Amidst the glitz of the HP Z1 launch, I sat down with Jeff Wood, VP of Worldwide Marketing for HP to chat in detail about the Z1 and what the company has in store for the rest of the year. While our talk was brief owing to the other journalists clamoring for an interview, it was interesting to hear from Jeff how the Z1 came about and the herculean efforts that were behind this marvelous piece of hardware.

First of all, the Z1 – your “mantra” has been “power without the tower” for this device – why did HP make the decision to produce an all-in-one workstation rather than just continuing to put out killer tower units?
That’s a great question – again it has to do with the environment our customers operate in. We went into one of the major architecture firms and what we saw was just how creative the firm was, and this creativity included their workspace environment. Most of the staff had dual displays with a workstation underneath the desk, and a workspace strewn with papers and technical drawings. If you could get rid of that thing under their desk, mount a Z1 on an arm above the desk and just clean up the desktop environment, the only cable you’d have to absolutely plug in would be the power cable, because you have a wireless keyboard and mouse, as well as wireless networking. So now you have people working in an environment that is far more conducive to their creativity. It wasn’t that we just knew how to do this from the get-go; we’ve had this idea for years, but it’s the technology just wasn’t such that we could create what we wanted to create, and make a nice sleek looking chassis that was totally serviceable. With the Z1, customers who know what workstation performance can do for their company can benefit from the Z1’s unique blend of design and power to really accelerate their workloads.

How critical is the workstation business for HP?
It’s actually very important for our group, even though we represent a niche volume, we still bring in a good amount of revenue to the company at good margins. For us it’s not just good ROI, but it also provides a kind of ‘halo’ effect – if you look at the Z1 launch and how much visibility PSG has gotten because of it, we may not ship a ton of Z1s comparatively, but it’s certainly a door opener towards innovation and allows us talk about our other products as well.

The Z1 saw you teaming up with nVidia to produce a very special range of graphics cards for the Z1 – can you tell us a bit more about this partnership?
It was our engineers who worked on the full mechanical design of the actual graphics unit along with nVidia’s MXM technology. MXM was built for mobile devices, and the Quadro 500M was something we designed with nVidia to reach that required level of display performance. We’ve worked so well with nVidia over the last decade or so, and I think it also has to do with the fact that we used to build graphics cards back in the day, so we were able to bring this knowledge to the table to help nVidia come up with the perfect solutions to something like the Z1.

Now you’ve got some industry-leading companies running their software on this workstation, for example products like Adobe and Autodesk. Taking Autodesk as an example, what was their reaction to the Z1 when you told them about the project?
Well first of all they’re extremely excited about the form factor. I was with the head of R&D at Autodesk a few months back, and he went nuts over the Z1. He’s a guy who doesn’t give praise to other engineers usually, but he just loved all the engineering that went into the Z1 and appreciated the kinds of unique challenges we had to face. For them a majority of their CAD and architecture customers will love the performance that the Z1 provides. The same thing applies to Adobe – they’ve done a great job of utilizing nVidia’s performance engines to optimize their various workflows, so that comes back to why we chose nVidia in the first place – because of the value they provide for those specific applications.

Now obviously there is a lot of impressive tech ‘under the hood’ so to speak – what kind of challenges did the teams face when trying to fit all of it into such a different space?
Cooling was the biggest challenge by far. We wanted the performance of the Xeon processor, the graphics card of course is always a challenge – we looked at using full sized graphics cards but we just couldn’t cool it properly, which is why we looked at the MXM range which was a biggest boost for us. We’ve also got a substantial power supply in the Z1 to power everything without using an external power brick. And of course, making it tool-less and of course making a display that just looks gorgeous. A lot of things came into play that in the end allowed us to make that product what it is today.

How important was it to bring the user-serviceability of the Z800 for example to the Z1?
It’s again driving the Z-DNA message. Our customers have come to expect that class of serviceability, reliability, performance, and certainly the innovation from our Z workstations. If we didn’t, then we’d have all of this innovation but no way for users to get into it if they needed to.

You’ve billed the Z1 as the ‘next generation of workstations’ – is this where you think HP will be heading with future workstation builds…effectively eliminating the tower altogether?
I think that’s going to be a bit of a challenge – some people here will absolutely love the Z1, but those who do high rendering and animation need the performance of those expandable tower workstations. Many of these users can run up to 96Gb of RAM with a very high-end graphics card, sometimes even two. So unless technology can shrink where we can fit everything behind the display, I think we’ll be having tower workstations for a while to come.

