“Old books” will protect your laptop from theft
Alexandra | 5:13 pm | February 2, 2010 | Laptop Accessories
There is no need to buy a portable metal safe or a steel chain with a solid bracelet, in an attempt to prevent loss of your laptop and your data. Twelve South, the company that manufactures accessories for Apple computers, released BookBook, a new leather case for laptops. It looks a lot like an old book with a worn cover.
According to the information from the manufacturer, BookBook has sufficient rigidity to protect your notebook from mechanical damage, and soft interior finish to keep the laptop scratch-free.
Cover of this case is decorated with leather subjected to artificial aging, so each BookBook gets some exclusivity (it’s a vivid example of handicraft). The Twelve South Company offers two variants of its hardcover case for 13 and 15-inches Apple laptops. But nothing prevents you from using BookBook for any other mobile computer. You can check if your laptop fits it:
- 13-inch model – 330 x 232 x 28 mm,
- 15-inch model – 364 x 249 x 28 mm.
Moreover, by paying $ 80 for a new accessory for your MacBook or MacBook Pro you also get theft protection, because thieves don’t like books as much as modern laptops. 
Source: Twelve South
The near future of high-tech industry (your excursion to CES 2010)
Alexandra | 7:39 pm | January 26, 2010 | New Laptops
The last Consumer Electronics Show (CES) has become the main source of information about new technologies and products from the world’s largest product designer and manufacturers. The show was held in Las Vegas, and this place wasn’t chosen by chance. The U.S. market is traditionally considered as one of the most important for many large companies that design and produce electronics.
Judging by the general show trends, 2010 will be the year of Android smartphones, Tablet PCs, and rapid development of three-dimensional television. And like a year ago, at CES 2009, manufacturers introduced a lot of notebooks and netbooks in a classic form factor. Developers still believe that this market is very promising. For example, MSI management expects 50% growth of notebook shipments in 2010.
Lenovo attracted visitors by the unusual Ideapad U1 laptop. This device, which is actually a hybrid of tablet and netbook, has a 11.6″ display that can be disconnected from the keyboard and work independently as a Tablet PC. Ideapad U1 is expected in shops this summer at a price of about $ 1000.
You could see new netbooks based on Intel Pine Trail hardware platform from all major manufacturers at CES 2010. Most of those devices had similar characteristics and were running Windows 7. The Samsung N127 netbook based on OS Moblin can be mentioned as an exception.
One more piece of news from Intel. The company launched AppUpCenter, a new online store of applications for compact portable computers. All users of netbooks with OS Windows can join this service.
Among the huge number of laptops that were presented at CES 2010 there are some unusual ones. Samsung demonstrated a prototype laptop with a 14″ transparent OLED-display. It’s difficult to imagine who may need such a computer, but this invention of South Korean engineers may find application in other industries. Also Dell showed a workable concept of Studio with a 16″ OLED-display, which response time is 0,004 ms. And Asus amazed visitors by its new NX90 Bang & Olufsen edition laptop.
So CES 2010 gave us a general idea of what devices we should expect this year. Evidently experts expect the increase in sales of portable computers (both netbooks and notebooks). Marketing specialists pin hopes on tablet PCs, but demand for them will depend not only on technical specifications, but also on pricing policies.
Scientists can make laptop batteries from ink and paper
Alexandra | 5:15 am | January 19, 2010 | Laptop News
Scientists from Stanford University used nanotechnology to create ultra-lightweight, flexible batteries and supercapacitors from ordinary paper. They just covered a sheet of paper with ink comprising carbon nanotubes and silver nanowires. And as a result they got a new storage device that can be used for production of innovative power supplies (laptop batteries, chargers for mobile phones, electric vehicles, etc.).
Capacitors can hold their charge for smaller period of time compared to batteries, but they can also be charged much faster. Professor Yi Cui (Stanford researcher) claims that used nanomaterials contain structures with a very small diameter, allowing ink to attach to fibrous paper. So it makes the paper batteries resistant to wear. Moreover, they can be recharged about 40,000 times (it’s incommensurably more than corresponding characteristics of lithium-ion batteries).
Yi Cui tried to create an analogous storage device form plastic earlier. But his new study shows that paper-based solution has greater prospects. This battery can be crumpled, placed into liquids (even acidic solutions!) without any damage to its performance.
