IBLOG SPACE

Digital Storm has been making desktop and workstation computers for a while now and we have talked about some of them like the DAVINCI workstation in the past. Digital Storm has debuted a new desktop PC called the Black|OPS Assassin. The new machine uses a liquid cooling system that Digital Storm called the Sub-Zero system, which obviously is incapable of chilling the CPU to sub zero temperatures. The company claims that the liquid cooling solution is capable of allowing the CPU to be overclocked to 4.4GHz and higher. The machine is available in performance, enthusiast, and extreme versions. All of the versions use the Intel Core i7 930 2.8GHz CPU and 6GB of DDR3 RAM. The EVGA X58 motherboard and a 750W PSU is also used in each system. The performance version has a GTX 470 video card, the enthusiast version has a HD 5870 video card, and the extreme has a GTX 480 video card. Pricing starts at $2387, $2535, and $2693 respectively.

The iPad’s temperamental WiFi has already been fingered as a DHCP issue – temporarily fixable by power cycling the wireless or the tablet itself – but it seems Apple themselves are readying what will hopefully be a more permanent fix. The company’s two support pages for the iPad WiFi issue (here and here) have been updated with the promise that “Apple will also address remaining Wi-Fi connectivity issues with a future iPad software update.” The exact nature of the software update is unclear, but assuming the DHCP explanation is accurate it would seem likely that they’d be looking to prevent the iPad from allowing its IP lease to expire when in certain standby conditions. IT managers at Princeton University discovered that the iPad would sometimes attempt to continue using the same IP address despite whichever router assigned it no longer seeing it as valid (and, potentially, already having assigned it to a different user).

Project Natal ’s “world premiere” may be this coming June, but the company is yet to officially confirm when exactly the movement-sensing hardware might actually reach the market. Happily that’s all changed now, thanks to what seems to be an accidental announcement by Microsoft’s marketing manager for Saudi Arabia, Syed Bilal Tariq; he told GamerTagRadio that Natal’s release “is going to be somewhere in October”. The exec went on to say that Microsoft would confirm the exact date during their E3 launch of the Natal hardware, which we’re expecting to be on June 13th. He certainly doesn’t seem to have any doubts about the release window either, saying “definitely it is going to be October 2010.”

We can’t say we’ve been driven into a square-phone frenzy by Nokia’s 7705 Twist, but obviously someone at Motorola thinks this form-factor is the way forward. According to Gizmodo Brazil you’re looking at the Motorola Flipout, a squared-off twisting Android smartphone running 2.1 Eclair with MOTOBLUR . Apparently the Flipout has a 2.8-inch touchscreen, 512MB of memory and 256MB of RAM, paired with a 700MHz processor and GPS. There’s also a 3.1-megapixel camera and at least three colors – black, green and pink – together with that QWERTY keyboard of course. While the Flipout may not particularly excite you, the prospect of an upgrade to Android 2.1 for phones currently on sale with MOTOBLUR might do. So far Motorola have only said they’re working on the update, but if the Flipout does arrive in June 2010 we can hope that the new firmware will follow shortly after.

While the future of HP’s Windows 7 slate apparently hangs in the balance, MSI are supposedly gung-ho about their own tablet running the Microsoft OS. According to DigiTimes’ sources, the company will bring the MSI Slatebook to Computex 2010 in early June. Based, so “sources at notebook players” would have it, on Intel’s Menlow Atom Z5xx processor range (not the newerMoorestown Z6xx chips), the Slatebook apparently has a 10-inch display and integrated WiFi and 3G. Although it will be a full Windows 7 PC, MSI are apparently in negotiations with ebook content providers to better position the Slatebook as an ereader platform. The company has supposedly frozen development on their dedicated ereader device, and expect the MSI Slatebook to come in at under $500. Meanwhile the company are still tipped to be considering a Tegra 2 based tablet; back in January an MSI exec confirmed that a 10-inch Tegra 250 slate was in development. That too was predicted to come in at under $500 and arrive

