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Dell releases thin, cheap laptop
Dell on Tuesday introduced the budget Vostro V13 laptop, which bears a resemblance to the company’s super-thin Adamo luxury laptop, but is close to three times cheaper. The V13 laptop, which is priced starting at $449, measures 0.65 inches (16.5 mm) at its thinnest point, as does the Adamo model that is currently available. The new laptop weighs about 3.5 pounds (1.6 kilograms), half a pound less than the Adamo. The Adamo is priced starting at US$1,499, and has a 13.4-inch screen, while the V13 has a 13.3-inch screen.
Blu-ray 3D will be demonstrated at CES
Blu-ray Discs based on a new format for 3D video will be on show at January’s Consumer Electronics Show. Chip-maker Advanced Micro Devices said it plans to demonstrate the new Blu-ray 3D standard that is due to arrive on commercial discs in the second half of 2010. The 3D format is currently being finalized by the Blu-ray Disc Association, the standards group behind Blu-ray of which AMD is a member, as consumer electronics makers race to launch 3D products in 2010.
Canadian retailer selling Intel’s next-gen chip
An online retailer is taking orders for a new Clarkdale processor from Intel, providing early details of its next-generation desktop processor ahead of the product’s official launch. On Tuesday, Canadian retailer A-Power listed the Core i3-530 chip running at 2.9GHz. The dual-core chip has 512KB and 4MB of L3 cache, and is priced at around US$150. The chip is one of the early processors to be listed belonging to the Westmere architecture, which will be made using the company’s 32-nanometer manufacturing process.
Google Apps adds forums section
The Google Apps hosted communication and collaboration suite, which packs e-mail, calendar, office productivity applications and a wiki-based Web site builder, among other applications, is gaining a new component: discussion forums with mailing lists. The Groups application, which will go live on Wednesday, allows for the creation of mailing lists for group members, but also lets users embed other Apps components into the forums, including calendars, word-processing documents, presentations, videos and spreadsheets.
