iRiver debuts new PMPs, Wave-Home Wi-Fi console...

iRiver at CES unveiled its latest multimedia devices including the Wave-Home multimedia device and several portable media players. The Wave-Home interface is displayed on a 7-inch touchscreen that resembles a digital photo frame, but the device also integrates a phone and webcam. A wireless handset fits into the back of the housing for calls made while moving around, or the webcam can be used for video conferencing. Games, weather, news, radio and other widgets are supported.

Hitachi shows off gesture-controlled TV concept...

Hitachi was drawing crowds at the CES show with its gesture-controlled HDTV that uses infrared technology (IR) to see user’s hand motions and respond accordingly. The display itself was Hitachi’s existing 42X902 UltraThin HDTV, while a specially-designed IR sensor and interface were developed to control the TV’s basic functions. Users were urged to wave to the TV to turn it on, while changing channels was performed by waving horizontally to bring up a channel menu, then moving an open or pointing hand in a clockwise circle to advance through the channels or counterclockwise to go down through them. Adjusting volume levels was done in similar fashion.

Intel's convertible Classmate PC official...

At the CES show on Friday, Intel officially released its second-generation Classmate PC, which is the first low-cost educational notebook to use a convertibe tablet design with a touchscreen. The 8.9-inch notebook will use a 1.6GHz Atom processor and be manufactured by local computer makers in the various countries it will be sold in. At the same time, the company announced the Intel Learning Series initiative that combines hardware, software and services designed for education, supporting companies that build products to enhance children’s learning experiences.

Samsung TwoStep hits US Cellular...

US Cellular on Friday picked up the Samsung TwoStep. The new music flip phone recalls iPod design with a jogwheel on the outside for controlling volume and skipping tracks on the outside screen without opening the full device. Samsung also outfits the phone with stereo speakers, a dedicated music key on the inside and a microSDHC slot that holds cards up to 8GB.

Alpine intros iPhone-ready, drive-less receivers ...

Alpine took the opportunity at the CES show to introduce three new head units that will soon be available on the market, with the iXA-W404 and nearly identical iDA-X305 and iDA-X303. Neither has a traditional optical disk drive, relying instead on digital media as their soruce files. The W404 has a double DIN form factor in order to better fit into the dashboards of modern cars, while the latter uses a more traditional single-DIN layout. The Digital Media Station iXA-W404 has an iPhone-like interface, where users can glide their fingers over the 4.3-inch touchscreen to navigate their music libraries.

TomTom brings GO 740 LIVE to US shores...

TomTom at CES brought out an Americanized version of the GO 740 LIVE, its first real-time aware GPS navigator. It earns its name from a constantly updated GPRS data link that automatically determines the best route based on short- and long-term traffic information. Updates on drive times and accidents are delivered every few minutes and give an immediate option to reroute if conditions delay the optimal route; route histories are also collected over the long term to predict the quickest route based on traffic on particular days or at different times.

Ballmer: iPhone has "momentum," Zune not the future...

Relatively new competitors now have the advantage in the smartphone business, Microsoft chief Steve Ballmer said late yesterday to the Financial Times (registration required). Although the executive was well-known for believing in early 2007 that the iPhone wouldn't get market share, he now says that both Apple and BlackBerry creator RIM have "clear market momentum" and that the two are part of an industry likely to survive the poor world economy.

450Mbps 802.11n router coming from TRENDnet...

Networking company TRENDnet has announced two new Wi-Fi routers (not pictured), beginning with the TEW-673GR. The unit is a dual-band 802.11n model, capable of broadcasting in both the conventional 2.4GHz band and in the 5GHz range, which avoids interference from other wireless hardware such as microwaves and Bluetooth transmitters. Like many 802.11n devices the 673GR has a theoretical peak of 300Mbps, though practical speeds are closer to 200Mbps; as an alternative, gigabit Ethernet connections can be used. Pricing and availability are currently unpublished.

Gateway rolls out MD, UC notebooks...

Gateway's appearance at CES has been accompanied by two new notebook models, each of which is hope to bring upscale features to the mainstream. Starting the launches, the UC series is Gateway's first system with a 13.3-inch screen and borrows design cues from its sibling brand Packard Bell, including the unusually circular trackpad and aluminum trim. The system is relatively light for Gateway's lineup at 5.3 pounds and has extras sometimes omitted from the class such as a 1.3-megapixel webcam, 802.11n Wi-Fi and HDMI video out.

