Diesel’s first Android Wear smartwatch will set you back $325

The latest fashion house to launch its own Android Wear device is Diesel in the form of the On Full Guard smartwatch. The On Full Guard, which was first announced a few months back, comes packing Qualcomm’s 2100, IP67 water resistance and an AMOLED display. As Wareable explains, the company is hoping that its unique skin for the Android Wear 2.0 device will help it stand out in a crowd.

Set the device to Do Not Disturb, for instance, and the screen will go dark, save for the cracks that will appear whenever you get a notification. Similarly, an activity tracker will gradually fog up the display the more time you spend chillaxing on the couch. If that sounds like the sort of thing you’d be into, then the On Full Guard range is priced at $325, with the first model now available to buy from Macy’s — additional models with slightly different case options will filter through on September 25th.

Of course, the actual hardware has been produced by Fossil, which does the same for so many other high-fashion wearables. That company has also let slip that it will be pairing with several other fashion brands in the new year. At the start of 2018, five more names will be able signing on, although the company has yet to say who will slap their logo on the same basic hardware.

Follow all the latest news from IFA 2017 here!

Source: PRNewswire

Watch Acer’s IFA 2017 showcase in under six minutes

Didn’t get up early enough for the first salvo of new gadgets from IFA 2017? Don’t worry, we’ve got your back. Acer kicked things off with its press event this year, unveiling its latest all-in-one PCs, ever-evolving hybrid laptops and a new push into 360 cameras — including one for looking after your pooch. You can never get enough pet-gadgets, right? We’ve condensed everything worth talking about, all into a tidy six-minute package.

Follow all the latest news from IFA 2017 here!

Zepp’s tennis sensor now includes a highlight camera

Unless you’ve got a professional coach on hand, it can be tricky to determine how good your tennis skills really are — simply not slamming the ball into the net doesn’t count, unfortunately. But for those looking to up their game, sport sensor creator Zepp has a new gadget that could help you serve your best match yet. The Tennis 2 Swing and Match Analyzer, which looks not unlike a tennis ball, fits on the bottom on your racket and measures stroke type, spin, ball speed, ball spin and accuracy, then relays the info to its iOS or Android app via Bluetooth.

The app configures the data in a way that makes it easy to see where there’s room for improvement, and gives users access to Zepp’s tennis community leader board, so things can get competitive. The new device also includes Smart Capture technology so players can record videos of each rally and then create a “highlight” reel which can be shared with others. You can even add special effects to clips, if you’re so inclined. The package comes with a sensor, pro mount, flex mount, insert mount and USB charger, and costs $100/£100, which is probably cheaper than tennis lessons.

Even if Hyperloop fails, public transport will win

One hundred and fifty teams from around the world entered the third SpaceX Hyperloop Pod Competition. Of those, 25 made it to the company’s weeklong event in Hawthorne, California. And like the prior years’ events under the Southern California sun, after days of testing and dry runs, only a select few were chosen to do a proper vacuum-sealed run down the 1.25 kilometer track.

It’s been four years since SpaceX, Tesla and Boring Company CEO Elon Musk dropped his white paper about the Hyperloop: a vacuum-sealed tube-based transportation system that would get passengers from San Francisco to Los Angeles in a mind-boggling 30 minutes. Since then, a few companies have taken up the mantle to make Musk’s idea a reality. Perhaps more intriguing than entrepreneurs tackling the Hyperloop are the student teams that SpaceX has gathered together to solve the pod problem.

This year at the rocket-building company’s pod-building competition, the name of the game was speed. Whichever team was able to propel its pod down the track the quickest would walk away with a trophy signed by Musk and bragging rights.

The rules for the event were simple. The fastest pod on the 1.25 kilometer vacuum-sealed track wins. But not all 25 teams made it that far. The SpaceX engineers and judges ran a battery of tests for technology and safety on the vehicles to determine if they were worthy of time in the tube. Only three teams made it to the finals.

The winning team was the Warr team, from the Technical University of Munich, who pulled an impressive run reaching just over 200 miles per hour. But the team did it without fancy maglevs or air bearings. Instead, the small pod was powered by a 50-kW motor and held steady on the track by high-speed bearings and aluminum wheels. It was essentially a bullet-train-shaped electric car. “We focused on a lightweight design that accelerates really quick in the tube,” Manfred Schwarz told Engadget ahead their run at the event.

