A wave of cheap, Chromebook-like Windows notebooks are likely coming later this year. One of these will be HP’s Stream 14, whose specs apparently just leaked out.
The HP Stream 14 will allegedly feature a 14-inch 1366×768 screen, a low-power AMD A4 processor clocked at 1.6GHz (as opposed to the Celerons and Pentiums found on many Chromebooks), 2GB of RAM, and between 32GB and 64GB of solid state storage. The included SSD is supplemented by 100GB of Microsoft OneDrive cloud storage for two years.
Related: Why 2014 will be a great year for Chrome OS
Google and Chromebook makers take the same approach with those devices, typically pairing the low amounts of storage that come with those systems with 100GB of Google Drive storage for two years. However, it’s worth noting that most Chromebooks come with a 16GB SSD. The lowest-end Stream 14 doubles that, apparently.
The Stream 14’s ports will include three USB, one of which will be USB 3.0. You’ll also get HDMI. Wireless connectivity comes in the form of 802.11n, and Bluetooth 4.0. We wish the Stream 14 came with an Ethernet port, and 802.11ac instead. The Stream 14 will weigh 3.9 pounds, and cost somewhere between $199, and $249.
Related: Acer Chromebook 13 hands-on, impressions
It’s no secret that Chromebooks make their living in the sub-$500 laptop space. All you have to do to see this notion at work for yourself is to peek at Amazon’s best selling laptop list. A bunch of Chromebooks occupy the top 20 slots, and have done so for quite some time.
Microsoft and PC OEMs are well aware of this, which is why the former is recommitting itself to taking a bigger bite out of this market, while several members of the latter have made Chromebooks themselves. The 2014 holiday shopping season should see the release of multiple Windows-based Chromebook-like devices priced in the $200 – $350 range, which is right about where most Chromebooks live, including HP’s upcoming Stream 14.
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.
I've spent a good amount of time digging into the spec sheet of the new M6 MacBook Pro (14-inch), and for all intents and purposes, this is a classic Apple "chip and connectivity" refresh. It's not a full redesign. The chassis, Liquid Retina XDR panel, speakers, ports, and battery, all of them carry over unchanged.
However, the M6 brings more cores, stronger on-device AI, higher memory bandwidth on the larger configs, and modern wireless. Here’s the practical rundown of what actually improved, and whether those gains are worth your money.