Lenovo’s IdeaCentre Q150 takes its Q110 predecessor and brings it up to date with Intel’s latest nettop Atom processors, throwing out the old Atom 330 and replacing it with either the 1.6GHz single-core D410 or dual-core D510. They’re still paired with optional NVIDIA Ion graphics for up to 1080p Full HD via the HDMI output, in a form factor that measures just 0.82-inches wide. As well as the included stand you can mount the nettop on the back of your flatscreen TV, thanks to a VESA mount, while other connectivity includes VGA, four USB 2.0 ports, ethernet and audio in/out. There’s also WiFi onboard too. Lenovo are also offering an optional multimedia remote with an integrated trackball mouse and mini keyboard, intended to round out the HTPC potential of the Q150. No word on how much the remote costs, but the nettop itself will be priced from $249 when it arrives at the end of June 2010.

Lenovo ’s IdeaCentre all-in-one range has been given a polish, with the IdeaCentre A700 getting an injection of Intel’s Core 2010 processors (albeit from the laptop rather than the desktop range) and the IdeaCentre B305 raiding AMD’s line-up instead, with a choice of Athlon II X4 CPUs. Each has optional touch-sensitivity, with the A700 using Surface Acoustic Wave (SAW) technology more commonly found in medical settings. The A700 has a 23-inch Full HD widescreen display, while the B305 is a little smaller at 21.5-inches though still packs Full HD resolution. The IdeaCentre A700 has both HDMI input and output, up to 8GB of RAM and up to 2TB of storage, and comes as standard with a nifty 3-in-1 mouse that can be used on the desk as normal or as an air-pointer/motion game controller. Its aluminum chassis ranges from 0.8- to 2.5-inches thick, despite fitting in WiFi a/g/n and a Blu-ray drive. It’ll arrive at the end of June 2010 priced from $999. As for the IdeaCentre B305, that gets AT

The IdeaPad Z series aren’t the only mainstream notebooks Lenovo have to announce this morning; the company has also taken the wraps off of the new Lenovo IdeaPad U series. Admittedly the new IdeaPad U160, U460 and U460s aren’t quite as interesting as the U1 Hybrid , but the 11.6-inch U160 and 14-inch U460 and U460s do slide in at under an inch in thickness while still packing Intel’s new Core and Core ULV low-power processors. There are multiple configurations for the three new models, with a choice of new ULV CPUs including the Core i3-330UM (1.2GHz), Core i5-430UM (1.2GHz), 1.06GHz Core i5-520UM (1.06GHz), Core i5-540UM (1.2GHz), Core i7-620UM (1.06GHz) and Core i7-640UM (1.6GHz) for the U160 and U460s, as well as standard voltage processors on the U460. All get WiFi and Bluetooth, and the U160 is 2.9lbs while the U460/U460s are 3.8lbs. Lenovo reckon the U series look like a closed book in profile, and while we’re not entirely convinced we’ll admit they do look quite striking (es

Lenovo have outed a new line of affordable mainstream multimedia notebooks, the IdeaPad Z Series, three new machines that kick off from $649. The Lenovo IdeaPad Z360 and Z560 offer a choice of Intel Core i3, i5 or i7 processors and NVIDIA GeForce 315M graphics, while the Z565 gets a choice of AMD Phenom II processors and ATI Mobility Radeon graphics. Screen sizes on offer include 13.3- and 15.6-inches, both supporting HD resolution and coming in at 16:9 widescreen. There’s also optional Blu-ray and Dolby’s Advanced Audio with a “OneKey Theater II” button that can apparently automatically set up the best sound and visual settings for your environment. As for more mundane use, there’s a chiclet keyboard and the 15.6-inch models get a separate numeric keypad. It’s worth noting that the apparent metal chassis is actually a “metallic effect”, but then again perhaps we expect too much for the money. The Lenovo IdeaPad Z series is expected to go on sale from June 2010, priced from $649.