Schwartz still believes that the future of Hyperloop involves maglev, though. But for a student trying to win a competition and catch the eye of potential sponsors (building pods is expensive), it really comes down to creating a pod that works best for the given situation.

In stark contrast to the small missile built by Warr was the entry built by the Paradigm team. It used the opportunity to try out its air bearings (which the team says reduces the force necessary to propel its pod by 80 percent) and lateral movement technology. The 1,800-pound (yeah, it was huge) pod posted a very respectable speed of about 60 miles per hour during a run that involved using a vehicle provided by SpaceX called a “pusher” to get it up to speed.

Meanwhile, the Swissloop team used a jet-propulsion system to get its pod going with a great whoosh. Its entry got up to about 25 miles per hour after they were initially unable to connect to the pod after it was placed on the track. They pulled the vehicle out of the tube, swapped batteries and resumed their test.

The thing is, currently there’s no “right way” to get the hyperloop going. Hyperloop One, a commercial endeavor, conducted tests in July where its XP-1 pod hit 190 miles per hour with a maglev system. That’s the accepted future of the transportation system. Even Schwarz thinks that’s the long-term goal. Unfortunately, building a maglev system is expensive. Add that to the already Herculean task of building a series of vacuum-sealed tubes between destinations and the economics of the Hyperloop become the system’s largest obstacle.

Which brings us back to the pod competition at the SpaceX headquarters. Here students are figuring how to build systems on limited budgets and making tough decisions as to what they’ll focus on for each competition. Musk put out the idea and companies like Hyperloop One jumped on it focusing on the SpaceX CEO’s vision, but these teams, they’re looking at it from thousands of different directions.

Understandably, sometimes an initial idea needs some tweaking before it’s truly ready to take on the world. That’s where the Hyperloop Pod Competition shines. No two pods are the same and that’s exactly what this emerging technology needs. It needs teams of very smart people trying out insane ideas. Not every concept will yield something worthy, but at the very least it’s one more thing to tick off the “that doesn’t work” list.

While the original idea was for Musk to put his Hyperloop concept out there and let the world figure it out, the CEO’s latest grand scheme — the Boring Company — might need the Hyperloop or something similar to become a reality. Those sleds with cars on them need propulsion and braking systems, and that’s what the college teams are focusing on. So it’s unsurprising that another Hyperloop Pod Competition is slated for next year.

Maybe the Hyperloop will live up to the hype and passengers will be whisked from Los Angeles to San Francisco in 30 minutes via maglev pods in a few decades. But even if we never erect tubes up and down the countryside, what’s happening at these events could be applied to other transportation systems and that’s more important than any one man’s idea.

Dell’s Inspiron 7000 Gaming laptop comes with a GTX 1060 now

Dell’s Inspiron 15 7000 Gaming has always been a solid, if unexciting, option among entry-level gaming laptops. With its latest refresh, Dell is making things a little more interesting with some improved graphics options, ports and a refreshed design.

Most of the spec options are identical to the last model. There’s a choice of Intel’s 7th-gen i5-7300HQ or i7-7700HQ, anti-glare 1080p and 4K panels, between 4GB and 32GB of RAM and various hard and solid state drives for storage.

The main improvement is graphics: While the current 7000 Gaming tops out at an Nvidia GTX 1050 Ti, the latest adds the option for a 6GB GTX 1060 Max-Q, a more-powerful card. Although the full-fat GTX 1060 is marketed as “VR-ready,” the Max-Q edition with its reduced energy draw (6OW versus 80W) may struggle with some titles. Inside there’s also 2×2 802.11ac WiFi as standard, an improvement over the 1×1 chipset in the previous model.

To keep that new graphics card from burning through the chassis, Dell has made the bold and some might say odd decision to decrease battery capacity by 25 percent. The new spec sheet lists a 4-cell 56WHr battery as the only option, which is not going to last as long as the previous 74WHr model. Dell claims it got between 7 and 10 hours of use on a Mobile Mark 14 battery life test, with the 7 being the GTX 1060 model, and the 10 the GTX 1050 base. These tests are often very friendly towards laptop manufacturers, with a lot of idle time. Expect real-world results to be quite a bit lower.

