Mobile phone major Nokia introduced its big step into the world of conventional computing, with the Booklet 3G. The company seems to be a tad reluctant in calling it a netbook, and instead calls it a 'mini-laptop'. Perhaps this notion revolves around Nokia's devices to be more focussed on mobile internet (provided by cellular carriers, hence the "3G" in the name), rather than other forms of wireless internet connectivity (such as WiFi service providers, although it isn't missed out as a connectivity option).

In either case, the Nokia Booklet 3G is a 10.1 inch sub-notebook, powered by an Intel Atom processor (and hence x86 based). It sports an integrated GSM connection with support for 3G/HSDPA internet. The SIM card is hot-swappable. On the software front, it seems to be running Windows 7. Its biggest USP is its connectivity, that includes 3G/HSDPA, WiFi, built-in A-GPS, Bluetooth, USB 2.0, audio and importantly, HDMI for display output. The company rates the battery to last for 12 hours. With the 2 cm thick aluminum chassis, the unit tips the scales at 1.22 kg (2.7 lbs). Nokia may further detail the Booklet 3G at the upcoming Nokia World 09 event on September 2. A promotional video published on YouTube can be viewed here.

Spire, famous for over a decade in the field of PC Cooling is proudly introducing the universally compatible PacificBreeze II is designed for multiple application and comfort. The top aluminum surface works like a heat sink and enables fast heat dissipation, it also provides a sophisticated look. The gentle slope improves typing comfort, raises the laptop screen and reduces neck strain. The PacificBreeze accommodates laptop performance, comfort and is affordable. Trust the brand with the industry experience and 3-year warranty, Spire - Powered by Innovation.

HP today unveiled a versatile laptop computer featuring a unique and award-winning design that takes individual style and entertainment performance to new limits. Featuring the young Japanese designer Hisako Sakihama's winning submission from the HP and MTV Engine Room Laptop Design Contest, the new HP Pavilion dv6 Artist Edition Laptop PC comes wrapped in an exceptional design inspired by the Okinawa sea and sky.

For tech-savvy youth looking to stand out from the crowd, this special edition laptop is the perfect stylish technology companion and also comes with a matching imprinted sleeve and mouse in the same one-of-a-kind Sea and Sky design.

Alienware on Friday took the wraps off it refreshed Aurora M17x gaming laptop. With a new chassis, the M17x can't be mistaken, its new shape is one of a kind. Inside the beast lie low a pair of NVIDIA GeForce GTX 280M 1 GB graphics cards, an integrated NVIDIA GeForce 9400M GPU with HybridPower technology, up to 8 GB of DDR3-1333 RAM, dual-hard drives, an Intel Core 2 Extreme quad-core CPU and all the stuff a top gaming laptop should have. The M17x comes with a 17-inch WUXGA display with 1920x1200 native resolution. It weights 11.68 pounds or 5.3 kg, and has a 9-cell battery. Other standard features include custom backlit keyboard, touchpad and trim lighting. Base price for this model is $1,799 and it gives you a single GTX 280M, 2.4 GHz Core 2 Duo processor, 4 GB of RAM, and a 250 GB hard drive. The Alienware M17x will start shipping to customers next week.

Today's students and young professionals need a versatile notebook that can serve as their workhorse by day and entertainment center at night. The new Dell Studio 14z powered by the NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics processor provides a perfect blend of performance and portability with graphics support for gaming, HD video, and creative self-expression.

The GeForce 9400M in the Dell Studio 14z delivers up to five times faster graphics performance than Centrino 2 notebooks to accelerate image editing, video playback, and video conversion. With vReveal, the Studio 14z can fix grainy, shaky video twice as fast as comparable notebooks, and then let you upload the video to YouTube in minutes.

Dutch firm Nexus Technology enters the market for laptop accessories with a unique and patented liquid cooling solution. The TDD-9000 is a soft black velvet blanket with inside a gel-like liquid. The patented liquid has unique heat dissipating characteristics and works completely passive and noiseless.
"When you put the laptop cooling pad on your lap you will feel your lap turn colder within 10 seconds" says Michael van der Jagt, CEO of Nexus Technology. The Taiwanese testing institute SGS Taiwan has done independent tests that support these claims. Their tests with a laptop of their choice show significant improvement in temperatures of the laptop's components, with improvements up to 17°C.

