The star attraction at Dell's CES booth was undoubtedly its stunning new 30-inch monitor, the Ultrasharp 30. Featuring an OLED (organic light-emitting diode) panel, which offers the darkest blacks, and the brightest whites to get you contrast no LCD panel can ever come close to; this monitor also puts out Ultra HD (3840 x 2160 pixels) resolution. Dell is asking US $5,000 for the Ultrasharp 30, which is reasonable, if you consider a similar spec'ed display from Sony going for $18,000. Dell plans to release the Ultrasharp 30 to the market by March 31, 2016.

Dell announced today at Dell World the most significant refresh to its OptiPlex commercial PC portfolio in five years, the Wyse 5050 AIO zero client for VMware, and new cloud multifunction printers to meet the changing needs of the future workforce. Considering the needs of a tech-savvy workforce always on the go, these new offerings are designed to increase employee productivity by helping them seamlessly connect to the business critical data and applications they need to get the job done. In addition, Dell Services is investing more in mobility applications and strategies to strengthen the way its commercial customers stay mobile, productive and efficient.

"We are defining the future of the PC and the role it plays in meeting our customers' most pressing computing needs," said Jeff Clarke, vice chairman, Operations and president, Client Solutions at Dell. "We are investing in this part of our business like never before, bringing new innovations to market that are redefining the role of the PC - whether it's an ultra-mobile 2-in-1, thin or zero client, or a desktop that now handles workloads for a mobile workforce who require a robust collaboration solution."

Dell today announced its new portfolio of award-winning XPS devices, featuring the innovative XPS 12 2-in-1, ultra-mobile XPS 13 notebook and stunning XPS 15 powerhouse laptop. Continuing to build on the XPS family's premium pedigree of form and function, this updated lineup is designed to offer the best consumer laptops, incorporating high performance 6th generation Intel Core processors and sleeker hardware, all built for an enhanced Windows 10 experience.

"Beginning with CES 2015, when we first unveiled the world's smallest laptop - the XPS 13 with our exclusive InfinityEdge display - the world took notice of the innovations coming out of Dell that no other laptop manufacturer was offering," said Frank Azor, general manager of Dell XPS. "Today we are further demonstrating our commitment to innovation and design by delivering the most impressive XPS lineup ever seen."

AMD today announced a collaboration with Oculus and Dell to equip Oculus Ready PCs with AMD Radeon GPUs, starting at $999 USD. The powerful PCs are designed to deliver stunning gaming performance and enable spectacular VR experiences for consumers around the world by leveraging AMD VR leadership with LiquidVR and Graphics Core Next architecture.

"It's an exciting time to be at the heart of all things Virtual Reality," said Roy Taylor, corporate vice president, Alliances and Content, AMD. "I'm confident that with Dell and Alienware, we can enable a wide audience of PC users with extraordinary VR capabilities powered by AMD Radeon GPUs."

Dell today announced the continued expansion of its collaboration with Google with the launch of the Dell Chromebook 13, a premium 13.3-inch professional Chromebook solution. Designed for today's on-the-go lifestyle, the Dell Chromebook 13 offers class-leading performance from up to 5th generation Intel Core i5 processors, an ultra-sleek design, stunning display and up to 12 hours of battery life. Along with powering businesses with the speed and simplicity of Chrome for Work, the Chromebook provides customers with manageability and security software and applications, which allow it to fit seamlessly into any professional computing environment. The Dell Chromebook 13 joins Dell's Chrome portfolio and further showcases the commitment Dell and Google have made to developing innovative and flexible solutions to meet the evolving needs of the mobile workforce.

"Working in a high paced environment like The Weather Channel, it's essential we have the right technologies in place so we can stay up to date with the latest information and power our continuous coverage," said Nicholas Gardner, sr. director corporate technology, The Weather Company. "The Dell Chromebook 13 we've been testing has provided us with a secure, powerful and easy to manage device that we can use both in the office and on location. We're excited by its potential and look forward to seeing it come to market."

Dell customers will be among the first to experience Windows 10, Microsoft's best operating system yet, when it launches tomorrow. For those who purchased Windows 10-based devices during Dell's pre-sale period, systems will start shipping today with free next-business-day delivery. Today, nearly 70 configurations of laptops and 2-in-1s and desktops and all-in-ones featuring Windows 10 are available on Dell.com and 51 Dell systems will be available from leading retailers beginning tomorrow.