You could argue that no one should be using a gaming laptop away from a power outlet anyway, but the 7000 Gaming is the sort of laptop that parents buy their kids as they go away to college — it’s always served as a work-and-play kind of machine. By cutting down the battery without swapping in lower-power components, that dual use-case becomes harder to justify. At least it’s a “quick-charge” unit, which can go from 0 to 80 percent with an hour of charging.

Aside from the upgraded graphics and downgraded battery, the most notable change is visual. The 7000 Gaming has had its share of gnarly vents over the years, and this time around the entire rear of the machine is covered in horizontal lines, with the front edge mirroring the look. In matte black, it almost looks subdued. In bright red, it doesn’t. It’s got the usual array of HDMI, USB 3.1 and ethernet ports, along with a an SD card reader and, for the first time, a Thunderbolt 3 USB Type-C port. At 0.98 inches thick, it’s a hair thinner than the outgoing model, but retains the same 5.82-pound (2.65KG) weight, which increases to 6.28 pounds (2.85KG) if you opt for the GTX 1060 model.

The Inspiron 15 7000 Gaming is out September 12th starting at $1,000 for the 1080p display model and $1,500 for 4K. While $1k for a quad-core i5 and GTX 1050 is pretty good, it’s going to be a far tougher sell at the higher end, where brands with more gaming cachet like ASUS and MSI have similar options in the same price range.

Follow all the latest news from IFA 2017 here!

IBM’s Watson is creating US Open tennis highlight videos

When it’s not busy healing America’s broken criminal sentencing system, Watson is creating highlight videos of tennis matches. That’s probably one of the things one could say if IBM’s AI system were human. The tech titan has just launched a suite of Watson-powered AI solutions for its enterprise customers, and the US Open is already using one of them to generate highlights of its matches. IBM calls the suite “Watson Media,” and the US Tennis Association is using one of its features called “Cognitive Highlights.”

This particular solution finds the most exciting parts of a match by analyzing the crowd’s cheers, as well as the players’ gestures and facial expressions. It then automatically generates videos of the most thrilling moments, which are then posted on Facebook and published on the US Open apps.

Noah Syken, IBM VP of Sports & Entertainment Partnerships, explained that USTA turned to Watson for help, because there could be as many as 18 matches going on at the same time. Even the fastest video team will have a hard time analyzing matches and stitching the best moments together as they happen. It probably also helped that IBM tested Cognitive Highlights as a proof of concept at the Master’s Tournament earlier this year, and Wimbledon also used the technology to generate some videos.

In addition to Cognitive Highlights, the US Open is also using Watson’s Conversation API to power its Cognitive Concierge app. Just like Wimbledon’s Watson-driven assistant Fred, it can help guests find dining and shopping options, as well as other services, around the venue.

Watson Media has more to offer besides these two, though: the other solutions can transcribe audio for closed captions, can identify violence and adult language in videos that need to be screened more closely and can provide more informed content suggestions for video platforms. Since any company can avail of all these solutions (and more), we’ll likely come across the Watson-powered capabilities often in the future.

Source: IBM

Facebook snags hit Latino YouTube shows for its Watch video tab

Facebook is steadily adding shows to its recently launched Watch video tab for mobile, desktop, and TV. Last week, it nabbed a docuseries based on viral blog Humans of New York, which already boasts a massive following on the social network. The same goes for its latest additions — two new latino shows that have found considerable success on rival video service YouTube. The weekly programmes come courtesy of digital video network Mitú, and include Mom’s Movie Reviews, and What’s Good in Your Hood.

In case you’re not familiar with Mitú, the online media company claims it attracts around 600 million monthly content views. Its output can be found on YouTube, Comcast’s Watchable streaming service, and Snapchat Discover. It’s also been busy amassing millions of followers across social media, including Instagram, Twitter, and (its biggest platform) Facebook. That success has brought with it the attention of some notable backers — the likes of Verizon, YouTube network Awesomeness TV, and ad agency WPP have poured $43 million into the company.

