hybrids

How the PC market is being reborn

BERLIN -- The personal computer industry has torn up the rulebook.

Intellectually, I knew it was happening, but it was only after three days of intensive technology immersion at the IFA consumer electronics show that the magnitude of today's changes in personal computing really hit me. Here's some of the evidence that jumped out at me while at the conference:

Risky new designs are commonplace as new ideas about portability and multitouch percolate through hardware engineering circles. PC makers are betting on novelties including detachable keyboards, touch screens, and laptop-tablet hybrids. Microsoft has transformed from a complacent laggard … Read more

Some vendors wary of Windows RT

Windows RT is not bowling over PC makers. What's not clear is whether this is just the usual startup snafus of a new platform or something more serious.

RT is new. It's the first mainstream Windows operating system to run on chips from companies like Nvidia, Qualcomm, and Texas Instruments. So, it's more vulnerable to glitches and gotchas and vendor skepticism.

That said, Hewlett-Packard does not appear to be showing any enthusiasm for the platform (yet), based on what I'm hearing from sources as well as empirical evidence (no HP Windows RT devices).

And Asian sources … Read more

Can you spot the Apple laptop?

The designers at Samsung and HP sure love Apple's laptop design philosophy, but the duo may want to take a step back next generation and innovate a little bit. CNET found several new computers from these companies that look just like an Apple MacBook Air. Can you tell which one is the real Apple product in the picture above?

Our more discerning readers might easily spot the differences between each of these devices, but Crave decided to make it a little more challenging by shrinking the pictures down a bit. Readers who participated in our guessing game on Facebook had a pretty easy time spotting the real Apple, but the pictures were also much larger. … Read more

The weird, new world of Windows 8 hybrids: Laplets vs. tabtops

Windows 8 is about to unleash a tsunami of strange devices upon us all. Call them tablets, ultraportables, hybrids, convertibles, tiny touch-based mobile computers...they're everywhere, and they're multiplying.

HP has them. Samsung does, too. So does Dell, and Lenovo, and Toshiba, and Asus, and Sony. Everyone has them. That's because Windows 8 promises a better environment for touch in mobile computing, and the promise is too tempting not to experiment. Or, alternatively, all these companies need a product out there to plant a flag into this strange soil -- a territory that Microsoft's already visiting via the Surface.

The big problem I see with them is that for every device that emerges, the landscape gets ever-more-cloudy. … Read more

Windows 8 hybrid-tablet mania

Thursday's tech news roundup calls for a deluge of tablet-PC hybrids:

Everyone is talking about tablet hybrids at this year's IFA electronics trade show in Berlin. Every major laptop maker is getting in the game, all because of the October 26 release of Windows 8. Some choose to have the screen swivel or fold to be held like a tablet, such as the Dell XPS Duo 12 and the Asus Taichi. But most hardware makers are also offering tablets with full keyboards that snap on, like HP's Envy x2 tablet and Samsung's Series 5 and 7 Slates (… Read more

2013 Ford C-Max Hybrid first drive: an efficient urban runabout

It's a van; it's a hatchback; it's a wagon? It's the 2013 Ford C-Max Hybrid and its tall, liftback design is not exactly any of those things. Ford's betting that this blend of small-car parkability, wagon flexibility, and crossover visibility will be a hit with urban drivers looking for a do-everything runabout. Helping to seal the deal for these city dwellers is the C-Max's hybrid power train, which offers Prius-battling levels of power and efficiency.

Design In pictures and when isolated on a platform at a car show, the C-Max looks like a little … Read more

FAA may change in-flight gadget rules

Keep your seat belt fastened for Tuesday's tech news roundup:

The Federal Aviation Administration has formed a committee to reconsider its policy on when electronics can be turned on during a flight. But this does not include making a cellphone call, so no worries about noisy neighbors. This group will look into how (or if) today's smartphones and tablets interfere with communication and instruments, and perhaps future electronics could have some new certification standard that marks it as safe for use during a flight.

Android users might have to thank the Apple vs. Samsung trial for speeding up … Read more

Sony to debut Vaio hybrid tablet soon

Sony plans to debut a convertible Windows 8 tablet as soon as this week, a source tells CNET.

The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, confirmed the same device that made an appearance today on the mobile news Web site Pocketnow, which published a series of images showing off a convertible tablet called the "Vaio Duo 11." … Read more

Samsung to demo new Windows 8 hybrid tablet at IFA

Samsung will take the wraps off its new Windows 8 hybrid tablet at the IFA 2012 trade show in Berlin.

The company's Facebook page displays a photo of the new tablet with the tagline "Ready to be smart" and the phrase "IFA 2012, Berlin." Samsung is also telling its Facebook followers "Don't worry, it's just around the corner..."

IFA 2012 officially gets off the ground this Friday and runs until September 5. But the press will get a head start with events scheduled this Wednesday and Thursday. Samsung's press event … Read more

Samsung teases next Windows 8 thing?

Care to venture a guess on what Samsung's next, cool hybrid-looking thing is?

If that description sounds vague, just watch the video below: it's more of an exercise in abstract expression than concrete design cues.

That said, it does show brushed metal, round edges, and hint at (near the end) a hybrid device possibly suggestive of the Samsung Series 5 Hybrid PC, first shown in June at Computex.

And this would fit nicely with one of the biggest design trends for Windows 8 devices. That is, newfangled laptops the convert readily to tablets or more tablet-like devices that … Read more