Whether buying a new Dell device or upgrading an existing PC, Dell makes it quick and easy to get the most from Windows 10 features, such as support for secure sign-on through integrated Intel RealSense cameras and unprecedented touch capabilities on select Dell screens. Unique to the Dell experience, proactive service and support options including ProSupport Plus and Premium Support keep commercial and consumer customers up and running easily while maintaining the health of their systems.

AMD today unveiled innovation in heterogeneous high performance computing (HPC) by delivering more than 1.5 petaFLOPS of AMD FirePro S9150 server GPU performance for the Next Generation Sequencing Centre (NGSC) at the Centre of New Technologies, University of Warsaw in support of bioinformatics research related to next generation sequencing (NGS) studies. The new ORION cluster features 150 Dell PowerEdge R730 servers with two AMD FirePro S9150 server GPUs, for a total GPU peak of 1.52 petaFLOPS single precision and 0.76 petaFLOPS double precision performance. The energy-efficient cluster enables high speed and efficient calculations for genomic data, applicable to a range of genomics and bioinformatics studies, using a fast and power efficient OpenCL implementation for research applications.

"We're committed to building our HPC leadership position in the industry as a foremost provider of computing applications, tools and technologies," said Sean Burke, corporate vice-president and general manager, AMD Professional Graphics. "This installation reaffirms AMD's leading role in HPC with the implementation of the AMD FirePro S9150 server GPUs in this 1.5 petaFLOPS supercomputer cluster. AMD and Dell are enabling OpenCL applications for critical science research usage for this cluster. AMD is proud to collaborate with Dell and NGSC to support such important life science and computer science research."

Dell today announced at Computex 2015 a comprehensive new line-up of Inspiron devices, offering a wide range of technology solutions to meet families' everyday computing needs. Adding to Dell's award-winning consumer product line up, the new portfolio includes the Inspiron 5000 Series laptops, Inspiron 15 7000 Series 2-in-1, Inspiron 15 7000 Series performance notebook, Inspiron 20 & 24 3000 Series All-in-One desktops, and a full line of Inspiron Desktops. Demonstrating Dell's commitment to offering something for everyone, these new devices are available with a wide range of processor options and configurable features, enabling students, families and value-conscious shoppers to connect, learn and achieve more.

"With today's new product launches, Dell's Inspiron brand continues its legacy of developing great devices that are easy to use, employing the latest technology to help families get more out of life," said Ray Wah, vice president, Consumer Product Group, Dell. "Everyday computing is more fun when you can power video chats and games with the latest processors and graphics, or enjoy an immersive multi-media entertainment experience courtesy of brilliant front-of-screen displays with fantastic audio. From laptops to convertible 2-in-1s to desktops, we are delivering devices for every need at an exceptional value, empowering our customers to easily create and share content and connect with the people who matter the most to them."

Dell announced the P2416D, a 24-inch monitor featuring WQHD (2560 x 1440 pixels) native resolution. Based on an IPS panel, the monitor offers 99% coverage of sRGB palette, and wide viewing angles, although the company didn't specify them. The monitor takes input from DisplayPort 1.2 (required for 2560 x 1440 @ 60 Hz), HDMI 1.4 (native resolution at 30 Hz), and D-Sub (lower than native resolution). Other features include a 4-port USB 2.0 hub, and a stand that allows tilt and height adjustments. Backed by a 3-year warranty, the P2416D will be priced at US $369.99, when it hits the stores, later this month.

Intel Corporation CEO Brian Krzanich today announced a series of mobile platforms including the company's new low-cost system-on-chip (SoC) for phones, phablets and tablets, a global LTE solution, innovative personal computing experiences, and a range of customers for mobile device and network infrastructure offerings. With technologies that span silicon, software and security, Krzanich said Intel was one of the few companies able to deliver solutions end-to-end, for devices, the network and the cloud.

The announcements include the Intel Atom x3 processor series, Intel's first integrated communications SoC solution for the growing value and entry device markets, and the five-mode Intel XMM 7360 LTE Advanced solution, designed for performance and worldwide coverage. In addition, Krzanich highlighted joint efforts with Alcatel-Lucent, Ericsson and Huawei to address the demand for new telecommunications, cloud and data center services, improve network efficiencies, and accelerate the industry's move toward a software-defined infrastructure.

