The UK price of Acer‘s Revo One RL85 (Acer Attempts to Kickstart Notebook Innovation) has been shared. The mini PC will be available from the 6th April and will start at £200 ($300), scaling to £500 ($745) for the most expensive version.
Acer has also launched its C910 Chromebook (Acer Iterates on 15″ Chromebook Design) in the USA. The C910-54M1 has a 15.6″ display, 1920 x 1080 resolution, Core i5 processor and eight-hour battery life. It costs $450.
The new 2015 Macbook from Apple (Apple Plugs TV, Adds a New MacBook and erm…. Shows Some Watches) has 2304 x 1440 resolution, but Ars Technica has found that it can also handle UltraHD resolution. In tests, the notebook was found to be capable of driving UltraHD monitors at 60Hz, despite Apple claiming that it was only designed for monitors up to 2560 x 1600. The unit did struggle with some animation-intensive activities, however.
The Google Nexus Player (Nexus Player Offers Gaming Continuity) from Asus is now available in the UK. The product runs Android TV and can be used for video streaming, as well as gaming. It costs £65 ($100).
The EW2440L (Display Monitor Vol 21 No 1), from BenQ, is now available in a gold colour. It costs $270.
Intel‘s Compute Stick (Intel to Challenge Rivals With Thumb-PC) will be launched in Europe in late April or early May, according to sources speaking to Fudzilla. It will be priced higher than similar PC-on-a-stick products, however: around €150 for the Windows 8.1 version and €100 for the stick running Linux.
LG has said at its annual product preview, in the UK, that it is increasing OLED panel production and significantly raising the availability of UltraHD models. 65% of LG’s 2015 TVs will be ‘UltraHD-ready’, and all OLED screens will use the format. At the event, LG shared UK prices and release dates for several OLED models. The 65″ EC970V (EC9700 in the USA) set will be launched in the autumn, with the 65″ and 55″ EG960V (EG9600) preceding it, in the spring. The EG960V will cost £3,165 ($4,730) (55″) and £5,420 ($8,090) (65″). These TVs were first announced for a European release earlier this year (LG Renames Premium Models for EU Launch).
Microsoft has cut the price of its Surface Pro 3 convertible tablet in the UK. For a limited time, the 64GB product is available for £485 ($720).
Sony has announced that all of its UltraHD TVs in Europe this year will have twin tuners; a feature introduced in 2014. The TVs are the X83C, X85C, X90C, X93C, X94C and S85C (curved). In the USA, these TVs are the X830C, X850C, X900C, X930C, X940C and S850C (Sony’s TV is Slimmer Than a Smartphone).
The D3000 series projectors (Vivitek Focuses on Specific Applications), from Vivitek, are now available in Europe. The DW3321 and DX3351 cost €1,715 each.
The 2015 range of Vizio‘s entry-level E Series LCD TVs has begun to be rolled out. There are fewer models than the 2014 range (11 compared to 21), but they are all smart, with direct-LED backlighting (bar one). The 24″ ($180) has edge-LED backlighting. The other TVs are 28″ ($200); 32″ ($260); 40″ ($350); 43″ ($390); 48″ ($480); 50″ ($530); 55″ ($630); 60″ ($800); 65″ ($1,000); and 70″ ($1,400).
China’s Xiaomi has launched a new TV, as an addition to its existing Mi TV 2 lineup. The 40″ set has lower resolution than the 49″ model that was launched in May last year (1920 x 1080 rather than UltraHD) and a we hear that it uses a Sharp panel. It has a 5,000:1 contrast ratio and runs Android TV on a 1.45GHz Cortex-A9 CPU, with 1.5GB of RAM. It is very low cost – CNY2,000 ($320) – and has HEVC decoding. The TV will, for now, only be available in Asia, although Xiaomi has announced that it wants to begin selling some products in the USA (Xiaomi Readies US Launch – Minus Smartphones). We also heard rumours of a new UltraHD 49″ Mi TV 3 for just $640, but they could not be verified.
All prices are ex VAT where applicable.