Apple planning to switch tradeshow focus to CES?...

Apple may be looking to exhibit at next year's Consumer Electronics Show, a report claims. Citing second-hand sources within Apple, the story suggests that while the company has decided to pull out of future Macworlds, it is already laying plans for CES, which is hosted in Las Vegas every January and populated by over 2,700 hardware and software companies, including a number of PC builders and key rivals, such as Microsoft. CES 2009 is currently ongoing.

Asus intros tablet netbooks, multimedia notebooks...

At CES this week, Asus introduced two new tablet netbooks, the Eee PC T91 and T101H, and several full-size notebooks including the M90GF and W90Vp. The Eee PC T91 features an 8.9-inch touchscreen with LED backlighting. The system runs on Windows XP Home and uses an Intel Atom Z520 processor, while customers can add an optional GPS receiver or TV tuner. The T101H offers a 10-inch screen and an Atom N270 CPU running the same version of XP as the smaller model but with a keyboard size closer to an average notebook.

Windows 7 beta goes live, sees demand surge...

As promised during Microsoft's keynote at CES, the company today released the public beta of Windows 7. The ISO image gives users a largely feature-complete version of the next-generation operating system but sets the software to expire on August 1st. Microsoft warns that the software isn't officially supported and that downloads will be limited to the first 2.5 million who start the download.

VIA NSD7800 provides network server storage...

VIA Technologies has announced the NSD7800, a home server capable of storing large quantities of information from multiple computers. Designed for small or home offices, the NSD7800 supports up to eight 3.5-inch SATA II hard drives. The storage device is powered by a 1.5GHz VIA C7-D processor, and comes equipped with a mini-PCI port for security related add-in cards, a bootable CompactFlash type 1 slot, and four USB 2 ports. It also offers automatic data monitoring and allows users to access their personal information while away from home.

Verizon completes acquisition of Alltel...

Verizon has announced the completion of its move to acquire Alltel Wireless, cleared by the Federal Trade Commission early last month. Verizon is paying approximately $5.9 billion for Alltel's equity, though it will still have to deal with the latter's $22.2 billion in debt. The purchase should make Verizon the largest cellular carrier in the US, bringing in 12.9 million customers for a total of over 83.7 million; by contrast, AT&T has only 74.9 million. Potential coverage is said to be 290 million people.

Dell Mini 10 gets multi-touch; Adamo teased...

Dell today at a press conference at CES revealed the Inspiron Mini 10 (not yet pictured), its third netbook. While only slightly larger than the Mini 9, the new portable is more advanced than either the smaller model or the Mini 12, including through its display. The namesake 10-inch screen is sharper than on other netbooks and produces a 720p (1280x720) resolution closer to full-size notebooks. The system also incorporates a multi-touch trackpad that not only helps with scrolling and zooming but also the ability to jump to a home screen or automatically scroll the contents of a page.

Circuit City in talks for self-sale...

Circuit City on Friday morning made public that it's currently in talks with an unnamed company to potentially sell off its assets following its bankruptcy. The retailer declines to provide any more details than required by a hearing pushing the details into the open but confirms that two "highly motivated" companies are discussing the possibility of deals that would either give the company enough money to continue on and restructure itself or else to effectively buy out the resources of the entire store chain.

Palm Pre to go GSM, cost $399 at Sprint?...

The Palm Pre is already poised to run on more widespread GSM networks but may be more costly regardless of network, according to separate reports. Company European sales VP Paul Ghent tells site Pocket-lint that while the initial version of the Pre is limited to CDMA, a version with at least GSM is enroute to the region for the second half of the year. No mention is made of UMTS or HSPA, though all new Palm GSM phones above the Centro have shipped with both 3G technologies in the past year.

Palm Pre borrows from iPhone, but shows promise...

Palm's new Pre smartphone borrows heavily from the Apple iPhone, but shows a lot of promise, writes Needham analyst Charlie Wolf. Palm announced the Pre at a major CES event on Thursday, revealing a device with features signature to the iPhone, such as an accelerometer and multi-touch controls. Wolf argues that the phone may in fact be better in some regards, particularly in terms of its ability to sync contacts and calendars across numerous devices.

TRENDnet announces Travel Router, Gaming Adapter ...

