Fujitsu's Colourful New L Series Notebooks

It's like a barbie girl



The Japanese company has released its L Series notebooks to appeal to "tech-savvy, discerning young adults"; members of Generation Y who want their computer to stand out from common grey and black drones.

What better way to do that than to make one look like it was coated in Barbie's fingernail polish?

Thankfully, the Fujitsu LifeBook L1010 is more than just a glossy coat of pink, purple, blue or black paint.

The L1010 also boasts a stylish design, with rounded edges, a slender profile and hinge that is barely visible when the screen is shut.

The colour continues inside as well, though the laptop's screen and keyboard has a practical white matte finish, allowing you to see the keys easily in dim light.

The L1010 is well-equipped to handle most tasks. Its speedy 2.26GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor is helped by 2GB RAM and is hard to beat. With multiple programs crowding the screen, and Windows Vista Home Premium, the computer still managed to open more and more applications in a timely fashion.

The only time we experienced significant lag was when opening large photos from a DVD disc. Perhaps due to its slim profile, the DVD Super Multi Drive also developed a disturbing wobble while it spun the disc.

In addition to a DVD drive, this laptop comes loaded with all the connectivity you might expect, including three USB ports, Bluetooth 2.1, HDMI output and input, an Ethernet port, ExpressCard slot and space for memory cards including SDHC and Memory Stick Pro.

The computer is also equipped with wireless internet access (n) and a 250GB hard drive to save all that you download.

Its 14.1in screen is capable of displaying web offerings in detail, with 1280x800 pixels, though it does have a tendency to reflect the light.

The keyboard, as well as being appropriately white, is well spaced for rapid-fire typing. Some keys have been squashed into position, such as the arrow and Delete buttons, but everything is about where you'd expect it and the matte finish helps avoid mis-hits.

Fujitsu LifeBook L1010 Price: $1349

Dell Inspiron Mini 12 Officially Announced

The Dell Inspiron Mini 12 netbook has been officially announced, after the company tacitly confirmed the 12.1-inch budget ultraportable last Thursday. Rather than use the same 1.6GHz Intel Atom N270 CPU as its smaller Inspiron Mini 9 sibling, the Mini 12 has a choice of either a 1.3GHz Atom Z520 or 1.6GHz Atom Z530 processor, together with 1GB of RAM and up to 80GB hard-drive. It weighs from 2.72-pounds and measures just 0.92-inches thick, and will have a starting price of under $600.

Both Bluetooth and WiFi b/g are integrated, and the standard OS is Windows Vista. Versions of the Dell Inspiron Mini 12 running Ubuntu and Windows XP will be available before the end of the year. The battery, as standard, is a 3-cell pack rated for up to 3hrs; a 6-cell version - with a claimed runtime of up to 6hrs - is available for $79. Unfortunately there’s no integrated 3G, nor does the Mini 12 have the necessary internal antennas or, from the sound of it, the WWAN modem itself; that will have to wait until early 2009.




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Qik Finally Announces Streaming Video for BlackBerry

Qik, a startup that allows you to stream live video to the web directly from your phone, has launched support for RIM's incredibly popular Blackberry platform. The software is currently available in an alpha state (so don't be surprised if you encounter bugs), and includes support for the Blackberry Bold and Pearl (other phones, like the Flip and Curve, will be available in a later release that the company expects soon).

This brings Qik to a much broader platform, and also helps cement Qik's lead in terms of device support well ahead of competitors Kyte and Flixwagon, neither of which support Blackberry. However, Qik will have another competitor on the Blackberry platform: today's news comes hot on the heels (and may have been prompted by) the launch of Next2Friends, the first streaming video application that supported Blackberries.
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Gmail for Mobile 2.0

Google on Thursday announced that it has launched Gmail for Mobile 2.0 for J2ME-supported devices such as the Nokia N95, as well as BlackBerry phones.

Gmail for Mobile 2.0 offers the option to save multiple e-mail drafts in the phone and adds shortcut keys that enable users of phones equipped with QWERTY keyboards to press 'z' to undo, 'k' to go to a newer conversation, and 'j' to go to an older conversation.

* Overall performance improvement: You should experience significant raw speed improvement, smoother scrolling, and no freezing.

* Multiple accounts management: If you have both a Gmail and Google Apps email account, you can easily switch between them quickly. You will no longer have to use two different mobile apps to access personal and work emails.

* Multiple mobile email drafts: You can save multiple email drafts in your mobile phone, so that you can pick and choose what you would like to send later.

* Powerful shortcut keys: If you have a QWERTY phone, you can use shortcut keys. Hit 'z' to undo, 'k' to go to a newer conversation, and 'j' to go to an older conversation. See Menu/Help in the app for more shortcuts.

* Basic offline support: Can't get a signal? Not a problem. You can compose and read your most recent emails even when there is no signal. Also, any outgoing messages will be saved in the outbox on your phone and sent automatically when you're back in coverage.

Go to m.google.com/mail in your mobile browser to download the new Gmail for mobile for your phone.

ATI Radeon HD 4830 GPU Out Now

The ATI HD Radeon 4830 supports PCI Express 2.0 interface and scores over the rival GeForce 9800 GT's DirectX 10 by giving DirectX 10.1. It has the same 512MB GDRR3 memory with a tad less core clock speed but more stream processing units when compared to the pitched 9800 GT.

Other features the card integrates is the CrossFireX technology that allows gamers to combine as many as four cards in one PC, 1 HDMI port via adapter, TV-Out and 2 DVI ports.

AMD also claims that GPU delivers more than 30fps in games like Devil May Cry 4, Company of Heroes and ET: Quake Wars whereas 9800 GT fared lower.

AMD will sell the cards at $130 which is at par with the 9800 GT.