Mitú’s shows tend to be aimed at Latino millennials, and its Facebook Watch programmes are no different. Mom’s Movie Reviews is cast from the YouTube mold, offering weekly reviews of new movie releases by a (you guessed it) Latina mom and her son. Starting today, the unscripted comedy series will be available to view on Facebook Watch every Wednesday.

The second show from Mitú is also an extension of an existing programme, dubbed What’s Good In Your Hood. The Facebook Watch series sees comedian Andrew Santiago visit local American neighbourhoods to sample their cuisine, and highlight the work being done by community members. The focus on food should go down well on Facebook, where clips about grub reign supreme. What’s Good In Your Hood also debuts today, with new episodes landing every Wednesday.

—

Verizon owns Engadget’s parent company, Oath (formerly AOL). Rest assured, Verizon has no control over our coverage. Engadget remains editorially independent.

AT&T Expanding 5G Network Tests Into Three More U.S. Cities by End of 2017

In early 2016, AT&T began its first test of a fixed wireless 5G cellular network within Austin, Texas and expanded that test to new local businesses this past June, including a car wash, an apartment unit, and a church. Today, the carrier announced that its test of next-generation 5G cellular connectivity will be expanding to new businesses and residential customers in three new U.S. cities by the end of 2017: Waco, Texas; Kalamazoo, Michigan; and South Bend, Indiana.

AT&T noted back in 2016 that the 5G trials introduced download speeds in gigabits per second, improving upon the normal megabits per second that customers on current wireless networks see, allowing 5G customers to “download a TV show in less than 3 seconds.” In today’s press release, AT&T said that it has seen speeds up to 1 gigabit per second in Austin, and latency rates “well under 10 milliseconds.” In 2016, the carrier predicted 5G latency at somewhere between 1 to 5 milliseconds.
In the Austin apartment unit, AT&T set up a fixed wireless 5G home with various apps running simultaneously on the same connection, with usage centering on streaming DIRECTV NOW, 360-degree video, and international video calls without lag. While the test remained at fixed locations in Austin for over a year, AT&T said that its findings demonstrated “how people can live, work, and play in a connected home of the future.”

AT&T said that its findings in Austin will help during the expansion to the three new cities, with new insights gained into millimeter wave performance and propagation, and how obstructive objects (foliage, buildings, etc), the weather, and device placement can impact the 5G signal in the real world. As with other carriers, AT&T’s 5G test data is being contributed to the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), a group of telecommunications organizations that oversee the development and maintenance of major communication networks.

“In Austin, we see all types of weather and substantial foliage,” said Marachel Knight, senior vice president, Wireless Network Architecture and Design, AT&T. “Taking our fixed wireless 5G trials out of the lab and into the real world helps us learn important factors about mmWave and 5G. And in doing so, we’re learning how to better design our network for the future.”

As it expands, the carrier said it will apply the knowledge it gained from the Austin tests, while also increasing the number of participants and expanding the physical footprint of the 5G network trials in each new city, hinting at much larger tests coming to Waco, Kalamazoo, and South Bend. In these three cities, trial participants are said to potentially include universities, hospitals, churches, restaurants, and other small businesses, bringing the ability to stream live TV and experience faster broadband services over the 5G connection.

AT&T will continue to test both fixed and mobile wireless solutions based in the millimeter wave spectrum in these field trials, and in closed “testbed” settings. The goal for the new expansion is to “help speed up” the deployment of new 5G network standards, with AT&T hoping that this deployment will happen as soon as late 2018. AT&T is working with Ericsson, Samsung, Nokia, and Intel during these trials, which also includes a test location in Indianapolis as of July, 2017.

Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon have also announced interest in 5G networks, with Sprint saying its own wide-scale 5G network will launch by 2019, and T-Mobile aiming for nationwide 5G coverage by 2020. Of course, all of this progress hinges on the 3GPP first completing the 5G Release 15 standard. According to AT&T, once Release 15 is out then 5G-supported “commercial equipment” will be available within six months.

Tags: AT&T, 5G
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iPhone Users Will Be Able to Say ‘Hey Cortana, Open Alexa’ in Future

Amazon and Microsoft today jointly announced that Alexa and Cortana will soon be able to communicate with each other.

