- Truc Bui

We've seen capacity LED indicators on notebook batteries, we've seen rudimentary indicators on hard drives, but this is definitely a nice little bonus for users looking at a fast and easy way to check the capacity of their external hard drives. Lenovo released its newest external hard drive concept featuring a touch-sensitive display showing how much space is left on the hard drive. The hard drive's ability of not having to be plugged in to check space is perhaps superfluous and unnecessary, but it's still pretty cool. With a swipe of the finger over the sensor brings the display to life. Maybe they can integrate 128-bit or 256-bit security into the finger swiper similar to a fingerprint scanner so you can access the drive and see the remaining capacity in the near future, which would make this hard drive something to seriously consider. As of now, it's just a cool gimmick that sets this external HD apart from the crowd. What would you want to see integrated into the finger scanner?

 

Via Design Launches

- Warner Crocker

If you live in Texas, as of September 1 of this year a new law is in effect that requires any company selling a computer in the state to offer a free consumer recycling program. Here's a rundown on Texas'  Computer Recycling Program. My state of Virginia has passed a law on this and West Virginia, Oklahoma and Missouri have as well.

Does your state have this kind of legislation in the works?

Via the Direct2Dell Blog

- Matt Faulkner

Looks like Chippy was playing with a new toy yesterday and we missed it!  He received a Everun Note and is already putting it thru it's paces!  HD videos, Unreal Tournament and Skype already with more to come.  From the start of the video, it looks like a nice little unit, for more information check out the full video below or over on UMPC Portal.

- Warner Crocker

Microsoft is busy spending $300 million on a new campaign to roll out, refurbish, re-build, revive, renovate, re-constitute, re-invent, re-whatever its image after ceding the battlefield for far too long and allowing Apple and others to shape the story since the launch of Vista. I hate to say it, but the effort seems not only misguided but doomed to fail. If this was a Broadway show the closing notices would be posted before intermission.

Mary Jo Foley is pointing to Microsoft’s revamped website which is featuring that first new splashy ad featuring Bill Gates and Jerry Seinfeld. As for the ad-what a waste of shoe leather. As for the site? Well, it is pretty. Mary Jo is also letting us know that Microsoft is going to spend some dough hiring and placing 150 or so Microsoft trained “gurus” in Best Buy and Circuit City stores in the roll up to the holiday season.  Think of them as ‘personal shoppers.’ Think of them as quickly being out of work.

- Warner Crocker

No, it isn’t a Tablet PC. The Lenovo ThinkPad X301 is a refresh, and maybe a bit more than a refresh of the Lenovo ThinkPad X300 (Check out Rob’s InkShow of the X300). Every notebook that is released in the ‘thin and light’ category is compared to the MacBook Air these days. The X301 is no different. I’ve never held an Air (can you hold air?) but I’m very impressed with the size and weight of the X300. It is extraordinarily light and thin. With that in mind, it also contains a bay for an optical driver or an extra battery. But more importantly, I’m impressed with the power and the speed of operation. The evaluation unit I’m working with has a Core 2 Duo U9400 running at 1.4GHz It also contains an Intel 64GB SSD and is running with 2GB of RAM. I have to say, this notebook just screams as a performer. I have not yet had a chance to really do any heavy lifting on the device, but if you’re “in the cloud” and need a full notebook, I don’t see how the X301 could let you down. It can be ordered with or without integrated broadband. Of course it isn't all a bed of roses, as you'll see when I try to put the unit to sleep.

I’ll be working with the X301 for the next few weeks and report more as I put it through some paces. In the meantime, enjoy this first look InkShow

Check out the Lenovo ThinkPad X301.

Download the High Res version here. (91.7MB, 12:07 min)

All GBM InkShows and Podcasts are sponsored by TechSmith.

- Warner Crocker

Modding Netbooks is already a trend. It looks like Dell has acknowledged that right up front about its just announced Mini 9 Netbook by putting the servcie manual online for easy access. Netbook modder extraordinaire jkkmobile provides the link and has posted some pictures for all to see. It looks like modding will be relatively easy here.

 

- Warner Crocker

Sony has issued a recall for those owning a notebook in the VAIO TZ series. The issues seems to be with wiring next to the hinge that could lead to a short and/or overheating, which is something you certainly don’t want to happen. Here is the link to what Sony is calling a ‘rework.’ Series model numbers affected inlcude:

• VGN-TZ100 series
• VGN-TZ200 series
• VGN-TZ300 series
• VGN-TZ2000 series

 

 

- Warner Crocker

You've heard how Jerry Seinfeld recently agreed to be a part of a 300 million dollar ad campaign, the biggest in Microsoft history, and now you can see what 300 mill looks like.  This commercial premiered yesterday during the NFL's season opener.  Does it make you want to be a Mac or a PC?