Worldwide PC shipments totaled 80.8 million units in the fourth quarter of 2014 (4Q14), a year-on-year decline of -2.4%, according to the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly PC Tracker. Total shipments were slightly above expectations of -4.8% growth, but the market still contracted both year on year and in comparison to the third quarter. Although the holiday quarter saw shipment volume inch above 80 million for the first time in 2014, the final quarter nonetheless marked the end of yet another difficult year - the third consecutive year with overall volumes declining. On an annual basis, 2014 shipments totaled 308.6 million units, down -2.1% from the prior year.

Although the U.S. and Europe remained stronger than other markets, growth in these mature regions slowed from earlier in the year. Asia/Pacific (excluding Japan)(APeJ) continued to strengthen, seeing only a very slight increase in volume as a number of public projects and improving consumer demand helped stabilize the market. Similarly, commercial demand, which boosted growth earlier in the year, has slowed while consumer demand is gradually coming back. Nevertheless, the market progress has been fueled by low-priced systems, including growth of Chromebooks and promotion of Windows 8 + Bing. Constraints on Bing promotions, such as limits on larger-sized devices, could remove a key market driver while some fourth quarter production was attributed to getting ahead of holiday-related production constraints in Asia in the first quarter, effectively shifting volume from early 2015 into the end of 2014.

DisplayLink, the leading provider of USB graphics technology, will demonstrate the very latest commercially available Dell UltraSharp 5K monitors connected over a single, standard universal USB cable providing 5120x2880 resolution. The new solution to future-proof notebook expansion is being showcased at CES from January 6th ~ 9th 2015 at the DisplayLink booth #36258 in South Hall 4.

"DisplayLink is proud to demonstrate the scalability of its solutions with the highest commercially available monitor again at CES," said John Cummins, Senior Vice President Sales and Marketing. "5K monitors with 5120x2880 resolutions were just released in Q4. DisplayLink is demonstrating dramatically simplified 5K connectivity to any PC, Notebook, or tablet using a single, completely standard, USB 3.0 cable, in comparison to dual DisplayPort cables currently required."

Dell plans to launch the first consumer 5K monitor some time in December 2014, priced at just under $2,000 a pop. This comes in the wake of Apple launching the first consumer product with a 5K display, its latest iMac Retina all-in-one desktop. Dell's UltraSharp UP2715K is a 27-inch display with 5K (5120 x 2880 pixels) native resolution, which lends it a staggering 218 ppi of pixel density. Compare that to the 157 ppi of 28-inch Ultra HD monitors. 5K is four times as many pixels as WQHD.

The UltraSharp UP2715K features a 10-bit IPS panel, with 99 percent Adobe RGB and 100 percent sRGB palette coverage, and a 12-bit LUT. It offers viewing angles of 178°/178°, 8 ms response time, 350 cd/m² maximum brightness, and 1000:1 static contrast-ratio, with dynamic mega-contrast. The display needs two DisplayPort connections for sufficient bandwidth, to beam those many pixels at 60 Hz. There's also a mini-DisplayPort, but using that would either cap resolution at 3840 x 2160 @ 60 Hz, or drop refresh-rate at the native resolution.

In another strong quarter, Chromebook shipments increased by 67% QoQ and are projected to double in size YoY. Acer continues to maintain its lead over other vendors in the market, including Samsung, HP, and Dell. The top three leading vendors - Acer, Samsung, and HP - accounted for 74% shipment share during 1H 2014 and are forecasted to maintain market control through 2H 2014, according to quarterly data from technology market intelligence firm ABI Research.

"Consumers are hungry for a product that is cost effective but also provides the versatility and functionality of a laptop," says Research Analyst Stephanie Van Vactor. "The growth of the Chromebook market demonstrates a niche that is gaining traction among consumers."

The questionable need of Chromebooks by consumers contributed to the slow start of these devices; however, vertical markets such as elementary education still remain a driving force. In emerging markets, especially in Asia-Pacific and Eastern Europe, business-purchasing entities account for 75% of Chromebook sales. ABI Research also forecasts that North America will account for 78% of the Chromebook market in 2014, while other regions, especially Asia-Pacific and Western Europe, are expected to grow in market share by 2019.

