Stands That Keep Your Lap—and Laptop—Cool

Serious gamers will appreciate latest model, writes Katherine Boehret

(NEWSER) - Not everybody's going to want a 3D laptop, but two new models offer an extra dimension to two different kinds of computer users, writes Katherine Boehret. The $770 Acer Aspire is aimed at the mainstream market. It's designed mainly as a trusty all-round laptop and uses a "slightly clumsy" third-party program to convert videos and pictures into 3D, Boehret writes for the Wall Street Journal. More»

(NEWSER) - Microsoft has changed at least one of its highly successful "Laptop Hunter" ads after Apple called to complain about it, Advertising Age reports. In the original, a law student shopping for a laptop observes: "This Mac is $2,000, and that's before adding anything." Her mother adds, "Why would you pay twice the price?" But Apple's lawyer called to say the ad was out of date, and Mac prices had gone down. So the shopper now says only: "It seems like you're paying a lot for the brand." She still rejects a Mac in favor of a $972 Dell PC. More»

But a lot can happen in a year, note reviewers

(NEWSER) - Microsoft has skirted the problem it ran into three years ago, when its preview of Windows 7 was leaked to the general public, by "leaking" Windows 8—which will ultimately power PCs and iPad-rivaling tablets—itself. The preview of the operating system, first aired at a conference yesterday, was posted online last night and is available to anyone who wants to download it, ComputerWorld reports. Prefer to have reactions spoon-fed to you by others? A sampling: More»

Ipad puts Apple ahead of rival for first time since 1991

(NEWSER) - Apple's profits have outstripped Microsoft's for the first time since Extreme was topping the charts and Mark Zuckerberg was in second grade. Microsoft's revenue and profits were actually up last quarter, but Apple managed to move ahead for the first time in 20 years with a $6 billion profit on revenues of $24.7 billion, reports the Guardian , which believes this may mark a key moment in the industry. More»

Courier has been shelved

(NEWSER) - Microsoft's "iPad killer" tablet computer has been killed. The two-screen Courier device created a buzz when images of a prototype were leaked last year, but Microsoft execs say the project has now been shelved. The strong launch of the iPad may have convinced Microsoft chief Steve Ballmer to rethink entering the tablet market, Gizmodo speculates. More»