Microsoft said the collaboration will allow access to Alexa via Cortana on Windows 10 PCs later this year, and via the Cortana app for iOS and Android at an unspecified point in the future. Similarly, users will be able to access Cortana on Alexa-enabled devices like the Amazon Echo, Echo Dot, and Echo Show.

iPhone users should eventually be able to open the Cortana app and say “hey Cortana, open Alexa,” to access Amazon’s virtual assistant. Alexa can be used to shop and manage orders on Amazon, ask a variety of questions, stream music and audiobooks, check the news and weather, and many other tasks.

However, iPhone users won’t be able to say “hey Cortana, open Alexa” from the Home screen, or when the device is locked. Apple only allows third-party virtual assistants to function within their apps, so accessing Alexa via Cortana will be a lot more cumbersome than simply using Siri.

For a complete virtual assistant experience, iPhone users could also say “hey Siri, open the Cortana app” and then say “hey Cortana, open Alexa.”

Alexa can already be used in the Amazon app on iOS [Direct Link], while Cortana has been available on the App Store [Direct Link] since December 2015.

Tags: Amazon, Microsoft, Cortana, Alexa
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Dell at PAX West: Inspiron 7000 Gaming serves quad-core and GTX 1050 for $1,000

Why it matters to you

These two new Dell Inspiron options are great ways to dive into the pools of PC gaming, and the new Alienware monitors are icing on the cake if you can stomach the rich pricing.

During the PAX West 2017 gaming show in Seattle, Dell introduced several new products to meet the needs of its PC gaming customers. The product rollout included a new AMD-powered Dell Inspiron desktop, an Intel-powered Inspiron laptop, and two Alienware-branded curved monitors. The PCs won’t be made available until sometime in September, and will follow just one of the two Alienware monitors that are now available to purchase.

Dell Inspiron Gaming Desktop

For starters, the big news with Dell’s latest Inspiron desktop is that it’s now sold with a clear panel. That means if you configured the PC with optional Recon Blue lighting, you’ll be able to see all the tasty hardware inside washed with a blue hue without having to remove the side panel. You can also see this illumination through the angled intake grille on the front.

As the specifications show, this gaming desktop is based on AMD processors including two of its latest all-in-one APU chips, and six of its most recent Ryzen processors. What you won’t find here are configurations for AMD’s Ryzen Threadripper chips, which are provided through Dell’s Alienware-branded Area-51 Threadripper Edition desktop instead.

That said, you will see a slight difference between the APU and Ryzen versions, such as the number of available open expansion slots, and the number of ports. For instance, the Ryzen model includes an additional USB 3.1 Gen1 Type-C port on the front, and two additional USB 3.1 Gen1 Type-A ports on the back. Neither PC provides options for Thunderbolt 3 or USB 3.1 Gen2 connectivity.

In addition to Windows 10, the new Dell Inspiron ships with trial versions of Office 2016 and McAfee LiveSafe already installed. Dell’s other pre-loaded programs include My Dell, Dell Digital Delivery, Dell Backup & Recovery, Dropbox, SupportAssist, and Adobe’s PDF converter. Windows 10 will have Flipboard, Groove Music, iHeart Radio, and Twitter apps already installed.