CradlePoint and Sprint have officially announced that the MBR1200 Router and CBA750 3G/4G mobile broadband adapter have been certified to work on Sprint’s 3G and 4G network. (They’re definitely on a roll now.) Primarily focused on the fact that wired connections don’t always stay connected, both connectivity devices are designed to make sure that if, for any reason, those wired connections fail, that businesses are still able to get work done. CradlePoint has positioned the MBR1200 as the ideal connectivity solution for businesses, as it allows for those who use it to connect to the Internet in a matter of minutes. The MBR1200 can be used as a dedicated access point for the Internet, or it can be utilized as a back-up plan just in case the wired connections go down for whatever reason. The router also provides back-up connectivity, and has the ability to automatically switch from the primary connection type to a secondary method, depending on the availability or connection type. The r

When it comes to charging things while on the go, having access to the ability is pretty important. Especially as more and more devices get released. But, we’re of the mind that the devices that charge our other devices need to be even remotely practical. We’ll leave it up to you on whether or not a helmet that can charge your cell phones is practical or not. This particular helmet was engineered by two students from India, working out of their university. It’s designed to protect your head while you’re riding around, but also charge your cell phone when you need to get that extra boost. Apparently the university was having some kind of “green fest,” and the students wanted to make sure that their helmet fit well into the category of green. Thanks to some solar panels on the helmet, they made the mark. There’s no exact details on the helmet, what they did to make it, or how it even works other than those panels, but you could buy it all for $23, according to the students. Pretty chea

All good things must come to an end. And, for the life of the CDMA-based Google Nexus One, it seems that time has come now. While the Verizon Wireless version of the Nexus One has already been canned in favor of the HTC Incredible, it was apparently only a matter of time before the other version, the one for Sprint, got the ax too. After the Incredible launched on Verizon’s network, there were a lot of people saying that there didn’t seem to be much of a reason for the Nexus One to make an appearance. And, sure enough, Verizon realized much the same thing and scrapped the launch. Now Sprint has apparently done the same thing. Why? Because of the HTC EVO 4G, of course. A far more impressive device in just about every shape and form, apparently the higher-ups at Sprint don’t really see a reason to go through the Google Store for the Nexus One. So, if you were one of the people out there that got excited about the potential of the Nexus One on the Now Network, consider your excitement das

Facebook is good for something, we imagine. After all, more and more companies are utilizing the social networking site to announce things. Huge things, in fact. For example, today marks the official announcement of the Palm Pre Plus for AT&T and when, for how much, and a little bit of extra goodness thrown in for good measure courtesy of AT&T’s Facebook page. The premiere webOS handset is all set to launch in just a few short days: May 16th, 2010 to be exact. And, while it may not be going for the cheap, cheap price that Verizon Wireless is currently advertising their own model, it does come with an added bonus. Palm and AT&T have decided to throw in one Touchstone wireless charging device for anyone who picks up the device “for a limited time,” and from an AT&T corporate location. You can expect to pay $149.99 for the Pre Plus after a mail-in rebate, and a new two-year contract gets signed. Unfortunately, for now it seems that the Pre Plus is the only device getting

Accessories for computers aren’t always on the cheap side, especially when it comes to wireless mice, but this one from Dell fits the bill. And, even if it doesn’t cost an arm and a leg, it’s still got some pretty good features to attract anyone looking for a new, travel-friendly mouse. It’s compact enough that you can stick it in your laptop bag when you need to head out, and it doesn’t look half bad, either. So pulling it out in front of everyone in that local cafe won’t mean you’ll look foolish. Plus, it’s cheap. Features like 1,000 dpi optical tracking, four distinct glossy colors, and a nano-USB receiver that can be concealed in a fold-up storage design. You can choose from red, black, white, and blue, all of which have the same black base and wheel, plus a shiny aesthetic. As for the price, it’ll only run you $30 right now, and it’s available if you’re really interested. It’s also got an automatic power on/off, and an indicator light to show you which is which, if you’re into th

