PC-makers are showing off a range of new computers aimed at convincing users to upgrade after Windows 8 is released.
Microsoft's operating system features a touchscreen interface prompting manufacturers to restyle their laptops.
HP, Toshiba, Dell, Asus and Lenovo are among those showing off new products.
Efforts are split between models in which keyboards detach from screens, ones in which the keys remain attached but can be hidden behind displays, and traditional fixed clamshell designs.
The hybrid tablet/laptop concept had been championed by Intel at the Consumer Electronics Show earlier this year.
Apple - which makes the bestselling tablet on the market - later suggested that mixing the different types of computer together risked a situation in which "you wind up compromising in both and not pleasing either user".
But some analysts say Windows 8 is specifically designed to work in both modes, so the designs may make sense. The operating system has been scheduled for release on 26 October.
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Facebook may have been through a sticky patch lately, but plenty of advertisers big and small are still spending substantial sums with the social network. Among them is the UK government, one branch of which has spent about £100,000 to promote Britain as a place to visit.
Back in July, when we were investigating the usefulness of Facebook advertising, I got a message telling me that the government's Great campaign was a good example of best practice. It had won nearly half a million "likes" for 13 Facebook pages promoting various aspects of British life, business and culture.
But I wanted to know what that had cost, and how much the government was spending more widely with Facebook. So we submitted a Freedom of Information request to the Cabinet Office asking those two questions. We have now received the answers - or at least a partial response.
It turns out that as of 19 July, the government had spent £98,418.25 with Facebook on advertising the Great campaign. A spokesman said the campaign had achieved 472 million ad impressions leading to 782,000 ad clicks - and across the 13 Facebook pages, 583,000 "likes" had been generated.
As to our second question about the wider use of Facebook advertising by the government, we were told that was not a question for the Cabinet Office, and we would need to contact individual departments.
So what are we to make of the spending of nearly £100,000 on one government Facebook campaign? In the context of the overall Great marketing budget of £37m, it is a tiny sum. But is it effective? Evaluating the impact of advertising is a devilishly tricky business, especially when it involves promoting something as amorphous as a corporate or national reputation.
As I discovered with my VirtualBagel campaign, Facebook "likes" are a currency whose value is dubious - and some of the army of obsessive clickers who "liked" my non-existent bagels also liked the Great pages. But the Cabinet Office points out that there was also plenty of evidence of real engagement on their Facebook pages, and social media consultants will no doubt applaud the government for creating such a buzz around the campaign for such a modest outlay.
Is it possible, however, that the marketing effort would have been just as successful without any expenditure on adverts? Surely with all the Olympics buzz, plenty of people would have come to the Facebook pages anyway - and each of them would have been more valuable and engaged than someone who clicked on an ad?
Still, these are very early days for social network advertising and those who use it. Companies big and small - and governments - are still trying to discover whether people who come to networks to socialise are also eager to hear marketing messages. And the answer to that question is crucial to the future of Facebook.
Music streaming service Spotify is to continue to expand globally, despite recording a €45.4m (£35.9m) loss in 2011.
The deficit came despite the company increasing its revenue for the year to €187.8m, compared with €73.9m in 2010.
The loss has been attributed to the heavy costs involved in licensing from record labels the music Spotify offers.
The service confirmed plans to expand to Canada, as well as some countries in Asia and South America.
It is already available in 15 countries, including the UK and US.
The London-based firm has also set up subsidiaries in Singapore and Hong Kong, but is yet to launch the product in either country.
The Wall Street Journal reported growth in the company's premium-member subscriptions, citing its latest financial report. Income from paying customers last year made the firm €156.9m, up from €52.6m in 2010.
However Spotify's other revenue model - playing ads inbetween music for non-paying subscribers - has slowed.
The company recorded only a minor increase - €6.5m - in advertising revenue, making €27.6m in 2011.
Premium feeSubscribers to the service can either pay £9.99 for a full membership, which allows mobile listening, or £4.99 for unlimited, ad-free listening on a desktop or laptop computer.
At the end of 2011, according to the financial report, Spotify had 32.8 million registered users. The company has said 15 million are active, with four million paying to use the service - a number Spotify has said is steadily growing.
It will need to increase further if the company is to balance out the cost of licensing its huge catalogue of about 15 million tracks.
Spotify pays record labels a small fee every time a song is streamed, regardless of whether the member is a paying subscriber or not.
Despite Spotify reportedly paying out in the region of €200m to labels since 2008, some artists have removed themselves from the library, suggesting that the comparatively low fees for streaming did not provide enough compensation for any potential lost sales through more traditional means.
Source: BBC News