Calculations show that paper with a kilogram of ink can power a 40-watt bulb for about an hour. It’s not an impressive result, but you should take into account that scientists are running their first experiments now. Be sure, after a couple of years your laptop battery will be much thinner and lighter in weight, allowing you to enjoy liаe without chargers and AC adapters for days, not hours.
Some of the most stylish laptops ever designed
Alexandra | 12:47 am | December 23, 2009 | Laptop Mods
For a laptop, design is not less important than its hardware insides, as any industrial designer will testify. People are ready to pay high premium for so-called “high-tech beauties”. That is why stylish and unusual laptops can be sold much faster than “standard” ones. Moreover, designers add some new features even in budget laptop models in a bid to attract additional buyers.
For example, Acer maintains this trend in such popular model like Ferrari, Fujitsu implements it in LifeBook, Toshiba surprises us with Qosmio, etc.
The first thing that manufacturers use in such laptops is an unusual laptop body and well-chosen color combinations. They try to crack the access code into customers’ hearts, finding courageous colors, hues and nuances. They also try to replace standard plastic laptop bodies with titanium ones or use special mixtures to give them more shine and protect from mechanical damage. So, those who want to buy a stylish notebook and express their individuality always can find something special.
The world’s leading portable PC manufacturers experiment with new materials (processed plastic, precious wood, stones and metals). People want to stand out from the crowd, be different from each other and it plays into the hands of many companies. For example, one of the Arab sheikhs ordered a laptop with inlays from ivory. Just imagine how much it cost him!
Laptops have become a part of our everyday live; it’s not a surprise to anyone. But you can impress others, putting a high-tech gadget in an unusual body. So, let’s feast our eyes upon other stylish laptops:
A gorgeous case for amazing Sony Vaio P laptop
You can buy stylish leather case for Sony Vaio P choosing one of 30 different colors.
Lenovo Pocket Yoga. It’s an awesome laptop, but unfortunately it’s just a concept
Laptop market trends: forecasts for 2010
Alexandra | 7:27 pm | December 14, 2009 | Laptop News
What do we like in modern laptops? What do we want to improve in them? So, let’s discuss laptop market trends for the year 2010. Reading the text below, you will see how new technologies can make your live better.
Netbooks will continue its triumphal procession in 2010. These devices are positioned as complements of full-featured
notebooks, not as their substitutes. More than 5 million netbooks were sold in 2008, and experts think that sales will be estimated as 50 million in 2012! So, netbooks remains very attractive, easy and inexpensive gadgets for cheap and fast Internet connection.
It’s a remarkable fact that development of new laptop models will reduce growth of sales (now it’s 26% per year). By the way, stunted growth of desktop computers sales has already transformed into drop in sales in some European countries.
17-inch monitors will be replaced by 18″-20″ LED-backlit displays, because their price is gradually approaching the prices of conventional monitors.
External hard drives will be more and more popular, because new programs and games require more and more gigabytes.
There is no doubt that almost every notebook will be equipped with blu-ray-drive in the near future, it will happen closer to the end of 2010.
But forecasts for solid state drives are not so clear. They are faster, easier, but some expert believes that as buyers can buy a classic hard drive of bigger size at the same price, they prefer larger storage volume, rather than better technology of SSD. But, of course, leading specialists have no doubts that future is with this technology.
Laptop battery life extension can be considered as one of the most important target for manufacturers in 2010. Some of them have encouraging results. Hardware developers are working in two directions: on the one hand they try to reduce power consumption of laptops with conventional batteries and on the other hand they create new types of laptop batteries.
As for the first direction, designers plan “to teach” laptops turn off unused components. For example, laptop uses integrated graphics core working with simple office applications and turns on a discrete graphics card running 3D-games.
As for the second direction here we should tell about fuel cells and new promising lithium-polymer batteries, which allow to create slim laptops. Also OLED-displays and new HDD Seagate Momentus Thin will make laptops even more slimmer.
Stolen and lost laptops in the UK: do you want to be the next victim?
Alexandra | 9:53 pm | December 7, 2009 | Security
Every week thousands of people lose their laptops. According to the last study conducted by Dell, business travellers lose more than 15,500 laptops per week (in the EU). A researcher has found that London Heathrow has the highest number of missing or stolen laptops (900 gadgets a week).