NZXT, manufacturer of gamer grade computer cases, on Tuesday unveiled Cryo S - a laptop cooler designed to help reduce the working temperature of laptops with up to 15-inch displays. This brushed aluminum cooler has two 120 mm fans and two USB ports. It is powered via a USB port, thus no batteries or power adapters are necessary. Also featured is an anti-slip rubberized plastic surface to avoid notebooks from sliding. Cryo S will reach the market this month costing around USD $50. Visit NZXT Cryo S page here, for additional info.

A whole fleet of ASUS U Series laptops was launched today, ranging from the tiny 12.1-inch U20A to the well speced U80V. All in all seven laptops were introduced - U20A, U80V, U50G, U81A, U51Vg, UX50V, and UX30. Each one of them comes with a different screen size, a choice of Intel Core 2 Duo or Core 2 Solo processors, graphics options from NVIDIA and Intel, and various HDD sizes. The U series laptops come with Altec Lansing speakers and also integrate light sensor, which adjusts the brightness of the screen, as well as the backlighting of both the illuminated keyboard and interactive touchpad. Lastly, the U/UX portables also incorporate Express Gate which can boot preinstalled Linux-based operating system right after the system boot screen and before your main OS is loaded. Find full specs of all new models after the "Read full story" marker.

MSI has rolled out two new portable PCs today, branch of the company's wide-ranging line of ECO Engine gaming laptops. The new G-series laptops dubbed GX623 and GX633 both provide a 15.4-inch display, ECO functionality with 5 different modes (Gaming mode, Movie mode, Presentation mode, Office mode, Turbo Drive mode), stylish looks, and backlit W/A/S/D keyboard buttons. The two machines recognise up to 4 GB of DDR2 RAM, up to half a terrabyte of storage and can utilize either a DVD writer or a Blu-Ray drive. What makes the two models different is the platform they are using. Model GX623 features the latest Intel Centrino 2 platform, which uses variety of Intel Core 2 Duo processors, Intel PM45 Express chipset, and mobile ATI Radeon HD4670 graphics with 512 MB DDR3 RAM. The second laptop, GX633 uses the newest AMD Turion X2 Ultra dual-core mobile processors, NVIDIA MCP77 chipset and NVIDIA GeForce GT 130M video with 512 MB DDR3 memory. Extra traits of the two laptops comprise two HD Audio speakers, wireless 802.11 b/g/n and optional Bluetooth module, 10/100/1000 Ethernet, 2x USB ports, D-Sub port, a 2 MP webcam and offer choices of 6-cell or 9-cell battery packs. Expect MSI GX623 and GX633 to arrive very soon.

Last Friday, One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) organization announced that it is leaving Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) as main processor partner in favour of VIA Technologies. This is a step that will lower the price of OLPC's laptop further. From this point on VIA's C7-M processor instead of AMD's Geode will power OLPC's XO-1 laptops. The processor will be a VIA C7-M, with plans on using one whose clock speed ranges from 400 MHz (1.5 W) to 1 GHz (5 W). The clock may be throttled back automatically if necessary to meet thermal constraints. Gen 1.5 XO-1 laptop will come with the VIA VX855 all-in-one chipset solution, as well as with an updated HD Audio sound. The upgraded XO laptops will also include 1 GB of RAM and between 4 GB and 8 GB of storage, which is considerably more than the currently existing XO systems with 256 MB RAM and 1 GB of storage. There are two more changes being made, the network interface will be upgraded to an 88W8686 with wake-up functions, which halves the power consumption of current XO-1 network adapter, and a new OLPC OS 8.2.x will be installed to support all the hardware variations. Overall, the Gen 1.5 XO-1 laptop will remain the same from the outside - same display, same form, same power consumption, probably the same price - but come with upgraded internals.
Early versions of the hardware (bare board) should be available for driver development at the end of May. A larger number of prototype laptops (several hundred) for software development and testing will become available around the end of August. It's unclear when children will get their hands on the final product, though.

Micro Star International (MSI) has just introduced its latest notebook, the 14-inch GX403 small gaming laptop. Designed to be thin, light, power efficient, and affordable, the MSI GX403 features 14.1-inch 16:10 aspect ratio screen with a 1280x800 WXGA resolution. Available only with one screen size, the MSI GX403 will feature yet unspecified gamma of Intel Core 2 Duo processors paired with Intel's PM45 Express Chipset. Built-in NVIDIA Geforce GT 130M 3D graphic card with 512 MB DDR3, 4 GB DDR2 RAM (2x2048 MB), up to a 500 GB SATA hard drive, and a choice of either a DVD or a Blu-Ray optical drive round out the specifications. The new laptop also comes with a 4-in-1 card reader, 10/100/1000 LAN card, WiFi, Bluetooth (optional), a 1.3 MP camera and a 6- or 9-cell battery. The GX403 is expected to hit retail shelves in the near future.

