Alienware launches a new family of gaming rigs equipped with Nvidia's most recent Pascal-based graphics chips and eye-tracking capabilities from Tobii.
The OEM rolls out three laptops, a 13-inch, a 15-inch and a 17-inch, and the latter is especially interesting as it features Tobii's eye-tracking camera. Thanks to eye-motion detection, gamers can improve their gaming abilities and even wake up the laptop by simply staring at it.
The Alienware 17 comes laden with software and eye-tracking hardware from Tobii, granting enhanced security and deep insights into a player's in-game modus operandi.
First off, you should know that the "wake on gaze" feature will take your notebook out of sleep mode when you look at the Alienware logo. Also, when you have your eyes fixed on the screen, the backlight keyboard stays dim. Keys brighten up in the area that the user is gazing upon, which leads to extended battery life.
A neat feature is that the eye-movement is tracked during gameplay, so that when you watch a replay you can analyze where your attention was focused. This should aid amateur and pro gamers into refining their skills.
As the user goes away from the Alienware laptop, the security kicks in and locks the notebook down.
For the 15- and 17-inch laptops, orders will open up on Sept. 30. So far, all we know about the Alienware 13 is that it will land in November.
The senior marketing manager at Alienware, Chris Sutphen, confirms that the new lineup rolled out following the release of Nvidia's new GPUs.
The Alienware 13 comes carrying the Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060, while the Alienware 15 features the GTX 1070 and the Alienware 17 packs the mighty GTX 1080.
Each of the laptops is VR friendly, so customers can expect to run all VR apps on them smoothly. Insiders from the OEM note that benchmarks showed an 85 percent performance boost when comparing the new line with the former Alienware generation.
Sutphen explains that the concept of the laptop acting as "gaming coach" was very easy to implement with Tobii.
"Tracking of your eyes can be used as analytics to help you play your games better," he says.
Earlier this year, MSI released its GT72S G Tobii gaming laptop, the first laptop from the company to feature eye-tracking technology.
The General Manager of Alienware, Frank Azor, told the media that his company's new hardware could not have rolled out at a better time. According to him, the gaming industry lives "a time of renaissance," and it is in no small amount due to the VR experiences.
Azor compares the energy that flows through the industry with the same force that launched Alienware, two decades ago.
Keep in mind that the Alienware 17 flagship notebook comes with overclocking capabilities thanks to the Intel Core i7 k-series processors, as well as DDR4 memory.
The Alienware 15 gives gamers a balanced treat, with both compact size and exhilarating performance in one chassis. Its slimmer figure is able to holster graphics options from Nvidia and AMD, depending on user preferences. It sports a 15.6-inch FHD, IPS Anti-Glare display. However, gamers can opt in for an FHD 120 Hz display featuring Nvidia G-Sync and UHD IGZO for those who can only find satisfaction in 4K resolutions.