Unfortunately, most of people in the United Kingdom don’t undertake any measures to ensure security of their personal information which they keep on their mobile computers. Lost or stolen laptop means not only loss of your device but also moral damage and loss of valuable information (not only your private letters and photos, collections of favourite videos and music). For most of businesspeople loss of information takes the form of unrecovered damages, loss of money and reputation. But nevertheless Dell statistic shows that the British don’t realize consequences of their carelessness:
- “My data is not backed up” – that was the answer of 43% of respondents in the UK.
- “I do not take steps to protect my confidential information” – 59%.
- “Sometimes I left my laptop under the supervision of my fellow passenger” – 42%.
- “I employ disk encryption” – only 12%.
- “I use biometric methods to secure my laptops” – only 6% (while fingerprint scanner systems prevent unauthorised access to Toshiba, IBM, Lenovo, ASUS and many other laptops).
There are lots of gadgets and software products that can help you reduce negative consequences of the loss of data. Firefound (add-on for Firefox and Fennec) is one such solution. It cleans your personal data in just a few simple clicks and enables you to find your stolen computer.
Firefound uses geolocation to determine your current position and sends this information to your laptop (using it like an internet server). If your mobile computer is lost then you can get into the web interface of Fifefound and get to know where your laptop is and remove all your personal data.
You can also configure levels of safety in such a way that you will receive a letter if your laptop is used more than a certain number of miles away from your location. Or Firefound will remove your personal information if criminal is not able to enter the correct password with the X number of attempts.
But remember that it’s much easier to prevent such problems than to fight them, by keeping your laptop from getting lost or stolen.
Cool USB gizmos – little friends for your laptop
Alexandra | 6:10 pm | November 30, 2009 | USB Stuff
Tiny mouse
Those who like mobility and don’t want to carry extra load will certainly appreciate surprising compactness and ease of the Super Slim USB optical mouse. It measures just 45 x 64 x 14 mm, and its weight is 28 grams. The mouse easily fits in your hand, while having very high resolution (1800 dpi). It works on most of surfaces, providing precise positioning. You can choose one of two models – white or black one.
High-speed scanner
The Neatdesk Scanner developed by the Neat company allows to work with most of the documents. It has three loading trays for different paper formats. The smallest one is designed for business cards, the second tray accepts cheques, and the biggest one works with the A4 paper size.
You can download up to 10 cards and 10 cheques at the same time, just press the button, and then all the documents will be scanned one by one. If you have a pack of A4 documents, you can load up to 50 sheets and they will be scanned automatically thanks to the document feeder. The maximum resolution is 600 dpi. The data can be exported to Outlook and Excel.
Special Neatdesk software allows you to automate scanning process. Just put the scanner near your laptop and enjoy a new film while this useful gadget is doing its work.
Desktop Vacuum Cleaner
A USB-powered miniature vacuum cleaner was designed expressly for fans of funny USB-toys. Despite its tiny size, it can manage its task. Use it to clean up crumbs and dust from the surface of your desk and laptop keyboard. Surely, this little helper means more power consumption for your battery, but having a spotlessly clean desk may well be worth it.
A warm touch of bamboo
You are certainly tired of plastic that surrounds you everywhere. Do you want something natural? So you should pay your attention to Micro Innovations’ USB wooden keyboard and mouse that were made of bamboo for those who like “real” things. Quite unconventional, yet full of character.
Toshiba launches new laptop “Trade-In” Scheme
oleg | 6:06 pm | November 26, 2009 | Laptop News
If you are thinking to get rid of your old Tecra 8200 you might be interested in the following news. Earlier this month Toshiba has announced the launch of a new “Trade-In” programme describing it as “an initiative designed to help consumers offset the cost of buying a new laptop whilst ensuring that their old laptop is disposed of in an environmentally sustainable way”.
When purchasing a new Toshiba Windows 7 laptop, consumers are offered up to £150 cashback in return for their old laptop depending on its condition and technical specifications. Before you buy a new computer you can use Toshiba’s Trade-In website to get the price of your current computer calculated. For example, for an old Toshiba Tecra 9000 in good condition the qoute is £50 while if selecting higher specification laptop such as Satellite P30-133 or HP Compaq 615, Toshiba is offering up to £570.
