(Hint: Mother's Day is coming...)

I love bags. All shapes, all sizes, but especially the funky bags and especially anything retro and girly. When I was at CES, I came across the new line of women's bags from Mobile Edge designed by Maddie Powers. These bags are definitely not your average black computer bags!

Mobile Edge has a complete line of Maddie Powers bags, including messenger bags and more traditional briefcases (with a twist). I was sent a CuteBug Sheba by Mobile Edge to review, and let me first say, what a adorable bag! Granted, I really like pink and not all people do, but... wow! Totally eye-catching and distinctive. This is not a bag that will blend in. And that's just what I was looking for.

With this bag so focused on being stylish, my immediate concern was that it wouldn't be functional. Luckily, the Sheba is as functional as it is attractive. This is a small bag, so don't expect to carry everything you own in it, but it can hold more than you may think. Check out my video to see more about the carrying capacity of this fun bag. It's also possible to overstuff the bag given the way the Velcro is used. You can close the Velcro in a wide range of positions to accommodate large loads. Given that the neoprene computer sleeve is removable, this bag actually can fill a variety of needs, not just lugging around the computer. It seemed to be relatively durable and has no visible marks after daily use for over a month.

This bag would be a great gift for a woman of any age who likes to stand out a bit in the crowd. (Hint: Mother's Day is this Sunday) If you need a larger bag, check out the Sheba's big sister, the CuteBug Laptop Messenger bag. It has similar styling, but it accommodates up to a 15.4" screen system. With a large green graphic and purple velvet trim, this is also a very distinctive bag.

Bottom line: I'm not generally a messenger bag person; I don't do shoulder straps that much. But this bag converted me. I wanted to carry it so much that I got used to the shoulder strap. It fit my functional needs very well while still filling my cutesy, girly needs as well. Loved it!

CuteBug Sheba Specs:

• Laptop Compartment Dimensions:   12.8" L x 10.3" H x 3" W (up to 14.1" screen)
• Exterior Dimensions:   15.5'' x 11.5'' x 5.5''
• Available at Amazon.com (affiliate link) for $61.50

CuteBug Laptop Messenger Bag

• Laptop Compartment Dimensions:   15.5" L x 12" H x 3.8" W (up to 15.4" screen)
• Exterior Dimensions:   16.75'' x 13.5'' x 5.5''
• Available at Amazon.com (affiliate link) for $39.99 (currently on special)

It's not often that a chance comes around to see something of this kind of exciting magnitude. Today HP issued a press release announcing the proof of existence of memristors.

HP today announced that researchers from HP Labs, the company’s central research facility, have proven the existence of what had previously been only theorized as the fourth fundamental circuit element in electrical engineering. (...)

In a paper published in today’s edition of Nature, four researchers at HP Labs’ Information and Quantum Systems Lab, led by R. Stanley Williams, presented the mathematical model and a physical example of a “memristor” – a blend of “memory resistor” – which has the unique property of retaining a history of the information it has acquired.

While we are undoubtedly years away from commercial application of this discovery, this could completely change the landscape of computing. From personal computing through enterprise applications, memory usage is growing by leaps and bounds. Fast access to memory that retains its stored data is an enormous leap, far more than what we have with today's flash memory.

One application for this research could be the development of a new kind of computer memory that would supplement and eventually replace today’s commonly used dynamic random access memory (DRAM). Computers using conventional DRAM lack the ability to retain information once they lose power. When power is restored to a DRAM-based computer, a slow, energy-consuming “boot-up” process is necessary to retrieve data from a magnetic disk required to run the system.

In contrast, a memristor-based computer would retain its information after losing power and would not require the boot-up process, resulting in the consumption of less power and wasted time.

I'm extremely excited about this new discovery. Although the existence of the memristor has been theorized since 1971 in a paper by Professor Leon Chua, no one had been able to prove its existence until now. Given the advances in nanotechnology over the last several years, we've finally reached the point of being about to build memristors. This could fundamentally change computers by nearly eliminating boot times, reducing power consumption, and reducing in general the time we wait on computers. In my mind, that is at least as exciting as a new battery technology.

This research comes from HP Labs, the scary-smart people who dream up new technological advances well before we know we need them. If you want to see some fascinating research, browse around HP Labs technical reports. They can get quite in-depth, but they're interesting reading.

Read more about memristors on the HP Labs website.

