stones to openly target a specific demographic with its marketing pitches. This time Sammy's new AF315 All-in-One PC is targeting stylish and sophisticated women who've moved on from their pink peddle pusher ways. The most notable features are that big 23-inch LCD coupled with Samsung's switchable active shutter 2D / 3D technology and narrow 11-mm bezel. Otherwise, we're looking at a Core i5 CPU, 1TB 7200RPM hard disk, USB 3.0, TV receiver, Blu-ray player, remote control, 3D glasses, and a wireless keyboard and mouse combo in the box when this thing ships in South Korea starting tomorrow for 2.19 million won or just a tad less than $2,000. 

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Acer Iconia Tab A100 delayed due to Honeycomb compatibility issues?

Acer was already kind enough to give us a heads up that it would not be launching the Iconia Tab A100 in May, as planned. But the company wasn't exactly champing at the bit to explain why its 7-inch, Tegra 2-powered tablet is taking such a tedious trip to market. According to a DigiTimes report, at least, the hangup comes down to compatibility issues with Honeycomb, an OS that so far hasn't been seen on many 7-inch slates. Specifically, the site's unnamed sources say Acer has encountered problems with certain applications and that Google, meanwhile, is "busy resolving other issues." All in all, precisely the kind of complication that Ice Cream Sandwich promises to circumvent. Oh, and speaking of delays, DigiTimes adds that the Iconia Smart might go on sale in July due to earthquake-related supply shortages. We asked Acer for clarification, but the company declined to comment, so it looks like we'll just have to wait and see what goodies late summer brings.

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Sony announces VAIO SA series ultraportable, puts VAIO F series up for pre-order

Having trouble keeping Sony's slim VAIO S series laptops straight? It's okay, we are, too, especially now that the company's officially unveiled the SA series, a 13.3-inch ultraportable that's poised to go toe to toe with the skinny Lenovo ThinkPad X1. Although it's got almost the same magnesium-and-alloy chassis as the VAIO SB series we saw at CES, the SA is a hair thinner, at 0.95 inches, and comes standard with AMD Radeon HD 6630 graphics and 1GB of video memory, 1600 x 900 resolution, a 500GB hard drive, fingerprint reader, and a Blu-ray drive. You can also trick it out with a dual channel solid-state drive, which promises to help let you work up to 16 hours unplugged if you combine it with a $100 sheet battery. If you fork out a minimum of $1,650, you can snag one with an SSD.

If the SA's $1,350 starting price is more than you're willing to spend, there's still the SB series, though the $999 base model naturally has less impressive specs, including 512MB of video memory, 1366 x 768 resolution, a DVD player, and a Core i5 -- not Core i7 -- processor. For what its worth, its color options now include pink and navy, if that floats your boat more than the high-end SA's black, silver, and brown palette.

In other news, Sony's also taking orders for the VAIO F Series, which comes in two flavors: one with a 16-inch 3D display with a 2D-to-3D conversion button, starting at $1,840, and a 16.4-inch 2D model with a more modest $1,100 base price. But if you want a 2D display with 1080p resolution and a Blu-ray drive, you can expect to pay at least $1,125. Both these and the SA series are up for pre-order today, with gussied-up photos below and full PR and past the break.

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NPG, CSU partner for $49 dynamic digital textbooks

The worst part of being a college student? Pricey learning materials... they make even Ramen noodles a fancy meal. This fall, students at California State University will be at least make a step up to fast food. CSU has announced a three-year deal with Nature Publishing Group for low-cost, interactive, web-based textbooks with access options for disabled students. The first to be offered is an introductory biology text, fittingly titled Principles of Biology. Students on the L.A., Northridge, and Chico campuses will each have varying payment and licensing models, but 49 bucks gets anyone a full edition starting September 1st. Professors can edit the content, which includes 175 "interactive lessons," access to a database of research papers, and assessments for students. It can all be used on any device from a slate to a computer and even printed if you prefer scribing your notes with pen and paper or won't be near an internet connection. Details are dry about future books using the system, but it looks like a promising break for college students. Still, before you get ready to ditch your books and backpack for more money and less backaches, we'd suggest skimming the press release after the break.

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Barnes & Noble announces new touch-enabled Nook for $139 (video)

Not to be outdone by Kobo, which just unleashed its latest E Ink reader yesterday, the folks at Barnes & Noble are back with the latest update to their line of Nook devices. The "all new" Nook has the same Zeforce infrared touch layer as the aforementioned Kobo, and lasts up to two months on a single charge. The Pearl E Ink screen boasts "80-percent less flashing" during page turns, something that many fans of the devices have resigned themselves to having their eyes assaulted by. B&N is also quite proud of its streamlined interface which it brags has 37 less buttons than the Kindle 3. Around the back is a soft-touch rubber surface that should feel great in the hand while reading, though, we'll have to wait to manhandle one ourselves to be sure.