Do you think this performance / serviceability element will one day come to your consumer PCs such as the TouchSmart or the Omni? Or maybe even the Z1 getting touchscreen capabilities?
We definitely share a lot of engineering and design concepts with our other divisions, so maybe in time we will see some of the features you recognize in our workstations making their way over the consumer side. With regards to touchscreen capabilities, what’s interesting from a touch perspective is that it’s just not the way designers work on their main screen. Whether it’s an artist, animator, designer – it’s always with a secondary device such as a tablet. We’re really careful about whether we want to take that away and just integrate everything onto the display, because we’re not sure if that’s the way they’d like to work. We do believe there is an opportunity to continue to expand on touch capabilities in the future, but for now it’s going to be a secondary device in concert with your display and other hardware.

Talking a little bit about your thin client base, you’ve really come up with some stellar solutions such as the HP Virtualised Classroom and the HP Multiseat computing model for Education. Do you think that companies underestimate the technology and the possible benefits behind introducing thin client models into their businesses?
I don’t know if I’d necessarily position it that way – I think they understand from a client perspective the value, but it’s more the infrastructure cost. For example we’d love to have thin clients in the financial services sector, but the question remains on investing in datacenter costs, because the cooling and computing power needs to go somewhere. People are thoughtful of that transition, of the Cloud – people aren’t going to move to the Cloud overnight, so it’s the same with thin clients. We’re there with the right products, and in fact what’s great is that the products can last a lot longer, there’s better hardware, it’s more adaptable, and can scale accordingly. Once companies understand thin client computing and how it can relate to their organization, I think the transition will be a lot smoother and clearer for them.

Press release:
MSI (Micro-Star International), the world’s leading manufacturer of laptops, All-in-one PCs, tablets, graphics cards, and motherboards, is exhibiting at GITEX Technology Week October 9th to 13th in Dubai to highlight the latest products available in the Middle East market. MSI continues to expand in the region and comes to GITEX with a new line of gaming laptops, All-in-One PCs, and Cloud Computing software. The GT780 gaming laptop and Wind Top AE2211 will be on display in Hall 4 at stand D4-12 in the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Center.

Regionally online gaming is on the rise, with estimates as high as 40% growth in the market over the next few years. MSI’s latest GT780 gaming laptop aims to take full advantage of the gaming trend. The laptop was designed by gamers, featuring a keyboard by Steelseries with multi-color backlight technology. The keys have been repositioned for quicker clicking in time-sensitive games, and customizable lighting gives gamers more options than other models. The GT780 has the latest 2nd generation Intel Core i7 Processor and a high-end NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560M discrete graphics card with GDDR5 1.5GB VRAM to offer life-like visual effects.

MSI also brings the latest All-in-One PC, the Wind Top AE2211, to GITEX this year. The AE2211 features an energy-efficient backlit widescreen LED panel, the first of its kind in the Middle East. The LED lighting yields 20-30% power savings over traditional lighting and offers superior graphics. In line with the Cloud Computing theme at the GITEX event this year, the multi-touch screen on the latest Wind Top allows the user access to Smart Media Link and Smart Sync software to share videos and files in the cloud.

Green Lin, NB Channel Marketing Manager, MEA, MSI stated, “GITEX is the largest technology event in the region, enabling MSI to showcase the latest gaming and All-in-One PCs in the Middle East. We have seen double-digit growth in the region in the last few years and expect the trend to continue. GITEX allows us to showcase new products and reach out to new and existing customers and partners.”

Sales in the Middle East for MSI have increased 180% from 2010 to 2011. Saudi Arabia and Kuwait are particularly strong markets for PCs in 2011. MSI plans to use the GT780 and Wind Top AE2211, showcased at GITEX, to continue the upward trend for the rest of the year.

Press release:
Designed to offer intuitive multimedia enjoyment to PC users, ASUS has released the 23.6” ET2410 series all-in-one PC which comes loaded with an enhanced version of SonicMaster and DTS Surround Sensation UltraPC technologies, as well as an optional external subwoofer to ensure crystal-clear, powerful and spacious PC audio. Featuring a slim design with a profile of only 6cm, it rests on an aluminum pedestal that provides stability and easy cable management. Nestled within its profile are the latest computing features that include a multi-touch display, side panel USB 3.0 ports, an HDMI input and the touch-optimized ASUS Cinema software.

