pc

Windows 8, Surface to squeeze PC unit sales in Q3, analyst says

PC unit sales could fall as much as 5 percent to 10 percent in the third quarter from a year ago, according to Jefferies analyst Peter Misek's latest research note, published late last night.

Misek sees a troublesome time ahead for PC builders following a single-digit drop in PC shipments in the second quarter, particularly with Dell and Hewlett-Packard.

The report comes after he estimates what was a low drop in second-quarter PC shipments.

It also follows only a month after the two PC makers saw their target prices cut with analysts suggesting: "Windows 8 will prove to … Read more

Indie Gala Mobile bundles Android games for a good cause

Game bundles are fairly commonplace these days, but most of them focus on PC and/or Mac titles. Here's something a little different.

Indie Gala Mobile lets you set your own price for four Android games, with the proceeds going to your choice of destinations, including two worthwhile charities.

Available through Friday, June 22, the bundle includes the following titles:

Cardinal Quest: an arcade-style dungeon crawler. Great Little War Game: a 3D turn-based strategy outing. Legends of Yore: a " roguelike" with 8-bit graphics. Smiles HD: a Bejeweled clone with some cool twists (literally).

The minimum buy-in is $… Read more

Fancy a Samsung Galaxy Note imitation?

SUNTEC, Singapore--We've seen Shanzhai iPhones and BlackBerries, but this has got to be a first: a Samsung Galaxy Note imitation.

While pounding the halls at the PC Show 2012 tech fair here, this writer noticed the familiar-looking supersize smartphone going for just $279 Singapore dollars ($218).

Upon closer inspection however, the "Note" was running Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich), instead of Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) out of the box. More interestingly, the user interface seemed to be inspired by HTC's Sense UI, with its "3D box effect" when scrolling through the home screens. … Read more

Bonus-deal Friday: Five bargains you won't want to miss

Just as mystery-novelists often write the ending first, I sometimes start my daily Cheapskate post by writing the bonus deal. And today, the bonus deals just got away from me, to the point where they consumed the whole post.

In other words, it's like all dessert and no dinner. But, somehow, I don't think you'll mind.

Bonus deal: The Xbox is rapidly evolving into a home-theater hub, what with the recent additions of HBO Go, SmartGlass, and the like. Alas, you need an Xbox Live membership to enjoy most of those features (including Netflix), and that'll … Read more

Green Mesh open-air PC case is magically dust-free

TAIPEI, Taiwan--We stumbled upon YoungYear Electronics' new fanless PC case made of mesh here at Computex and did a double take. Instead of being fully enclosed, with fan ports for proper airflow, the Green Mesh Computer Case does away with all that in favor of an open-air approach. It looks nothing like your usual PC chassis.

That's right. There's nothing to stop the dust from accumulating inside the case, not even a filter. But according to the Taiwanese manufacturer of power supply units (PSUs), this open-air design is actually the reason dust will not magically accumulate inside the case. In fact, the company claims it will have three to four times less dust than a normal PC tower. … Read more

Add an extra monitor to your computer

I hesitated writing this How To. Compared with the olden days of installing and configuring video cards and giant CRT displays, the process of adding a secondary monitor to any modern computer is practically plug-and-play.

But when I sat down to write a tutorial on this that included both Mac and PC, I realized there's still a surprising amount of variables to the process, and plenty of details that I hadn't considered before.

"Is VGA video quality inherently worse than HDMI?"

"Will generic Mini DisplayPort cables work in a Mac's Thunderbolt port?"

I … Read more

Sony Vaio L Series all-in-one gets Ivy Bridge, media features galore

Sony has gone all-in on the concept of the home entertainment PC with its new Vaio L-Series all-in-one desktop. Yes, it has Intel's new third-generation (Ivy Bridge) Core CPUs, but that's almost besides the point. Alongside those new chips, you'll find Sony has pushed harder than ever to make this PC an all-encompassing digital media hub.… Read more

Get a 12-game indie bundle for $5.99

I've seen some pretty good game bundles over the years, but this is arguably one of the best yet. It's certainly one of the largest.

The Indie Gala V includes as many as 12 titles -- some of them older, yes, but a broad and satisfying collection overall.

What do I mean by "as many as" 12 titles? The bundle is actually divided into three chunks. If you pay at least $1, you get the first batch of four games. Pay more than $3.99 and you get the second batch (plus some indie music). And … Read more

Play Civilization V (PC/Mac) for free this weekend

Confession time: I try to stay away from games like Civilization because I can't afford to get sucked into them. I have friends who've lost entire weekends to Sid Meier's legendary series. If I'm going to carve out time to game, I need to run, gun, and be done.

You, on the other hand, have time to burn, right? So check this out: From now until 1 p.m. PT on Sunday, May 27, you can play Civilization V online for free. (Scroll down to the bottom of the page to see the offer.)

That's … Read more