PCWorld November 2016

HP’S SPECTRE X360 steps out with a major upgrade in its third generation. The latest version of the company’s flagship convertible laptop gets thinner, lighter, and faster, and adds a wealth of check-off features. The new Spectre x360 went on sale October 12 starting at $1,049. Still made of CNC-aluminum, the Spectre x360 slims down thanks to the use of a “micro-edge bezel” design. This eliminates the massive bezel of the previous version but still keeps the same 13.3-inch, touch-enabled screen. The only screen offered so far is a 1920x1080 IPS panel that uses direct bonding. These improvements shave down the width from 12.79 inches to 12.03 inches, and the thickness from 16mm to 13.7mm. Weight drops to 2.85 pounds from 3.17 pounds. HP has announced only one model so far, and it…

PERHAPS SAMSUNG HAS more pressing matters to address, and that’s why we never received an official release on the ArtPC Pulse, a cylindrical desktop PC that’s now available for pre-order on Amazon (go.pcworld.com/artpcamz). But if you’re interested in computers with modern art aspirations, check out the product page and consider, well, what it all means. Looking much like HP’s Pavilion Wave (go.pcworld.com/hpwaven) (minus the Wave’s more tasteful fabric covering), the ArtPC Pulse stands 10.7 inches tall, and is designed with a full metal body and circular lighting. You also get 360-degree omni-directional Harmon Kardon audio, suggesting hints of the Amazon Echo (go.pcworld.com/amzechorv) and Google Home (go.pcworld.com/googlehomeho). The Amazon listing advertises removable expansion modules, and notes that an optional 1TB hard drive module is available separately, though it’s unclear exactly how the modular…

WHILE AMD’S ENTHUSIAST-CLASS “Vega” Radeon graphics cards are still a far-away dream destined to launch next year, Nvidia’s putting the finishing touches on its killer GTX 10-series lineup with the release of a pair of new graphics cards: The GeForce GTX 1050 and GeForce GTX 1050 Ti. These graphics cards are aimed toward giving prebuilt “big box” PCs enough oomph to game, with a mere 75-watt power draw that negates the need for extra power connectors. As such, they’re suitably budget-friendly. The GeForce GTX 1050 Ti will cost $139 when it launches on October 25, and the GTX 1050 a mere $109 at its November 8 release. Meet the GeForce GTX 1050 That puts the similarly priced Radeon RX 460 (go.pcworld.com/radeonrx480rv) dead in the GTX 1050’s sights, but the rivals took two very…

APPLE’S OFT-RUMORED (but never confirmed) car project (go.pcworld.com/applecarproj) is reportedly being scaled back. The effort, codenamed Project Titan, will now focus on creating an autonomous driving software platform as opposed to a full-blown car (go.pcworld.com/applecarrumor), according to Bloomberg (go.pcworld.com/bbapplecar). The latest report from Bloomberg basically confirms the news organization’s own suspicions back in July. At that time, Apple hired Dan Dodge (go.pcworld.com/dandodgehire), creator of BlackBerry-owned QNX automotive software platform, which Bloomberg believed signaled a stronger focus on software. However, Bloomberg said at the time that Apple was not abandoning car development, which no longer appears to be the case. Project Titan has been scaled back with “hundreds” of job cuts, and a declaration by project leader Bob Mansfield (go.pcworld.com/bobmansfieldac) that Apple was shifting to focus on the platform, Bloomberg reports. The original plan—or…

SALES OF WINDOWS PCS fared better than Apple Macs during the third quarter this year. Third-quarter PC shipments declined by 3.9 percent compared to the same quarter last year, but Mac shipments dropped by 13 percent. PC shipments totaled 68 million units, according to IDC. The declines weren’t as bad as expected, and were roughly 3.2 percent ahead of IDC’s initial projections, the research firm said. In the top five PC companies, fourth-placed Apple registered the largest decline, with the 13 percent drop in Mac shipments. Apple’s Mac sales totaled 5 million units during the quarter, declining from 5.76 million units in the same quarter a year ago. Many Mac laptops and desktops are due for an upgrade to Intel’s Skylake and Kaby Lake processors. That could grow Mac shipments. IDC’s numbers do not…

ALIENWARE COFOUNDER FRANK Azor has fond memories of the company’s early days. It was a wild time of building kick-ass PCs, gaming, lots of sci-fi shows, and generally, having a good time. “It was four guys in a tiny little office, sending in a couple of review machines, magazines saying they were great, and the phone beginning to ring very, very slowly. We would sell about one computer every day, maybe,” Azor said. October 15 marked 20 years of Alienware’s existence. Now a part of Dell, Alienware has matured into a PC gaming powerhouse. It is also driving big changes for virtual and mixed reality, which Azor believes will drive PC growth in the coming decades. “We helped build the PC gaming industry to where it is today. By no means was it…