Posts in Notebooks
i-sleep for office naps
John Chan | Oct 08, 2008
Credit: Universitat der Kunste Berlin
Ever dozed off at your desk and woken up only to see a long line of rubbish letters on your text document, thanks to your cheek lying on the keyboard? Working when sleepy is a pain and this concept product, the i-sleep, seeks to make things a little better.
Here's the idea. When you feel sleepy, just close the laptop and this pillow will automatically inflate using air from the notebook vents. You can then safely take a short nap without worrying about oversleeping because an internal alarm wakes you up after 10 minutes. But based on what we know about laptops, we suspect their air vents probably won't blow out enough air to inflate the pillow, especially since most notebooks will power down everything when closed.
There's another problem it doesn't address, either: Bosses don't understand the concept that a 10-minute nap is not laziness, but in fact aids productivity. Though that doesn't really matter since this is just an idea for a school project and not a real product. But if they ever make an i-sleep that works, I know I'll be getting one.
Charge your laptop in 10 minutes
Darius Chang | Oct 07, 2008
Image credit: Aving News
Though there was only one paragraph accompanying this image, it was enough to bring our attention away from hydrogen fuel cell and silver zinc technology. Toshiba has developed a prototype power cell which it calls Super Charge Ion Battery (SCIB), and that can reach 90 percent charge in 10 minutes. It was unveiled during last week's Ceatec 2008 in Japan, but there is no news on when this technology will become commercially available.
Via Aving
Study: Huge growth in Wi-Fi devices expected
Marguerite Reardon | Oct 07, 2008
Embedded Wi-Fi chips could end up in almost a billion consumer electronics devices by 2012, according to market researcher In-Stat.
In-Stat said that more than 294 million consumer electronics devices with Wi-Fi shipped in 2007. But that number is quickly growing and will likely reach 1 billion by 2012. The fastest-growing embedded Wi-Fi segment is mobile handsets. By 2011, dual-mode cell phones will surpass PCs as the largest category of Wi-Fi devices, the In-Stat report said.
Several factors are driving adoption. Over the past few years, prices on Wi-Fi hardware have come way down. And the battery life for devices using Wi-Fi has improved dramatically, making it possible to embed Wi-Fi in handheld devices like cell phones. Today, many smart phones, like Apple's iPhone, come equipped with Wi-Fi.
Read more »
Windows XP gets another lifeline
Ina Fried | Oct 06, 2008
Bowing to continued demand, Microsoft has again extended the life of Windows XP.
Although the largest PC makers can't sell XP anymore (except for ultra-low-cost machines), they can sell Vista Ultimate and Vista Business machines with XP discs in the box, or even Vista machines that are "factory downgraded" to Windows XP.
That option was supposed to go away early next year, as Microsoft was going to stop supplying Windows XP media after January 31. However, the company now says it will offer the discs through July 31, giving the option a six-month extension. (Update: PC makers will also be able to sell the factory downgraded machines online as well.)
In a statement provided to CNET News, Microsoft tried to put the best face on the move.
Read more »
Eee PC S101: A premium Netbook
Darius Chang | Oct 06, 2008
Image credit: Hardwarezone
Tech site Hardwarezone seems to have popped the cork before the party has even begun, as leaked information on the first premium Eee PC was splashed across its site before being pulled down. According to an ASUS representative, the information was actually under embargo and the aforementioned Eee PC S101 was not supposed to see the light of day until later this week.
But what's done is done, and various other sites have replicated the information and the cat cannot be put back in the bag. The Eee PC S101 is the cooler and slimmer version of the Eee PC 1000H. It is equipped with an Atom chipset, 10.2-inch display and solid-state drive. What makes this model really special is its exceptional sleekness, coming in at only 25mm thick with a 1kg heft. This makes the Eee PC 1000H look bloated and heavy in comparison. Other features include:
The 16GB SSD version with Windows XP system is expected to cost US$699, the same as the 32GB SSD Linux edition. Bumping up the storage to 64GB SSD with Linux is an extra US$100. We expect confirmation on the availability and regional pricing details to be available soon, so keep an eye on this page.
Via Hardwarezone
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