CES 2016 is here! Well, almost. It's a quick start to the year's biggest consumer technology show, with a slew of announcements from the likes of Acer and Lenovo and Asus, plus our first look at electric car manufacturer start-up Faraday Future. 04 January
Acer's new Windows 10 phone is flagship material
Continuum for you
The Lumia 950 and 950 XL set the stage as the first Continuum-capable Windows 10 Mobile devices, but they've now got company in the form of the Acer Liquid Jade Primo. Packing 3GB of RAM and 32GB of storage under a 5.5-inch 1080p display, the Liquid Jade Primo doesn't come cheap, hitting €569, but you get what you pay for and this is the first non-Microsoft/Nokia flagship Windows Mobile offering we've seen in a good long while.
- Hands-on with Acer's Continuum-capable Liquid Jade Primo
- Acer Liquid Jade Primo specs
- Continuum-capable Acer Liquid Jade Primo officially coming in February 2016
Lenovo announces new ThinkPad 13 Chromebook with familiar design, high spec options
Rounding out the Chromebook ranks with a solid mid-ranger
Lenovo has previously targeted the education market and super low-end of the consumer market with its Chromebooks, but is now getting in on the mid-range segment with the ThinkPad 13 Chromebook. Challenging the likes of Dell and Toshiba, the new ThinkPad 13 starts at a similar $399 price point with many of the same draws. You have solid build quality, an improved trackpad, 1080p display, available Intel Core processors and up to 8GB of RAM.
It isn't going to challenge the Chromebook Pixel, but the new ThinkPad 13 Chromebook is going to be a good choice for those who want to spend a little more than the current bargain-priced models.
Lenovo's Windows 10 Palooza
There's a reason that Lenovo has claimed the crown of being the top Windows PC manufacturer on the planet, and it's in no small part because they offer something for everybody. The new Yoga 900S is a super-thin convertible ultrabook at just 12.5mm while still offering reasonable specs. And then there's the Ideacentre Y900, which is entirely unreasonable with its 17.3-inch display, desktop-class graphics, and 10-pound weight. And because they could, the Ideacentre 610S is designed for your living room and includes a detachable projector.
- Hands-on with the shockingly-thin Lenovo Yoga 900S convertible Ultrabook
- Check out Lenovo's new ThinkPad X1 Tablet for 2016
- The new Lenovo ThinkCentre X1: You won't believe how slim it is
- Lenovo's Ideapad Y900 is a beastly 10-pound gaming laptop you must see to believe
- Lenovo's stylish new compact Ideacentre 610S PC has a detachable projector
- Lenovo unveils new ThinkPads, borderless IPS display, stacking projector and more
Faraday Future's FFZERO1 electric concept car is simply insane... and still somewhat a mystery
We know more, and still almost next to nothing.
The first post-Tesla electric car manufacturer is here, and while we've learned more about what Faraday Future has in mind, there's still a lot that's up in the air. But we can at least say this: the FFZERO1 electric concept car they revealed at CES is something entirely bonkers. It's almost certainly never going to see a production release, but it previews the technology, concepts, and designs that Faraday is working on for their future electric cars, which they expect to start producing in just a few years' time. We'll see.
LG announces new budget-minded K10 and K7 phones
LG keeps building its low-end offerings under the halo of the G series
There seems to be an endless stream of LG phones hitting every imaginable price point in each market, and the latest in the lower-end are the K10 and K7. They take LG's recent software design cues and pair them up with two contrasting external designs — but in either case you get the now-standard LG rear buttons.
Lower-end specs aren't surprising here, but you do get at least a 5-inch screen on both as well as high-megapixel cameras and Snapdragon processors. It'll do for a cheap phone you can snag off-contract, and LG's going to keep getting in done in that range.
Windows 10 for everyone everywhere all the time
Two. Hundred. Million. Installs.
It's not been long since Windows 10 was released into the world and the OS has already landed on more than 200 million devices. Not only is that the fastest roll-out for any Windows release, it actually is outpacing the growth of Windows 8 "by nearly 400%". That figure does include the roll-out of the Windows 10-based New Xbox One Experience, but it's still impressive nonetheless.
- Windows 10 is now officially on more than 200 million devices worldwide
- 2015 was the biggest year in Xbox history
- The Surface Book will soon be available in 10 new markets
ASUS ZenFone Zoom to finally launch in February 2016, priced $399
Finally
A year after the optically-zooming smartphone was first announced at CES 2015, ASUS has announced the ZenFone Zoom's price and release date. The handset takes after ASUS' ZenFone 2 line of products, packing a 13-megapixel sensor behind a 10-element Hoya lens. That means you'll be able to shoot with up to 3X optical zoom, while avoiding the bulk associated with previous optically-zooming smartphone cameras. It's been a long time coming, but for fans following the cutting edge of smartphone photography, the ZenFone 2 could be worth the wait.
- ASUS announces ZenFone Zoom release date and price
- ASUS ZenFone Zoom specs
Going hands-on with the Lenovo Vibe S1 Lite
A $200 phone that doesn't just not suck
Following a year of really great affordable phones, Lenovo kicked off 2016 with the Vibe S1 Lite, metal-bodied smartphone that'll sell for just $199. As well as looking and feeling more premium than its price tag would suggest, the Vibe S1 packs an impressive 1080p IPS display, a decent rear camera and a front-facing selfie flash. There are no plans for a U.S. launch, but the Vibe S1 Lite shows what's possible at the $200 price point in 2016.
