Razer puts 14-inch Blade up for pre-order

Razer teased us when it unveiled the 14-inch Blade last week: a rare blend of portability with gaming performance, and we couldn't even put money down? Well, we can at least do that now. The smaller of the two Blades is now up for pre-order, with prices ranging from $1,800 to $2,300 depending on the SSD capacity. Whatever the storage level, players are getting the same 14-inch 1,600 x 900 display, quad-core 2.2GHz Core i7 processor, 8GB of RAM and GeForce GTX 765Mgraphics. Any fresh orders should ship within two to three weeks, which fits just inside of Razer's promised launch schedule -- and just ahead of our summer vacations.

NEC and Lenovo are already joined at the hip in the PC business, and rumors that the two will soon be smartphone partners continue to gather steam, too. Lenovo confirmed that it's started "preliminary negotiations with a party in connection with a potential joint venture transaction," and while it didn't name names, Japanese media sources and Reuters are claiming that it's NEC. Lenovo's the number two three smartphone vendor in China but doesn't have much of a presence elsewhere, and NEC, while a leader in Japanese handset sales, is still in a "difficult state," according

Lenovo investor statement fuels NEC smartphone partnership rumors

to the company. Lenovo has the cash it needs and hasn't been shy about plans to expand its mobile business, so a relationship with NEC would make sense, if true -- and could help Lenovo realize those ambitions more quickly.

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.