- Warner Crocker

If you aren’t doing anything at 3pm EST today (1900GMT) and want to get your geek on, there are some choices for interesting viewing.

Laptop Magazine will be hosting a live session where they will be showing off a highly anticipated new Netbook. Hmmm? Wonder what that could be?

Chippy at UMPCPortal will be hosting a live session on the Raon Digital Everun Note.

If I wasn’t in rehearsal all day today, I’d be running both of these on my iMac with one on the Mac and the other running in a virtual machine on another monitor. But alas, work comes first.

 

 

- Matthew Dillon

Fresh into the delivery trucks is the Nokia N96, a new mobile entertainment and Internet device.  According to the Nokia Press Release, the N96 offers the most personalized mobile Internet experience to date.  The lines have truly blurred between phone, entertainment device, and MID.  I just want to know when I can really shave with one of these things.  Here are a few specs that give this mobile powerhouse a little girth:

• Live TV with DVB-H Technology that is possible to record live and view later
• 5 megapixel camera
• Turn-by-turn GPS voice navigation
• 16GB memory slot that is capable of being upped to 2gGB with optional microSD slot.  This gives the N96 the ability to store 40 hours of video content.  Content can be transferred from your PC via USB 2.0
• N-Gage gaming on a 2.8" display
• Battery Life: 5-hour video, 4-hour TV, 14-hour music playback.  Talk time is up to 160/230 min (WCDMA/GSM).
• Expected US release: 4 quarter, 08 for estimated $895 with support for 3G.

Learn more about the N96 for the Americas via MobileTechReview.com.  Additional high-quality photos can be viewed here.

- Truc Bui

If this flyer holds true, it looks like Dell's pricing for their much anticipated netbook (now called the Inspiron Mini 9) sits a little higher than the $299 that we've been all expecting. Chippy at UMPCPortal got the flyer from an unknown source, so don't take too much stock in the pricing just yet. Dell has not officially lifted the veil off their worst kept secret, so take this information with a grain of salt. It does, however, look like a real mailer dated for September 5th, which was the revised expected release date.

• The $349 Standard model includes an Atom processor, Ubuntu 8.04 OS, 512MB RAM and a 4GB SSD. 
• The $399 Social Edition model is the same as the Standard but replaces the 4GB SSD with an 8GB SSD and a 0.3mp webcam.
• The top-of-the-line $449 XP Edition has the same processor, comes with XP Home SP3 installed, a 1.3mp webcam, 1GB RAM, and an 8GB SSD. An important note is that the $449 price is reduced from what looks like a normal selling price of $494.

Update: Microsite can be found here. The Mini 9 name is confirmed.

- Truc Bui

I have had the Fujitsu T5010 now for the last two weeks and it's proven to be a very capable computer. I've already given the T5010 a Shortcut tour, a written look, and now, I take a deeper look at this tablet and show you what I did and didn't like and a general idea of what the tablet can do. As always, I welcome comments, questions and critiques.

Special thanks to Allegiance Technology Partners for sending us this review unit. Learn more about the T5010 and ask about their special 48 hour demo program.

• Check out the Fujitsu T5010 Shortcut here.
• Some pictures and a written first impressions review of the T5010.
• Learn more at Allegiance Technology Partners and arrange to get your own 48 hour demo of the T5010.
• Download the whole InkShow. (23:13 minutes)

 

 

- Matthew Dillon

Lifehacker is featuring an excellent how-to that demonstrates the steps necessary to secure and protect your laptop.  Their tips are broken down into the following phases:

• Phase One: Lock and Key
• This phase discusses ways to physically protect your machine from being stolen.
• Phase Two: Alarms and Security Cameras
• How to keep an eye on any unauthorized individuals that might use your machine.  The embedded video shows iAlertU, a program for Macs that essentially sounds an alarm when someone tries to jack your mac. 
• Phase Three:  Retrieval
• This section highlights methods to get your machine back when someone else has taken off with all your priceless 'puter.

There are additional tips like encrypting your hard drive, or accessing your laptop remotely.  Since school time is here or right around the corner, these tips will ensure that your laptop is safe and your homework gets finished.

- Warner Crocker

We have a wonderful community here at GBM and in the Tabletscape and Mobilescape in general. Here’s hoping that we can garner some support from that community to help a friend in need.

