Boost your productivity and creativity with VAIO Duo 11, the PC from Sony that also turns into a smart, intuitive touchscreen tablet.

With its premium Surf Slider design, the powerful VAIO Duo 11 PC switches smoothly between keyboard and tablet modes to give the best computing experience - wherever you are and whatever you're doing.

Pick up VAIO Duo 11 in one hand and use in tablet mode to browse the web or enjoy music and videos while you're traveling. In the office, slide out the keyboard and maximise your productivity with a fully-featured PC powered by latest-generation Intel Core processors.

Now everyone can share exciting media experiences with VAIO Tap 20 from Sony. It's the fresh concept in home computing that's a tabletop PC and so much more.

Versatile VAIO Tap 20 is designed to leverage the intuitive ease of Windows 8, opening up exciting new possibilities to interact with apps and your media collection.

Portable, battery-powered VAIO Tap 20 fits right into any living space - from bedrooms and kids' play areas to the kitchen or garden. Lay it on a coffee table and let everyone join in games on the large multi-touch screen. Flip out the in-built stand and tilt VAIO Tap 20 at a comfortable angle for 'lean back' photo/movie editing by touch operation, browsing and entertainment. Or stand it upright and use as a fully-functioning desktop PC: it's easy to work on documents, surf or check emails with the supplied wireless keyboard and mouse.

Microsoft Corp. today announced that Stephen Schueler will join the company as corporate vice president of Retail Sales and Marketing. In his position, Schueler will be responsible for driving demand through global retail partners and ensuring customers receive a great service experience.

Schueler joins Microsoft from Procter & Gamble, where he most recently served as general manager for the Global Retail Operations Group responsible for global merchandising, promotion, and the third-party selling organizations. He will report to Chris Capossela, Chief Marketing Officer for Microsoft.

-Samsung Electronics America Inc., a subsidiary of Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd, today announced its new Series 5 and Series 7 Slate PCs. The new products can easily transform from a traditional clamshell PC to a Slate device with just the click of a button, maximizing both productivity and mobility. Designed for Windows 8 with Samsung's advanced engineering and a ten-point touchscreen, users can easily stay connected and productive from everywhere. Additionally, Samsung today announced a new touchscreen version of its popular 13-inch Series 5 ULTRA laptop.

"With the introduction of our new Slate PCs, we are providing customers with greater choice while maintaining the power of a traditional PC," said Todd Bouman, vice president of marketing at Samsung's Enterprise Business Division. "We created our Slate PCs with a focus on beautiful design, powerful performance and ease of use, attributes that our customers have come to expect in their Samsung computing experience. Our mobile PC business has grown significantly over the past year, which is a testament to our ability to meet customer needs in this space, and we expect strong growth to continue with our new Slate PCs."

Samsung Electronics America Inc., a subsidiary of Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd, today announced at IFA 2012 its new Series 7 and Series 5 All-In-One (AIO) PCs. Engineered to provide high-performance computing power in a sleek form factor, the new AIO PCs build on the premium qualities of Samsung's existing PC line. Each of the new models features a high-resolution, ten-point touch, slim bezel display on an elegant metal base, as well as a third generation Intel Core processor. The products are designed to run Windows 8, resulting in a PC that is just as powerful as it is eye-catching.

"Our new Series 7 and Series 5 All-In-One PCs are designed to meet a range of consumer needs across the home, all within highly stylized form factors that users will be proud to put on display," said Todd Bouman, vice president of product marketing at Samsung's Enterprise Business Division. "The expansion of our AIO line speaks to the success we've had in the PC market over the past year. Both of these new models take Samsung's convergence technologies to the next level, completing the home computing experience by connecting the PC to other devices in the home environment."

Super Talent Technology, a leading manufacturer of flash storage solutions and DRAM memory modules, announces its USB 3.0 Express RC8 has been certified as a go to market partner with Microsoft for usage with Windows To Go, a new feature of Microsoft's Windows 8 Enterprise edition. Windows To Go enables enterprises to provision a full corporate image on an external USB drive which users can boot and operate from almost any PC.

