Dell’s Alienware has redesigned its gaming laptops with the debut of the m16 R2. It is also coming to market with Pro Line peripherals and two new QD-OLED curved gaming monitors, being showcased this week at CES 2024 in Las Vegas. The new m16 R2 laptop has a slimmed down look, with a reduced heat shelf and Stealth Mode that turns off the glitzy lighting and boisterous sound for gamers who want their portable hardware to perform double duty as a productivity device. The company also unveiled its first competitive gaming peripherals, the Alienware Pro wireless mouse and keyboard. Continue reading CES: Alienware Intros Updated Laptops, Curved 4K Monitors

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

At CES 2019, Alienware debuted its Area-51m 17-inch gaming laptop, touting its power and swappable hardware. Co-founder Frank Azor said the Area-51m counters the current trend of less powerful, more portable gaming laptops with built-in obsolescence. Instead, the Area-51m is basically a desktop PC with built-in battery, screen and keyboard and swappable hard drive, RAM, battery, CPU and GPU. Alienware aids the user in taking it apart with labeled guides in the laptop framework and easily removable screws. Continue reading Alienware’s Powerful Gaming Laptop Allows Swappable Parts

According to market research Newzoo, the West’s four largest eSports tournaments on Twitch and YouTube garnered 190.1 million hours of live viewership, up 6.9 percent from a year earlier. That reflected professional eSports’ ELEAGUE Major: Boston for “Counter-Strike: Global Offensive,” The International (“Dota 2”) and the Overwatch League Finals. But not all tournaments fared equally, with the largest event, the League of Legends World Championship dipping from 86 million hours in 2017 to 81.1 million hours this year. Continue reading Major eSports Tournaments Rack Up 190+ Million Live Views

At Computex 2017, Microsoft exhibited Windows Mixed Reality headsets from Asus, Dell and Lenovo, weeks after showing headsets from HP and Acer. Asus, which collaborated with Microsoft to ensure speed and power, displayed a headset with a polygonal cover panel. Dell’s headset, designed by the team that made its high-end XPS and Alienware PCs, is being marketed as offering an affordable price, customizable cushioning, a flip-up visor and convenient cable routing. Lenovo’s headset is positioned as the least expensive. Continue reading Asus, Dell, Lenovo Unveil Windows Mixed Reality Headsets

After first debuting the Maxwell-based GTX 980 graphics chip in a notebook last year, Nvidia has now upped its game, with notebooks and laptops powered by its GTX 1000 series chips, more specifically the GTX 1060, GTX 1070 and GTX 1080. These new GPU chips, which Nvidia declares “VR-ready,” use the company’s more efficient Pascal architecture to provide nearly identical operation to their desktop chips; only the GTX 1060 provides a slightly slower base clock speed in a notebook. Continue reading Nvidia’s New GTX Series Super-Powers Laptops, Enables VR

The HTC Vive virtual reality headset, priced at $799, just released and at least one review gives it a thumbs-up. Although the Vive didn’t get the high-profile attention afforded the Oculus Rift, which was released a week ago, consumers who try it are impressed, says one critic, who avers that it “certainly beats the Rift in terms of immersion.” A VR system is made up of numerous components and the Vive doesn’t compare favorably in every single one, but one reviewer says it’s on track to create an ecosystem beyond gaming. Continue reading HTC Vive Gets Enthusiastic Reception, Ideas for Improvement

Valve plans to release the first of its Steam Machines, a hybrid between PC-based and console gaming, to consumers on November 10th. The Linux-based device will be produced by Alienware, and combines the graphical capabilities of a traditional desktop PC with the usability of a home console. Coupled with the Steam Machine will be a new gamepad featuring two haptic touchpads that Valve claims will offer the precision of a mouse and keyboard control scheme. It will launch in three models ranging from $499 to $749. Continue reading Valve to Launch New PC-Based Console for the Living Room

Oculus is joining with a number of hardware partners — including Alienware, AMD, Asus, Dell, Intel and Nvidia — to introduce “Oculus Ready” PC systems optimized for the Rift. Starting at price points under $1,000, PCs featuring the certification are expected to hit the market next year and could be a major step toward the consumer adoption of virtual reality. Oculus CEO Brendan Iribe previously hinted that a complete Rift system, including a PC, would run about $1,500. Founder Palmer Luckey recently added that the Rift headset alone will cost more than the $350 developer kit. Continue reading Hardware Partners to Introduce “Oculus Ready” Certified PCs

Following a strong showing at CES last week, Valve kicked off its 2-day Steam Dev Days conference in Seattle (Jan. 15-16) with the announcement that the online gaming platform now has 75 million users, a 15 percent increase from numbers released in October. Global sales for 2013 were strongest in North America and Western Europe. Steam Dev Days is an invite-only event, and the first of its kind for Valve, where 1,200 developers and publishers gathered to discuss the new Steam Machines. Continue reading Valve Says There are Now 75 Million Worldwide Steam Users