Bluetooth headsets are mostly associated – literally, in fact – with cellphones, but there are plenty of people looking to go wireless with their computers for VoIP. Plantronics’ Voyager PRO UC looks like a regular headset but is designed to pair not only with your phone but your computer via a bundled USB dongle, and to maintain those connections simultaneously. Check out the full SlashGear review after the cut. The design of the Voyager PRO UC won’t come as a surprise if you’re familiar with other models from Plantronics’ range. It’s not the slickest of Bluetooth headset designs, with a size-able battery section that hangs over the back of your ear, and a reasonably long boom microphone arm, but it’s well made and the plastics and rubber feel of high quality. Since the ear-loop is responsible for keeping the Voyager PRO UC in place, the earpiece itself doesn’t need to be buried in your ear canal. That minimizes longer-term discomfort and also allows for some background noise to stil

Pinch of salt time, but MadDailyNews are reporting on an unconfirmed tip that Apple are considering making their MobileMe cloud-based synchronisation and backup service subscription-free. Currently priced at $99 per year, according to the unnamed source Apple’s timescale is “sooner than later… [and] depends on certain facilities going operational.” What those “facilities” are, exactly, isn’t specified. If the rumor pans out to be true, it could be that Apple are looking to promote inter-device synchronisation for those users with one or more iPads, iPhones and iPod touch units. Within the last few days, Apple have been tipped to offer a similar style of joined-up content management for media playback, leveraging their Lala acquisition under a new iTunes Live product.

Peek’s expected European launch date came and went with nary a sign of the dedicated email device, but the company has piped up with some new information and a new network partner. Out goes previous collaborator FON, and in comes Spotnik ; as for the release, the first European Peek units are expected to arrive in June 2010. Spotnik are billed as “a telecoms company providing data services to next generation wireless products” and beyond that and their content-free site we’re pretty much in the dark. Last time around, they were tipped as a new pan-Europe MVNO which would allow Peek to roam across multiple EDGE data networks without any user intervention. There’s no word on whether the previously publicised prices – €99 ($146) for the device including the first six months of service, with a monthly service fee of €12.90 ($19) with no ongoing contract after that – will hold true, either. We’ve got a request in with Peek for more information, and will update as soon as we know more.

Sony’s second generation VAIO P might arguably only be a gradual evolution of the company’s resolutely-widescreen ultraportable platform, but that doesn’t mean we don’t want to see it in a teardown. Japanese site PC User have done the honors, taking a lime green VAIO P and stripping it down to its constituent parts. As with the Sony VAIO X, it’s obvious that the company’s engineers have done some sterling work squeezing all the necessary components down to suit the 1.4lb VAIO P form-factor. Unfortunately, they’ve also made some compromises; for instance, the SSD Sony have used has a non-standard connector, which will likely make upgrades a headache. Still, there’s also more efficient cooling systems thanks to a magnesium alloy frame, which should hopefully avoid the VAIO P from burning up your lap, and Sony have moved around a lot of the components having learned layout lessons from the first-gen machine. Still very niche, then, but an impressive piece of design and engineering all

Analysts NPD are claiming that, by their count, Android has crept past Apple to take the number two spot of most popular smartphone operating systems in the US. Based on figures from Q1 2010, Android-based devices accounted for 28-percent of smartphone unit sales, ahead of Apple’s iPhone OS at 21-percent but still lagging behind RIM’s BlackBerry OS at 36-percent. The shift in balance is being credited to strong promotional pushes by US carriers to drive Android device adoption, particularly in the face of the iPhone’s current exclusivity on AT&T. ”In order to compete with the iPhone,” NPD analyst Ross Rubin explains, “Verizon Wireless has expanded its buy-one-get-one offer beyond RIM devices to now include all of their smartphones.” This promotion saw particularly strong sales of the DROID,DROID Eris, and Blackberry Curve. Nonetheless, AT&T’s smartphone sales alone accounted for 32-percent of the smartphone market in the US as a whole, ahead of Verizon’s 30-percent, T-Mobil

AMD has long played second fiddle to rival Intel in most markets. The server market is very competitive between the two companies but in the desktop and notebook market, AMD has struggled to compete with Intel. Reuters reports that this summer is going to be a big one for AMD. AMD reportedly has its CPUs set to be included in 109 mainstream notebook models in the coming months with the best rigs showing up in time for back to school shopping. In 2009, there were only 40 laptop models that used AMD processors. AMD says that typically more models mean you can sell more CPUs, which should do a lot to help the bottom line at AMD. Last year AMD had 12.1% of worldwide CPU shipments and Intel had a whopping 87.8% of shipments. AMD will focus on the consumer segment where most growth is expected.