It looks like NVIDIA's attempts to let Tegra make it to bigger platforms are beginning to bear fruit. LaptopMag got its hands on one of the first mini-notebooks based on Tegra, a fully-integrated computing architecture that focuses on making more powerful and visual portable computing devices possible. The Tegra CPU core is based on the ARM11 architecture, working along with NVIDIA's own graphics processing, and system controlling technologies.

The model in use with the mini-notebook is Tegra 650, which runs at 750 MHz (core clock speed), supports hardware HD video decoding, an S-Video out, and USB. It supports DDR memory running at 200 MHz, and an IDE channel for a sold-state drive for primary storage. Apart from the IDE interface, Tegra has its own NAND-flash controller so small amounts of flash memory (up to 8 GB) could be embedded onto the main PCB. The mini-notebook features an OS that lets the user achieve all the tasks one would ask from this 90~200 Dollar mini-notebook. Windows CE and Linux are the likely candidates. The screenshot below is that of the Windows CE-based prototype that takes advantage of the 3D processing power of the core. Also pictured is the prototype system board by NVIDIA.

Hewlett-Packard (HP) on Monday began offering as an accessory to its consumer laptops batteries that can hold their capacity for up to three years. The new batteries are the work of Boston-Power, and use updated lithium-ion technology that is said to be better than other similar solutions. Boston-Power's Sonata battery will be available as optional choice for 18 existing notebook models representing approximately 70 percent of HP's consumer notebook PC portfolio. Boston-Power claims its batteries won't give up their capacity for three years, that's roughly three times longer than most other notebook batteries offered to date. In addition, the Sonata accumulators can recharge faster, reaching 80% of capacity in 30 minutes. Lastly, HP will give a three year warranty for each Sonata battery. Available now at HP, the $149.99 accessory Sonata battery fits models in the HP Pavilion, HP HDX, Compaq Presario and HP G series. A complete list of compatible individual models is available here. More information on the battery itself can also be found on Boston-Power's site here.

Eurocom, the world's leading developer of highly personalized, high-performance notebook PCs and energy efficient All-in-One PCs, recently introduced the EUROCOM D901C PHANTOM-i7 Mobile Workstation/Server powered by Intel's newest line of Quad Core and XEON LGA1366 processors. EUROCOM PHANTOM-i7 provides workstation and server-caliber capabilities with 1.5 Terabytes of storage with three physical SATA-300 hard drives in RAID 0/1/5, super-powerful 3.2 GHz Intel Core i7 Processor Extreme Edition I7-965; 3.2 GHz XEON X5580 processors running at 2x 6.4 GT/sec bus speed or 2.93 GHz Intel Core i7 Processor I-940 running at 4.8 GT/sec with 8 MB L3 cache, Gigabit Ethernet port on-board, HDMI, eSATA, DVI ports, with a 17" WUXGA LCD display and full size keyboard.
Featuring workstation-class or server-class Intel Core i7 or Xeon Processor and up to 16 GB of DDR3-1366 memory, the D900F PHANTOM-i7 also features the largest storage capacity on the market today - a whopping 1.5 TB with RAID 0/1/5 - making it the perfect mobile workstation or server laptop for users who demand extra-large capacity storage and reliability for true portable server / workstation experience.

MSI Computer is excited to announce GT725 - the world's first gaming notebook with ATI Radeon HD 4850 512 MB video card. The GT725 weighs just over seven pounds and comes outfitted with a 2.53 GHz Intel 45nm Penryn P9500 (6 MB L2 cache) CPU, 4 GB of DDR2 memory, a Blu-ray player and a 17-inch 1080P HD LCD display. "GT725 is our flagship gaming notebook," said Andy Tung, Vice President of Sales, MSI US. By the time the laptop was released, our friends over at HEXUS.net have already posted a very well written review here. If you need any additional information about MSI's latest desktop-replacing notebook, I believe it will be somewhere in the review.

Spire introduces PacificBreeze II universal notebook cooler. The universally compatible PacificBreeze II is designed for multiple application and comfort. The top aluminum surface works like a heat sink and enables fast heat dissipation, it also provides a sophisticated look. The gentle slope improves typing comfort, raises the laptop screen and reduces neck strain. The PacificBreeze accommodates laptop performance, comfort and is affordable. Trust the brand with the industry experience and 3-year warranty, Spire - Powered by Innovation.