Worldwide PC shipments totaled 78.5 million units in the third quarter of 2014 (3Q14), a year-on-year decline of -1.7% and a sizable improvement over the forecast of -4.1%, according to the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly PC Tracker.

Many of the trends from the second quarter remained relevant and contributed to the 3Q14 results. Commercial PC purchases played a key role in many markets, with the top three vendors - Lenovo, HP, and Dell - all showing solid year-on-year growth. Conversely, fierce competition and a spiral toward tablet-like prices helped to further consolidate the market. Shipments of entry systems, including Chromebooks, continued to inject an important source of volume and sustained improved consumer demand in certain markets over recent quarters.

Worldwide PC monitor shipments totaled 32.5 million units in the second quarter of 2014 (2Q14), a year-over-year decline of -2.9%, according to the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly PC Monitor Tracker. IDC expects worldwide shipments to continue on their current trajectory, slipping to 107 million units for the full year 2018.

"Despite the overall decline, there was a strong quarter-over-quarter growth rate of 11% in the United States and a slight increase in PC Monitor shipments in Asia/Pacific (excluding Japan)(APeJ). In addition, the shipment totals were stronger than forecast by 4%," said Keerthi Maganti, Research Analyst, Worldwide PC Monitor Trackers at IDC.

Dell today unveiled its most advanced and easy-to-manage portfolio of PowerEdge servers, designed to help customers worldwide address and optimize the evolving spectrum of application and workload requirements. The Dell PowerEdge 13th generation server portfolio features customer-inspired engineering built to optimize price performance for the widest range of web, enterprise and hyperscale applications, and features state-of-the-art advancements in storage, processing and memory technology coupled with industry-leading systems management capabilities.

The new Dell PowerEdge portfolio - which begins with five form-factors across blade, rack and tower servers - provides customers with choice in how they address industry trends including cloud computing, mobility, big data, and software-defined. More than 80 percent of IT decision-makers report these factors as investment priorities for the next 12 months, according to the Future Ready IT survey, recent worldwide research commissioned by Dell and Intel.

As a global leader in providing the most secure and manageable commercial PC solutions, Dell today debuted sleek, completely redesigned additions to its trusted Latitude and OptiPlex portfolio: the Latitude 7000 Series 2-in-1 detachable laptop; the Latitude 3000 and 5000 Series laptops; the Latitude 14 Rugged laptop; and the OptiPlex 9020 and 3020 Micro desktop PCs. Dell also introduced its Chromebox and Chromebox for meetings solutions and new additions to its monitor line-up further expanding its global leadership in flat panel displays.

"Dell understands the complexity of supporting the wide variety of devices present in today's evolving workforce environment," said Kirk Schell, vice president and general manager, commercial client solutions, Dell. "Our new portfolio enables businesses of all sizes to embrace sleek and innovative form factors their workforce will be proud to use day after day to accomplish their productivity goals. While they look like thin and light consumer devices, these commercial PCs are backed by the industry's best security and manageability that only Dell provides."

Dell is showing the 16:10 aspect ratio some love with its newest UltraSharp model, the U2415, which features a 24.1-inch AH-IPS panel with a native resolution of 1920 x 1200 pixels. Seen below, Dell's display comes with a slim (6.9 mm) bezel, a W-LED backlight, a 6 ms G2G respone time (that's with the FAST mode enabled), 300 cd/m2 brightness, 1,000:1 contrast ratio, a 5-port USB 3.0 hub, a stand allowing for tilt, swivel, rotate and height adjustments and one DisplayPort, one mini DisplayPort and two HDMI inputs, plus one DP out for daisy chaining (up to three monitors).

The UltraSharp U2415 can be found on Dell's Chinese website bearing a price tag of 3,299 yuan ($537/409 Euro).

While it's working away on the UltraSharp U3415W Dell is also making updates to its media consumption-focused monitor offer, introducing the 24-inch S2415H and the 27-inch S2715H. Both displays feature a super-slim bezel, an AH-IPS panel with a native resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels, a glossy screen coating, a W-LED backlight, a 6 ms (G2G) response time, 1,000:1 contrast ratio, 250 cd/m2 brightness, VGA and HDMI inputs, and built-in speakers (2 x 3 W for the 24-inch model, 2 x 9 W for the 27-inch). The S2715H also comes with a two-port USB 2.0 hub.