Certified through the Windows 8 Hardware certification kit, Super Talent's RC8 is one of the world's top USB 3.0 drives with SSD technology; it provides high random read/write speed capabilities and reports itself as fixed media. Supertalent RC8 meets and surpasses many of the performance requirements of Windows To Go certified drives.

FinalWire announced the latest version of AIDA64, the popular system diagnostic and benchmarking suite. Version 2.60, which is released almost three months after the previous version, comes with support for most of the hardware and APIs that were released in the period. To begin with, AIDA64 adds support for VIA VX11 platform, Nano X2 and QuadCore CPUs. Details for GeForce GTX 660 and 650 series are added. The software even supports Windows 8 RTM and Windows 2012 RTM. Lastly, the 64-bit benchmarks are optimized for AMD "Trinity" APUs.DOWNLOAD: AIDA64 v2.60 Installer (EXE), Archive (ZIP)

AMD released the first WHQL-signed Catalyst drivers since June. Catalyst 12.8 WHQL is the first unified Catalyst driver certified for Windows 8, its release follows the RTM version of the operating system being available to enterprise and industry customers, ahead of the October 26 consumer retail launch. The driver introduces target-independent rasterization (TIR), an efficient new Direct3D rendering path. The driver also works to improve GPU power consumption. A suite of Windows 8-exclusive features, including native stereo 3D support and unified video API are included. Catalyst 12.8 WHQL also introduces performance-improvements specific to games, including up to 25% performance increase in Elder Scrolls: Skyrim, 10% in Dirt 3, 6% in Batman: Arkham City, and 3% in Battlefield 3. Several game-specific bugs were patched.

DOWNLOAD: AMD Catalyst 12.8 WHQL for Windows Vista, 7 and 8 (64-bit), Windows Vista, 7 and 8 (32-bit), Windows XP (32-bit), Windows XP (64-bit)

The change-log follows.

Intel made it possible for SSDs to utilize the TRIM command feature when striped in RAID 0, provided a few meaty requirements are met. The TRIM command feature works to minimize write performance degradation on SSDs, but thus far it has been impossible to enable the feature on any other host controller mode than standalone AHCI, due to the manner in which the feature works at a physical level.

According to a report, TRIM over RAID 0 will be made possible with Windows 8 operating system, provided the system is running an Intel 7-series chipset (such as Z77 Express), has RAID BIOS (Option ROM) version 11.5 or higher, and Rapid Storage Technology (RST) device driver version 11.5 or higher. While obtaining the required Windows and driver versions is relatively easy, the RAID Option ROM version is in the hands of motherboard manufacturers, who have to release motherboard BIOS updates that include the required RAID Option ROM updates.

MSI introduced the B75IA-E33, a socket LGA1155 motherboard in the mini-ITX form-factor, based on Intel's business-oriented B75 Express chipset. The board has sufficient connectivity for space-saving business PCs, featuring Intel Small Business Advantage. The board also bears the Windows 8 compatibility label. It draws power from conventional 24-pin ATX and 4-pin CPU power connectors. The LGA1155 socket is powered by a 4-phase VRM. It is wired to two DIMM slots, supporting up to 16 GB of dual-channel DDR3-1600 MHz memory; and a PCI-Express 3.0 x16 slot.

The Intel B75 PCH gives out one SATA 6 Gb/s, and three SATA 3 Gb/s internal ports on the B75IA-E33. Display connectivity includes DVI, D-Sub, and HDMI. Other connectivity options include 6-channel HD audio with 7.1-channel optical SPDIF (TOSLINK) output, four USB 3.0 ports (two the rear panel, two by headers), gigabit Ethernet, a number of USB 2.0 ports, and mouse/keyboard combo PS/2 port. The board is driven by UEFI firmware. MSI did not give out pricing information.

