Fixing the PC power adapter cluster-muck

It's the small things in life.

So it is that when your car battery dies, you can jump-start the engine using generic cables sold by any of the thousands of retail locations that stock the item. And fairly soon, charging up most cell phones will be just as easy: Seven wireless operators and handset makers just agreed at the GSMA 2009 conference to standardize chargers.

Terrific. But when it comes to laptop PC power adapters, you'd be well advised to heed the tag line from a well-known American Express commercial: Don't leave home without it.

Because if you do, you're likely screwed.

The fact is that every PC maker has its own secret sauce to define how its laptop computer charger interacts with the battery. If you're stuck and someone is kind enough to lend you a charger designed for another make and model, the plugs usually won't fit and what's more, sometimes they use different voltage. Even if you manage to locate a substitute charger, where the ratings match and the unit plugs into your notebook, there's always the chance it may void your warranty.
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Biometric fingerprint scanners come to Netbooks

"I put down US$500 for a Netbook and all I got was an integrated Webcam!" Don't complain. That's not a bad deal, but if you must, I'll see that Webcam and raise you an integrated biometric fingerprint scanner.

This week, ,a href="http://www.upek.com/" target=new>UPEK announced the availability of biometric fingerprint scanners for Netbooks and other Mobile Internet Devices (MIDs) with its TouchStrip TCS5 Fingerprint Sensor. Along with the sensor is the dedicated touch-based Fingerprint Suite Starter software that allows users to access password-protected Web sites with the swipe of a digit.

So as users get caught up in cloud computing applications and online storage of personal files to compensate for the lack of storage on their Netbooks, the burden of remembering a number of different passwords to access Facebook and Twitter accounts will be alleviated.

The Fingerprint Suite Starter will be available starting in March with support for Windows XP and planned support for Windows 7 Starter edition. In addition, Fingerprint Suite support for Linux will be available later this year.

There's no word on pricing, but UPEK is marketing its technology to Netbook makers, not end users. So odds are biometric scanners may show up as an option on some Netbooks in the future.

Via Crave CNET

Archos 10-inch Netbook comes early

Archos, a popular maker of Portable Media Players and Mobile Internet Devices, is joining the Netbook fray by releasing one of its own.

Earlier this week, the company announced the availability of its new 10-inch Netbook on its online store. The Netbook was originally slated for release in April, but because it was announced at CES in January, I guess the company felt ready for prime time. Finally, Archos is said to be working on several new versions based on Intel's Moorestown platform, which will replace Intel's current Netbook and MID platform some time in 2010.

For now, let's take a quick look at the specs of the Archos 10, which will sound awfully familiar, especially to those people who've either purchased a Netbook or done some research on getting one.
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RIM, Lenovo sync up BlackBerrys, ThinkPads

Lenovo and Research In Motion make different devices, but have one thing in common: Their target audience.

Seeing that, the Canadian smartphone maker and the Chinese PC vendor have teamed up on Constant Connect, a new service that will make it easier to link ThinkPads and BlackBerrys.

A PCI Express card, available from Lenovo for US$150, will enable emails from a user's BlackBerry to automatically sync to their ThinkPad's email program, whether that be Outlook, or a POP mail account. The key is that the ThinkPad doesn't have to be powered on for this to happen: It can be off, suspended, in hibernation, or on.
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Dell Inspiron Mini 9: HSDPA radio for free

Unlike Bluetooth or Wi-Fi radios, HSDPA components are relatively expensive and can cost over S$200 (US$143.63) for an external USB adapter. This point is underscored by the fact that the difference in price between the 3G and non-3G versions of the LG X110 is S$300 (US$215.44). As such, most vendors like Dell, Asus and HP tie up with telcos to offer their HSDPA Netbooks at a more pocket-friendly price.

Dell, however, has taken a big leap forward by incorporating an HSDPA radio as standard on all its Inspiron Mini 9 Netbooks in Singapore and Malaysia. Priced at S$799 (US$573.79), this makes it the cheapest HSDPA Netbook at this time. According to the Round Rock company, since its tie-up with mobile broadband providers, it has decided to include HSDPA as standard for the Mini 9. Users will be glad to know that the 3G radio is not locked to any one provider and can be used with any 3G SIM card. Naturally, purchasing this model through telcos will still be cheaper but the flipside is that you will have to sign a two-year contract with the operator. For other Asian markets, the availability of the 3G-embedded Inspiron Mini 9 will depend on whether the country has a 3G infrastructure in place.

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