Lifelike sound through innovative technology

ASUS utilizes a host of innovative solutions to deliver crystal-clear, immersive audio that is perfect for both music and movies. Engineered by audio experts, SonicMaster technology utilizes a fine-tuned digital signal processor to deliver an expanded sound range, improved fidelity and more distinct vocals. DTS Surround Sensation UltraPC™ further enhances audio enjoyment by reproducing surround sound with twice the impact of other technologies. An optional external subwoofer with a 580cc resonance chamber dedicated for low-range frequency audio signals guarantees rich bass response – unheard of in traditional all-in-one PCs.

Elegant design with reduced desktop clutter

While acoustically pleasing, the ET2410 is also visually pleasing. All-in-One PCs are already fairly compact, but ASUS went even further to reduce the ET2410’s desktop footprint. At a mere 6cm deep, all ET2410 models feature a gorgeous 23.6” LED backlit display, while premium models come with a 2^nd generation Intel Core processor, NVIDIA GT540M graphics card with 1GB of dedicated video memory, 1TB HDD, Blu-ray combo drive, built-in TV tuner, a massive 8GB of DDR3 memory and more — all inside an elegantly designed enclosure. To ensure maximum stability, it rests on a pedestal made of durable, high quality aluminum.

Convenient and rich in usability

The ET2410 Series comes with a multitude of convenient features, making it easier and more comfortable to surf the web, browse through movies and music or edit photos. Acting like a giant tablet, the touchscreen models feature optical multi-touch controls in addition to the standard keyboard/mouse inputs. On the side are two USB 3.0 ports and a 3-in-1 card reader, while an HDMI input port turns the ET2410 into a brilliant 23.6” display for gaming consoles or a second monitor. It’s compatibility with VESA mount allows the slim all-in-one PC to be placed almost anywhere. ET2410 comes bundled with the touch-optimized ASUS Cinema software that makes browsing through movies, music and photos easier than ever.

All-in-one PCs (AIO) has a very niche market, especially in this part of the world. While boasting impressive technology and decent specs, its high price range and limited expandability works as a discouraging factor for those who are looking to pick up a pre-built PC for regular home/office use. This hasn’t stopped manufacturers from shipping their latest products, however, with each installment getting ‘bigger and better’ than the rest of its brethren.

HP is one such company. Despite a seemingly low demand, the company has shown resilient commitment to the multi-touch cause, and has been out and about in the market with its TouchSmart range of PCs for quite some time. Their latest addition, the TouchSmart 610, not only offers refined software interactivity, but also adds superior multimedia capability and design enchantments that makes it even more convenient to use.

Display & Hardware
The TouchSmart 610 is not the most handsomest of the displays you will see, neither is it fit enough to claim such a thing. But it’s overall sturdiness, and it’s clever use of shine and gloss gives it a very…executive-ish look, if I may say. It looks efficient, is efficient, and is up for a multitude of tasks wherever and however you use it. Plus its non-to-drastic appearance helps it blend well into a modern living room, and not stand out like a attention grabber that these things can get.

It’s a 23-inch 1080p display, and thankfully, uses an IPS panel to power the visual goodness. Off the bat, color accuracy, brightness and contrast were pretty much spot on, and I never felt the need to task myself to calibrate it (which you should anyway, if you have the means). The only bit of problem with the display is that it’s a tad bit glossy. As much as I enjoy looking at my handsome set of features (I am lying), I do not enjoy it when it’s overlapping a dark scene in a movie or a video game. Lights and other bright sources bounces off as well, so one has to make sure it’s strategically placed to avoid annoyances.

Coming to the internal side of things, the display is covered with all sorts of utilities you can think of. A little flap behind it’s back holds most of the portals…or ports, if you do not choose to be so fantastical about it (bore!). Aside from the necessary power jack, you will find various USB outlets (including v3 variety), PCIe slots, MiniCard sockets, HDMI jack, and a Ethernet jack. The unit comes with its own TV tuner, so there is a jack for that as well. Additionally, you will find two USB ports, volume rockers, headphone and mic jacks, and a memory card reader on the side of the display as well, including a DVD-ROM to boot (Blu-ray is optional). The TouchSmart also comes equipped with a webcam that can be shifted up or down with a conveniently placed slider.

What sets the design apart from the rest, however, is its stand. On the usual, it holds the display at 90 degrees, but push it firmly from the top and the stand slides the display to a 60 degree angle. It’s a lot more convenient to write or draw in this position, or while working standing up.

Sound
Another thing that gives the TouchSmart 610 an edge over others is its superb audio system. It’s powered by Beats, much thanks to HP and Dr. Dre6′s growing friendship which has seen the audio integration throughout the company’s various lineups like laptops, netbooks, etc.