Lenovo today unveiled its first tablet specifically designed for Windows 8, the ThinkPad Tablet 2. The multi-use tablet boasts differentiators that matter, including an optional digitizer and pen for precision input, 3G wireless with Lenovo Mobile Access pay-as-you-go plans and 4G models, along with security features like a Fingerprint Reader, IT manageability technologies, and corporate-level service and support.

"Customers want a versatile device that fits their lifestyle and the many ways they use technology," said Dilip Bhatia, vice president and general manager, ThinkPad Business Unit. "Our new ThinkPad Tablet 2 marries incredible hardware and software to give consumers a great device for office, home or travel while also offering companies and IT managers the oversight they need to help secure and manage their company's networks and data. "For the next generation of Lenovo PCs, designed to be great with Windows 8, we're working closer than ever with Microsoft Corp. and our silicon partners. Today we are excited to reveal the fruit of this collaborative co-engineering, the ThinkPad Tablet 2, a joint effort between Lenovo, Microsoft and Intel."

Lenovo today announced the ThinkPad X1 Carbon, its premier Ultrabook, highlighting 20 years of ThinkPad innovation and kicking off the celebration of the ThinkPad brand's 20th anniversary. Lenovo showcased the ThinkPad X1 Carbon along with the new ThinkPad T430u Ultrabook at an event at The Modern with tours of The Museum of Modern Art where the famous ThinkPad 701c "butterfly keyboard" laptop is on display and part of the Museum's collection.

Forged from carbon fiber, the ThinkPad X1 Carbon is the world's lightest 14-inch Ultrabook, created for those who demand the highest levels of mobility, performance, entertainment and design. Lenovo also today announced the Lenovo Developer Program, a worldwide application development program built to provide a variety of apps specialized for Lenovo consumer and commercial PC+ products, from laptops and tablets to smart phones and smart TVs.

Ahead of Microsoft Windows 8 general availability, Intel has updated two toolkits for application developers - Intel Media SDK 2012 R3 and Intel SDK for OpenCL Applications 2013 Beta. In addition to Windows 8, Intel Media SDK also supports DirectX 11 with optimized access to hardware accelerated video encoding, decoding and transcoding for applications on 3rd Generation Intel Core processors.

The Intel SDK for OpenCL Applications Beta now supports OpenCL 1.2 API previews on CPU and other features such as a new kernel builder and GNU project debugger, which ease the creation of parallel and visual computing apps. Both kits support the new Intel HD Graphics Driver for Windows 8 and are available now as free downloads.

Here are some of the first visuals of the retail packaging of Microsoft's upcoming Windows 8 operating system. The boxes, for the first time in Windows history, will take a landscaped cuboid shape as opposed to portrait cuboid shape (as with most packaged software). The box art reveals the windows logo opening up to a background abstract art. The white box above is for the standard Windows 8 variant, while the dark one is for Windows 8 Pro. The retail package should be available starting October 26, 2012.

Keeping up with schedule, Microsoft has reportedly finalized the build of Windows 8, with which the company will launch the operating system to the public. After releasing several internal and some public pre-launch builds (such as Beta, Release Preview), the company is ready with the RTM (release to market) build, which is fit for commercial release. Windows 8 RTM, in its various variants, will be available first to enterprise customers and industry partners starting August 15. The commercial launch is on course for October 26, 2012.

In related news, the threat of trademark litigation by German retail giant Metro Group has forced Microsoft to trash the codename "Metro" to refer to its new tiled user-interface (UI), which makes the OS optimized for touchscreens, but is also the primary UI for non-touch computing platforms (such as desktop PCs). According to reports, Microsoft will merely stop referring to Metro UI as such. Metro UI invited criticism from some evaluators of pre-launch Windows 8 builds, particularly from the desktop PC and non-touch notebook platforms.

MSI unveiled its new generation CR41 laptop, with a royal bronze tone finish revealing a metallic luster for a youthfully chic exterior. The color film print technology gives it character and natural refinement that make it stand out from the crowd. The CR41 is the perfect mobile companion when you're enjoying some summer rays.

