CES 2012: Computers and Hardware- Page 6

Is Intel's ultrabook in danger of being oversold?

LAS VEGAS--At Intel's CES 2012 press conference, the emphasis wasn't on specific chips and their benchmark scores, as it has been in previous years. Instead, Intel was a cheerleader for a very specific type of new consumer product--the ultrabook.

By now, everyone should be at least somewhat familiar with the pitch. Ultrabook is an Intel marketing term (much like Centrino was), encompassing a growing category of Windows laptops that are thin and reasonably powerful, with good battery life and at least some solid-state drive (SSD) storage.

I was justifiably skeptical of the whole idea at first--it seemed to be a blatant play for Apple's growing MacBook Air audience, and the earliest ultrabook examples were nearly the same price as an Air, but without offering any notable advantages (besides running Windows, of course).… Read more

PalmSecure turns your blood flow into key for your laptop

LAS VEGAS--Long before "face unlock" on Android 4.0, Fujitsu developed an even more intimate method for secure user identification--your blood flow.

PalmSecure is a technology that's actually been around for a few years now in Japan, and in a number of business applications ranging from health care to banking, but not seen so much in consumer electronics in the U.S. It uses a biometric authentication system that reads your palm vein pattern. Fujitsu reps here at CES tell me it works only on veins with an active blood flow, so put away your "Mission: Impossible" 3D printers and molds--this tech requires the real thing.

The palm-scanning technology has already been seen built in to mice and full-size keyboards, but Fujitsu says the tech has now shrunk to the point where it can easily be integrated into laptops and other devices.

Laptops with PalmSecure are now available in Japan, and the company is currently "looking at" North America. I won't hold my breath, although if I did, it would make my veins even easier to read.… Read more

HP Envy Spectre: Your move, Apple

LAS VEGAS--Hewlett-Packard's Spectre high-end ultrabook--which debuted publicly for the first time Monday night--could be a leading indicator of where Apple is going with larger ultrathin MacBooks.

While Apple is expected to bring out larger, thinner MacBooks in the spirit of the MacBook Air, HP is leading the way here and now.

I had plenty of opportunity to handle the 20mm-thin Envy 14 Spectre Monday night and my initial impression is that this is a very high-quality ultrabook, albeit pricey at $1,399. That said, that's the same price range that Apple's larger MacBooks fall into. … Read more

Sennheiser's Amperior DJ headphone to hit the street

LAS VEGAS -- Sennheiser, the German maker of headphone and audio products, announced today at CES 2012 a pair of head phone designed to take the style "from the club scene onto the streets," called Amperior.

The audio specialist says the new Amperior is based on the high-end HD 25 DJ headphones and comes with aluminum finish and have been optimized for connection to an iPad, iPhone and iPod. They also comes with a microphone for easy telephoning.

According to Sennheiser, the new rugged rugged headphones can deal with an extremely high sound pressure level and offer professional-level … Read more

WD teases with Thunderbolt drive demo

LAS VEGAS--It's a teaser to say the least.

Without any ado or even a hint, Western Digital showcased at CES 2012 its first Thunderbolt-based external hard drive, called the My Book Thunderbolt Duo. This is a drive that looks exactly like the My Book Studio II with one main difference: on the back it comes with two Thunderbolt ports and no other connection types.

There's not much information about the drive, but one thing is clear: this is a dual-bay drive, meaning that it hosts two internal hard drives. These hard drives are more than likely set up … Read more

Kinect for Windows: Five ways to put it to use

Microsoft on Feb. 1 will roll out Kinect for Windows as it tries to leverage Xbox’s best feature and natural user interface for broader use.

In a blog post, Microsoft outlined how it plans on turning Kinect for Xbox 360 to new uses. For me, the money line from Microsoft was:

Kinect for Windows will also support gesture and voice on Windows Embedded-based devices and will enhance how data is captured and accessed within intelligent systems across manufacturing, retail and many more industries. We are building the Kinect for Windows platform in a way that will allow other companies … Read more

Seagate GoFlex Satellite to get Internet and more

LAS VEGAS--If you own a GoFlex Satellite from Seagate, I have some excellent news.

Seagate announced today at CES a new firmware that turns the wireless storage expander for mobile devices into another much superior device. This is by far the most significant upgrade to the product.

First of all, the upgrade will give all of the existing GoFlex Satellites the capability to connect itself to an existing Wi-Fi network and share that connection with other Wi-Fi clients connected to it. This means, when your iPad is connected to the Wi-Fi network of the Satellite to stream content from it, you don't have to disconnect and reconnect it to another Wi-Fi network to gain access to the Internet. You'll have both the expansion of storage space and the connection to the Internet at the same time, as long as you use the Satellite in an area of another Wi-Fi network you're authorized to access. … Read more

Stronger Gorilla Glass 2 means thinner touch screens

Gorilla Glass, which I wish covered my cracked Samsung Galaxy Nexus screen, is heading to market in a stronger 2.0 version.

Corning introduced the new material at CES yesterday, saying that newfound strength lets screens be made 20 percent thinner. That, in turn, can improve brightness, touch response, and of course device thickness.

I also hope the thinner glass will effectively bring text and graphics closer to the surface of smartphones, something I find makes them much easier to use since my eye isn't as distracted by multiple layers of visual information.

"Product qualification and design implementation … Read more