We just got our invitation to Microsoft’s debutante ball in Spain for Windows 8 beta– dubbed Windows 8 Consumer Preview–which will take place on February 29th during Mobile World Congress and will hopefully culminate in the release of a public beta of Windows 8. Though the OS will still need some primping and preening before it’s official release later this year, it’ll give the general public a chance to dance with the new Metro user interface, the same interface overlay that’s currently on Windows Phone. 

Microsoft has stated that their goal with Windows 8 is to optimize the tablet experience while still providing the power and versatility needed for desktop users. Users will be able to purchase apps from the Windows Store for simplified software installation across a variety of devices. We got a hands-on look at the developer preview of Windows 8 and came away impressed not only by the operating system’s touch capabilities, but also by how well it handled on a traditional laptop.  Read the rest of this entry »

You know that sinking feeling. That sense of desperation when your gadget’s battery meter says 10 percent . . . or less. Without your phone—or tablet or laptop—you’re lost, unable to work, unable to communicate with loved ones. And the really scary thing is that the lower the battery meter gets, the faster it seems to deplete.

Over the past few years we’ve seen some pretty amazing advancements in mobile technology. There’s now quad-core processors inside tablets, high-def displays for phones and don’t forget 4G. Meanwhile, laptops are now so thin you can practically floss with them, but there’s less and less room for beefy batteries.

So what are the juice-starved masses supposed to do, walk around with a power cord hanging out of their pocket? No, but there are plenty of small tweaks that can make a big difference. “When I pick up some of my friends’ phones, I look at all of the stuff that they’ve downloaded once and don’t realize that it runs a background service,” said Rob Chandhok, senior vice president of software strategy for Qualcomm. “You get to a point where you have to get some help in managing that.”

To help you squeeze more juice out of your gear, we’ve rounded up dozens of tips and broken them down by platform, including Android, iOS, Mac and Windows. The good news is that tech companies aren’t just leaving users to fend for themselves.

• Top 10 Battery Saving Tips for Android
• 10 Ways to Increase iPhone / iPad’s Battery Life
• 10 Tips to Extend Your Mac Laptop’s Battery Life
• 11 Ways to Increase Your Windows 7 Laptop’s Battery Life

Mac OS X Lion was designed to save time with its Mission Control view, iOS-like Launchpad and ability to run several apps at full screen. Apple put a lot of thought into how the hardware and software work together to maximize user productivity and minimize extra work. With these battery-saving tips, you won’t have to worry as much about your Mac running out of juice when you need it most.

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Ten Tips to Extend Your Mac’s Laptop Battery Life

• Tips 1 through 5
• Tips 6 through 10

Watching the life drain from your laptop when you’re on the move is stressful. Sure, there are extended and slice batteries for a variety of machines, and portable laptop battery packs are available from companies such as Duracell and Lind Electronics. But those options can mean carrying more bulk in a bag already bogged down with cords, files and accessories. One surefire way to preserve the battery you do have is to follow these 11 tips.

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Top Windows 7 Battery Savers

• Tips 1 through 6
• Tips 7 through 11

Matt Hickey at The Daily reported last Friday that Microsoft plans to bring its popular Kinect motion-sensing device onto laptops in the near future. The preview laptops, which appeared to be ASUS netbooks running Windows 8, feature a number of sensors running across the top of the screen where the webcam would normally be positioned. The Kinect will be able to function at such close distances thanks to the device’s new ”Near Mode,” which allows it to detect movement from a distance as close as 40 centimeters. Although Steve Ballmer announced Kinect for Windows at CES, this is the first time that a device has been integrated directly into the hardware of a notebook.

Since the Kinect was first released in 2010, hackers have been devising ingenious ways to transform the device into everything from a virtual fitting room to a robotic, lightsaber-wielding “Jedibot”. As astoundingly creative as these projects may be, however, ordinary users may be less thrilled about how – for instance – surgeons are using the hands-free motion controls of the Kinect to manipulate images, speeding up operations and reducing the risk of contamination. So what kind of practical applications can the average user expect? Here are five ways the Kinect can be used to enhance your daily laptop experience:

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On Monday we reported that the average price of a notebook has dropped steadily over time. Within the last two years alone tags have lightened from $530  in January 2010 to $456 in December 2011. Considering that, once upon a time, a name brand notebook cost thousands of dollars, we asked ourselves, “What else can you get for that kind of dough today?”  The answers are below. 

• Top 8 Laptops Under $500
• Average Windows Laptop Costs $456
• Top 10 Laptops Available Now

The price of Windows laptops continues to decline, with the average system costing just $456 in December 2011. However, you don’t have to settle for something that’s underpowered or poorly made when you opt for a bargain notebook. You can get a second-generation Core i3 processor, 4GB of RAM, and 500GB hard drive in this price range, which is plenty of power for everyday computing. Here are the 8 best laptops you can get for under $500 right now.

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HP g6t ($494)

HP offers the 15.6-inch, 2.1-GHz Core i3 HP g6t for only $494. We reviewed its cousin, the HP Pavilion g6-1c77nr, very favorably in 2011, praising it for its solid performance, comfortable keyboard, and good speakers.The Pavilion g6t is no slouch compared to the g6-1c77nr, featuring a 2.2-GHz Intel 2nd Gen Core i3-2330M CPU, 4GB of RAM, and a 320GB hard drive. Although the Gateway NV55C54u (also on this list) offers slightly better performance and longer battery life, this is a great deal for a performance laptop.

Find the HP g6t On Sale at HP

• Laptop Buying Guide: What to Look For
• Top 10 Notebooks Overall
• How to Set Up Your New Notebook

The last two years have seen a slow but steady decline in the price for PC notebooks, with the average cost dropping from $530  in January 2010 to $456 in December 2011, according to U.S. sales numbers compiled by Market Research Firm NPD. Although a sharp drop to just $407 in November is undoubtedly due to steep Black Friday sales, the overall decline points to a glut of cheap laptops combined with user demand for the lowest priced systems.

The average U.S. notebook price overall, which includes Macs, has risen and fallen over the past 24 months but now sits at a much-higher $631, about the same average as in January 2010 ($635). Clearly, Macs have been able to hold their prices even as PCs have gotten cheaper and cheaper. The least expensive Mac notebook is still $999, while Best Buy alone sells two dozen PC notebooks for less than $400 on its website.

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While tablets get all the attention these days, there’s a reason why laptops continue to be the computing device of choice for most people. Notebooks offer real keyboards for faster typing, they’re better at multitasking, and they offer a lot more power for everything from editing video and creating PowerPoints to playing the latest games. So what type of laptop should you get?

There’s a wide variety of sizes, features, and prices, which makes choosing the right notebook a challenge. That’s why you need to figure out what your needs are. To make the right call, just answer the following seven questions.

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Despite their early hiccups (jumpy clickpads anyone?), Ultrabooks appear poised to make a rather impressive impact on the consumer electronics market in the coming years. According to a new report by Juniper Research, shipments of laptops packaged in the Intel-backed form factor will grow at triple the rate of tablet shipments over the next five years.

But in order to reach that level of sales, the Juniper report states, Ultrabook makers will have to figure out a way to offer their devices at a more appealing price point than they are currently selling for. Unfortunately, meeting Intel’s design standards today means pricing Ultrabooks higher than most consumers can currently afford. Read the rest of this entry »