The TravelMate Spin B1 is Acer’s first Windows 10 S laptop
Microsoft’s newest Surface laptop and shiny new Windows 10 S operating system weren’t the only highlights of the company’s Education event in New York on Tuesday. Acer was also on hand to show off its latest student-centric laptop offering, the TravelMate Spin B1.
The B1 is a ruggedized convertible notebook designed for the rigors of school life. Its 11.6-inch HD touchscreen display is pressure resistant to avoid damage from overzealous stylus taps, the case is protected by shock-absorbent rubber bumpers and the chiclet keyboard can resistant up to 11 ounces of water. The keyboard even has a built-channel system to divert liquids away from internal components before they can short out the system’s electronics.
The B1 is also outfitted with a 360 degree hinge that allows the keyboard to lay flat against the back of the monitor and enables the computer to be used as a traditional laptop, a tablet, or stood on its horizontal and vertical edges in either Tent or Stand mode.
Internally, the B1 will offer an Intel Celeron processor and graphics card with 64GB of storage, 4GB of RAM and a dual-band 2×2 MIMO 802.11ac connection. What’s more, it will reportedly be able to run for up to 13 hours on a single charge. As for connectivity, the B1 uses Bluetooth 4.0, a single USB 3.0 port, an additional USB 2.0 and one HDMI. And, since the B1 runs on the new Windows 10 S operating system, students will have access to Microsoft’s Office software suite including MS Ink.
Acer has been making TravelMate laptops since it acquired the model from Texas Instruments back in 1997, though it has traditionally marketed them more towards business professionals as a lightweight everyday workhorse. But despite the switch to the educational sphere, you’re not going to see the price change much from what the model line usually goes for. The B1 will retail for $299 when it goes on sale later this month, putting it squarely in competition with the recently announced Acer Chromebook Spin 11 and Asus Chromebook C213 as well as the HP x360 11 G1.
Comixology adds Marvel to its all-you-can-read service
Digital comic retailer ComiXology offers an all-you-can-read service for $6, which nets you stacks and stacks of virtual graphic reading from Image, Dark Horse and IDW. The big two — Marvel and DC — have been notably missing from the Netflix-style app for a while now, as both offer their own digital systems. Today, however, Amazon-owned ComiXology announced that it had finally harpooned one of the big white whales, adding select Marvel titles to its library. You’ll also be able to grab several Marvel collected editions via Amazon’s Prime Reading service and Kindle Unlimited.
ComiXology’s Unlmited service, first revealed last year, serves as a sort of loss leader for the company, getting users hooked on single issue or compilations of popular storylines to promote sales of comic books. Adding Marvel to the mix just raises the profile of the service and could lure in more paying customers in the long run.
The Marvel titles available in ComiXology’s Unlimited service include the popular Civil War series, various Spider-Man books, several volumes of Guardians of the Galaxy (including three issues of the new Gamora series) and a few Star Wars comics thrown in for sci-fi fans. The Amazon Prime Reading service will also get several superhero books like She-Hulk and Iron Fist, along with the new Star Wars: Darth Maul series and some Deadpool collections. The full list is available over at io9.com.
While you won’t get the full Marvel catalog of back issues (that’s reserved for the comic publisher’s own Unlimited service), this is a nice sampling of some of the most popular titles you can get right in your ComiXology or Kindle apps. If you’re looking to binge your way through some comic books, Marvel-branded included, this could be the deal for you. Now if we could only talk DC into it.
Source: io9
AIVAnet 