The S2415H is priced at $259.99 while the S2715H can be found listed by Dell China at 2,999 yuan (~ $488/372 Euro).

Dell released its UltraSharp U3415W, a 34-inch curved ultra-wide monitor, which the company claims will provide an ergonomic multi-display workspace with just two displays; to rival those with three full-HD ones. The displays are equipped with blue-light reduction technology, to reduce eye-strain. The U3415W offers an aspect ratio of 21:9 (cinematic), with a native resolution of 3440 x 1440 pixels, refresh rate of 60 Hz, and 8 ms response time (GTG). Display inputs include HDMI 2.0 (sufficient bandwidth to run the panel at its native specs), mini-DisplayPort 1.2, and MHL. The monitor takes both analog inputs, and digital audio passthrough from its HDMI 2.0 and DP 1.2 connections, to drive its inbuilt 9W stereo speakers. The UltraSharp U3415W from Dell will begin selling some time in November, 2014.

Alienware, the leader in high-powered gaming systems, is announcing the return of the legendary Alienware Area-51 performance gaming desktop, packing the newest technologies from Intel, NVIDIA and AMD, to give gamers high frame rate fragging at any resolution. The Area-51 is Alienware's newest flagship desktop gaming system engineered to perform at beyond Ultra HD resolutions and multi-monitor setups, while meeting the requirements of the most demanding gamers on the planet.

A Legacy of Excellence
The Area-51 pays homage to the storied legacy of gaming excellence started by Alienware nearly two decades ago. Fueled by the love of gaming, the original Alienware Area-51 set the industry standard for performance gaming systems. Maximizing performance first and foremost, the Area-51 delivered the best technologies to gamers who demanded only the best. Alienware's newest flagship performance gaming system features a new revolutionary chassis design and packs the latest and greatest hardware to give gamers the ultimate gaming experiences.

Adding to the world's most comprehensive line of workstation solutions, Dell today announced new mainstream and performance tower and rack workstations, the Dell Precision Tower 5810, Tower 7810, Tower 7910, and Rack 7910, designed to address the critical requirements of customers in compute-intensive fields such as engineering, manufacturing, and media and entertainment.

Updated with Intel's latest Xeon processors, DDR4 memory, next-generation graphics technology from NVIDIA and AMD, and doubling the amount of memory from the previous generation, these powerful, scalable systems are optimized and independent software vendor (ISV) certified to run the most demanding applications. In addition, Dell is releasing a new version of the Dell Precision Optimizer v2.0, which automatically configures workstation settings to maximize application performance.

Alienware, a leader in high-performance gaming systems, has announced the pre-order availability of the Alienware Alpha gaming console. Starting August 12, 2014, gamers will have the opportunity to ensure they are among the first to own the Alienware Alpha. Fans that are eager to get their hands on the Alienware Alpha gaming console will be able to secure their system from select retailers like Amazon and Walmart, or direct from Dell, with configurations starting at $549.

Gamers can now secure their gateway to the entire Steam library on a system that was engineered to provide an immersive PC gaming experience, custom-tailored for the living room. The Alienware Alpha merges the open ecosystem and flexibility of PC gaming with the ease-of-use and intuitive interface of consoles. This enables gamers to choose what and how they want to play, whether it's a competitive online FPS with the bundled Microsoft Xbox 360 wireless controller for Windows, or having their friends bring their controllers of choice for a fragfest in the newest indie side scroller.

This November Dell is set to let loose a new Alienware-branded gaming machine, a thin and light notebook dubbed Alienware 13. As its name suggests, the upcoming laptop packs a 13-inch display which, depending on configuration, can have a native resolution of (only) 1366 x 768, 1920 x 1080, or 2560 x 1440 pixels.

The Alienware 13 will also feature an ultra-low voltage Intel processor, a GeForce GTX 860M graphics card, up to 16 GB of RAM, up to two SSDs (HDD options will also be available), Qualcomm Killer 802.11ac WiFi, a TACTX keyboard, and Klipsch audio. No word on pricing yet but since it's Alienware, one might want to start saving already.