Products: News

Kyocera is demonstrating a new mobile phone that uses vibrations in its screen to transmit sound to the ear, in place of the traditional receiver speaker.

Apple CEO Tim Cook this week again slammed rival Microsoft's Windows 8 and its promise to be an operating system for all devices, whether tablets, desktops, laptops or hybrids that combine elements of all.

Samsung's latest flagship Android phone won't be available in a 4G model for Australia, but the company says it is confident in the 3G version for now.

PC and components vendor, Acer, has named world champion and Olympic hurdler, Sally Pearson, as its Australian brand ambassador.

Vodafone is holding a surprise launch of the Samsung Galaxy S III today, commencing at 11am AEST for online, and in-store from midday.

A fresh crop of ultrabooks sporting Intel's latest "Ivy Bridge" Core processors will start to go on sale next month, including 30 models with touchscreens, Intel said Thursday.

Windows 8 and ultrabooks are expected to take center stage at the Computex trade show in Taipei next week, as industry giants Microsoft and Intel try to develop products that can compete better against Apple's iPad.

Production of Apple's new MacBooks is ramping up, causing labour shortages in the supply chain.

A McAfee study of PCs around the world found that 17 percent had no antivirus protection, and the U.S. outpaced the average with 19 percent of PCs unprotected.

Dell on Tuesday announced a prototype low-power server with ARM processors, following a growing demand by Web companies for custom-built servers that can scale performance while reducing financial overhead on data centers.

Acer adds the A510 to its tablet range and releases a 15.6-inch notebook, ASUS unveils multimedia notebook.

The cost of computers, televisions and digital cameras fell by more than 13 per cent in 2011, compounding the woes of a retail sector already strained by tight profit margins.

The HTC One XL is an identical looking phone to the HTC One X with the added benefit of 4G capability.

The MSI GT70 is a formidable everyday performer, as well as an excellent gaming machine. When the unit's closed, it even looks the part. Flip it open, and MSI might have been better off shooting for an under-the-radar aesthetic rather than incorporating what look like elements from a Cadillac body kit. Appearances aside (beauty is in the eye of the beholder), the GT70 is a very powerful laptop with only minor foibles.

Olympus reached back to its design roots when crafting the new OM-D E-M5 micro four thirds camera. The original OM line of film SLRs was known for its rich feature set and stylish, compact design. Now, released as a digital body, the first offering in the new OM-D line is the E-M5. Based on my initial testing, both in the lab and the field, this latest generation is destined to achieve even greater glory than the original.

The $150 (as of April 16, 2012) Canon Pixma MX512 inkjet multifunction printer (copy/fax/print/scan) is a bit of a mixed bag. Print quality--aside from color graphics on plain paper, which suffered from an excess of orange--seemed very good. Output speeds were easily fast enough for a home office, and the unit sports Wi-Fi as well as an automatic duplexer. On the other hand, the control panel is inefficient and black ink is expensive.

For a pocketable camera, the 14-megapixel Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS20 ($350 as of May 15, 2012) is about as loaded as they come. The trait that will jump out at you--literally, if you're facing the camera--is the Lumix ZS20's 20X-optical-zoom lens (24mm to 480mm). Like that zoom lens, the Lumix ZS20's laundry list of features keeps on going and going.

The credit card-sized computer will not be sold through any resellers, according to distributor, RS Components.

Lenovo claims that its ThinkPad X1 Carbon is the world's lightest 14-inch Ultrabook, with a weight of just under 3 pounds. It's an easy claim to make, though, because the company doesn't have much competition in that size.

The Hewlett-Packard HP Folio 13 is a sleek 13.3-inch Ultrabook that comes in a slim profile measuring just 0.7 inches (18mm) thick. HP positions it as a business-grade laptop that eschews an optical drive for portability and crams in a battery that the company says is good for up to 9.5 hours. The HP Folio 13 also includes a number of business-centric capabilities ignored by other computer makers.