Read more about the Seinfeld commercials at Microsoft PressPass.

- Matthew Dillon

Engadget is reporting that Amazon will help the OLPC folks bring back the Give One, Get One program in November of this year.  The timing is perfect for holiday giving, satisfying your guilty conscience and rewarding you with a fun, new toy.  The Give One, Get One program originally allowed individuals to purchase one OLPC XO machine for themselves at $399 while another unit would be donated to a technologically impoverished child on your behalf.  Engadget is also reporting that the XO will sport dual-boot XP/Sugar OS this time around.  While the OLPC program has great impact on children of developing nations, I still wonder why we are slow to see programs such as this in the US.  My guess is that schools with strong budgets will begin investigating the netbook craze as an avenue to putting technology in students' hands.

Click here learn more about the OLPC project.

Via Engadget

- Warner Crocker

We've posted about the possibility of Dell's new Inspiron Mini 9 Netbook being subsidized by Telcos in the future. It looks like if you live in Europe, you might be first on the list to see for yourself. That won't be until later in September, but according to this article from Crave, Vodafone will partnering with Dell. My hunch is the deal is going to be a bit more complicated here in the US for a variety of reasons, but we'll have to see how this plays out.

What's also interesting about the Crave article is that Dell's John Thode says this:

We didn't build a small PC, we built an ultramobile device." "It does a lot of PC functions, but its intent was not to emulate a PC in every aspect."

I can buy that approach to these machines as a companion device. I'm just wondering if consumers see the difference as the entire Netbook wave moves forward in a market that is filled with both excitement and uncertainity. Managing expectations is a tough thing to do, and in my opinion is going to be even tougher with Netbooks. What are you going to call them, Not-a-Netbook?

- Matt Faulkner

What is going to be released next from Apple a full blown Tablet or just some more touchy features added to the MacBook or MacBook Pro?  In this new news, Apple is using voice, the whole keyboard and a camera to move around OSX.  Pretty cool if you ask me!  Part of this is already around in Vista with the speech features built right in the OS - I can copy and past or navigate where I want with voice commands easily.  But, if you aren't in a quite office and can't use speech, maybe this idea of using a camera would be a good idea.  Hand gestures to control some extra functionality could work out well, but I do see some issues.  What if you are docked or crammed on an airplane?  Would the camera be sensitive enough to work at a greater distance or in a more confined area?  Hit up the USPTO if you want to read about the submission to the patent office by Apple.

- Matt Faulkner

This one is!  Spill what you want on this Silver Seal Flex keyboard and it'll be fine.  After it's all sticky and wet, just throw it in the dishwasher and clean it off.  Best of all - It's one of those 'roll up' kinds of keyboards. So, if taking an external keyboard to plug in to your Tablet PC at the local coffee shop is your thing, there isn't a need to worry about that cup of java spilling on it!  On a similar note - How many of you are amazed at the things that come out of your keyboard when you spray a little compressed air at it??

- Matt Faulkner

Liliputing is reporting that the price of the Eee PC 701 is falling again... This time below the $300 dollar mark.  Like they say on the site, it's still not the $200 dollar unit like we all thought it was going to be. 

I still need to get my hands on one of these 'Net Books', maybe soon I can run out and get a cheap one from Best Buy and check it out, or maybe find somebody that is ordering a Dell for school and get one for $99 bucks...

- Warner Crocker

The leaks and teasers and names have been fast and furious and now it is official. Dell has released the Inspiron Min 9 Netbook. As we’ve seen that $299 price point was a mirage as the Ubuntu Linux version is priced at $349 and the XP version is $399.

Specs are about what everyone thought. It is running and Intel Atom Diamondville processor, screen resolution is 1024x600 on a back lit screen. You’ve got your choice of 4, 8, or 16GB of online storage and you can opt for 2GB of free online storage at Box.Net (can you say Cloud Computing.)

As is typical with these releases not all choices are available at launch. You can get your hands on the XP version now in either black or white, but you’ll have to wait a bit for the Ubuntu versions as well as for other colors.

 

 

Check out the press release after the READ MORE link.

- 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/