At IFA 2016, Alienware is refreshing its lineup of gaming notebooks with the latest GTX 10 series video cards as well as Tobii's eye-tracking technology (in the 17-inch model). This isn't the first we've heard of a vendor rolling out eye-tracking tech into a notebook this week, as Acer has also incorporated Tobii's sensor in its monster 21-inch gaming laptop.
Alienware isn't going overboard with two GTX 1080, but this year's Alienware 17 will feature a single GTX 1080 (which should be more than enough). The Alienware 15 will offer the GTX 1070, and as you can imagine, the Alienware 13 will feature the GTX 1060.
Alienware will leverage the eye-tracking sensor to intelligently manage keyboard backlighting, stating that the backlit keyboard on the Alienware 17 will remain off when you're looking at the screen. As soon as you turn your gaze toward the keyboard, the backlight kicks in over that particular area of the keyboard. The LED lights around the chassis of the notebook are also "gaze-reactive."
You can also wake the device up just by looking at the Alienware logo. We're not kidding:
In order to wake the notebook up from sleep mode, the user looks directly at the Alienware logo and the device will power up. This ensures the notebook acts on the specific user intent of activating the device and avoids accidental power ups.
The Alienware 17 also supports Windows Hello. Specs include sixth-gen Core i7 CPUs, up to 32GB RAM and 1TB SSD, and 17-inch 4K screen options. The Alienware 15 also has similar configuration options, but you'll be limited to a GTX 1070. We're light on details for the Alienware 13, but with the brand showcasing its latest hardware at PAX West over the weekend, we should know more soon.
