Archive for December, 2006

The forthcoming Medion’s ultra-mobile personal computer, the MD RIM 1000, will be more usable than current well-known UMPC devices, because it has slide out keyboard and a touch pad, Slash Gear reports.

Medion MD RIM 1000 UMPC also features VIA’s 1GHz ultra-low voltage processor, 512MB of memory, and 20, 30 or 40MB hard drive spinning at 4200rpm. The MD RIM 1000’s 6.5-inch touch screen is powered by Unichrome Pro graphics.

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Kensington, the computer accessories and peripherals maker, recently gave laptop users some security advices to make holiday travel safer. “Some simple tips from Kensington can save holiday travelers from the financial, commercial, and personal expense of losing a notebook, ” the company’s press release says. Some of the tips include use of Kesington’s products, such as security locks.

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Just FCC approved D-Link DWA-643 Xtreme N Notebook ExpressCard, will enable notebook computers to connect to high-speed 802.11n wireless networks, Mobile Magazine reports.

Along with draft 802.11n wireless standard, which isn’t likely to become approved by IEEE until 2008, the DWA-643 Xtreme is backwards compatible with current 802.11g and 802.11b Wi-Fi.

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Samsung has demonstrated a docking station incorporating a 1,200-watt-hour fuel cell for laptop computers. When powered by presented fuel cell, Samsung Sense Q35 notebook can work without recharging up to one month, assuming it runs for eight hours a day five days a week.

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The Windows Vista ultra-mobile personal computers, code-named Vistagami, will be introduced by Microsoft next month at Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, announcing the new wave of UMPC devices. The next generation UMPCs are supposed to have better battery life and cheaper price tags than its unsuccessful precursors, according to the reports.

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Acer’s 20.1-inch widescreen Aspire 9800 notebook was reviewed by Trusted Reviews, Laptop Magazine and CNet. Acer Aspire 9800 incorporates Intel Centrino Duo mobile processing technology, NVIDIA GeForce Go 7600 graphics and up to 4GB of DDR2 main memory. The 9800 is said to be heavy and too large to carry, but also provides decent multimedia experience.

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Researchers from the University of Tokyo are developing inductive power transfer methods that will allow charging of mobile devices wirelessly. Although similar systems are already close to commercial roll-out, such as UK-based SplashPower, the Japanese technology would seem to promise very thin and flexible charging mats that could be integrated into everyday materials. For example, it could be possible to produce mouse pad that charges battery of laptop and cell phone just by putting mobile device on that pad or near it, the reports say.

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Verizon Wireless and Sierra Wireless announced that the Sierra’s AirCard 595 PC card for EV-DO Revision A networks is now commercially available for use with Verizon Wireless BroadbandAccess service. The companies said the Sierra AirCard 595 PC card is also fully compatible with Verizon Wireless current EV-DO and CDMA 1X networks, adding the customers will see the benefits of EV-DO Revision A high-speed network “when and where it becomes available”.

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Asus G1 gaming 15.4-inch widescreen laptop, introduced last month, was recently reviewed by CNet, Notebook Review and Xotic PC. The G1 incorporates Core 2 Duo processor and NVidia GeForce Go7700 graphics with 512MB of video memory.

Here are the Asus G1 review quotes with links to full stories:

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Transcend announced the release of the “world’s highest speed 1GB DDR2 800 Non-ECC Unbuffered SO-DIMM memory modules”, made for use in laptop computers.

“Transcend’s 1GB 800MHz memory is engineered using 16 pcs of 64Mx8 original brand name DDR2 FBGA chips. The eight-layer PCBs used in Transcend’s modules are designed to meet the highest specifications by minimizing noise signal disturbance and enhancing overall performance. In addition, DDR2 memory chips incorporate On-Die Termination (ODT) to minimize signal reflections at higher speeds, thereby improving timing margins, which increase operating speeds. Transcend’s superior design results in better system stability and reliability, making our 1GB DDR2 800 Non-ECC Unbuffered SO-DIMM memory modules the best choice for your high performance system,” the company’s press release says.

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Intel Core 2 Solo processors, the single-core ULV (ultra low voltage) CPUs for thin and light laptops, will arrive in Q3 2007, HKEPC reports.

“Since single core has a better power consumption than dual core, Intel decided to make Core 2 Solo ULV for the need Sub-Note market,” the report says.

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Panasonic announced that the business-rugged Toughbook W5 and T5 laptops will feature built-in support for Sprint Mobile Broadband services, including its upgraded EV-DO Revision A service where available. Toughbook W5 and T5 notebooks users will now have the option to access Sprint Mobile Broadband service running on the Sprint Power Vision Network in more than 220 communities and 725 airports across the US, a coverage area that encompasses more than 180 million people, Panasonic published.

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Laptop users who upgrade to Windows Vista from Windows XP, may have to disable some of the new operating system’s graphics features such as Aero to avoid a decrease in battery life. Also, it is reported that wireless connection under Vista may cause notebook batteries to drain faster.

The power consumption for Vista notebook users will rise because of extra power needed to run the high-end processors, graphics cards and memory capacity required to support Vista, Info World reports.

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Matsushita Electric Industrial, best known for its Panasonic brand, today announced the establishment of a mass-production system for a lithium-ion battery that incorporates the heat resistance layer (HRL) technology. The HRL has enabled Matsushita to increase energy density and mass-produce safer lithium-ion batteries, the Matsushita’s press release says.

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After CompAmerica’s recent announcement of 20-inch widescreen dual-core SLI enabled laptop, PC MicroWorks unveiled the similar mobile gaming computer, but with more additional options such as Blu-Ray drive, EVDO Internet connectivity, up to 4GB of RAM and up to 600GB of storage capacity.

PC MicroWorks Vega has AMD Turion 64 X2 dual-core TL-60 processor and offers SLI graphics using dual nVIDIA Geforce GO 7950GTX SLI or dual nVIDIA Quadro FX 2500M SLI, both with 1GB of video memory in total.

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