MCE Technologies announced on Monday that it has prepared a little something for the owners of "unibody" MacBook and MacBook Pro systems. MCE offers to replace the optical disk drive of your unibody Mac with a hard drive, providing you with increased internal storage capacity, RAID performance or additional reliability if you mirror the two hard drives. The OptiBay upgrade starts at $190 and offers to install 250 GB/5400 RPM, 320 GB/5400 RPM, 320 GB/7200 RPM or 500 GB/5400 RPM SATA hard drives. MCE also offers an external drive enclosure kit for the "SuperDrive" optical drive that's removed by the second hard drive, so you can have the goods from both worlds.

In an attempt to empower millions of students across the country, Indian Government agencies have formulated plans to release a laptop at prices that equal that of a trip to a pizzeria in the west. Under a Government-sponsored scheme that runs parallel to the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) global initiative, the administration sought to implement this scheme to make the computer up to 10 times more affordable than an OLPC. The Government believes that the hidden costs involved in deploying laptops under the OLPC scheme make it still inaccessible to the larger student population, and that much better hardware could be provided at its cost.

The first thing that comes to your mind would probably be the kind of hardware that would make such a cheap laptop. Earliest data trickling in about the specifications indicates each laptop to have about 2 GB of memory, and support wireless networking. We will attempt to find out more about the hardware in the days to come. The Indian Government has reportedly spent close to US $1.5 billion on developing this concept and researching solutions to make this notebook durable and worthy of deployment to the most remote rural areas, that suffer power-outages and voltage fluctuations. Higher Education Secretary R.P. Agrawal said last week that it would be available within six months. The public education scheme governing the deployment of these laptops was flagged off today, in the southern-Indian city of Tirupati. The laptop will be available to students on a priority basis, and will later reach mass-retail channels in the country.

Phoenix Technologies Ltd., the leader in PC 3.0 products, services and embedded technologies, today announced a partnership with ASUS to accelerate the adoption of its award-winning HyperSpace product by consumers worldwide. HyperSpace is a revolutionary new instant-on and always-connected application environment that makes operating a mobile PC as easy and efficient as operating a cell phone.

Based on the partnership agreement, ASUS will incorporate HyperSpace into its next generation notebooks. With HyperSpace-installed notebooks, users can instantly launch important web-based applications (before Windows ever boots), automatically connect to the best available network, dramatically extend battery life and achieve new levels of uptime and security protection. HyperSpace is available for download at hyperspace.com

Toshiba is taking gaming on the go one step further with the unveiling of its Toshiba Qosmio X305-Q725 laptop. A technically advanced multimedia platform for the gaming and entertainment enthusiast, the Qosmio X305-Q725 blends features built for fidelity and speed, including: a 17-inch diagonal widescreen TruBrite display (1680x1050 resolution), high-performance NVIDIA GeForce 9800M GTX graphics 1GB GDDR3, a variety of Intel Core 2 processors including the 2GHz Core 2 Quad Q9000 quad-core CPU, 4GB of DDR3 SDRAM, premium Harman Kardon stereo speakers and much more. Qosmio X305-Q725 also includes hybrid storage option that consists of a primary 64GB solid state drive and a secondary 320GB 7200 rpm SATA HDD. The Qosmio X305-Q725 is available now at a variety of major consumer electronics and computer stores nationwide or directly at Toshiba Direct. The laptop is available in a range of configurations starting from $1,449 and going all the way up to $2,699.99.

Dell today announced the Inspiron 15 laptop, the latest addition to the Inspiron line of systems offering solid performance and smart style at a great value. The Inspiron 15 is now available in select configurations at Best Buy stores in the United States, and PC World and Curry's in the United Kingdom, with online availability through Dell.com planned for later in January. Systems start at $600.

Sony New Zealand has put up a teaser site called, "The Wait Is Over", stating, "On the 9th of January you will change the way you look at laptops. Forever". Other than a glossy Vaio logo and a link to enter a competition, for a chance to, "Win the revolutionary new VAIO", no other information is available. Could it be the world's thinnest laptop? The smallest? Or even the longest battery life? Who knows, all we can do now is speculate and wait for more information to emerge. If you want to see it for yourself, the website can be found here.
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The link is down at the moment, probably due to maintenance or update