Everyone has something - that old whachamadoojit sitting in the corner collecting dust that you haven't turned on in over a year. Personally, I have, um, lots of those. Until now, getting those things to a qualified recycler was some combination of difficult and expensive. Not very enticing.

Celebrating Earth Day this year, I found MyBoneYard.com, an electronics recycling site that collects old cell phones, laptops, flat panel monitors, and PC systems. The shipping is free and some devices qualify for a "reward", aka a payment for the devices you just sent them. It appears to depend on how old the thing is, but some things can actually get you some cash. For instance, an old laptop of mine that is collecting dust could get me a $49 Visa gift card. 

If you have stuff laying around and you want to be environmentally responsible and recycle it, try out MyBoneYard.com. I haven't tried it yet, but frankly, given the ease with which I can use the site, I'm tempted to send in a few things.

A few weeks ago Warner got excited about pico-projectors, those ultra-small projectors designed to be integrated into small devices. Although many of these pico-projectors have been demo'd at events like CES, there has been little news about productization.

Today, Display Daily reports from the Hong Kong Electronics Fair that "Sunlink International Holdings and iView Limited introduced the SunView PMP Projector (PMPP), which is believed to be the first commercially available portable product with integrated pico-projector." The SunView PMPP is basically a standard personal media player - 3.5" screen, SD card slot, battery, and runs Windows CE 5.0, including and Office viewer that can display movies, photos, and business presentations. But it adds a pico-projector that can create a useful display up to a 53 inches. The photo above from Display Daily shows the SunView PMPP projecting off one end of the unit. The size is listed at 133 × 79 x 25mm, or 5.2 x 3.1 x 0.98 inches, just a bit smaller than an OQO Model 02.

While I'm sure the battery life is abysmal when running the projector, this is still a remarkable product, at least on paper. I'd love to get my hands on one and see exactly how "useful" that 53 inch image is when showing a movie or presenting in PowerPoint. This should be the first of many products with integrated pico-projectors, which could change our views (no pun intended!) of portable imaging over the next couple of years.

No word on pricing for the SunView PMPP, although it's supposed to be available immediately, presumably in Hong Kong.

Are you a Twitter user??  If so, now you can follow us here on GottaBeMobile.com on our new Twitter account!  We will be using this account to provide our readers the following:

• There will be a Twit every time we post to the home page, it will also include a link to the new post
• Status updates if we have new toys
• Random comments about what we are testing that might not make it to the GBM home page
• Interaction with our readers
• And many more...

So if you have a Twitter account, add the GottaBeMobile Team!

If folks from Duke University, Lawrence University, and Norconnect, Inc have anything to say about it, you could be writing your next set of notes using a unique glove that translates the electrical signals from your hand into digital text. Using this glove, you'll be able to write on any surface using any paper, pen, pencil, or finger that you want.

From Scientific American:

In the first phase of his research, Linderman, along with Mikhail Lebedev, a senior research scientist in Duke University's Department of Neurobiology (with expertise in modeling and statistical analysis), and Joseph Erlichman, a neuroscientist and professor of biology at St. Lawrence University in Canton, N.Y., (whose specialization is hand muscle anatomy, physiology and electromyography, or EMG), conducted a series of experiments to better understand how the hand's muscles work during the act of writing. As with any bodily movement, muscle tissue contracts and emits electrical signals that are sent to the brain when pen is put to paper.

To read these signals, the researchers created a prototype glove with electrodes positioned over different muscles in the hand and connected to a computer. As the hand moved, signals were recorded via EMG from the different muscles involved in the process. When researchers examined the results of these tests, they found patterns unique to individual characters that the hand had drawn.

Norconnect and the universities are heading to phase 2 of their project, which is expected to utilize Bluetooth to transfer the signals from the glove to the computer. Expects the glove to retail for around $100 when / if it comes to market.

Thanks for the link, Chris Owens.

Sharp viewers watching MTV's Rock The Cradle noticed that the judges were sporting MobileDemands xTablet T8700. Notice the tablets sitting on a table next to Belinda Carlisle of The Go-Go's.

MTV rented the tablets for use during this season, so I suspect we'll get to see some more of them in action. Watch last night's show here, and be sure to catch future episodes. Hey, maybe we'll run a "Spot the Rugged Tablet PC" and hand out a few Splotches! If you spot the tablet in upcoming episodes, post your screenshot in our forum.

Follow MTV's Rock The Cradle Facebook account here, and MobileDemand's Facebook account here.

