Ultrabook

Dell executive and prolific tweeter, Frank Azor, has once more taken to the social network with information that will be disappointing to some. The owner of a Dell XPS 15 9530 asked Azor if the company was planning on fitting the new Dell XPS 15 with Nvidia’s powerful GeForce RTX 2060 graphics card. The response was resoundingly negative.

Netflix has announced plans to inflate its prices by up to 18%. However, this will only affect new and existing customers who use US dollars to pay for their subscriptions. This move resulted in a 6.5% increase in its stock price yesterday (January 15, 2019).

Recently, Twitter revamped its platform with the 'Interesting Tweets' feature. However, some users have asserted that the tweets chosen by its algorithm persisted in timelines regardless of whether they turned it off in Settings or not. Now, a new option to return to a completely chronological order of tweets is being rolled out.

Huawei doesn't not mention it, but perhaps it should. The OEM is quietly slipping the faster 25 W version of the GeForce MX150 into its upcoming mid-tier Ultrabook whereas most competitors are using the much slower 10 W version. Even the pricier MateBook X Pro uses the slower 10 W GeForce MX150.

Based on reader interest, deal-tracking site Slickdeals is predicting that the new Inspiron 7000 convertible and XPS 13 will become highly sought-after laptops once they launch in just a few short months. The Inspiron series alone has had over 200 deals in all of 2018 or nearly three times more than the XPS series.

Dell has revealed that it plans to start offering the XPS 15 with an OLED panel in March 2019. Such a laptop would be able to offer a much better contrast ratio and more vivid colors than its LCD-wielding counterparts. It’s also possible the new XPS 15 might follow in the footsteps of the refreshed XPS 13 and have its webcam placed on the top edge of the screen.

Although all SKUs may look identical, their sizes are very slightly different between them due to changes in the cooling solution and GPU. We've compiled all the size differences here so potential buyers can more easily compare the Blade 15 versions before committing to a full purchase.

The Honor MagicBook pairs the AMD Ryzen 5 2500U CPU with the same RAM and storage options as the Intel counterpart. In contrast, other OEMs often handicap their AMD SKUs with slow HDDs, cheap displays, and limited RAM. The result is an AMD laptop that performs almost as well as the Intel equivalent for about $150 less.

An article posted to the online outlet Motherboard has alleged that the carriers T-Mobile, Sprint and AT&T have been selling their US customers' geolocation data to private companies, who then went on to sell it to other parties such as those who issue bail bonds. The carriers in question have subsequently committed to put an end to these practices.

Last December, Notebookcheck reported on the ThinkPad E490s, a new model that is part of Lenovo's affordable ThinkPad E series. At CES, Lenovo has announced that this model will not be released in the UK and the rest of Europe.

Intel Ice Lake is on track for a late 2019 debut just in time for the Holiday shopping season and the Dell XPS 13 series should be one of the first to market with the new CPU. The actual chassis looks to be identical to the current iteration to suggest that the eventual Ice Lake XPS 13 will simply be an internal update.

Lenovo announced its Yoga S730 a few months ago at IFA. At CES, Lenovo introduced the Yoga S940 today. This higher-end model of Lenovo's consumer ultrabook series contains a 13.9 inch screen, which is much brighter and comes with an optional 4K UHD panel, which also support HDR.

The OLED panel will likely be the same panel on the upcoming OLED HP Spectre x360 15. The convertible is otherwise only an internal update from last year's Yoga 730 2-in-1.

The "under-your-nose" camera will soon be a thing of the past. The move is a direct response to user complaints and a blow to competitors like the Huawei MateBook X Pro or Lenovo Legion Y530 where OEMs had to get creative with suboptimal camera positioning.

Frank Azor cites low interest in gaming subnotebooks like the Alienware 13 as a big reason for skipping additional GPU options for the XPS 13 family. A few competing 13-inch Ultrabooks like the HP Envy 13, Huawei MateBook X Pro, and Razer Blade Stealth all offer optional GeForce MX150 graphics for superior graphics performance over the XPS 13.

Coming straight from the horse's mouth, Dell product manager Frank Azor has confirmed that CES 2019 will focus on the XPS 13 series, Alienware series, and Latitude series with the XPS 15 taking a back seat.

Dell's newly announced update to the Inspiron 13 and Inspiron 15 7000 convertible 'Black Edition' features a new hinge design with a 'pen garage' to securely hold an active stylus. The new design is the middle ground between easy access and secure storage of the stylus when not being used. Changes have also been made to the power button, fingerprint sensor, and keyboard.

Introduced back in 2017, the Samsung Notebook 9 Pro ultra-slim convertible has been redesigned for those "looking for a beautiful device that brings out their own unique style and can keep up with the pace of everyday life." Powered by an Intel Core i7-8565U processor, this portable is expected to hit the market in the coming weeks.

Lenovo brings a new version of its ThinkPad X1 Carbon to the CES. The new Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 7 includes a revamped chassis with a Carbon-Fiber coating as well as the newest Intel CPUs and a brighter FHD screen option.

The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Yoga Gen 4 convertible gets revamped for 2019 with a completely new chassis. For the first time ever on a ThinkPad X1 laptop, its completely made out of CNC-machined aluminium and not available in black.

The 13.3-inch laptop is 1.6 mm thinner than the 2018 MacBook Air and has a higher 88 percent screen-to-body ratio. Its Whiskey Lake-U options should provide a significant boost in CPU performance over the passively-cooled Amber Lake-Y processor in the Apple equivalent. The MateBook 13 launches later this month for a starting price of $999 USD.