As you would expect, the Beats perform remarkably well and are seriously loud. In our numerous days of HD trailer spotting, the sound was rich, with good bass and overall fullness. We played a few tracks on it as well, ranging from Bollywood latkas and jhatkas, to some video game OSTs. Suffice to say, they sounded fantastic.

Stylish and intuitive like the entire series, this new comer suits modern digital life and fits into any room. Its customized touch portal with plenty of gadgets delivers easy access to media content and social networks with great fun.

Stylish and friendly design
Packard Bell oneTwo S strikes for its unique round design, evoking happiness and relaying a friendly, simple and fun everyday experience. Its ultra-slim, streamlined design saves space. The chassis comes in glossy black, matte white, chrome and silver to easily match with any decor. Chrome-colored back-stand can be adjusted with one hand to get the best viewing angle. With a single power cord, the new Packard Bell oneTwo S is definitely easy to set up.

Touch and personalize your fun
Personalization is a key asset for Packard Bell. The Packard Bell Touch Portal is customized for personalized media consumption and social networking, offering intuitive usability. Show your personal style and customize your wall paper. Choose the pattern and mask or create new ones; pick up your favourite photo and display it on the wall paper; set the date, the time, the weather of where you’d like to be. Cool gadgets are at your disposal directly from your desktop!
With TouchMemo, hand write a note, display it on the desktop and set an alarm reminder. With TouchFriends, stay in touch with your pals and display their picture on the desktop as well. With the optional hi-speed wireless connection you can always “stay in touch”. You can also add applications from PC to the PB Touch Portal, and rearrange, according to your preferences, the positioning of the coloured icons or frequently used applications for a quick launch. You are now ready to enter a new dimension of one-touch friendly and intuitive applications.

Easy Sharing
Packard Bell oneTwo S offers a complete internet and social networking solution, touch-enabled and intuitive to use. TouchBrowser makes your web surfing easier and faster. You can organize My favorite sites in folders with drag and drop ease, touch and open several web pages for comparison. The Journal Clipboard gives easy access to webpage updates. TouchMusic enables to organize and enjoy all your MP3 collection. Browse My music library, Recently played songs or New imported albums, to launch your favourite tune immediately. TouchPhoto manages the pictures in your oneTwo S (or on Facebook and Flickr) to quickly share them with friends. With TouchVideo, browse your videos from My video library and share them on YouTube instantly. You can also browse the most viewed videos and latest movies’ trailers on YouTube through direct access. Create your own webcam effects for pictures and video with TouchCam. The HD recording of the built-in 2.0 MP HD webcam provides high quality images.

Finally, you can add Adobe Photoshop Elements 9 full version’s icon on your wall paper, and have a quick access to your favorite photo editing software. Packard Bell oneTwo S features “Cyberlink MediaEspresso 6”, the fastest universal media converter. MediaEspresso converts any type of video files stored in your all-in-one’s video library, to easily transfer it on your mobile devices including smart phones, with amazing display quality.

Riveting all-in-one entertainment
The new Packard Bell oneTwo S features top-of-the-line components to assure ultra-smooth multitasking. The 20-inch high-definition display provides vivid HD ready images. The optional TV-tuner enhances a boundless experience just like on digital TV, enriched by the True studio-audio of THX TruStudio PC.

Packard Bell oneTwo S features the 2nd Generation Intel Core processors or the latest AMD processors up to Phenom II X6. Optional NVIDIA or AMD Radeon HD discrete graphic cards, with full Microsoft DirectX 11 support, complete the performance picture. Back-up and files’ duplication are no more an issue thanks to MyBackup, the Packard Bell’s auto backup suite. Feel free from every constraint and enjoy your All-In-One also with the optional wireless keyboard and mouse, for longer sessions.

Packard Bell oneTwo S will be available on shelves in June 2011 in Middle-Eastern outlets.

Availability, software offer and technical features may vary according to countries.

While the entire notebook line and the desktop models are shipping to retailers as you read this, the Liberty Tab won’t be available until the end of June, or early July. Attending the launch event today, I must say that my personal favorites amongst the entire crop were the Liberty Tab (obviously), the extremely sleek and stylish EasyNote X series laptop (pictured below), and finally the iMedia mini-desktop.

You can check out the full press release below with some pictures to give you an idea of how the products look. Look forward to reviews of these products on Tbreak very soon.

11 May 2011

Packard Bell announces new line-up for 2011

Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Packard Bell, part of Acer group launched its 2011 range of products for the affluent Middle East market, it was announced today.