Want to watch a movie while in 'slate mode' - or flip it backwards and set it on your desk while you are supposed to be working on your graduate research project - or while sitting at your local coffee shop?

As long as you have an internet connection, you can - Enter Hulu (public as of today)!  I was checking out Ice Age and one of the HD Trailers of Horton Hears a Who!  I am impressed so far - nice to have another option in this arena!

This probably voided his warranty, but an enterprising hacker by the name of 'guryhwa' has posted details of how he replaced his Eee PC's Celeron processor with a Pentium-M. Note, this technique is not for the faint of heart...

Not that I'm trying to one-up Warner or anything, but I just received a sample of an iRex iLiad e-book reader with an integrated Wacom digitizer.

Although the iRex iLiad is not a new product, given the recent reviews of the Amazon Kindle and the video we did with the Kindle and the Sony Reader PRS-500, it seemed appropriate to look at the only real pen-based solution on the market. After all, inking is the way to go!

I'll be doing a full InkShow on the iLiad in the next couple of weeks, but to whet your appetite:

• Best screen visibility -  by FAR, over the Sony Reader or the Kindle. Totally subjective, but wow.
• Larger screen - 8.1" diagonal vs. 6" diagonal
• Digitizer - allows both book annotations as well as free-form note taking on blank sheets of e-paper
• Sudoku - 'Nuf said.
• WiFi - I connected to my WPA encrypted access point at home in just a couple of minutes. Transfer files, etc. Although the reader doesn't officially support web browsing, there are solutions for that available on the web (like enabling the browser that actually ships in the system but hidden/disabled).
• File formats supported : PDF / HTML / TXT / JPG / BMP/ PNG / PRC (Mobipocket)
• You can read the full set of product specifications on the iLiad website.

Before you ask, yes, all of this goodness comes at a hefty price. The official US sales portal is eReader Outfitters who list the iLiad at $699. Yes, for that same $699 I could buy a decent laptop. But for those people who really want a portable note-taking solution, this could be an interesting slate. I plan on checking this out as more than just an e-book reader so that I can see how far into the slate computer category this can stretch.

Microsoft chairman Bill Gates says he wants to "equip a new generation of technology leaders with the knowledge and tools they need to harness the magic of software." So, he's giving away software development software to current high school and college students.

Take a standard candy bar cell phone, not too big, not too small. Add a fold-out display and voila - an e-book reader!

The Readius was just announced by Polymer Vision, a long time leader in rollable displays. While the Readius is an interesting product, I want that display married to a more fully featured MID or UMPC. Then I'd get more interested.

Every once in a while I'm really surprised the response to a particular article. In this case, I quoted Dean Weber, President and CEO of One Voice Technologies, on the prediction of 90 million MIDs in 2012 (based on research from ABI Research). And I got an email the next day from Mr. Weber himself.

Over the next two years the size of the MID will become about the size of a current smartphone.  This is about as small as they will probably go while keeping a reasonable screen size for full Internet browsing.  One thing to keep in mind regarding the ABI Research prediction is that Apple has already shown the demand for a small fully functional web browser in their current iPhone.  The iPhone is very much like a MID although the iPhone lacks WiMAX, video camera, etc. - I'm sure Apple has this in the works.  You will see an overlap soon between the iPhone and MIDs and people will demand more functionality from their devices - like the functionality in a MID.

I was thinking about his statements when I posted about Intel's Silverthorne processor a few minutes ago and thought I should share his wisdom. I think he's on to something.  One thing I hear consistently from my friends with iPhones is that they loving having a full browser. Maybe MIDs will bring that to me too, and 90 million will sell by 2012. And if One Voice Technologies has their way, all 90 million will be voice-controllable.

One of the things people struggle with when moving to a pen-based system is the lack of buttons on the pen for Ctrl, Alt, etc. Well, Ken Hinckley has come up with an interesting, and quite amusing, solution, something he calls the IntelliScroller. The more I think about it, he might be on to something, here.

Better get those Post-It notes ready.....

Johnny Lee has got it going on for sure.

Check out this video of a 3D head tracking system he's put together using a Wii system. Also - notice the Tablet PC underneath the tv.

via FakeSteveJobs

  One of the best things I've purchased in quite some time was an e-book reader, namely the Amazon Kindle. Being new to the electronic book area, I have found the experience to be quite enjoyable. Sierra, on the other hand, has been using an e-book reader for a long time, namely the Sony Reader Digital Book, and has picked up on the subtle differences between Sony's Reader Digital Book and Amazon's Kindle. She used my Kindle for several weeks, and came away with some interesting observations. By the way, it is worth mentioning that I almost didn't get my Kindle back....