TRENDnet has announced two of its latest devices, the 300Mbps Wireless N Travel Router, and the 300Mbps Wireless N Gaming Adapter. Standing only 2.5 inches wide by 3.25 inches long by 0.75 inches high, the Wireless N Travel Router is claimed by the company to be the smallest of its type in the world. The compact size nonetheless allows MIMO antennas to improve reception. Feature support is likewise the same as for larger routers, including up to WPA2 encryption.

Firm intros PowerVR possible for 2010 iPhone...

Imagination Technologies has quietly introduced a new PowerVR SGX chipset at CES that may point to the future of the iPhone and other graphics-intensive smartphones. The PowerVR SGX543 is the first to use a new platform which its creator estimates is much faster than older SGX and MBX chips. Its new, more vector-friendly graphics engine is about 40 percent faster than the previous SGX series in very effects-heavy graphics, the company claims, and is much faster in floating point math, geometry setup, and culling unneeded parts of the scene than the previous generation.

AMD kicks off Mobility Radeon HD 4000 graphics...

AMD entered the second day of CES with a formal unveiling for the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4000 series of notebook graphics chips. The new wave of hardware is based on the same core architecture as the desktop 4000 series and in many cases are much faster for the power used than earlier generations; AMD estimates that performance is as much as twice as fast on a given part versus its 3000 series ancestor. Much of the gain comes from both a cooler 55 nanometer proccess as well an increased number of stream (graphics) units, with the top-end Mobility Radeon HD 4870 and 4850 carrying 800 of the effects generators versus just 320 on the 3870.

JVC intros KDX-AV77 touchscreen car head unit ...

JVC Mobile at CES introduced a unique car audio head unit with a 5.4-inch wide touchscreen display that forgoes nearly all buttons for its control interface. Instead, the touchscreen unit also has a proximity sensor that can register a user’s moving hand in front of it to exit its screen saving mode. As the controls are virtual, users can switch the positioning of commonly used functions such as the volume controls. The head unit can play back DVDs as well as CDs, displaying movie content on its display, which is nearly ideally suitable for widescreen movie playback, where the black lines on top or bottom of the image are removed.

Pioneer launches receivers, Blu-ray players at CES...

At the CES show, Pioneer showed off a number of new products for the home theater crowd. Made up of four new A/V receivers and three new Blu-ray players, the products bring new features at a lower price level than before. Among the new Blu-ray players is the flagship DBP-09FD with DVD upscaling to 1080p resolutions and 24fps. It is BD Live ready and support Bonus View. Apart from 48-bit deep color support, there are dual HDMI 1.3a outputs and a Pioneer 16-bit video processor.

Memorex launches iPod docks, touchscreen PMP...

Memorex at CES launched several new audio products including three iPod docks and a touchscreen MP3 player. The Mi9490P offers a 30-watt speaker system, slot-load CD player and an FM radio, with an integrated dock for the iPod or iPhone. The all-black housing is designed with slightly rounded edges and a white-on-black LCD. The Mi4290P provides clock-radio functions in addition to the dock capabilities. Users can control the system with a remote or set the alarm to play an iPod track.

Compositor unveils MeeSeries wireless frames, tv, HDD...

Compositor at CES unveiled several MeeSeries products including the MeeBox media storage device, MeeFrame digital photo frames, MeeTV LCD and a MeeCeiver attachment for other televisions. The MeeBox includes two hard drives with capacities up to 2TB, although half of the space is used for automatic backup of any data. The device serves as the central unit for the system, controlling the wireless distribution of media to the digital frames or TV.

Hands on with Griffin Navigate and iPhone amp...

Electronista got a first-hand look at several new Griffin accessories featured at CES and Macworld, including the Navigate controller and upcoming IFM app for the iPhone and iPod touch. The Navigate controller features an integrated FM tuner and a white-on-black LCD screen. The track information was easy to view but subtle, while the control buttons allowed easy browsing through the songs, playlists or FM channels.

A closer look at the Palm Pre and webOS ...

Electronista has taken a closer look at the Pre smartphone unveiled at CES. The device is noticeably smaller in person than it seems in previous images. Despite the smaller screen, the display still appears crisp and vivid. The company matched the 480 by 320 pixel resolution of the iPhone, while reducing the overall screen size to fit the smaller housing. Video playback seemed smooth as the Pre played an H.264-encoded movie trailer. Reaction time and flow of the menu items was also clean, without any choppiness or apparent delay.