Packard Bell, one of the leading technology brands in Europe is known for its stylish products, further reflecting the brands positioning in the trendy and lifestyle segment.

Packard Bell has made several steps towards its distinct value proposition, synonymous with “In Style and Trendy, well Designed and Easy-to-use products.” says Philippe Henry, Product Marketing and Sales Director, Packard Bell EMEA.

“Our 2011 product line-up will meet the demands of style-conscious Middle East users who want unique, stylish and distinctive products,” added Henry.

Among the earliest announcements foreseen by Packard Bell in the first weeks of 2011: the brand new notebooks Packard Bell EasyNote S series, the refresh of the successful desktop Packard Bell ixtreme, a new colour scheme  and a new stunning asymmetric model for the Packard Bell Maestro series, and new PB Go storage devices.

The Packard Bell EasyNote S series is bringing style and comfort to your digital life all at once. Available in multiple colours and in three different screen sizes, the Packard Bell EasyNote S series enables everybody to find the most suitable notebook for any lifestyle.

The 14-inch widescreen Packard Bell EasyNote NS grants compact format for maximum fun. The 15.6-inch Packard Bell EasyNote TS is designed for everyday computing, while the 17.3-inch Packard Bell EasyNote LS represents the ideal alternative to a home desktop computer for a top multimedia experience.

The brand new Packard Bell ixtreme strikes a balance with its high-end glowing design, while granting unprecedented flexibility and extended usability for the best digital experience. Its eye-catching soft curves and glossy black finish combine with white illuminated logo for a true sense of style. Its storage capacity grants unlimited room for movies, pictures and music. Simply brilliant and easy to use, it will deliver the best performance ever.

The Packard Bell Maestro series wears a new glowing white colour, combined with an ultra-slim design for top elegance in every setting. Additionally an unprecedented asymmetric model, at just 16.5 mm, will shock you with its sleekness and its ability for you to watch your digital life from different angles.

The lightweight PB Go line hosts two new models, to make your precious files safe.

°°°°°

About Packard Bell

Packard Bell pioneered the use of the PC in the home, taking an office tool and turning it into a friendly, indispensable feature of today’s modern home. Stylish products with cool features, accessible to everyone, are the hallmarks of the brand – a unique combination that no other brand in the European market offers today. In 2008, Taiwan-based Acer Inc. acquired Packard Bell. In 2009, the Acer Group fully benefited from its multi-brand strategy, establishing itself as the second-largest PC company in the world and as the number two worldwide notebook vendor. Within the Acer Group, Packard Bell strives to design environmentally friendly products and establish a green supply chain through collaboration with suppliers.

For more information, please visit www.packardbell.com.

All prices are given as information only and include VAT.

© 2010. All rights reserved. Packard Bell, the Packard Bell logo, and EasyNote are registered trademarks of Acer Inc. Other trademarks, registered trademarks, and/or service marks, indicated or otherwise, are the property of their respective owners.

This isn’t our first time looking at the new AMD Fusion APU; our review for the Zotac Zbox AD03 has been up for a couple of weeks already. However, the Zbox AD03 review focused on the HTPC as a whole; today I’ll be looking at the AMD E-350 APU in particular.

Over the last few years AMD has been absent from the netbooks and nettops market. They obviously did have onboard solutions since a long time, but nothing that could compete in the same category as Intel Atom processors. Then of course Nvidia soon came out with their ION based chipsets that allows a decent level of low-end gaming performance. AMD and ATI were left out in the cold. Now with AMD’s new direction with integrating both CPU and GPU on one die, resulting in a cooler and a more power efficient processor, or APU (Accelerated Processing Unit) as AMD likes to call it.

So the AMD Fusion E-350 that I have for review comes on an ASUS E35M1-M motherboard. The Mini-ATX sized board is designed for HTPC. The ASUS E35M1-M gets its namesake from the E-350 APU as well as the Hudson M1 chipset onboard. The onboard APU, the Brazos E-350 has two ‘Bobcat’ cores running at 1.6GHz as well as the AMD HD 6310 integrated Zacate graphics. Keep in mind that the HD 6310 supports DX11, but it’s not exactly setting the charts on fire as you’ll see in the benchmarks.

The whole idea behind the AMD Fusion APUs is to provide a better experience than Intel’s Atom CPUs while at the same time also providing the power of the integrated graphics to provide an overall basic entertainment experience. This is true for netbooks and nettops, but in HTPCs it’s a slightly different story.