Processor:
A10-9700 APU (4-core)
A12-9800 APU (4-core)
Ryzen 3 1200 (4-core)
Ryzen 5 1400 (4-core)Ryzen 5 1600X (6-core)Ryzen 7 1700 (8-core)
Ryzen 7 1700X (8-core)Ryzen 7 1800X (8-core)
Processor cooling:
Air cooling
Liquid cooling
Expansion slots (APU model):
3x PCI Express x1
1x PCI Express x16
Expansion slots (Ryzen model):
2x PCI Express x1
2x PCI Express x16
Graphics:
AMD Radeon RX 560 (2GB)
AMD Radeon RX 570 (4GB)
AMD Radeon RX 580 (8GB)
Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050 (2GB)
Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 (6GB)
Memory (2x UDIMM slots):
4GB DDR4 @ 2,400MHz (4GB x 1)
8GB DDR4 @ 2,400MHz (8GB x 1) (4GB x 2)
16GB DDR4 @ 2,400MHz (16GB x 1) (8GB x 2)
24GB DDR4 @ 2,400MHz (8GB x 1 + 16GB x 1)
32GB DDR4 @ 2,400MHz (16GB x 2)
*32GB is the maximum
Storage (single):
500GB to 2TB 7,200RPM 3.5-inch HDD
500GB to 2TB 7,200RPM 2.5-inch HDD
128GB to 512GB M.2 SSD
Storage (dual):
128GB M.2 SSD + 500GB HDD
128GB M.2 SSD + 1TB HDD
256GB M.2 SSD + 1TB HDD
256GB M.2 SSD + 2TB HDD
512GB M.2 SSD + 1TB HDD
512GB M.2 SSD + 2TB HDD
Storage (optical):
Tray-load Slim DVD-RW
Connectivity:
Wireless N + Bluetooth 4.0 (up to 150Mbps)
Wireless AC + Bluetooth 4.1 (up to 867Mbps)
Wireless AC + Bluetooth 4.1 (up to 433Mbps)
Wireless AC + Bluetooth 4.2 (up to 433Mbps)
Ports (APU model):
2x USB 2.0 Type-A (front)
2x USB 3.1 Gen1 Type-A (front)
1x Headphone/microphone jack (front)
1x SD card reader (front)
————-
2x USB 2.0 Type-A (back)
2x USB 3.1 Gen1 Type-A (back)
1x P/S2 port (back)
7x Audio ports (back)
1x HDMI (back)
1x Gigabit Ethernet (back)
Ports (Ryzen model):
2x USB 2.0 Type-A (front)
2x USB 3.1 Gen1 Type-A (front)
1x USB 3.1 Gen1 Type-C (front)
1x Headphone / microphone combo (front)
1x SD card reader (front)
————-
2x USB 2.0 Type-A (back)
4x USB 3.1 Gen1 Type-A (back)
1x P/S2 port (back)
7x audio ports (back)
1x HDMI (back, on graphics card)
1x Gigabit Ethernet
Audio:
HD 7.1 Performance Audio
Waves MaxxAudio Pro
Power supply:
300 watts
460 watts
Case color and panel options:
Recon Blue with solid panel
Recon Blue with clear panel
Dimensions:
18.07 x 8.50 x 17.23 inches
Starting weight:
30.27 pounds
Illumination:
Optional Polar Blue LED lighting
Availability:
September 2017
Starting price (APU model):
$650
Starting price (Ryzen model):
$1,250

Dell Inspiron 15 7000 Gaming Laptop

Here is Dell’s latest gaming laptop entry without rocketing into the Alienware zone. Packing seventh-generation Intel Core processors and Nvidia GeForce discrete graphics, the updated Inspiron 15 7000 laptop includes options such as an Ultra HD resolution, Thunderbolt 3 connectivity, and dual storage configurations.

As the specifications show, customers can configure the laptop with Nvidia’s GeForce GTX 1060 discrete graphics chip based on Max-Q technology. This enables the GTX 1060 (and higher graphics chips) to reside in laptops measuring as thin as 0.70 inches. Dell’s Inspiron 15 isn’t quite that thin, but customers configuring the laptop with the GTX 1060 won’t see the graphics chip’s performance throttled back to prevent excessive heat in a compact area.

“A striking, gamer-focused design with dedicated forward and rearward thermal vents provides the first clue to this system’s capabilities,” Dell says. “Behind those vents are extra-capacity heat exchangers connected by oversized piping to dual cooling fans with high-efficiency blade pitch.”

The laptop ships with Windows 10, and can be configured with Ubuntu in various regions. Software installed by Dell includes My Dell, Dell Digital Delivery, Dell Backup & Delivery, Dropbox, Adobe PDF Converter, SupportAssist, and trial versions of Office 2016 and McAfee LiveSafe. Windows 10 will have the Flipboard, Groove Music, iHeart Radio, and Twitter apps already installed.