While the WiGig Alliance sounds like it should be an organisation promoting whirligig adoption, they actually busy themselves with wireless connectivity. In fact, latest across the Wireless Gigabit Alliance’s desk is a standard that takes backward compatibility with the existing 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands used by WiFi 802.11 devices and throws in some 60GHz action for data transfer rates up to 7 Gbps. That means significantly higher speeds than WiFi 802.11n is capable of currently, handy when you consider how many people are trying to shuffle high-definition media around their homes or back up huge quantities of data. Backward compatibility, meanwhile, means older non-WiGig compliant devices with WiFi can still hook up to the same networks. Cisco is fresh on-board, and sound pretty keen from their press release quote, so there’s a fair chance we could see super-speedy wireless debuting relatively soon.

Now that the shortage of many of the Intel Core 2010 processors has ended Intel is set to offer up some new mobile parts for laptops. The new processors were tipped in a leaked service manual reports Laptoping . The service manual was specifically for the HP Envy 17 and revealed that the machine will be using the Core i5-450M CPU running at 2.4GHz and consuming 35W at full tilt. The machine will also get a Core i7-740QM part running at 1.73GHz with four cores and the i7-840QM will run at 1.86GHz with its four cores. Both of those quad core offerings will need as much as 45W of power. There are a couple other parts that are expected with the new CPUs in the Envy 17. Those chips are the i5-530M, i5-550M, and the i7-940XM quad core extreme processor.

Notorious Gadgets is a very strange name for a computer maker, but when that computer maker stems from a company called Notorious Solutions it makes a bit more sense. The new line of computers sold under the name in the UK are small and compact machines that aim to be stylish. Notorious Gadgets offers its new SFF computers in two lines including the Phatty series that have an optical drive and measure in at 214 x 220 x 80mm. The Slimmy series are thinner machines lacking an optical drive measuring 214 x 220 x 55mm. The machines can be had in models aimed at office use, multimedia use, and pro usage. They can be had with a range of Intel CPUs from the Atom line to Core 2 CPUs. There are also versions of the machines available with AMD Phenom II processors as well. Pricing starts at € 342.

Let the truth be told now. After some dilly dallying that went on, the secret is finally out. Kangna Ranaut would basically be seen in a special appearance in Anurag Basu directed Kites which is being entirely sold as a Hrithik-Barbara starrer now. "Let's not make a big deal about all of this", says Anurag who has given almost three years of his personal and professional life into making Kites a reality, "When I first spoke to Kangna about Kites , she didn't even want to know what she was supposed to do in the film." During last year and a half, while it was a known fact that Barbara Mori was the leading lady of Hrithik Roshan, it was widely believed that Kangna Ranaut would have a substantial role to play in Kites , both from duration as well as content perspective. After all, this was her third film with Anurag Basu (after Gangster and Life In A Metro ) and Kites would have been her big calling card, courtesy the prestigious banner of Rosha

If the sources close to ApnaDesi are to be believed, then the gorgeous Twinkle Khanna, who had taken a sabbatical from the tinsel town, is back. This time round, she will be seen in a commercial for Micromax Mobiles. It is the same brand of cell phones endorsed by Twinkle's hubby dearest Akshay Kumar. The same source also added that the ad will be directed by the ace director Anurag Basu and that it's supposed to be a fun ad which will show the glamorous and funny side of Twinkle at the same time." We simply can't wait to see Twinkle's comeback

Banner Star Box Office A Fox Television Studios Click here to get the Latest Updates On Vroom Status Completed Color C Release Date May 14, 2010 Language Hindi Genre Drama Producer Sameer Sabnis Executive Producer / Co-Producer Baladutt Papne Director Savin Tuscano Star Cast Gaurav Bajaj...... Rahul Nina Sarkar...... Pooja (Introducing) Naveen Prabhakar...... Girgit Delna Modi...... Diana Raj Singh Arora...... Vicky Paintal...... Dr. Ramanujam Kanwaljeet Singh Daisy Irani Cinematography Bakul Sharma

