Intel has announced that a high-performance version of their NUC mini-PC designed for gaming, codenamed Skull Canyon, is on the way. This confirmed rumors that Intel would be using a quad-core Skylake chipset in its updated NUC line. The name Skull Canyon, however, had only reached the tech rumor mill in the weeks before CES.
Though we’re not allowed to describe the device itself, there are a few key specs that can help you start to picture what Skull Canyon might be used for. The high-powered NUC will feature a Skylake quad-core i7 processor with an Iris Pro GPU and a thermal design power of 45 watts. That’ll put it in league with the most powerful laptop computers.
The mini PC will also support Thunderbolt 3 across USB-C, so gaming-minded users can connect an external graphics card dock. This means Skull Canyon can be a mini-PC for gaming and GPU-intensive work that can compete with current mid- to high-end gaming laptops. It could potentially open the door for gamers and other demanding PC users to at least play with the idea of building a PC with a form factor previously incapable of meeting their needs.
Intel is still playing their cards close to the vest with Skull Canyon, holding back pricing and design details. That’s an important part of the puzzle. If the system is affordable, it might be a reasonable alternative to a large gaming desktop. We’re skeptical that’ll be the case, however, given that Core i7 dual-core NUCs typically retail for at least $400. A quad-core chip will further inflate the price.
Skull Canyon will be available in Q2 2016, but suggested we’ll get a better look at it during the Game Developer’s Conference in San Francisco this March.
Mozilla is giving Firefox’s Smart Window two new tricks. If you haven’t tried it yet, Smart Window is an optional AI mode in Firefox with a built-in chat that helps you get things done while you browse. With this update, it can fill out online forms using details from your tabs and keep an eye on websites for you.
Tired of typing the same details into every form?
The absolutely absurd idea of putting a touchscreen display on a mouse isn't exactly new. Turtle Beach already did it with its Command Series MC7, which features a 2.25-inch control screen. But apparently, even that wasn't ridiculous enough for Arctic Fox Technologies. Its new Super Mouse looks like someone took the chunky old Atari ST mouse, slapped a touchscreen and scroll wheel on it, and called it an upgrade.
The result is a rather unusual-looking mouse that is now on Kickstarter, starting at $199. And as ridiculous as it looks, some of its features are genuinely intriguing.
Apple is less than a day away from launching its highly anticipated OLED MacBook Pro with a touch-sensitive screen. But it appears that the upgrade is going to cost a pretty penny. According to a report by Bloomberg, Apple is reportedly eyeing a starting price of $2,899 for the 14-inch MacBook Pro, while the 16-inch version could start at $3,399 in the US.
"At $2,899, the 14-inch model would mark the highest starting price for a new MacBook Pro model, surpassing the $2,799 Apple charged for a 17-inch version introduced in 2006," says the report. The report claims that Apple is targeting a minimum price hike of $400 for its upcoming redesigned 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models.