The new Nook has a redesigned home screen with your current reading list and suggested titles. It also adds a few new features like FastPage Zoom forward, which lets you jump to any page in a title, and (finally) displays the number of pages left to go. Inside is Android 2.1, 2GB of storage, which can be expanded using the microSD slot, and a WiFi radio -- but sadly no 3G. You'll also be able to share quotes, lend books, and update your status on social networks using Nook Friends, which debuted last year with the Nook Color.

You can pre-order online and in stores now and the updated Nook should start shipping to customers June 10th. You'll also be able to pick one up at BestBuy, Walmart, Books-A-Million, and Staples for $139 at the same time.

Update: We just got a brief hands-on with B&N's svelte new Nook, and it's a sexy piece of hardware. It's incredibly light and thin (quite a bit thinner than its predecessor) and the rubbery back feels pleasant in the hand. We were only able to poke around the software for a short while, but it's certainly more responsive than the original Nook (as you'll see in the video below). While there is less screen flashing during refreshes there is still some, and it actually might be more jarring now that you're not seeing it every page turn.

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Dell's XPS 15z goes on sale in the US, shiny aluminum is yours from $999

The Dell XPS 15z may not be the gamechanger we'd hoped for, but it's one heck of a Windows PC, and today the aluminum and magnesium alloy machine is on sale in the United States starting at $999. You'll find a total of five different configs available online, with the base model providing a 2.3GHz Core i5-2410M processor, 6GB of DDR3 RAM, NVIDIA GeForce GT525M graphics with 1GB of dedicated video memory, a 500GB 7200RPM hard drive and a slot-loading DVD burner, plus loads of connectivity inside and out -- including dual-band 802.11a/g/n and a pair of USB 3.0 ports. (Whew.) $1,500 ups the ante to a 2.7GHz Core i7 rig with 8GB of RAM, 2GB of VRAM and 750GB of rotating storage, not to mention a nice bright 1080p display. Strangely, there's no solid state option on tap, but you can nab that 300-nit, 1920 x 1080 LCD screen for an additional Benjamin no matter which config you choose. Find all your options at our source link, and while you're at it, why not read our full review? 

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Dell kills Alienware M15x, government denies it ever existed

This is sort of the gaming laptop version of a politician stepping down to spend more time with his family. We've confirmed with Alienware today that the M15x system is no longer available -- the company has opted to focus its efforts on the rest of its line of glowing extraterrestrial gaming laptops. After all, while the 15-inch form factor will no doubt be missed by some, devoted gamers should be able to find solace in the arms of, say, an M11x, M14x, M17x, or M18x. It may be gone from sight, but surely grainy teardown footage from a New Mexico bunker can't be far away.

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Apple iMac hands-on, with dual 30-inch displays! (video)

One Thunderbolt port on your new MacBook Pro? Pah. The new 27-inch iMac has twice that many -- two. When we got ours out of the box we just had to do the natural thing: fire up as many pixels as possible. Two 30-inch Dell displays and a couple of dual-link DVI display adapters later and we have what you see above: a wide swath of LCD covering covering 11,878,400 pixels. Sure, any average desktop can do this, but how many all-in-ones can push that many dots? The iMac's 27-inch, 2,560 x 1,440, LED-backlit IPS panel is definitely a highlight, but flanked by another two monsters the combination is, honestly, a little overwhelming. We tried working this way but only made it about 30 minutes before retreating to smaller fields of view.

Other tid-bits we've learned about the updated iMac: those who'd rather swipe than drag can now choose to order theirs with a Magic Trackpad instead of a Magic Mouse, though we're sure Apple would surely be happy to sell you both. Additionally, the 21.5-inch model can now be configured with a 256GB SSD, just like its big bro. The bigger news, of course, is what's on the inside, with updated Radeon HD graphics featuring GDDR5 memory and Sandy Bridge processors all-round. We'll be back with a full review later to get a feel for just how powerful this thing is, but until then dig all those pixels in the video below. 

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Dual-booting ViewSonic ViewPad 10 gets Android 2.2 upgrade, patient owners join 2010

Good things come to those who wait. If you bought the dual-booting ViewSonic ViewPad 10, Android 1.6 be damned, we have some good news -- the tablet's getting an upgrade to Android 2.2. Just to refresh your memories, that leap from Donut to Froyo means ViewPad 10 owners will now get updated Gmail, Calendar, Google Maps, Gallery, and YouTube apps, a refined onscreen keyboard, compatabilty with newer applications, and a healthy dose of sorely needed eye candy. New customers can choose one that also runs Windows 7 Home Premium and has 16GB of flash storage ($599) or one with Win 7 Professional and 32GB of space ($679). As for those of you chomping at the bit to upgrade, ViewSonic is keeping things interesting by compelling you to download Froyo onto a thumb drive, and then plug both it and a USB keyboard into the ViewPad to install the update. Then again, something tells us the kind of person who would opt for the ViewPad 10 over other ViewSonic tablets might actually enjoy the challenge.