In this InkShow, Sierra and I take them both on a head-to-head comparison, looking at screens, navigation, buttons, contrast, and the book buying experience.

• Download the high res version ( wmv, 13:30, 103mb )
• Watch the embedded version below

Click To Play

If you are like many mobile computing enthusiasts,  you always have your Windows Mobile cell phone with you at all times. I know I do! So I was very interested to hear that Celio Corporation was releasing a "mobile companion" for Windows Mobile devices. Think of it as an external monitor and keyboard for your cell phone. There is a lot of power in that little phone I carry around - more computing power than my first mobile computer, probably. But that little screen and the thumb board keep me from doing anything real on it.

Enter the Celio Redfly. With the capability to connect to your phone via Bluetooth or USB, the Redfly gives you the ability to extend the usability of the device you already have. Plus, the Redfly, with its 8 hour battery life, can even be used to recharge your phone if you connect via USB.

Technical Specifications:

• Product Name and Model Number REDFLY Mobile Companion C8
• Size 1 x 6 x 9 inches
• Weight 2.0 lbs.
• Battery Life 8 Hours under normal use via USB
• Display Size 8 inch diagonal wide screen
• Display Resolution 800 x 480
• VGA Display Output 800 x 480
• Keyboard 8.3 inch 80-key QWERTY keyboard
• Touchpad 1.0 x 2.9 inches
• Special Fn keys Fn buttons are hot-keys for phone control (i.e. send, end, OK, esc, left menu, right menu, etc)
• Operating System Compatibility
  • Windows Mobile 5.0 (Pocket PC and Smartphone editions)
  • Windows Mobile 6.0 (Professional and Standard editions)
• More operating system compatibility to be announced. See tested smartphone list at www.celiocorp.com/smartphone
• Application Compatibility: Applications and data from the smartphone appear on the REDFLY enabled display
• Ports and Connectors VGA port, 2 high speed USB 2.0 ports, AC power connector
• Smartphone Connection via Bluetooth Bluetooth 2.0 EDR (compatible with Bluetooth 1.0, 2.0)
• Smartphone Connection via USB Use USB cable included with smartphone
• Smartphone Charger via USB Able to charge smartphones via USB (as supported by phone)
• USB Flash Drive Compatibility Standard USB Flash Drives (Drives appear on smartphone file system)
• USB Keyboard Compatibility Standard USB Keyboards
• USB Mouse Compatibility Standard USB Mice
• AC Power Charger AC Power Adapter Input: 90 – 264VAC, 47 – 63 Hz, Output: 9VDC, 2.5A

I hope to visit the Celio booth at the main convention tomorrow and check out the Redfly and possibly get some video of it. I got to play with this briefly at Digital Experience and it seems like a really interesting device. Kind of like a UMPC, but totally different at the same time. According to the rep, this should be releasing in North America very soon and hit the rest of the world later in the year.

If you aren't familiar with Orb Networks, you should be. Orb gives you the ability to access all of your music, photos, and other media over the Internet while away from home. And it does it for free. Orb already works on a variety of devices, including laptops, Tablet PCs, and most phones. As an added feature, if you have a TV tuner or PVR on your home computer, you can also stream video from your TV tuner, much like the Slingbox does. The interface is very simple. On the iPhone it works through the browser and will access your Winamp setup at home, giving you access to all of your tunes. If you have succumbed to the iPhone as so many have, then you should check out the video at YouTube to see how well this appears to be working.

This kind of activity is commonly called "place-shifting" where you can do something while away from home that you would ordinarily do at home. I think more and more people are doing place-shifiting activities whether they know it or not. And with applications like Orb, it's getting easier every day.

via The Register

Each year, our very own Warner Crocker awards many in the technology space with some of the most creative and deserving awards I've ever seen - The InkBlot Awards. This year is no exception. They are hilarious, insightful, and wacky - all at the same time. I wonder how Warner is able to keep track of all this stuff during the year?

Head over to Warner's personal blog, Life on the Wicked Stage, to see the complete list of winners. As you look back on the year, you'll find yourself laughing out loud as I have been doing this morning.

By the way, Warner was kind enough to award me with the Best Glue Sniffing in a GBM Video, and Best Tablet / UMPC Fashion Policeman. See if you can spot the GBM awards he handed out.