laptop News - Page 18 of 33 - CNX Software

February 15, 2019 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 8 Comments

GPD MicroPC is a Windows 10 / Ubuntu MATE Portable Mini PC for Sysadmins (Crowdfunding)

I shortly discussed GPD MicroPC, a portable computer specifically designed for for network engineers and sysadmins in a post about the company’s Pocket 2 Amber Black mini laptop, but I did not go into details at the time since it was not available. GPD has now launched a crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo for the portable Gemini Lake mini PC, where you can pick one of the 2,000 units that are available for $299 including worldwide shipping. GPD MicroPC specifications: SoC – Intel Celeron N4100 quad core Gemini Lake processor with Intel UHD Graphics 600 System Memory – 4GB LPDDR4 Storage – Replaceable 128GB M.2 2242 SATA SSD, micro SDXC card slot Display – 6″ display with 1280×720, Gorilla Glass 4, 178° viewing angle Video Output – HDMI 2.0 up to 4K @ 30 Hz Audio – Built-in microphone, headphone jack, digital audio via HDMI Networking Gigabit Ethernet 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac WiFi […]

February 12, 2019 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 28 Comments

Ubuntu 18.04 Now Boots on Some Snapdragon 835 Arm Laptops

The first “proper” Windows 10 Arm laptops were unveiled at the end of 2017 and beginning of 2018, all based on Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor with always-on LTE connectivity, 20+ hour battery life, a fairly expensive price tag, and somewhat underwhelming performance. Qualcomm was not interested in supporting Linux, but there was interest from the community, and now it seems Ubuntu 18.04 images are available for Lenovo Miix 630, HP Envy x2, and ASUS Novago TP370 thanks to Aarch64-laptop project currently hosted on Github. Now the prebuilt images are not really ready for end users since UFS storage and WiFi are not working on any laptop yet, the touchpad is not working on the ASUS laptop, and accelerated graphics needs to be implemented. Interestingly WiFi is related to UFS on those laptops, and Marc Gonzalez is said to be being actively worked on UFS upstream support, which should enable for […]

January 31, 2019 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 22 Comments

PineBook Pro Linux / BSD Rockchip RK3399 Laptop Coming Up for $200

Pine64 announced the Pinebook laptop in 2016. The ultra cheap ($89 and up) laptop was based on Allwinner A64 quad core Cortex A53 processor coupled with 2GB RAM, 16GB storage, and a 11.6″ or 14″ display. It was never meant to be a replacement for your current laptop due to the low end specifications, but you could still use it to tinker with Arm Linux or *BSD, as a lightweight portable terminal, etc… Pine64 made several announcements in a single blog post right before FOSDEM 2019 where they’ll showcase some of their upcoming products including the Pinephone development kit that’s use to develop software for the upcoming Pinephone open source phone, PineTab *BSD/Linux-only tablet with Allwinner A64 SoC, and an 11.6″ display like Pinebook laptop, a retro gaming case compatible with Rock64 and Rock64Pro boards, an open source IP camera based on Allwinner S3L processor, Pine H64 Model B (Allwinner […]

January 8, 2019 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 5 Comments

Cosmo Communicator 2-in-1 Smartphone & Pocket Computer Runs Android 9, Linux

In recent years, we’ve started to see Windows 10 mini laptops with 6″ to 8″ display and a foldable keyboard coming to market thanks to products such as GPD Pocket 2 or One Mix 2 Yoga. They offer a full Windows 10 experience in an ultra-small form factor, but you’d still need to carry your phone around with you for things like calls or SMS. Cosmo Communicator offers a similar experience, but instead of relying on Intel processor and Windows, the device comes with a Mediatek P70 mobile processor capable of running Android 9 Pie or Linux distributions merging phone and mini laptop functionalities into a single device. Cosmo Communicator preliminary specifications: SoC – Mediatek P70 octa-core processor with four Arm Cortex A73 cores @ up to 2.0GHz, four Cortex A53 cores @ up to 2.0GHz, Arm Mali G72 MP3 GPU @ 800MHz, and a Dual-core mobile AI processor (APU) […]

