Weekly Wrapup: Notebook, Tablet and Smartphone News & Reviews (June 3rd)

Thanks to Computex 2011 in Taipei we have a large collection of new notebooks to share with you. We also have some new news about smartphones and tablets, including an in-depth look at the HP TouchPad from Computex. Don’t forget, if you signed up for our reader meetup tonight, you should grab your ticket and get to the venue for your chance to win a Galaxy Tab 10.1 and a collection of Samsung smartphones. You can also meet up with many of the GottaBeMobile writers.

Smartphone and Tablet News for the week of June 3rd

• Ahead of WWDC, iPhone 6 Rumors Abound
  Ahead of Apple’s annual congregation of developers at WWDC 2011 in San Francisco, California, a destination where the company is expected to showcase the latest features of iOS 5 and Mac OS X Lion, rumors of the next-generation iPhone hardware are picking up momentum.
• Crux Loaded Case Turns iPad 2 Into Asus Transformer, But Is It Worth the Price?
  For iPad 2 owners looking on at the Asus Eee Pad Transformer‘s clever laptop dock in envy, Crux is bringing its Crux Loaded case to the second-generation iOS tablet to enable the same functionality.
• 5 Features iOS 5 Needs to Make Me Switch from Android [WWDC]
  What iOS 5 neeeds to stay in competition with Android and convert one of our editors.
• Asus PadFone Details, First Impression & Hands On Video Roundup
  Asus has unveiled a new tablet concept at Computex 2011 called the Asus PadFone, which has an opening in the back that allows you to dock your smartphone to power the tablet, similar to how the Motorola Atrix 4G powers a laptop dock.
• Windows 8 Touch Interface Impresses But Is It Enough?
  Well, Microsoft took the wraps off their touch tablet strategy yesterday and if I had to describe the effort in one word, it would be “impressive”.
• Ever Wanted An HTC Smartphone Running WebOS? Well, You Might Just Get It
  HP’s CEO Leo Apotheker is open to licensing his company’s mobile software, webOS, to companies like HTC.
• Verizon Announces 4G LTE Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, Pre-Orders Start June 8th
  Verizon has made the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 official which means that Big Red is finally going to have a 4G LTE capable tablet within its stable of devices.
• High on Apple’s iCloud: Top 5 Reasons to Care Even If You’re Not a Music Lover
  We’ve been talking about iTunes streaming, cloud storage, music streaming, and a digital locker for some time now at GottaBeMobile, and here are the top five things that may shape iCloud, though some of these items may take time to happen.

New Notebooks for the Week of June 3rd

• ASUS Shows Off Republic of Gamers G53SX Naked Eye 3D Notebook
  ASUS is showing of some new 3D gaming notebooks at Computex, including their new Republic of Gamers G53SX Naked Eye 3D. They call it the “world’s first naked-eye 3D laptop meaning you can have 3D gaming or video without the need for those annoying 3D glasses.
• MSI F Series Gains FX620DX and FX420 with Quad Core Options, GPUs from AMD and NVIDIA
  MSI showed off a wide array of new notebooks at Computex this week including updates to the premium F series line of notebooks. The new MSI F620DX notebook and the FX420 are what MSI calls the “supercar of laptops,” due to a collection of performance, looks and multimedia options.
• ASUS Announces ROG G74Sx 3D Gaming Notebook
  ASUS announced a new 3D gaming notebook for the hard-core gamer called the ASUS G74Sx. It is part of the Republic of Gamers (ROG) line which is designed for serious gamers who want the power to run any game they choose anywhere they please.
• MSI CX640, CX670 and CX480 C Series Notebooks Arrive w/ Latest Intel and AMD Processors
  MSI announced a trio of new notebooks in the C Series lineup at Computex 2011 this week. The new C Series notebooks include the MSI CX640 as well as the MSI CX670 and CX480 which have 15.6″ displays.
• MSI X460 Arrives with Slim Design, Sandy Bridge & GeForce GT540M
  MSI announced a collection of new notebooks at Computex 2011 including the MSI X460, the latest addition to the MSI X Series of notebooks. This new X series notebook packs a decent amount of power into a size that looks like a perfect fit for students.
• Lenovo Unveils IdeaPad U300s UltraBook at Computex
  Intel is doing all it can to push the new UltraBook platform and it appears that they have convinced Lenovo to get on board with the IdeaPad U300s/U3s Ultrabook at Computex 2011.
• Dell Latitude E6420 XFR and ATG Bring Rugged Power to Police and Professionals
  Dell has just announced the Dell Latitude E6420 XFR fully rugged notebook and the Dell Latitude E6420 ATG semi-rugged notebook with the latest Intel Sandy Bridge processors and discrete graphics. These rugged and semi-rugged notebooks aren’t just designed to be standalone tools, but rather full solutions for users that need to meet specific needs.
• MSI GT683 Gaming Notebook Arrives with NVIDIA GTX 560M GPU and $1,599 Price
  MSI has unveiled the MSI GT683, first notebook to ship with the NVIDIA GTX 560M GPU, both of which were announced at Computex 2011 this week.
• ASUS UX21 UltraPortable Tries to Out-Air the MacBook Air (Video)
  ASUS introduced a the new UX Series notebooks at Computex 2011 today, showing off the ASUS UX Series ultraportable notebook which measures 17mm at the thickest point and 3mm at the thinnest and weighs 2.4 pounds. One look at the ASUS UX and it will be clear to you which notebook the company is going after.

Notebook News for the Week of June 3rd

• Apple Handling Early Malware Threats More Aggressively Than Microsoft
  Apple released an update yesterday that deals with the MacDefender problem and also will help you avoid future infections. It adds a new tool to the security features of OS X that daily updates a list of known malware.
• Microsoft Standalone System Sweeper Cleans Viruses and Malware
  Microsoft has released the Microsoft Standalone System Sweeper, a new tool that works alongside Microsoft Security Essentials, as an advanced system cleaner. If you have a difficult to remove malware or virus problem, this new tool from Microsoft may be able to detect and remove the problem.
• Apple Offers MacBook Bottom Case Replacement Program
  Due to an issue affecting the white plastic MacBook model where the bottom plastic cover would separate from the rubber, Apple is offering a case replacement program.
• NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560M Notebooks Arrive Today with Optimus at Gaming SweetSpot
  NVIDIA just announced the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560M mobile notebook GPU which is the latest gaming GPU to roll off the lines at NVIDIA with support for Direct X11, NVIDIA PhysX, NVIDIA 3D Vision, 3DTV Play and for the first time NVIDIA Optimus.
• Steve Jobs To Unveil OS X Lion, iOS 5 & iCloud at WWDC
  Steve Jobs will be on hand at WWDC to unveil OS X Lion, iOS 5 and iCloud next week on June 6, 2011 at 10:00 am PDT. OS X Lion and iOS 5 are the next versions of Apple’s operating systems for the computer and mobile devices.
• Intel Attempts to Define Computing Future with Thin “Ultraboooks” Starting under $1,000
  At Computex 2011 Intel announced a new plan to help usher in a new class of thin ultraportable notebooks that cost less than $1,000. Intel is calling these new notebooks “Ultrabooks” and wants to move at least 40% of the consumer notebooks to this thin form factor by the end of 2012.