CyberpowerPC is taking no prisoners to close out the year. The company today announced the third generation of its Fang desktop gaming PC series - a meaner, faster, bolder way to experience immersive high definition gaming.

The Fang III series, which consists of the Rattler, Viper, Cobra, and top-of-the-line Black Mamba, have been re-armed with an arsenal of powerful new features to conquer all the latest games and give you the performance to dominate your opponents. Speed is the key and the Fang III have all been retooled with new 2nd Generation Intel Extreme Core I processors; the latest Intel Chipsets that support blazing fast dual channel and quad channel memory; PCIe 3.0 motherboard support; CyberpowerPC's Advanced hydro liquid cooling matched with feature-rich gaming cases, and an injection of Venom Boost overclocking.

Targus Inc., maker of the world's top-selling laptop computer cases and accessories today announced it is first to market with USB 3.0 docking technology. The Targus USB 3.0 SuperSpeed Dual Video Docking Station (ACP70US) allows you to connect all of your peripherals while offering the benefit of enhanced speed and power associated with USB 3.0. It is the ideal solution for various work environments that support multiple laptop standards or where there is the need for a shared workspace, "Hot Desking" or "Hoteling". In addition, with the emergence of Ultrabooks, users will need additional USB ports for all of their necessary peripherals.

Utilizing USB 3.0 graphics technology by DisplayLink, the new docking station also includes dual video ports, which provides beyond HD video and graphics with up to 2048 x 1152 resolution. This is ideal for peripherals that require enriched image and text clarity such as external HD monitors. It also features the first-of-its-kind Gigabit Ethernet via USB for high-speed networking. The wedge design offers an ergonomic tilt and improved ambient airflow while its horizontal form factor allows users to place the docking station under a laptop, thus saving desk space.

Sometime in 2012, Microsoft is expected to announce its next major version of Windows for the client platform. It has the working name "Windows 8", and was previewed to developers at the BUILD Conference, this September. A member of Chinese tech site PCbeta community got to play with a newer build of Windows, build 8172. Screenshots of its most common user interface elements, such as desktop, Windows Explorer, PC Settings (control panel), etc., were posted. Engadget notes that these screenshots don't reveal much else from the Windows Developer Preview shown at the BUILD Conference.

Windows 8 implements a radical new user interface called Metro for desktop PC's, which has so far received a mixed reception. However, there's many other changes under the hood and one of those is how password security is handled, which we look at here. It's a fact of life, that in today's modern world, we have to remember a plethora of passwords and PIN's, which can be daunting. This leads to security issues as users end up writing down passwords and/or create very insecure ones which can be easily guessed. Windows 8 aims to uphold strong password security, while at the same time, easing the burden on the user. Also, passwords can be obtained in various ways by miscreants, such as phishing, keylogging, guessing, and cracking. Windows addresses each of these problems in three main ways:

In 2012, Intel will update its processor lineup up to performance 2 tiers with new models based on the spanking new 22 nm "Ivy Bridge" silicon, which will increase performance over the current generation, and bring some new features to the table. In late November, a list of desktop Core i5/i7 models could be compiled, which were later confirmed on roadmap slides. CPU World compiled retail channel pricing of several of those Core i5/i7 "Ivy Bridge" chips. The prices look to be more or less consistent with current "Sandy Bridge" Core processors, which those chips are bound to replace. The Core i7-3770K, for example, which will replace the Core i7-2600K, will be similarly priced to it.

Dell's Alienware team has today launched an updated version of the Aurora gaming desktop which is based on Intel's Sandy Bridge-E platform. Known as model R4, the upgraded Aurora makes use of a head-turning ALX mid-tower chassis, and features a liquid-cooled Core i7-3930K or i7-3960X processor, up to 32 GB of RAM, up to a 2 TB hard drive and/or up to a 512 GB solid state drive, and up to an Nvidia GeForce GTX 590 card or two AMD Radeon HD 6950s.