A friend and member of our community who works at Lenovo is asking for some support. His wife suffers from PLS, a motor neuron disease related to ALS, which is also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease. Undaunted by her incurable and progressive illness, she is the organizer for the Magnificent Mile Races and Fun Runs, even though she is now confined to a wheelchair and now unable to speak. The proceeds of which fund research grants awarded by the Spastic Paraplegia Foundation (SPF), which is the only organization dedicated to these rare disorders.

About This Year’s Race :
Sunday, September 14th, 2008, on a fast, exciting downtown Raleigh course
- USATF North Carolina and RRCA Southern Region 1- mile championship race
- 1-mile walk/fun run following the competitive race
- Two children’s races (400 meters for children 7-12 years of age and 100 meters for children 6 and younger)
- Race for the Second Empire Grand Prix series
- Separate men’s and women’s competitive mile races

If you are interested in participating or donating follow the link below:

http://www.magmilerace.com/

- Warner Crocker

Who knows what this really means, but with Dell scheduled to roll out their Netbook tomorrow Michael Dell was speaking at a Citigroup Technology Conference and he hinted (the way CEOs love to hint and tell you nothing) that Teclos might subsidize Netbooks in the future, adding 3G to that mix.

It would certainly be an interesting development.

Via Larry Dignan

- Matt Faulkner

I was just looking at the weekly Fry's ad in our local news paper...  4GB notebook memory kit for $39.99 (after rebate, but still)!!!  I remember when this would have been a couple hundred bucks!!  Sorry for bad picture, to see it online follow this link to Frys.com online.

- Warner Crocker

This looks intriguing for amateur astronomers of all stripes. StellarWindow is a hardware/software combo that comes on a USB stick. That stick contains accelerometers and a compass that allow you to tilt your device and view a guided tour in the ‘interactive planetarium.’ The idea is you hold up your device to the sky and StellarWindow will show you the sky in a 3D view behind your Tablet PC. You can also do this in reverse by picking a constellation and StellarWindow will tell you which direction to look. You can do this through voice recognition software that also is in the package.

StellarWindow is made by FairyDevices. It will set you back $240. From what I’m reading it will work with notebooks other than Tablet PCs, given the hardware on board the USB stick. Tablet PCs have had accelerometers since their inception, I believe, and I can remember bemoaning the lack of applications that took advantage of them.

Via Wired Gadget Lab

- Matt Faulkner

Motion has another Medical Center using their new C5 Tablet PC.  Health News Direct has the article about the South Dakota Regional Medical Center using the Tablet, but just as a FYI - you have to register to see the full text:

South Dakota-based Rapid City Regional Hospital, a not-for-profit regional medical center, has chosen Motion Computing’s 300 Motion® C5 mobile clinical assistants (MCA) solution, to enhance the functionality of the hospital’s existing MEDITECH Client Server Health Care Information System.

- Matt Faulkner

The Tuscaloosa Academy has switched some students over to Tablet PCs for their learning.  Check out the article and the video about the school making the move.  They talk about hardware problems in making the switch, but do say that the problems are just of a different kind.  It appears that the kids really like the idea too!

Even at this age, these 7th graders know how this technology will help make learning easier, in the classroom and beyond.

Seventh Grader, Joshua Jones said, “The laptops, when you connect to the internet, there’s global.  I think now, we’re becoming a global society so everyone will need like a computer.”

- Warner Crocker

Remember Lynn and Olga of Tabletology? They posted some great pictures of the HP tc1100 Tablet PC traveling and in all kinds of interesting places. Well, when I saw ThoughtFix link to Prestwick of InternetTabletTalk’s request that users post some pictures of their Nokia Internet Tablets, it brought back a wave of nostalgia.

Check out the Nokia Internet Tablet photos here on the InternetTabletTalk forums.

And check out Lynn and Olga’s stuff on Tabletology.

- Warner Crocker

Those in Virginia don’t really consider themselves as a part of the Northeast. But geogaphical and historical references aside there are reports of a data outage in the Northeast, and I can verify that in Northwestern Virginia, we’re in the same boat.

I know Sumocat is seeing this a bit further south and east from my location. Anyone else experiencing the outage? Report in please.

 

 

- Warner Crocker

MobileDemand loves to show off their rugged Tablet PCs with videos of the devices getting hammered, dropped, tossed, you name it. We also love to put rugged Tablet PCs and accessories through some tough testing here at GBM. Heck, we’ll even drive a car over the product. Hmm? Maybe that’s why we don’t see that many rugged products shipped to us.

