Samsung Electronics, which teased a glasses-free 3D gaming monitor at CES in January, officially announced the scheduled release of two versions at Gamescom last week. Both sizes employ light field display (LFD) technology to create what Samsung calls “lifelike 3D images” from 2D content by using a lenticular lens on the front panel. “Combined with Eye Tracking and View Mapping technology, Odyssey 3D ensures an optimized 3D experience without the need for separate 3D glasses,” according to Samsung. A built-in stereo camera monitors the movement of both eyes while proprietary View Mapping continuously adjusts the image to fuel depth perception. Continue reading Samsung Set to Release Glasses-Free Odyssey 3D Monitors

Acer has extended its SpatialLabs branding from glasses-free 3D laptops to a 3D camera coming to market in Q3 starting at $549. The Acer SpatialLabs Eyes Stereo Camera has 8MP of resolution per eye and can live stream in 3D to YouTube and enable high-resolution 3D video calls through Zoom, Microsoft Teams and Google Meet. It has a built-in selfie mirror, auto and touch focus capabilities and electronic image stabilization (EIS). It is fully compatible with the Acer Aspire 3D 15 SpatialLabs Edition laptop, released in February, and will also work with other 3D displays, projectors and VR headsets. Continue reading Acer 3D Camera Makes Glasses-Free Content for Its Displays

Qualcomm is expanding beyond mobile and into the desktop market in a big way, bringing its AI-enabled Snapdragon X series chips to “all PC form factors,” CEO Cristiano Amon said onstage at Computex this week. Under the theme of “the PC reborn,” Amon said the Snapdragon X Elite and Snapdragon X Plus processors powering Microsoft’s Copilot+ PC experiences are also upping their mobile game. In addition to improving AI experiences with “the world’s fastest and most efficient NPU for laptops,” the chips can deliver “up to multiple days of battery life,” unfettered those on the go from power outlets. Continue reading Qualcomm All-In on Copilot+ PCs Boosting Speed, Battery Life

Not to be outdone by Windows Copilot+ PCs, Google is also bringing AI to the Chromebook, which will be infused with Gemini’s generative smarts via companies including Acer, HP and Asus. “New Google AI and gaming features are available on Chromebook Plus,” says the Alphabet company, noting “you can now write like a pro with Help Me Write, supercharge your ideas with Gemini, edit photos in a snap with Magic Editor, and more — all on Chromebook Plus laptops starting at $350.” Google, which partially integrated Gemini with the Chrome browser, teased AI for ChromeOS last fall. Continue reading Acer, Asus, HP First to Offer Chromebook Plus with Google AI

Microsoft is debuting a new category of Windows PCs optimized for artificial intelligence. Called Copilot+ PCs, the tech giant is initially introducing it on Surface devices and through OEMs Acer, Asus, Dell, HP, Lenovo and Samsung. Availability begins June 18, with pre-orders starting now at prices of $999 and up. Microsoft says the new architeccture powers “the fastest, most intelligent Windows PCs ever built,” with silicon capable of 40+ TOPS (trillion operations per second) as well as “all–day battery life and access to the most advanced AI models.” The company describes this new wave of PCs as “just the beginning.” Continue reading Microsoft Pivots Windows to AI OS, Launching Copilot+ PCs

Acer brought a fleet of new Predator gaming monitors to CES, including the curved colossus spanning 57-inches, the Predator Z57, and glasses-free 3D Predator SpatialLabs View 27, a mass market spin on the company’s SpatialLabs professional display. Sprawling across 7,680 x 2,160 pixels, the flagship Z57 MiniLED runs at 120Hz, with 2,304 dimming zones, dual HDR and peak brightness of 1,000 nits, according to Acer, which has it priced at $2,500, calendared in Q2, as is the $2,000 View 27. The Ultra HD 3D monitor boasts a 160Hz refresh rate and AMD FreeSync and Nvidia G-Sync for fluid gameplay. Continue reading CES: Acer Showcases Curved and Glasses-Free 3D Monitors

Google is introducing the Chromebook Plus, a new category of its popular laptops and tablets that the company says offers AI capabilities and “double the performance” of existing Chromebooks. The new category also provides access to Google Photos Magic Eraser and Adobe Photoshop on the web, starting at $399. Google says it drew on user feedback and worked with partners at Acer, Asus, HP and Lenovo to optimize performance and add productivity. The initial eight models all feature processors that are 12th Generation Intel Core i3 or above or AMD Ryzen 3 7000 series or above. Continue reading Google Claims New Chromebook Plus Doubles Performance

