Stories from Ars Technica Gadget Tech Blog

  1. WiGig promises low-power 2Gbps wireless device communication by 2013

    Ars Technica Gadget Tech Blog &bull Jan 13, 2012

    The WiGig Alliance is moving full steam ahead with its plan to enable devices to communicate wirelessly at mulit-gigabit speeds using unlicensed 60GHz spectrum. WiGig Alliance President and Chairman Dr. Ali Sadri sat down with Ars at CES to explain where WiGig fits among various wireless standards, and when we can expect the technology to become widely implemented. The WiGig MAC specification was published in June 2011, and the standard is currently in draft stage with… Full Story »


  2. Hands on: Samsung throws more device sizes, mediocre ultrabook at US market

    Ars Technica Gadget Tech Blog &bull Jan 12, 2012

    Samsung's Consumer Electronics Show gadget announcements consisted of several small things this year: a refreshed Series 9 notebook, the Series 5 Ultra ultrabook, a refreshed Galaxy Tab 7.7 with LTE, and the Galaxy Note is coming to the US. We tracked all four of these down in Samsung's cavernous booth on the show floor, and while the Series 9 is impressive (and expensive), the others were much less so. We had high hopes for the Series 5 Ultra, given the general success of the Series 9 as a thin, light, not-quite-ultrabook. But when… Full Story »

  3. Will 2012 be Thunderbolt's year? Devices arrive in force at CES

    Ars Technica Gadget Tech Blog &bull Jan 11, 2012

    Peripherals that use Thunderbolt, the high-speed interconnect developed by Intel and heartily embraced by Apple, have taken their sweet time coming to market. The options so far include a high-end professional RAID from Promise, an expensive portable RAID from LaCie, a pricey display from Apple, and a $50 cable necessary to connect them all. However, a number of companies in attendance at… Full Story »


  4. Raspberry Pi's $35, 700MHz Linux computer enters manufacturing

    Ars Technica Gadget Tech Blog &bull Jan 11, 2012

    The Raspberry Pi Foundation announced this week that its $35 Linux computer has entered the manufacturing stage. The system, which is an open board with a 700MHz ARM11 CPU and 256MB of RAM, could be available for sale within a… Full Story »


  5. Hands on with HP's Spectre, the great glass Ultrabook

    Ars Technica Gadget Tech Blog &bull Jan 11, 2012

    At CES on January 10, I was able to lay hands on the Hewlett-Packard Ultrabook given its first public showing by Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer during his bizarre conference keynote the day before-the HP Envy 14 Spectre. Targeted at the consumer market as a "premium" Ultrabook, the Spectre is big on flashy design and entertainment features. But it also has a number of features that make it business friendly-even if… Full Story »

    • HDMI

  6. Hands-on with Acer Aspire S5 ultrabook, Iconia Tab, and AcerCloud service

    Ars Technica Gadget Tech Blog &bull Jan 10, 2012

    Acer announced the Aspire S5 ultrabook and Iconia Tab A200 tablet at CES this week. The S5 carries definite improvements over Acer's first ultrabook release, the Aspire S3, and the A200 tablet hits a very reasonable price point for its capabilities. The S5 is an entirely black model, giving it a more professional look than the lighter, rounded S3. The specs in the model we tested weren't very impressive-2GB of RAM and a 1.7GHz processor of indiscernible model… Full Story »

  7. Week in tech: state of the browser, hacking WiFi, and Wicca-free browsing

    Ars Technica Gadget Tech Blog &bull Jan 7, 2012

    Modern Warfare 3 ads don't sanitize war, they reveal game's truth: The Modern Warfare series has found fame and fortune in selling us a safe version of armed conflict. That success says more about us than it does Activision. State of… Full Story »


  8. Gigabit Wi-Fi chips emerge, will power super-fast home video streaming

    Ars Technica Gadget Tech Blog &bull Jan 6, 2012

    The first wireless networking chips capable of powering gigabit-per-second speeds using the forthcoming IEEE 802.11ac standard are starting to emerge, with routers and other consumer networking products expected to launch in the second half of 2012. With speeds three times faster than the current generation of Wi-Fi routers, the new products will speed up synchronization between home devices and greatly improve the quality of in-home audio and video streaming, according to Gigabit Wi-Fi vendors. Broadcom and Quantenna are among the first to announce Gigabit Wi-Fi chips, and expect them to be used in routers, set-top boxes and PCs. Smartphones and… Full Story »

  9. Roku's tiny HDMI "streaming stick" to bring Netflix, Hulu to smart TVs

    Ars Technica Gadget Tech Blog &bull Jan 4, 2012

    Roku announced plans to release a "streaming stick" to bring its services to smart TVs in a news release today. The stick can connect to WiFi, and with its own memory, processor, and software, can plug into some HDMI ports… Full Story »


  10. Hitting all the right marks: Acer Aspire S3 ultrabook review

    Ars Technica Gadget Tech Blog &bull Dec 27, 2011

    Acer has entered its version of an ultrabook, the Aspire S3, into Intel's race to the top. While the computer doesn't have much merit in the way of design and makes some compromises, it's a solid performer with a good keyboard and trackpad, and great battery life-a combination that's been a rare find so far. The Aspire S3 is on the heavier side among the models we've tested (the Asus Zenbook UX21 and Toshiba Portege Z835) coming in at 2.93 pounds, about the same as the 13-inch MacBook Air's… Full Story »

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