LG intros first Blu-ray with NetCast support...

At its CES press conference on Wednesday, LG unveiled a pair of Blu-ray players with a world-first NetCast entertaintment Access, featuring access to streaming HD movies from Netflix, the CinemaNow library and YouTube videos. While both can bring the videos to users’ living rooms, only the BD390 sports 7.1-channel audio support, Wi-Fi connectivity and 1GB of built-in memory. Either can access online Blu-ray features such as BD Live and BonusView content and users can connect their thumb flash and external drives via USB connections for playback of MPEG4, JPEG, MO3 and WMA formats.

Targus intros laptop cooling pads, eco-friendly bags...

Targus is demonstrating new products at both CES and Macworld Expo. In San Francisco, the accessory maker unveiled a new line of "eco-friendly" laptop cases and bags for the Aluminum MacBook Pro and at CES, Targus is touting a new line of laptop cooling devices for PCs and Macs.

Sony Ericsson launches two Walkman phones, C510...

Sony Ericsson has staked out a position at CES with three new phone launches. Leading the field, the W715 is an improvement on the older W705 that adds GPS to the Walkman slider and thus support for both turn-by-turn directions and finding points of interest on the ordinarily music-centric phone. It continues to offer a 3.2-megapixel camera, 3G and Wi-Fi with DLNA media sharing along with signature music functions like shake-to-shuffle control over random play and smart playlists based on moods.

Sony TVs at CES tout eco-friendliness, networking...

Sony has based its BRAVIA introductions at CES around three core series that each promise a different focus. The company's attention centers on the VE5, a new line that pushes low power consumption above all. A new hot cathode fluorescent lamp, or HCFL, lets Sony illuminate the screen but consume 40 percent less power on average than a cold cathode lamp TV. The screen also has a true power-off switch to avoid draining energy on standby and has both motion and light sensors to automatically dim the screen when no one is watching or night allows a darker picture.

NVIDIA rolls GTX 285/295, 100M graphics...

NVIDIA's appearance at CES comes with the launch of new flagship desktop graphics cards as well as new mobile chipsets. The dual-chip GeForce GTX 295 and GTX 285 are both built on a more efficient manufacturing process that lets the company either ramp up clock speeds (on the 285) or double the number of chips (on the 295). The 285 is now NVIDIA's fastest single-GPU card and comes with a 648MHz core and 1GB of memory at 1.24GHz while the 295 behaves as though it were two GTX 260s with a 576MHz core and 1.79GB total of 1GHz memory. NVIDIA claims the 285 is about 30 percent faster on average than the Radeon HD 4870 it competes against.

Pogoplug puts external hard drives on the web...

Cloud Engines has announced Pogoplug at CES, a small device that connects a user’s external hard drive to the Internet. The device is designed to make network-attached storage simple and only involves attaching the Pogoplug to a home router and the drive in question to the plug. A web front end lets users then gain access to all the information on the drive regardless of the location. The plug itself is compatible with any USB 2 hard drive or memory stick, while the Pogoplug website can be used with any web browser.

Sony premieres new Cyber-shots, photo frames...

Continuing a bevy of electronics announcements, Sony has debuted three new Cyber-shots, beginning with the W220 and W210. Both are rated at 12.1 megapixels, and equipped with 4x optical zoom. The cameras are also able to reach ISO 3200 sensitivity, and have options for automatic face, smile and scene recognition. The one distinguishing aspect is image stabilization, as only the W220 uses true optical stabilization instead of digital.

Nokia E63, 1006 headed to US...

Nokia's turn at CES saw the company launch American versions of two of its phones. The E63 is surfacing in the US as an unlocked device and adds support the 850MHz band for 3G on AT&T, with GSM and EDGE supported on both AT&T and T-Mobile. Like the reference version, the E63 is considered a budget counterpart to the E71 and uses a plastic shell, a lower-resolution 2-megapixel camera and the absence of GPS to reduce the price. A 3.5mm headphone jack partly compensates for the difference.

Sony launches array of new camcorders...