January 8, 2019January 8, 2019 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 8 Comments

Intel Project Athena Defines Guidelines for Always-On 5G Laptops

Arm, Qualcomm and their partners first introduced always-on always-connected mobile PCs running Windows 10 in 2017 with over 20 hours of battery life and LTE connectivity. The first models delivered on their battery life promise, but they were expensive while delivering underwhelming performance, but the upcoming Snapdragon 8cx processor should address performance concerns. Those type of laptops are still a niche market, and so far Intel and their partners have not delivered similar type of laptops with long battery life, cellular connectivity, and always-on capabilities. That’s where Intel’s Project Athena innovation program comes in. The program that defines a new class of advanced laptops running either Windows or Chrome OS operating systems, offering long battery life, 5G connectivity, artificial intelligence, and consistently powered on. They may not target the 20 hours of battery life like on Arm platform, but the part of the infographic above reads “worry-free day of battery […]

December 24, 2018December 24, 2018 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 7 Comments

$100 Laptop Shell to Support Smartphones, USB Type-C PC Sticks, and SBCs (Crowdfunding)

Launched in 2011, Motorola Lapdock turned the company’s Atrix 4G smartphone into an Android laptop, but it did not end up being a commercial success so the company stopped manufacturing the laptop shell a few years ago. It is still used by hobbyist for example to create their own DIY Raspberry Pi laptop, and in recent years, with phoned getting much more powerful and desktop support for Android improving, lookalikes have been launched such as NextDock or Mirabook. A new option will soon be available, as Charbax known for his armdevices.net website and YouTube channel has just launched an Indiegogo campaign for a $100 Lapdock. Two models will be available with Lapdock 11.6″, and Lapdock 14.1″ referring to their size, but sadly no other specifications were provided for the display. We still know they’ll work with Samsung Dex / Linux on Dex modes, Huawei PC mode, and basically any device […]

December 16, 2018December 16, 2018 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 13 Comments

GPD Pocket 2 Amber Black is a Cheaper Mini laptop with Celeron 3965Y Processor

GPD introduced their latest Pocket 2 mini laptop via a crowdfunding campaign last summer. The device packs a Intel Core m3-7y30 Kaby Lake processor coupled with 8GB RAM and 128GB storage, as well as 7″ 1920×1200 display. It’s great if you need an ultra-mobile computer with decent performance, especially it also comes with an HDMI port to connect to a larger display when you sit at a desk, but you’d have to pay around $700 to get one on Amazon, GeekBuying, or other websites. The company has now launched a cheaper version called “GPD Pocket 2 Amber Black” that goes for $435 and up on Indiegogo. The design is pretty much the same, but price for this version is quite cheaper thanks to the switch to a Celeron 3965Y processor, and 4GB RAM. Performance will be somewhat lower, but according to the company you’ll also gain 2 hours of battery life […]

December 15, 2018December 15, 2018 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 31 Comments

Intel Unveils Foveros “big.SMALL” Hybrid x86 Processor, Roadmap for Atom Processors

Intel Foveros Hybrid Processor-Development-Board

Once upon a time Intel manufactured mobile processors for smartphones and tablets, but they eventually gave up as their solutions failed to gain traction. However, it looks like they may be back, as one customers required them to developer a chip with higher performance than Atom processors combined with a 2 mW standby power state. The chip was developed using “Foveros” 3D stacking technology was showcased at Intel’s Architecture Day 2018, but before going into further details, let’s have a look at Atom and Core processors roadmap to 2023 unveiled at the event. First, Intel will have developed three new Atom micro-architectures going into 2023. As we’ve seen previously, Tremont will succeed Goldmont Plus microarchitecture found in Gemini Lake and Denverton processors, and improve single-threaded performance, network server performance, and battery life starting in 2019. Around 2021, Gracemont will be launched with again higher single-thread performance and frequency, as well […]