After visiting the webside for valuation you go ahead with the trade-in, will see their laptop collected by Toshiba’s partner Tier 1 Asset Management who will pay out – assuming all is good with the device – within 10 days.
The Toshiba Trade-In programme is live now over at www.toshiba.co.uk/tradein and will run until 31 January 2010.
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The most reliable notebooks and netbooks — no conjectures, facts only
Alexandra | 10:08 pm | November 20, 2009 | Laptop News
According to the latest research conducted by the analytical department of the SquareTrade company, Asus laptops are the most reliable among other popular brands. It is a real surprise for many Apple fans that mobile computers from their favorite company are only on the fourth place, yielding to Toshiba and Sony laptops in reliability characteristics. SquareTrade provides after-sales warranty services for consumer electronics. The company based its new study of notebooks / netbooks reliability on the analysis of more than 30 thousand mobile computers from different manufacturers.
Result #1: HP, Gateway and Acer are the least reliable laptops
The results show that almost one of three laptops fails during the first three years of use. It’s difficult to imagine a more fragile electronic gizmo than a laptop (just imagine that every third TV set or car breaks down in 3 years after the purchase).
So the 1st place has been given to Asus laptops, problems with them occur during the first three years in 15.6% of cases. It may not sound too good, but it’s the lowest failure rate among 9 largest producers which laptops were used for the research.
Toshiba with the rate of 15.7% has taken the 2nd place, Sony laptops with 16.8% has become the 3rd. The failure rate for Apple (17.4% and the 4th place) was calculated for two popular models — MacBook and MacBook Pro.
Vince Tseng (VP of Marketing at SquareTrade) said that analytics were not surprised that Apple laptops had appeared in the middle of the list, but the victory of Asus had come as a real surprise.
Hewlett-Packard, the company, which production volume of notebooks was the biggest in the world last year, was pronounced as the most risky brand (more than a quarter of HP laptops is in danger). It may be not so bad taking into account that this company offers a 3-year guarantee for its products, it even started selling of HP laptop batteries that had a guarantee of 36 months.
Result #2: laptop users have only one year without worries and problems
The report also states that the risk of any problems with the laptop is growing rapidly after one year of usage:
- 4.7% — failure rate after the 1st year;
- 12.7% — after the 2nd year;
- 20.4% — after the 3rd year.
Mr. Tseng explained that mobile computers have high rates of usage. People often leave them running, laptops components are shock-sensitive. At the same time they are portable, and it often leads to falls and blows. And moreover, it is one of the most complex devices compared to other customer electronics.
Result #3: netbooks are characterized by a low price and a high rate of failure
The researchers also has found that netbooks break down more often than notebooks. The average rate is 23% higher than similar data for entry-level notebooks (with price from $ 400 to $ 1 000) and 38% higher than premium portable gadgets (more than $ 1 000).
Pedal Charger – Use Laptop without Battery
Alexandra | 1:06 am | November 14, 2009 | Concept Laptops, Laptop News, USB Stuff
Sometimes technologies of the past help us to go in the future. Let’s take the first pedal powered machine for XO laptops as an example. Akmal Waak and Mike Dawson, technicians working for OLPC (the One Laptop Per Child Association, Inc.) in Afghanistan, have designed such a mechanism to charge XO laptops. Of course, it is made not just for fun or health improvement, this new prototype has noble mission, it allows to use OLPC gadgets in countryside and rural areas beyond the power grid.
Developers claim that their human power machine can be used without any difficulties even by children of 3rd and 4th graders. Users can run laptop and at the same time charge it, moreover it requires no additional batteries or special adapters.
Аbout 2,500 laptops were delivered in Kabul, Herat and Jalalabad schools. Now specialists of OLPC Afghanistan’s deployment analyze impact of these educational innovations and plan to create a new pedal charger of smaller size to provide more comfort and mobility.
Such mechanisms can be helpful not only in developing and least developed countries, but also in advanced economies. Why not? Among other kinds of energy given by sun’s rays or wind we can rely on simple pedal power. And some producers have already done it. So a company from China has put on the market its Рedal Powered LED Spotlight Combo Contraption, new charger for gadgets with a USB port.