It’s an ideal time to outfit hybrid home workers, and Lenovo is going all-in on the concept, rolling out new tools for digital business users. Foremost among the digital offerings is the ThinkVision 27 3D, a 27-inch glasses-free 2D/3D compatible monitor with real-time eye-tracking. Designed for developers and professional content creators like graphic artists or product designers who can benefit from immersive 3D visualization, ThinkVision has a max resolution of 1920×2160 for 3D and displays flat at 3840×2160, thanks to a lenticular lens in the monitor that can toggle between the two. Continue reading Lenovo Offers Glasses-Free 3D at 4K via ThinkVision Monitor

Engineered for game design and other 3D workflows, the Asus Vivobook Pro 16X 3D OLED offers glasses-free spatial imaging. To do this, the laptop leverages something Asus calls Spatial Vision, an autostereoscopic OLED technology that creates a set of images for each eye using real-time eye tracking tech. With the 3D mode activated, the images are then projected through a microscopic layer of lenticular lenses built into the display panel. The technology is similar to the SpatialLabs technology Acer debuted in 2021, with one big difference: a Spatial Vision screen will appear 3D to multiple onlookers simultaneously. Continue reading CES: Asus Spatial Vision Brings Glasses-Free 3D to Laptops

At Nvidia’s CES 2023 keynote, executives revealed new products and innovations in laptops, gaming, the omniverse, robotics and auto technology. Nvidia senior vice president of gaming Jeff Fisher focused on the company’s AI developments, emphasizing that, “AI will define the future of computing,” and adding that “this has influenced much” of what the company is showing at CES. He highlighted the company’s “new era of laptop computing,” powered by its Ada Lovelace architecture, GeForce RTX 40 Series GPUs and new 5th generation Max-Q technologies with DLSS 3 for quadrupled speed. Continue reading CES: Nvidia Intros AI Impact on Gaming, Omniverse, Laptops

Google is releasing what it says are “the world’s first laptops built for cloud gaming.” The Alphabet company is partnering with Acer, Asus and Lenovo to release three models featuring minimum 120Hz refresh rates and Wi-Fi 6 or 6E capability, among other features that make them a good fit for cloud-based interactivity. The company is also bundling free three-month trials to Nvidia’s GeForce NOW, Amazon Luna and Microsoft Xbox Cloud Gaming with the Chromebooks, and game-ready accessories certified as “Works with Chromebook” are being sold by Acer, Corsair, HyperX, Lenovo and SteelSeries. Continue reading Google Debuts Three Cloud-Gaming Optimized Chromebooks

A slump in PC sales and crashing cryptocurrency markets appear to be tempering a demand for semiconductors spurred by COVID-19 era supply chain shortages. Inflation is another mitigating factor, as sales of laptops and high-end GPUs for gaming and cryptocurrency mining slacken. Research firm Gartner predicts global PC shipments will contract by 9.5 percent in 2022, with consumer demand projected to decline by 13.5 percent. Enterprise sales are also expected to drop, by 7.2 percent, according to Gartner. Those numbers align with the 10 percent PC sales decline Micron Technology has forecast. Continue reading Decline in Global PC Sales Expected to Impact Chip Demand

Alphabet’s Google is making its Fast Pair Service and Chromecast capabilities more interoperable as well as improving functionality with third-party devices that use Google’s own Android OS, Wear OS or Chrome OS and third-party platforms such as Microsoft Windows, Amazon’s Matter smart home standard, and others. In 2021, the average household had 25 connected devices, up from 11 in 2019, and Google wants to free users “to pick and choose the devices that work best for you regardless of brand,” says Google vice president of multi-device experiences Erik Kay. Continue reading CES: Google Pushes Cross-Platform Functionality for Android

During CES 2022, Qualcomm president and chief executive officer Cristiano Amon announced that the company intends to focus on the connected intelligent edge, which he says is a $700 billion market. “We’re becoming the partner of choice for the edge,” he declared. “We continue to see momentum across key opportunities.” The company’s momentum encompasses next generation Arm PCs, virtual and augmented reality, including a continued partnership with Meta, wireless fiber and the automotive sector. The latter includes new deals inked with Volvo, Honda and the Renault Group. Continue reading CES: Qualcomm Targets 5G, Auto, Edge Computing, AR, VR

At the all-digital CES 2021, Razer’s Blade 15 gaming laptop was introduced with the option to add a QHD screen, one of a few manufacturers adding these screens to gaming machines for the first time. Gamers who use desktop computers favor QHD screens for their 1440p resolution, affordable price, multiple features and compatibility with high-end AMD and Nvidia graphics cards. Until now, gamers could opt only for a 1080p or 4K screen (which reduces frame rate to unplayable levels) — or output to a separate 1440p monitor. Continue reading CES: Razer and Acer Offer QHD Screens for Gaming Laptops