series3

Ever struggled to use your smartphone's touch screen with gloves or long fingernails? A new feature in Nokia's Windows 8 smartphones should provide some relief.

Developed by touch-pad designer Synaptics, the new "Super Sensitive Touch" technology will better detect and respond to your individual touch. As such, those of you wearing gloves or sporting long fingernails will be able to tap and swipe your way through your Nokia phone touch screens without running into the usual challenges.

Nokia's new Lumia 920 and 820 will be the first recipients of Synaptics' new ClearPad Series 3 feature. … Read more

This episode, the Google/Motorola deal is the big news of the day, but we also delve into the murky world of Intel's Ultrabook concept, as well as some MIA Samsung laptops. Also--a quick rundown of the biggest, baddest 18-inch gaming laptop ever, and a chance to pick up a sweet Call of Duty T-shirt, just by commenting on our Facebook page.

Bonus: Download the show's jaunty theme song as a free MP3 here.

… Read more

More than a month after we got our first surprise peek at the Samsung Series 3, a new mainstream line of Samsung laptops that included some very attractive and affordable 12- and 11-inch ultraportables, the 12.5-inch version of the Series 3 has arrived at CNET's offices. We've taken it out of its box and will be running it through benchmarks and testing it, but for now here are our initial impressions.

Ultrabook, schmultrabook: why pay a lot of money for a thin laptop if you can get one for cheaper? While the Series 3 isn't technically an "Ultrabook" by Intel's definitions--it's thicker and uses a regular non-solid-state hard drive--this little laptop reminds us a lot of the Lenovo ThinkPad Edge E220s. It's nearly the same size and weight and has the same-size screen and keyboard, but features an even faster processor. … Read more

Staples has begun selling the 11.6-inch Samsung Series 3 laptop for $619 after "instant savings," one of the least expensive ultraportables based on Intel's latest Sandy Bridge processor.

The Series 3 presages sub-$800 Ultrabooks likely to appear in 2012 from PC makers. Though--with a maximum thickness of about 1 inch--it's not as thin as Ultrabooks are expected to be, the weight is about right at 2.8 pounds.

The silicon is similar to Ultrabooks too. In this case, an ultra power efficient Intel Core i3-2357M Sandy Bridge processor.

Unlike the Samsung Series 9 (which … Read more

The Samsung Series 9 laptop: sexy, yes. Expensive, heck yes. Starting at $1,199 for the 11-inch model, it's not for the faint of wallet. Yet, the very same Samsung surprised us at New York press event with a 12.1-inch laptop, part of the Series 3, that feels nearly as lightweight and, according to Samsung, will cost far less: about $749.

The Series 3 will actually represent a vast range of laptop sizes, from 11.6 inches all the way up to 15 inches and higher. However, the 12.1-inch Series 3 on display caught our eye the most. Its metallic trim and clean lines almost give it the feel of a Sony Vaio or an Asus ultraportable, brands we continually see reflected in Samsung's laptop looks.

The unit felt surprisingly lightweight in our hands. Even more surprising? According to Samsung reps on-hand, this little 12-incher has a full-voltage Core i5 CPU, unlike the low-voltage Core processors in the Series 9. It will also be enabled for Intel Wireless Display. … Read more

When Panasonic detailed its 2011 plasma TV lineup at CES this January, we immediately pegged the TC-PST30 as the one model that "might hit the value sweet spot." After putting it through its paces we're going to eliminate the uncertainty from that phrase.

The TC-PST30 ($1,350 for the 50-inch size) may lack the THX certification of its more expensive brother the TC-PGT30, but picture quality between the two is largely a wash, and excellent overall in both cases. Both share identical, well-stocked feature sets, highlighted by improved Internet suites, Wi-Fi dongles, and 3D capability (albeit sans … Read more

Laptops that use active shutter 3D glasses have been few and far between, but the handful we've seen (from HP, Asus, and others) have all been at least as good as their desktop counterparts, which require a checklist of compatible video cards, cables, and monitors to function. Sony is now joining the fray with the new Vaio F series 3D laptop, a 16-inch system that makes use of both Nvidia's popular 3D Vision technology and Sony's own 3DTV system.

The display has a native resolution of 1,920x1,080 pixels, which is a nice upgrade from most 3D laptops, which trade down to lower 1,366x768-pixel panels. The native 1080p screen is suited for HD video, so we're pleased to see a Blu-ray drive included as well. Of the F series, Sony says, "This laptop is a multimedia powerhouse melding cutting-edge technologies such as Blu-ray Disc and 3D functionality into one portable device."

The F series also includes the 2D-to-3D conversion feature found on many 3D flat-screen TVs, which creates a faux 3D effect in 2D content. It's a gimmick at best, but can occasionally be useful, perhaps in video games, but your mileage may vary. There's also simulated surround sound, thanks to the S-Force Front Surround 3D system. … Read more

For all the advancements laptops have made, the humble touch pad has been essentially running the same hardware and software for years.

When you get right down to it, laptops only consist of a few key parts as far as user interface is concerned. Keyboard, screen, speakers--and, of course, the touch pad. With multitouch tablets and smartphones changing the interface landscape drastically, it's quickly becoming a multitouch world, and computers are the devices playing catch-up. Synaptics, makers of most multitouch touch pads used today, have a next-generation clickpad in development that hopes to close the gap quickly. Called the … Read more

Panasonic's first 3D TV, the TC-PVT25 series, earned our Editors' Choice award for its 2D picture quality, and in our opinion is currently the best overall TV you can buy. It's expensive, however, so the company decided to release a slightly cheaper 3D-compatible TV later in 2010, the two-size TC-PGT25 series reviewed here.

It can't quite match the picture delivered by its big brother in 2D mode, and in 3D it also has issues, but it's still an excellent performer. That said, it's still significantly more expensive than Panasonic's G20/25 models--which are … Read more