Eric Kuo, associate vice president for global sales, MSI Notebook, points out that not only is the eye-catching CR41 NB ideal for outdoor use, it features a cutting-edge processing platform that employs the most advanced nano production technology, enhancing great processing performance over the previous generation. It is also ready for the Windows 8 upgrade when it comes out. For details, please visit MSI's website. Furthermore, to handle HD multimedia with increasingly higher resolution, the CR41 packs powerful features like SRS PC Sound, USB3.0, HDMI 1.4, Bluetooth 4.0 and ECO technologies give it up to 7.5 hours of battery time per charge, perfect for individuals that don't always have electrical outlets nearby. *Actual battery time will vary with differences in computer use and settings.

To provide the best user experience on the AMD platform, ASUS has refreshed a variety of motherboards, including mainstream channel models, dedicated products from ROG and the TUF Series, plus FM1 socket-compatible and power-efficient APU-based models. Each product offers a variety of new ASUS exclusive technologies such as digital power control, Remote GO!, and Network iControl, alongside innovative Fast Boot, ASUS Boot Setting, and DirectKey, all specifically leveraging upcoming Windows 8 capabilities. Both new and existing features have been tailored and tested to comply with the Windows 8 architecture for total stability and maximized utility, while all motherboards have gone through a full series of compatibility assurance tests in getting ready for the move to Windows 8.

MSI's new CX61 and CR61 15.6-inch multimedia laptops pack Intel's new generation Core i processor for the ultimate in computing power. What's more, to meet the needs of increasing high resolution of today's HD multimedia, the CX61 and CR70 come equipped with cinema-level SRS PC Sound and faster transfer ports, including USB 3.0, which is ten times faster than USB 2.0, HDMI 1.4, which can handle the latest HD resolution, and the new generation Bluetooth 4.0, which connects more quickly and covers a wider area.

Eric Kuo, associate vice president for global sales, MSI Notebook, notes that the CX61 and CR61 feature a cutting-edge processing platform that employs the most advanced nano production technology, enhancing great processing performance over the previous generation. They are also ready for the Windows 8 upgrade when it comes out. For details, please visit MSI's website. Furthermore, to handle HD multimedia with increasingly higher resolution, the CX61 and CR61 pack powerful features like SRS PC Sound, USB3.0, HDMI 1.4, and Bluetooth 4.0. In addition, the CX61 sports the most advanced performance-level discrete graphics card-the Nvidia GeForce GT640M discrete graphics card, giving you the absolutely fastest, smoothest multimedia performance available bar none, making it "Your multimedia companion!"

AMD (NYSE:AMD) today announced revenue for the second quarter of 2012 of $1.41 billion, net income of $37 million, or $0.05 per share, and operating income of $77 million. The company reported non-GAAP net income of $46 million, or $0.06 per share, and non-GAAP operating income of $86 million.

"Overall weakness in the global economy, softer consumer spending and lower channel demand for our desktop processors in China and Europe made the closing weeks of the quarter challenging," said Rory Read, AMD president and CEO. "We are taking definitive steps to improve our performance and correct the issues within our control as we expect headwinds will continue in the third quarter as the industry sets a new baseline. We remain optimistic about our core businesses as well as future opportunities with our competitively differentiated next-generation Accelerated Processor Units (APUs). Our recently launched Trinity APU continues to gain traction with customers. We are committed to driving profitable growth."

We knew since a little earlier this month, that Microsoft's next major operating system's launch is scheduled for October, with enterprise/partner availability in August. The Windows Team let out a specific date for availability to consumers: Fri., October 26, 2012. The date was announced by Steven Sinofsky, president of Windows division at Microsoft, at the company's annual sales meeting. The Friday launch allows users to spend the weekend with installations and getting a hang of the new OS.