Sony has announced a a variety of new camcorders, divided into hard drive-, flash- and DVD-based models. The hard drive models consist mainly of the HDR-XR520V, 500V, 200V and 100. Equipped with a CMOS sensor and a supplementary Memory Stick slot, each is capable of recording 1080p video and 12-megapixel stills; the 520V incorporates a 240GB hard drive, able to hold as much as 101 hours of video. The camera additionally includes a built-in GPS receiver for geotagging, and optical image stabilization.

Sirius XM outs first dual network satellite radio...

Addressing an important gap, Sirius XM today introduced the MiRGE. The radio fulfills a promised update and is the first to support both Sirius and XM channels in one device. It can switch between either on the fly gives either network the same features, including as many as ten presets and a dual view display that shows both the currently playing station as well as the channel browser. A buffer caches up to 60 minutes of programming for pausing and skipping.

Palm launches Pre smartphone, webOS...

Palm at CES launched the Pre (pronounced "pree"), its latest smartphone featuring a touchscreen and slide-out QWERTY keyboard. The device runs on the new webOS operating system which supports third-party app development and takes advantage of the touch interface. It also pushes the high-end of smartphones with a 3-megapixel camera, EVDO Rev. A, Wi-Fi, stereo Bluetooth, GPS, 8GB of storage and a new TI processor that offers notebook-level performance. The 3.1-inch touchscreen offers a 480x320 resolution, while a separate gesture area below the screen is used for several controls in addition to a center button.

Epson Perfection V30 offers faded color restoration...

Epson has launched its latest tool for scanning photos, documents, and 3D objects, Epson Perfection V30. The scanner features 4800x9600 DPI optical resolution, and a high-rise 180-degree lid for 3D objects. In addition, the Easy Photo Fix software will automatically restore color restoration to faded pictures. Four one-touch scanning buttons on the side provide quick e-mail, copy, automated scanning, and create PDF abilities. Epson Perfection V30 requires no warm-up time and offers lower power consumption by using Epson's energy-efficient ReadyScan technology

Dell offers LED-lit displays, netbook TV tuner...

Continuing its efforts in Las Vegas, Dell today released the G2210 and G2410. The 22- and 24-inch screens are both LED-backlit and focus on eco-friendliness. While the lighting is their point of distinction and roughly halves the amount of power consumption at just 20W, the body itself is made partly of recycled material and is about 20 percent smaller, using less material. Image quality also sees a distinctive benefit and sees the contrast ratio jump from 1,000:1 in static mode to 1,000,000:1 when the LEDs' dynamic lighting is invoked.

JVC exposes iPod-ready home theater systems...

JVC is promoting three new home theater systems at CES, the TH-G31, G41 and G51. All three feature 5.1-channel surround speakers, with power rated at 1,000W; these attach to a receiver which decodes DTS and Dolby Digital input, while providing HDMI video output and 1080p upconversion. A front-facing auxiliary input allows additional connections. The G31 is the simplest of the three, providing no extra improvements.

Sony launches first camera with web browser...

Sony on mid-Thursday crowned its Cyber-shot news at CES with the DSC-G3. The camera is both one of Sony's few Wi-Fi equipped cameras but is the only one to include its own web browser. The addition not only allows for basic web use on the 3.5-inch touchscreen but also streamlines photo and video uploading; users can post images to Flickr, movies to YouTube, and other similar actions without having to return home to a computer. A streamlined landing page improves the experience in particular for sites like Picasa.

Samsung reveals LED-lit, 3D LCD monitors...

Korea's Samsung has introduced two new LCD monitors at CES, the P2370L and the 2233RZ. The former is a 23-inch display, whose main feature is a white LED backlight instead of the flourescent type used in most LCDs. This is claimed to produce better color results, as well as contrast, which is listed as an extremely high 2,000,000:1. The monitor additionally sports a 2ms gray-to-gray response, and resolutions up to 1080p; input comes in the form of DVI-I, which supports both DVI-A and DVI-D sources. The display should ship in the first quarter of the year for $399.

Dell makes XPS 625 its first AMD gaming PC...

Dell today used CES to launch its first gaming desktop to use AMD processors in place of Intel's. The XPS 625 mid-tower shares the same custom-lit aluminum case as the XPS 630 but switches to an AMD 790FX-based mainboard and can be equipped with one of several overclockable Black Edition processors up to and including the 3GHz, quad-core Phenom II just introduced at the same time. All video card picks are equally AMD-based and scale up to dual Radeon HD 4850 cards in CrossFire mode.