Screen size:
15.6 inches
Screen type:
In-Plane Switching
Screen resolution:
1,920 x 1,080 (FHD)
3,840 x 2,160 (UHD)
Processor:
Intel Core i5-7300HQ (4-core)
Intel Core i7-7700HQ (4-core)
Graphics:
GeForce GTX 1050 (2GB)
GeForce GTX 1050 Ti (4GB)
GeForce GTX 1060 w/ MaxQ (6GB)
Memory:
4GB to 16GB DDR4 @ 2,400MHz
*supports up to 32GB
Storage (single):
256GB SATA SSD
512GB PCI Express SSD
1TB 5,400RPM HDD
1TB 5,400RPM Hybrid w/ 8GB cache
Storage (dual):
128GB SATA SSD + 500GB HDD
128GB SATA SSD + 1TB HDD
256GB SATA SSD + 1TB HDD
Connectivity:
Wireless AC (up to 867Mbps)
Bluetooth 4.2
Audio:
Waves MaxxAudio Pro
2x stereo speakers
Camera:
720p webcam
Dual array digital microphones
Ports:
1x Microphone / headphone jack
1x HDMI 2.0
3x USB 3.1 Gen1 Type-A (one charges)
1x Thunderbolt 3 Type-C
1x SD card reader
1x Gigabit Ethernet
Backlit keyboard:
Optional (red only in some regions)
Precision touchpad:
Yes (optional backlighting)
Fingerprint reader:
Optional in power button
Battery:
56WHr 4-cell
*GTX 1050/1050 Ti has 130-watt AC adapter
*GTX 1060 model has 180-watt AC adapter
Dimensions:
15.32 x 10.82 (D) x 0.98 (H) inches
Starting weight:
5.82 pounds
Color options:
Matte Black
Beijing Red
Operating system:
Windows 10
Ubuntu (in select countries)
Availability:
September 12, 2017
Starting price:
FHD – $1,000
UHD – $1,500

Alienware 34 Curved Gaming Monitor

Finally, we have a pair of Alienware-branded curved monitors packing four customizable lighting zones and the trademark Alienware silver/black design. The AW3418DW model sports a curvature with a 1,900mm radius and an Ultra HD resolution while the AW3418HW has a wider curvature (3,800mm radius) but a lower maximum resolution.

According to Dell, the new Alienware monitors synchronize their lighting with Alienware laptops and desktops, but they work just fine on non-Alienware products, too. To customize the lighting, you can download Dell’s free desktop software and assign colors to four zones located on the back: three separate lines and the Alienware logo. Lighting effects include Static, Morphing, Probing, and Spectrum.

The new panels also ship with “gaming-centric” menu settings. Here you can enable built-in features such as the Timer, and the frames-per-second counter. There are also three pre-optimized profiles for first-person shooters, role-playing games, and real-time strategy games. Three additional profile slots are provided for your own customized group of settings as well.

Finally, all ports reside on the bottom of the display. The stand is actually hollow, and provides a removable cover so you can route all dangling cables inside, removing visual clutter. This stand is height adjustable, and provides plenty of tilt (-5 to 25 degrees) and swivel (-20 to 20 degrees) adjustment for your viewing pleasure.

AW3418DW
AW3418HW
Screen size:
34.1 inches
34.1 inches
Screen type:
In-plane Switching (IPS)
In-plane Switching (IPS)
Screen resolution:
3,440 x 1,440 @ 120Hz (overclocked)
2,560 x 1,080 @ 160Hz (overclocked)
Screen curvature:
1900R
3800R
Synchronization technology:
Nvidia G-Sync
Nvidia G-Sync
Aspect ratio:
21:9
21:9
Maximum brightness:
300 nits
300 nits
Pixel pitch:
0.233 x 0.233 millimeters
0.233 x 0.233 millimeters
Pixel per inch:
109
109
Supported color spaces:
sRGB 99 percent
sRGB 99 percent
Color depth:
16.77 million
16.77 million
Contrast ratio:
1,000:1
1,000:1
Response time:
4 milliseconds gray to gray
4 milliseconds gray to gray
Ports:
1x DisplayPort 1.2
1x HDMI 1.4
4x USB 3.1 Gen1 Type-A
1x Headphone jack
1x Audio output
1x DisplayPort 1.2
1x HDMI 1.4
4x USB 3.1 Gen1 Type-A
1x Headphone jack
1x Audio output
Availability:
August 30, 2017
Holiday Season 2017
Price:
$1,500
$1,200