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LG P430 and P530 Blade laptops set out to conquer the world with slim bezels, aluminum bodies, and Core i7

We heard of a bezel-hating LG Shuriken display sneaking its way onto Acer laptops recently, but the Korean company has wisely opted to debut that cutting-edge technology in its own portable computers first. The 14-inch P430 and 15.6-inch P530 mark the start of its new Blade series of laptops, which are the result of some obsessive slimming work at the LG labs -- display thickness is 4.5mm and 4.7mm, respectively, while the bezel on the 14-inch model is so narrow as to fit its screen within the dimensions of a traditional 13.3-inch laptop. Weight, at 1.94kg on the P430 and 2.2kg on P530, is also said to be on par with machines offering significantly smaller screens, but that's not at the sacrifice of construction materials as brushed aluminum is used to strengthen LG's new slimsters. A Core i7 CPU and GeForce GT520M GPU will provide the internal firepower, though the rest of the internal specs are as yet unannounced. The P430 will launch in Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and South America at the end of May, to be followed by the P530 in the following month. 

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Working Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9 spotted, handled in Germany (video)

We had a chance to peek at a glass-protected dummy version of Samsung's Galaxy Tab 8.9 at CTIA, but the real thing popped up at an event in Germany over the weekend, in all its svelte gadget glory. Our friend Johannes went hands-on with the tablet in Frankfurt, and liked what he saw. The version he saw was noticeably thinner than the prototype 8.9-incher that we got to smudge up in March (it's even slimmer than the iPad 2), and if this Europe appearance is any indication, Sammy may be on track to launch these sometime this summer, as promised. The launch date has yet to be announced, so if you can't wait any longer to get your hands on the Android Honeycomb device, you can try the 10.1-inch version on for size beginning this month.

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Supply chain issues limit ASUS' Eee Pad Transformer production to 10,000 a month?

So, it seems that ASUS' Eee Pad Transformer has been hard to find, at least in part due to reasons other than customer demand. According to Netbook News, the Taiwanese company is having trouble sourcing the supplies needed to build the tablet / keyboard combo in sufficient numbers. For now, that means only 10,000 Transformers a month -- a fraction of the 300,000 ASUS was reportedly hoping to make. Word on the web suggests components in greater quantities are coming soon, and production will ramp up significantly in June. Until then, would-be owners will have to go the beg, borrow, or steal route to get one. Investing in a horseshoe or four-leaf clover might not be a bad idea, either. 

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Motorola promises more Atrix-like laptop docks for future phones

Motorola's Atrix 4G laptop dock was a seriously sweet concept, which is why we were so disappointed when it failed to pan out. Sounds like Motorola CEO Sanjay Jha is ready to give it another try, though -- on the company's earnings results call this past week, he told investors that Moto is planning a whole series of Lapdock devices in the second half of the year:

You will see multiple devices from us in the second half launching with these capabilities, and we will expand the range of our Lapdock devices so we cover a broader price point, addressing both the enterprise premium tier as well as more consumer tiers.

"We plan on introducing successive iterations of our Webtop software and accessories that incorporate improved productivity tools and multiple price points," he also said, echoing previous promises to include Webtop in all high-end smartphones starting this summer. Perhaps those closely spaced I/O ports on the Droid Bionic and Targa won't go to waste after all? If you simply can't wait, Sanjay claims there's also an official price drop inbound for the Atrix 4G -- AT&T will offer a bundle with the Lapdock and phone for $400 later this month. 

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Samsung RF712 gaming laptop promises ultra-bright 3D, an end to dimness (video)

Dell has already put 3D to good effect in its high-end Alienware models, but Samsung claims the screen on its new RF712 gaming laptop will have industry-leading brightness, helping it to overcome the dimming effect of wearing 3D glasses. The 17.3-inch screen will employ the same Super Bright Plus technology that stunned us in its Series 9 laptop, but this time at a higher Full HD resolution. The stated brightness is 400-nits -- as much as double what you might to expect to find in an average LCD and perhaps even enough for a LAN party outdoors in the sunshine (ok, maybe not). Other specs include a second generation quad-core Intel CPU, 2GB-worth of AMD HD6650M graphics, 750GB hard drive and USB 3.0. The RF712 will start selling in South Korea on May 2nd for ₩2.6million (about $2,400), but it could be a while before it hits international shores. Until then, we will be standing here wearing our active Bluetooth 3D glasses and looking out for a 400-nit speck on the horizon. 

You, on the other hand, can check out the RF712 on video after the break courtesy of Johnmichaels01.

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Sony teases 'Freestyle Hybrid PC' tablet slider and next-gen ultra-portable laptop

We're not sure how this slipped past us at the Sony Android tablet event, but turns out the electronics giant also teased a couple of interesting VAIO laptops. First up is a "Freestyle Hybrid PC" that slides between tablet mode and laptop mode -- very much like the Samsung Sliding PC, but with a seemingly slimmer bottom-half sans trackpad (though we can just about spot a pointing stick on the keyboard). No word on specs, prices, or availability here, but you may recall our proven tipster mentioning a 9.4-inch screen and a $799 launch in the fall. Could this be it? We shall see.

Also shown alongside is a swanky "Ultimate Mobile PC" -- pictured after the break -- with a hint of USB 3.0 and HDMI on a slim body, but again, there's not much else to go with this slide. Hey, at least we now know it's time to start saving up for these bad boys. 

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