The Verge - Windows 8 hardware: laptops, desktops, tablets, and convertibles designed for the touchscreen operating system

HP Envy Rove 20 is the company's stab at a giant all-in-one Windows 8 tablet

2013-05-23T04:01:07Z

It's hard to say if there's a market yet for an all-in-one touchscreen PC that you can just pick up and carry around, but it seems that no Windows PC maker wants to be left out. Hot on the heels of Dell's XPS 18, Sony's VAIO Tap 20, and the Asus Transformer AIO, Hewlett-Packard has announced the Envy Rove 20. It's a tabletop PC with a 20-inch touchscreen, a four-hour battery, and a spring-loaded kickstand that folds flat into the frame.

We got to check out the Rove 20 briefly at an HP event in San Francisco late last month, and we're not yet sure what to think. The 10-point capacitive touchscreen felt responsive, and the kickstand has a very satisfying action (you squeeze a button around back to release the lever as you set it down) but...

Toshiba Kirabook review: finally, a flagship Windows 8 laptop

2013-05-13T15:45:53Z

Typically when I meet with a manufacturer to talk about new products, they're coy about mentioning their competitors. They refer to "our competition," or "other players," or "similar devices." Every company wants me to believe it's the only company on the planet, that any others aren't even worth the lip service.

That's what made my last meeting with Toshiba so odd. While showing me the new Kirabook, the highest-end ultrabook the company has ever made and the first in a new line, the company's product managers and PR reps couldn't stop talking about Apple. They told me "we're lighter than Air," and compared "apples to apples — our apples to Apple's apples." While other manufacturers have raced to the bottom and to the lowest common...

Asus to release smaller, lower priced Windows 8 tablets this year

2013-05-06T22:11:04Z

After months of rumors that smaller, cheaper Windows 8 tablets are on the way, Asus will reportedly release such a tablet later this year. Jerry Shen, Asus' CEO, also told the Wall Street Journal that he believes prices for Windows 8 tablets will drop to an average of $300 before the year's end. Currently, most Windows 8 tablets are priced around $400 to $500, with displays of about 10-inches, so a cheaper option would give Windows a chance to compete more directly with the likes of Apple's iPad Mini and Google's Nexus 7.

Microsoft knows all this, and knows that it needs to get into the mini tablet game. So far, Asus appears to only be joined by Acer with plans to create a smaller Windows 8 tablet. On Friday, we saw an an 8.1-inch Acer...

Intel promises touchscreen laptop prices will drop to just $200

2013-04-16T23:00:49Z

Intel, AMD, and ARM are all competing to offer a compelling Windows 8 experience at a low price point, but Intel might be poised to shoot ahead. For the time being, you have to pay upwards of $400 for a tablet with Intel's dual-core "Clover Trail" Atom processor, but company CEO Paul Otellini says that prices will drop drastically when the new Bay Trail chip arrives later this year. Not only will Bay Trail allegedly offer a quad-core chip without consuming additional power, but Otellini claims that "prices are going to be down to as low as $200" for Windows 8 touchscreen laptops, according to a CNET report.

"The touch price points today are still fairly high and they're coming down very rapidly over the next couple of quarters,"...

Samsung updates high-end Series 9 ultrabook, catching up as 1080p screens become the norm

2013-03-25T14:58:33Z

Nine months ago, the 1600 x 900 display on Samsung's Series 9 laptop was relatively impressive for its time, but it has since been bested by a number of 1080p (and occasionally even higher) ultrabook displays. Now Samsung's playing catch-up, announcing today the latest version of its flagship laptop, which it teased at CES in January. The new Series 9 has a 13.3-inch, 1920 x 1080 LED display, coupled with a "SuperBright" technology that Samsung says is 50 percent brighter than other laptop screens. Bizarrely, it's not a touchscreen, a surprising omission that leaves Samsung still trailing some of its 1080p competition, but the mid-cycle refresh brings Samsung at least closer to parity with its best competition, from Asus and others.

I...

New Samsung CEO says there is 'lackluster demand' for Windows tablets and phones

2013-03-15T04:38:41Z

JK Shin, the Samsung Mobile Communications president who just received a promotion to co-CEO of Samsung Electronics, had some harsh words for Microsoft tonight as his company launched the Galaxy S4. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Shin downplayed a question about Samsung's relationship with Microsoft, instead highlighting the poor performance of the company's Windows Phone, Windows 8, and Windows RT devices next to Android.

MacMall offers Asus Transformer Book pre-orders for $1,479.99

2013-02-23T18:30:05Z

Announced at Computex Taipei back in June, Asus's Transformer Book has taken a while to come to market, but the 13.3-inch version of the tablet-laptop hybrid is now available to pre-order at MacMall for $1,479.99. The premium price reflects a relatively impressive spec sheet, including a dual-core Intel Core i7 processor, 4GB of RAM, and storage comprising a 500GB hard drive and a 128GB SSD.

In a situation reminiscent of the company's Taichi ultrabook, It is still not clear when the Transformer Book will actually ship to US customers. German site Conrad provides an availability date of March 5th, while other retailers, including Best Buy and Kmart, list the device as "sold out." There has also been little information about its supposed...

Best Buy offers two-week, $100 discount on all Windows 8 touchscreen PCs

2013-02-23T00:00:24Z

Microsoft's Tami Reller told us that demand for touchscreen Windows 8 computers was outstripping supply, but it seems that Best Buy still isn't selling quite as many as it would like. Today, the big box retailer announced that it will offer a $100 discount on all Windows 8 touchscreen PCs starting Sunday, in a two-week promotion ending March 9th. What's more, The Wall Street Journal reports that Best Buy itself will be footing part of the bill, joining Intel, Microsoft, and PC manufacturers in eating the cost of the discount.

The discount won't apply to the Microsoft Surface or other Windows tablets, according to the Journal.

Best Buy subsidizes touchscreens

Generally, a touchscreen can add between $50 and $200 to the cost of a...