HTC said today that it has filed suit against Apple for patent infringement and has asked the U.S. International Trade Commission to “halt the importation and sale of the iPhone, iPad and iPod in the United States.” The complaint, which HTC says involves five patents, follows legal action by Apple against HTC in a Delaware District court and the ITC in March. In a brief statement today, Jason McKenzie, VP of HTC North America, said: As the innovator of the original Windows Mobile PocketPC Phone Edition in 2002 and the first Android smartphone in 2008, HTC believes the industry should be driven by healthy competition and innovation that offer consumers the best, most accessible mobile experiences possible. We are taking this action against Apple to protect our intellectual property, our industry partners, and most importantly our customers that use HTC phones. The competitive landscape of the mobile industry has become so intense that allegations of patent infringement ar

Sony’s colorful new VAIO P refresh has been confirmed for a US launch, and in fact the 8-inch ultraportable will imminently be going up for preorder from around $800. That’s $200 less than the current model retails for, though we’re yet to see a complete specification comparison. Still, the new VAIO P does get an updated range of Intel Atom Z5xx series processors which should hopefully churn a little faster than the first-gen version. Sony USA tells us that the new VAIO P will be going up for preorder at www.sony.com/pr/pseries (at time of writing it’s still showing the existing model). Five colors will be available – orange, pink, white, green and black – and each SKU will have an integrated accelerometer and new trackpad controls built into the screen bezel. More specification and hardware details here.

Updates for the MacBook Pro line were being clamored for long before the updates actually showed up a month or so back. The reason for the long delay was a shortage of 2010 Intel Core CPUs for the line of notebooks. A source had tipped MacWorld in Australia that the MacBook Pro update was coming and the tip proved correct. Aussie MacWorld reports that the same tipster is now telling the publication that a MacBook Air update is set to land this week. The rumor stems from a new Apple product number that has been found in the database. The product number is MC516LL/A K87 BETTER BTR-USA. For some reason the BETTER section of the part number is believed to link the new product to a Mac. However, MacWorld also thinks that the new product number could be one for a new 27-inch display that has been rumored to be on the way to match the 27-inch screen used in the high-end iMac. The database shows a few thousand of whatever the number goes with on the way to Australia this week so perhaps we wi

Sales of Nintendo hardware and software are plummeting. The Wii has seen sales drop as has the DS, both of the machines have been on the market a while now and it seems consumers are getting bored. There is no update for the Wii on the horizon, but a new portable called the 3DS is set to land this October. So far, we have few concrete details on the 3DS other than we know it will need no 3D glasses for users to see the 3D games. Engadget reports today that the console will also have a switchable 2D game mode. That is a good thing since there will be times when 3D graphics might not be desired. The new tidbit about the 2D mode came from Nintendo president Satoru Iwata. The new mode will also be better for some aspects of the console like reading text. The full details of the 3DS will be unveiled at E3 next month.

The Sonos ZonePlayer S5 went on sale in the US back in November of 2009. The S5 has an amp and a wireless receiver along with a speaker sporting five drivers inside its sleek enclosure. Sonos has announced that it has added a new mode to the S5 called stereo pair. The new mode is being added in a new software update and allows the user to use a pair of S5 speakers as stereo speakers. The user can designate each speaker as a left or right unit for better sound. Standard S5 speakers operate on their own. The feature is a slick way for users who have multiple S5 units to combine two speakers when they want better sound and then return the individual units to stand alone mode when they want music in multiple rooms. The speakers are synchronized to prevent any latency issues when used in stereo pair mode. The new mode will be offered in the 3.2 software release set for this month.