At one point, Belkin was the go-to brand for third-party Apple accessories, not to mention USB power banks and cables. However, it had gone quiet for a good while following its amalgamation with Foxconn. This year, Belkin and its current international brands (Linksys, Wemo and Phyn) have made a comeback to CES this year to showcase their new products.

Featuring a generous selection of processor choices from Intel, the Asus ZenBook 14 UX431 integrates the NVIDIA GeForce MX150 graphics adapter without being heavy or bulky. Its specs also include up to 16 GB of memory and 1 TB of internal storage, as well as a quad-speaker Harmon Kardon-certified audio system.

Powered by an Intel Whiskey Lake processor, the new ZenBook S13 is allegedly the thinnest laptop that features a discrete graphics solution. However, its main selling point is the impressive 97 percent screen-to-body ratio that has been achieved by placing the webcam in a notch that extends above the display area.

At CES 2019, Acer has announced the new Swift 7 notebook with an even more slimmer and lighter profile than last year while still offering improved 8th generation Intel CPUs, a 92% screen-to-body ratio, Thunderbolt 3 connectivity, and an all-alloy construction. The new Swift 7 will be available in North America in May 2019 starting from US$1,699 and in EMEA and China from April 2019.

Can the GeForce RTX 2080 fit in a chassis the size of a Dell XPS 15? Apparently so. Gigabyte has updated its most popular 15-inch laptop ever with CPU and GPU options normally reserved for thicker and larger gaming laptops. Day-to-day performance will also be boosted by Microsoft Azure AI.

The half-metal, half-leather laptop will be getting a second color option and a higher resolution display by the end of this month. Internal specifications are otherwise identical to the SKUs introduced last November. While the 4K UHD panel will cost extra, the new color will still start at $1300 USD.

The 1000-nit matte touchscreen will be significantly brighter than any consumer laptop or convertible in the market. In comparison, most Ultrabooks available today top out at just 300 nits or 400 nits for relatively poor outdoor visibility.

The 14.1-inch LapBook Pro will have bezels just 5.8 mm thick, 64 GB of soldered eMMC 5.1 storage, and an empty M.2 slot for expansion. Chuwi has also managed to include the webcam along the top edge of the screen unlike on the Huawei.

Acer's newest business laptop, the TravelMate X3410, is now available. Starting at US $900, the TravelMate X3410 is a thin-and-light business notebook powered by Intel's 8th generation U-series CPUs. As is the norm for business laptops, there are a bevy of ports and configuration options.

Do you still enjoy Steam on your Windows XP machine? Seems that's just too bad for you, then. Valve's prior announcement that it will cease support for Windows XP and Vista comes into effect today. Users still on these platforms were still able to play games, but lost access to all other Steam features, in 2018; now, they are losing access to the client as a whole.

Under normal circumstances, the most up-to-date version of Windows begins to drag in a majority of market share (defined as the percentage of PCs that run it) in the year of its release. Windows 10 1809 has not enjoyed this level of success so far. In fact, according to a new report by AdDuplex, it has only attained 6.6% of the total market share from 2016 to 2018.

Microsoft has reportedly begun to induce PCs to download and install the latest Windows 10 update, whether the user seeks for it or not. The company claims that this is necessary to protect devices against security threats. However, there are a number of workarounds for this situation.

Turbo Boost becomes the deciding factor that gives the Dell laptop a slight edge in CPU performance even though the Asus uses a newer Intel processor. Even so, the ZenBook carries a few other advantages to make it worth considering especially in regards to price and storage.

Epic Games is now sitting on US$3 billion in gross profits this year. According to a new article in TechCrunch based on the claims of a 'knowledgeable' source. This level of success is (somewhat obviously) made off the back of Epic's flagship, Fortnite. It is a particularly impressive claim, considering that this title's revenue is largely derived from in-game purchases.

Loose USB Type-C charging cable, electronic noise, discharging battery when gaming, and abnormally slow processor performance round up the list of issues we encountered during our review on the latest Blade Stealth laptop.

HP is currently holding a red tag sale and there are plenty of discounted laptops on offer for potential buyers. The sale includes high-end devices such as the HP Spectre X360 laptop with an i7-8705G and Radeon RX Vega M Graphics (4 GB) and the 15.6-inch Omen that comes with an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060. At the other end of the scale, bargain-hunters can find the basic HP 14Z with 4 GB RAM for a price starting at US$199.99.

Microsoft has been fitting out its London flagship store for several months now, and it does not look like the store is close to opening. The store will remain under construction until at least the end of April 2019, according to planning notices recently placed around the storefront.

Lenovo ThinkPads are usually made for company buyers first and foremost, but there are some exceptions. The less expensive ThinkPad E series does target consumers more. A new leak reveals that the upcoming 14 inch model of this series will be released in a thinner variant.

The current Windows Insider Preview build (or Windows 10 19H1) has been updated to include support for the 'shruggie' and other emojis of its types in the OS' hotkeys. This may finally bring a welcome end to workarounds with keyboard shortcuts and so on. 19H1 should be available in early 2019.

The 2018 MacBook Air may be a good option for those who want the Apple-ultrabook looks for a more moderated price. B&H Is currently holding a sales event for this device, which takes between US$100 and $150 off most of its SKUs. However, these offers are only valid until December 22.

Tencent Games has asserted that it has drawn level with Epic Games' Fortnite in terms of mobile user numbers for its own game, PUBG. This means that PUBG has made it to about 200 million users. It is estimated that both games also have the same approximate number of users who play at least once a day (30 million).

Are you tired of using Photoshop to clear the background from your photos so you can replace it? The makers of remove.bg clearly thinks you are. It offers a service in which its AI identifies the main subject matter of any image, then makes the background around it transparent.