Dell's desktop can also be equipped with one or two optical drives, a Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Audio or Titanium audio card, and runs Windows 7. The Alienware Aurora R4 starts at $2,199 and can be found here.

Well, it looks like the Windows 8 flagship feature, the Metro interface, isn't going down too well with PC users, according to leading market research firm International Data Corp. On top of that, there aren't really any killer improvements in the operating system that make shelling out for a new version compelling. The Metro interface, while suited to a smartphone or tablet, really doesn't do anything for a desktop PC, because it's operation is very restrictive compared to the standard desktop that's been around for over 15 years on Windows and is now a very refined and sophisticated user interface. Also, the fact that many organizations have only recently migrated to Windows 7 and are not looking to spend money in the current economic climate and go through the pains of another upgrade cycle again isn't helping. The poor economy looks like it will hamper sales of Windows 8 on its target devices, tablets, too. Finally, IDC said: "(T)here will be intense scrutiny on Microsoft's ability to deliver a successful tablet experience aboard both x86-based tablets and on devices running ARM processors. This is a tall order for Microsoft, and while the x86 tablet strategy makes sense as a transitional solution for today's PC users, it will be the ARM-based devices that need to shine and clear a high bar already set by Apple."

It looks like there's a subtle but relentless push to get ARM CPUs into desktop PCs. Morgan Stanley recently surveyed 30 PC makers (names not revealed) and discovered that 40% of them are interested in trying out ARM-based PCs within the next two years. As we reported previously that the Wintel alliance appears to be crumbling, this finding appears to add weight to that assertion. Of course, there's a huge mountain to climb before ARM processors can compete head to head with high performance x86, as explained in our article, not least because Microsoft won't begin supporting ARM until Windows 8 is released late next year and the fact that the vast majority of existing software won't run on ARM. A real catch-22 if ever there was one. Just as crucially, the many high performance enhancements and interface standards that currently go into making a modern x86 chip fly will also have to go into an ARM - and developing that isn't going to be cheap, although it may not take that long, since these are tried and trusted technologies that need to be applied. Still, the interest is there and Morgan Stanley expect that 10% (39 million) PCs, excluding tablets, will have an ARM processor at their heart. If true, it will make for interesting times.

Love 'em or hate 'em, Apple has a habit of trend setting. When Apple released their original iPad, it had a meager low resolution 1024 x 768 resolution display which was scoffed at by many, yet it didn't stop it from being a runaway success. And the iPad 2 didn't improve on it, either - perhaps surprisingly, since the original formula worked so well. However, in early 2012 Apple plans to introduce its new Retina display equipped next generation iPads, offering a very high 2048 x 1536 resolution. On the 9.7" screen of an iPad, this would make the pixels all but invisible to anyone, except for those with the sharpest of 20-20 vision, giving the screen superb clarity and wow factor. These will be incorporated into its next generation iPads, which is expected to push the PC notebook market to use higher resolution displays too in order to remain competitive.

Do you want a really small PC that fits in the palm of your hand? Well, if you do, then VIA Technology have got you covered with their new ARTiGO A1150. As you can see from the pictures, it has a high 'cuteness' factor, due to its diminutive size of just 5.7" x 3.9" x 2". For processing, it sports a 64-bit VIA 1.0 GHz dual core Eden X2 CPU and a VX900H media system processor supporting the latest HD video codecs including H.264, VC-1 and MPEG-2/4 at up to 1080p. Interfaces include HDMI and VGA ports, a Gigabit Ethernet port, five USB ports including one USB device port, three audio jacks with optional wireless IEEE 802.11 b/g/n and SD card reader modules.

Target uses include the usual home/office environments, use as a super space-saving desktop PC, a home server, media streaming and surveillance applications. Of course, the real question is what kind of performance can one expect out if it, given that it's targeted at the desktop PC market, so one hopes that it can run Windows 7 at a decent performance level. Oddly, the VIA press release doesn't say anything about the RAM, so it's not clear how much can be fitted, which type and what speed grades are supported.