Having shown us their idea of what the next-gen iPhone should look like, ADR Studio have moved on to envisaging smaller Apple products. They’re hoping Apple take to the stage at WWDC to announce the iWatch , a touchscreen timepiece that doubles as a pico-projector, weather forecast display and RSS reader. ADR reckon it could include WiFi and Bluetooth – to allow for wireless connections with your iPhone or iPad – along with 16GB of onboard storage and all with the Cupertino company’s trademark style. To be fair, the Italian design studio aren’t really expecting Apple to move into the watch business, this is just another excuse to show off their rendering skills. Still, the chunky lines and distinctive font look pretty good; all Apple would have to do is figure out a way to make the battery last for more than a few minutes driving the pico-projector.

Orange UK jumped the gun on Friday and announced their iPad WiFi + 3G data plans – in fact their pre-registration page went live today – but details from rival carriers O2 and Vodafone have only been confirmed this morning. Apple’s preorder page for the iPad WiFi + 3G confirms that O2’s daily plan is better value than Orange’s (£2 for 500MB, versus £2 for 200MB) while Vodafone are concentrating solely on monthly packages. Full details after the cut. As well as the daily option, O2 offer 1GB of mobile data per month for £10 or 3GB for £15 (the latter being the same as Orange’s plan). Meanwhile Vodafone UK more closely follow AT&T’s iPad 3G plans in the US, offering 250MB per month for £10 or 5GB (not unlimited) per month for £25. A MicroSIM card for one of the three carriers can be added to an iPad WiFi + 3G pre-order for £0.20. Interestingly, while with Orange and Vodafone users have to call the carrier to pick a data plan and start their 3G service, those with an O2 MicroSIM

Remember Sony Japan’s paperclip-toting teaser campaign a few weeks back? Turns out, that paperclip is the new Sony VAIO P ultraportable in cross-section; the Japanese company has refreshed its 8-inch slimline notebook, with the new VAIO P getting a choice of Intel Atom Z530, Z540 or Z560 processors, a 64GB SSD, an accelerometer for automatically flipping screen orientation and integrated 3G and GPS. There’s also WiFi b/g/n, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR and a digital compass, along with two USB 2.0 ports, GMA 500 graphics and 2GB of DDR2 RAM. The 8-inch widescreen display runs at an eye-crunching 1600 x 768 resolution, while the standard battery is apparently good for up to 5hrs (or 10hrs with the optional extended pack). Navigation is either via the central trackball, a new touchpad integrated into the screen bezel (handy for using the VAIO P while walking) or by physically tilting the notebook to move backward and forward in the browser, flick through photo galleries or PDF files. Sony have

“It’s like we said on the iPad, if you see a stylus, they blew it.” The audience sniggered. There was no small sense that Steve Jobs had carefully prepared that line earlier and had it waiting; that like the repetitious declarations of the iPad as “miraculous” by every person to take the stage at its launch, this snub at Microsoft’s expense had similarly been rehearsed, a barbed nugget guaranteed to set the gathered journalists, bloggers and Mac-faithful a-titter. A stylus is, after all, old-school; a flawed halfway house before the advent of the iPhone and iPad . Jobs’ Apple can’t see a reason for one, and they reckon you should think so too. And yet, as input methods go, the stylus remains one of the most misunderstood. The problem is that people assume that a tablet PC is just a big Windows Mobile phone, and the fact that access to the latter has generally been far greater for most means that conception seldom gets challenged. It’s a belief that leaves them sadly short-changed, too:

The TouchSmart tm2 wasn’t in among the notebooks HP refreshed earlier this week, but according toNewGadget.de the convertible touchscreen PC will be getting an update of its own by the end of June 2010. Their sources reckon the 12.1-inch notebook will junk its existing Core 2 Duo SU7300 in favor of Intel’s Core i3 and i5 processors, giving it a much-welcome speed boost. There’s no word of any other changes, so we’re presuming the tm2 will keep its WXGA capacitive touchscreen that can be controlled both by pen-input and by finger control. Hopefully there’ll also be a bump to the ATI Mobility Radeon graphics too, though, to bring it in line with the rest of HP’s notebook range. No word from HP themselves, so it’s a case of wait and see until the official PR arrives.