Sony unveils the Xperia M: 4-inch FWVGA display, dual-core 1GHz CPU, 5MP camera

Sony's just announced a new handset is joining its Xperia line-up this year: the Xperia M. Much like the Xperia L, it's aimed at the lower end of the Android spectrum, with far from benchmark-busting specs. It's got a 4-inch FWVGA (854 x 480) display seated behind a panel of stcratch-resistant glass, and a dual-core 1GHz Snapdragon SoC inside, paired with 1GB of RAM. There's only 4GB of on-board storage, but a microSD slot supporting up to 32GB cards will allow you to bolster that. The rear camera packs a 5-megapixel Exmor RS sensor and companion flash; there is a front-facing shooter, but we're unsure of the numbers for that. There's no LTE radio in the Android 4.1 handset, so HSPA+ will be taking care of data, with Bluetooth 4.0 and NFC for pairing and sharing. While it's not a transparent element, there is a multicolored notification light for, well, notifications. The color doesn't stop there, as the single- and dual-SIM versions will be available in Black, White, Purple and Yellow when the Xperia M becomes available globally "from Q3 2013."

Dell unveils Haswell-powered laptops and desktops for professionals (video)

Between Computex and the launch of Intel's fourth generation Core Haswell processors, June's shaping up to be a big month for the PC industry. Fresh from letting us play with its new folding hybrid, Dell is whipping out new OptiPlex 9020 and XE2 desktops, an OptiPlex All-In-One and the Latitude E6540 business laptop. Given that they're Dell machines, customization options will be limitless when they arrive in the forthcoming weeks, backed by all of those enterprise-friendly vPro, WYSE and Cloud management services that Dell's attempting to become famous for.

Intel VP: 'Lack of LTE' hampers our approach to the US smartphone market

During Intel's press conference today, we got a brief glimpse into how Intel's smartphones are fairing globally. The noticeable gap, however, was the US. Answering questions during a Q&A session following the Computex keynote, Tom Kilroy, Executive Vice President of Sales said that there was a major reason why it was lacking US carrier support: LTE.

"Absence of LTE is the reason. We can't get ranged by US carriers without LTE, so once we have multi-mode LTE coming to market later this year, we have an opportunity to compete in that business."

While we've seen Intel add 4G radios to its Atom processors for global-roaming tablets, there's no news yet of the capability launching on its smartphone designs. Last year, Intel ran a Medfield-powered version of Verizon's RAZR M in Europe and Asia, under the RAZR i branding and 3G radios.

Sandisk introduces Extreme II SSD, boasts 19nm tech and faster speeds

We haven't heard a peep about Sandisk's solid state drives since CES, so we perked our ears when the flash maker announced a new consumer SSD today. It's called the Extreme II, a SATA III SSD the company claims is fast and responsive enough to please gamers or just anyone hungering for a performance boost. Built with 19nm process and nCache technology, the Extreme II promises quicker boot-ups and faster runtimes. The hardware boasts up to 550MB/sec sequential read and 510MB/sec sequential write speeds, and up to 95,000 random read Input/Output Operations per Second (IOPS) and 78,000 random write IOPS. You can snag one now in 120GB, 240GB and 480GB capacities for $129.99, $229.99 and $439.99 each. Or you can save some cash and get something a little more budget-minded.