*By Christian Smith* The Consumer Electronics Show isn't just a massive display case for the latest in consumer tech ー it's also the site of new partnerships. This year, CES marked, among other milestones in tech, a new partnership between gaming hardware maker Alienware and "League of Legends" developer Riot Games, a union that was a year in the making, according to the general manager at Dell's gaming arm, Alienware. "It actually started here a year ago," Frank Azor told Cheddar at the Las Vegas conference on Wednesday. "That's where we first met." The Dell-owned gaming company will become the esports league's official competition PC and display partner. Alienware will also provide full hardware support for "League of Legends"' two premier leagues ー the LCS and the LEC ー for their spring and summer seasons. Gaming has become big business for Dell and Alienware, with annual revenue topping $3 billion. Alienware also launched a new gaming laptop at CES ー the Area-51m ー which Azor said packs serious punch for a notebook. "It's basically a desktop computer like our Alienware Aurora, but in a notebook form," Azor said. "We threw everything in the kitchen sink at this thing." The Area-51m allows users to upgrade the 17-inch laptop's hard drive and graphics package, so they can keep up with the latest advancements in video game technology. The power comes with a price: $2,549, to be exact. The Area-51m will go on sale Jan. 29. For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/dells-alienware-launches-new-gaming-laptop-with-the-power-of-a-desktop).

Share:
More In Business
Tech leader who navigated the internet’s 90s crash weighs in on AI
Former Cisco Systems CEO John Chambers learned all about technology’s volatile highs and lows as a veteran of the internet’s early boom days during the late 1990s and the ensuing meltdown that followed the mania. And now he is seeing potential signs of the cycle repeating with another transformative technology in artificial intelligence. Chambers is trying take some of the lessons he learned while riding a wave that turned Cisco into the world's most valuable company in 2000 before a crash hammered its stock price and apply them as an investor in AI startups. He recently discussed AI's promise and perils during an interview with The Associated Press.
Tesla sales jump after months of boycotts
Tesla reported a surprise increase in sales in the third quarter as the electric car maker likely benefited from a rush by consumers to take advantage of a $7,500 credit before it expired on Sept. 30. The company reported Thursday that sales in the three months through September rose 7% compared to the same period a year ago. The gain follows two quarters of steep declines as people turned off by CEO Elon Musk’s foray into right-wing politics avoided buying his company’s cars and even protested at some dealerships. Sales rose to 497,099 vehicles, compared with 462,890 in the same period last year.
Load More