ViewSonic dips into netbooks, AIO desktops...

ViewSonic today ventured into relatively unknown territory for itself by launching its first, full-fledged computers. The VieBook (content to come soon) is its take on the netbook and carries specs similar to most other models using a 10-inch display, with a 1.6GHz Atom, 1GB of memory, a 160GB hard drive, a 1.3 megapixel webcam and Bluetooth rounding out its feature set. The system will ship in February for $429 and comes preloaded with Windows XP.

Sound Blaster restores, broadcasts iTunes music...

Creative on Thursday announced its Sound Blaster for iTunes is being displayed at CES (booth 30651). Designed for use through the iTunes interface, Sound Blaster plugs into the USB connection on a PC or Mac, and plays back music through Creative wireless speakers or headphones while enhancing the quality. Sound blaster also works in users pre-existing speaker systems equipped with Creative Wireless Receivers. Users can select up to four different receivers for music playback.

LG uncovers work, HDTV-oriented LCD monitors...

LG has announced a host of new LCD monitors at CES, concentrating on the M237WD, a new 23-inch display. The panel is unusual in that it doubles as an HDTV set, mainly through the inclusion of 1080p resolution and an ATSC tuner. It is designed in the cinema-standard 16:9 ratio instead of 16:10, and features built-in stereo speakers as well as a bundled infrared remote. Dynamic contrast is rated at 30,000:1, and response time is pegged at 5ms.

NVIDIA makes GeForce 3D Vision official...

NVIDIA on Thursday took the wraps from GeForce 3D Vision, its first stereoscopic 3D setup meant for home users. The add-on combines a set of glasses with a USB-attached IR emitter and certain new displays to generate 3D imagery for games, movies and videos without the blur or flickering that often creeps up in many stereoscopic setups. It also supports more common gaming setups and works with two-card SLI without special configurations.

Creative Zii outed as flexible system-on-chip ...

Creative today finally confirmed the nature of the Zii. The one-time mystery device is now known to be a processor platform based on the notion of very generalized, software-based cores known as Processing Elements: the "stemcell" element from earlier teasers refers to an ability to repurpose any of the cores for a particular task. The process mimics the unified shaders processors of current video cards and is said to provide supercomputer-like acceleration without needing a large processor or a large amount of energy.

Verbatim debuts ExpressCard SSD, keyboard w/speaker...

Verbatim has announced three of its latest products, ExpressCard SSD, Store 'n' Go Micro USB drive, and the Speaker Keyboard. The ExpressCard/34 is a solid-state drive (SSD) that provides plug-in storage at 16GB, 32GB and 64GB. With read speeds up to 125MB/s and write speeds maxed at 30MB/s, the storage device also comes equipped with NTI Shadow 4 to enable automatic backup every time a change occurs.

T-Mobile intros new Shadow, Nokia 7510, Samsung t119...

T-Mobile this morning volunteered to use CES as the venue to introduce a trio of new phones for its network. The company's long in progress Shadow update completely reworks the design but continues to embrace the same basic philosophy of a jogwheel for control and a slide-out, SureType keyboard. The new model, however, builds in Wi-Fi with HotSpot Calling and carries a faster 260MHz processor to help drive its Windows Mobile 6.1 platform.

SanDisk releases third-gen SSDs for home use...

SanDisk on Thursday unveiled the third generation of its Solid State Drive lineup with an emphasis on making them available to the public. The company promises drives that are both inexpensive and fast through a combination of cheap multi-level cell (MLC) memory, a new memory controller and its ExtremeFFS file system. Even in flash memory's historically weak performance with sequential data, SanDisk estimates 200MB per second reads and 140MB per second writes. That's about five times faster than a 7,200RPM hard drive, the company believes.

AMD unveils Phenom II architecture...

AMD marked the start of CES with the formal debut of the Phenom II, its first mainstream 45 nanometer processor. The upgrade is based on the same core "Shanghai" architecture as recent Opterons and gives a roughly 20 percent speed boost over the previous-best 2.6GHz chip through changes that involve an optimized design with more instructions handled per clock, 4MB of total extra cache, and support for up to the same 1,333MHz DDR3 memory as rival systems from Intel. The design is also now much more tolerant of high clock speeds and will run up to 3GHz in stock trim.