 

Well, MobileDemand has created the Tablet PC TV Video Blog, which is a site where they have compiled their own videos and will be compiling videos from sites like GottaBeMobile, that help tell the story of rugged Tablet PCs.

Check it out here.

- Warner Crocker

Motion Computing is announcing some new enhancements and also some new peripherals for the Motion C5, F5, and LE1700 Tablet PCs.

The enhancements to the LE1700 are designed to improve usability in the field without impacting battery performance:

• An additional Intel® Core2 Duo processor option, the Ultra Low Voltage U7500, offers up to a 10 percent increase in performance over the previous Core Solo processor without impacting battery life
• Enhanced UltraView and UltraView Anywhere displays which provide a brighter, wide viewing angle in an SXGA+ resolution of 1400 x 1050
• A new 64GB solid state drive (SSD) option that provides better performance and added durability by better protecting the PC against extreme shock and vibrations

For the C5 and the F5

• Smart card reader and EasyConnect USB/Ethernet Module improve the usability and enhance security options for the F5 Mobile Field Tool and C5 Mobile Clinical Assistant
• The new smart card reader enables companies to improve the security of critical data by enhancing authentication processes.  Additionally, the EasyConnect USB/Ethernet Module allows for easy connection to other devices or local area networks (LAN), without sacrificing the durability and protection offered by the fully sealed, protective design of the rugged tablet PCs.

Below are pictures of the EasyConnect USB Ethernet Module

- Warner Crocker

Google Chrome is getting lots of attention and impressions are all over the map. That is to be expected since this is only a Beta. (Keep reminding yourself of that folks.) If you look at the comments on this GBM post you’ll see that some are having good experiences and others less so.

Here are some of mine.

• On the ThinkPad X61 Tablet PC and ThinkPad X301 Notebook it is a much faster browser than any of the others I occasionally use. (I’ve got Firefox, IE8 Beta, Opera, and Safari loaded.)
• On VMWare Fusion on my iMac running Vista Ultimate, it isn’t as quick to load or operate as on the other machines. In fact it crashes there occasionally, something I haven’t seen on the other machines.
• The TIP loads and works fine on the X61 Tablet, but I’m seeing that others are reporting the opposite.
• I really like being able to pull a tab out of the browser and run it as its own thing. I do this with G-Mail primarily.
• Running the same number of tabs and websites, Chrome is reporting less memory usage than Firefox on any of the machines I’m trying.
• I’m able to use Windows Live Mesh’s web service successfully in this, which is a plus for me.
• I don’t like how searching the address bar erases the current URL and after doing so I can’t get back to it by hitting the back button. I guess I’m saying I miss a Search Box.

UPDATE: GBM Forum User loyukfai has started a thread in the GBM Forums for those who want to report their findings.

 

- Warner Crocker

Jenn at Pocketables is linking to Lazion.com  (fire up your translator of choice) where they have their hands on the Raon Digital Everun Note and have posted up quite a few pictures of Raon’s small notebook (not Netbook) that is capturing a lot of attention. The comparison shots next to the MSI Wind and the Kohjinsha are very interesting to look at for the size difference.

 

 

- Warner Crocker

Google’s servers must be cranking as everyone downloads the Beta of Chrome, Google’s new browser/OS. Twitter is alive with comments, as is FriendFeed. Look for this to occupy a lot of time from a lot of folks this afternoon and evening. I’ve just downloaded it and installed it and will be obviously checking it out, along with every other geek in geekdome.

 

- Matt Faulkner

Just a quick update to let you know that the new Google Browser is available for download already.  Looks VERY interesting!!  I am installing right now, let's see how it performs and it it lives up to the Hype.

- Warner Crocker

I doubt it sticks by YANBOTH stands for Yet Another Netbook On The Horizon. We seem to get a new announcement each and every day. Here’s a look at the Emtec Gdium Netbook that is running Mandriva Linux, a flavor of Linux I’m unfamiliar with. Liliputing is linking toEee PC News.de and Sascha Pallenberg who got a chance to take a look at this Netbook at IFA.

Some interesting notes:

• It doesn’t come with onboard storage. No HD, no SSD. Instead you get a 16GB USB flash disk containing the operating system.
• It is using an processor I’m unfamiliar with as well, the MIPS-based 900MHz Loongsoon CPU.