Microsoft's decades-old hardware division is ready with an ultra-compact wireless peripheral for upcoming Windows 8 devices (such as tablets, Microsoft Surface), called the Wedge Mobile Keyboard. Some of its first pictures were scored by Czech publication WinMAG.cz, which reveal a keyboard the size of the one found in 11.5-inch notebooks, with a solid metal base with Microsoft logo etched on it, and 76 keys. The WIN key has the latest Windows logo printed on it. Also pictured is what appears to be a plastic case for carrying the keyboard around. The Wedge Mobile Keyboard appears to be wireless, and probably uses Bluetooth to interface with the host.

Today, Microsoft Corp. CEO Steve Ballmer unveiled the customer preview of the new Microsoft Office, available at office.com/preview. The next release features an intuitive design that works beautifully with touch, stylus, mouse or keyboard across new Windows devices, including tablets. The new Office is social and unlocks modern scenarios in reading, note-taking, meetings and communications and will be delivered to subscribers through a cloud service that is always up to date.

"We are taking bold steps at Microsoft," Ballmer said at the press conference in San Francisco. "The new, modern Office will deliver unparalleled productivity and flexibility for both consumers and business customers. It is a cloud service and will fully light-up when paired with Windows 8."

Today, Intel released their WHQL-certified graphics driver for the Microsoft's upcoming Windows 8 operating system. The driver runs on Windows 8 Release Preview with support for 3rd generation Intel Core processors with HD Graphics 4000/2500 and 2nd generation Intel Core processors with Intel HD Graphics 3000/2000.

The driver also provides support for OpenGL 4.0 and Windows Display Driver Model Version 1.2 (WDDM1.2) features such as native stereoscopic 3D support, optimized screen rotation detection and integrated DirectX 11 video playback. Intel encourages users to try the latest driver and provide feedback for future releases.

DOWNLOAD: Intel HD Graphics Driver for Windows 8 WHQL

You could soon have NVIDIA Tegra 3 processors running entry-level PCs. COM (computer-on-module) and IPC (industrial PC) designer Kontron developed an NVIDIA Tegra 3 system board in the slim mini-ITX form-factor (170 mm x 170 mm), which is compatible with most ITX/ATX cases. The board has most common PC peripheral interfaces, and is fit to drive an entry-level PC. The KTT30/mITX from Kontron features an NVIDIA Tegra 3 SoC, with 4+1 ARM Cortex-A9 cores clocked at 900 MHz and GeForce ULP graphics. The GPU is fit to drive 1080p displays with H264 MPEG-4 encoding/decoding acceleration. Display outputs include HDMI 1.4a (up to 1920x1080 pixels), and LVDS 24-bit (up to 2048x1536 pixel @ 18bpp).

The Kontron KTT30/mITX packs 2 GB of DDR3L memory. For storage, it has an mSATA 3 Gb/s port, two SD card slots, and a bootable eMMC slot. Two mPCIe slots and a SIM card slot (for 3G HSDPA) handle on-board expansion. System interfaces include two RS232 (serial/COM), three USB 2.0. Apart from 3G HSDPA, the board supports gigabit Ethernet. For audio, there's 2-channel analog and multi-channel digital (S/PDIF) audio outputs. The board draws power from a 2-pin DC input. The board should be able to run most distributions of Linux for ARM (including Android and Chrome OS), and technically should also be able to run the upcoming Microsoft Windows 8 RT operating system.

Microsoft's next big client operating system, Windows 8, will be out by October 2012. The operating system will be first made available to enterprise customers and hardware partners as early as by August, while the general public will have access to it in October. Along with availability to enterprises, Microsoft will commence the Windows 8 Commerce platform, which means developers of apps for the Metro UI can start monetizing their works.

Windows 8 will get its big sales push at this year's Christmas sales season, when the software will be sold through major sales channels, such as retail, OEM (pre-installed) and special (student, university, government). For those who didn't quite get blown away by Windows 8 (through its Consumer Preview), Windows 7 will be supported looking deep into this decade. The operating system has currently passed the 640 million mark for the number of licenses sold, making it the best selling OS in computing history.