IEEE draft on the 802.11n might not come till 2008 but more and more companies are jumping the wagon. Latest to come in the 802.11n fold is D-Link whose DWA-643 Xtreme N Notebook ExpressCard got FCC go-ahead.

We all know that with the 802.11n draft the wireless net access will get a new meaning and as per reports D-link will soon start the shipment of the card but there is no word on the price as yet.
The card will also backward compatible to all the upgrades the Wi-Fi has gone.

Via: Mobilemag

The ASUS V1JP is designed for both work and play. It is powered by a 2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7200 processor, 1GB of DDR2 RAM, 512MB of ATI Mobility Radeon X1700 video graphics, 120GB SATA HDD, 8x DVD Super-Multi drive, and a super-bright 15.4-inch WSXGA+ display. NotebookReview has a deep review of this laptop. Here is the verdict.

Overall it is a pleasure to be one of the first to own the ASUS V1JP in North America. This laptop has a lot to offer in terms of performance, quality, features and decent battery life. I would recommend this laptop to business users looking for performance, graphic designing, security features, flexibility and a docking station. This laptop is my first laptop, and it is a pleasure to own the ASUS V1JP.

The Asus V1JP is priced at $2,024.20.

Via NotebookReview.

Asus is ready with a new refreshed U5F build around their older Sonoma platform.

Laptop gets its power from the Intel Core 2 duo T5500 processor with display being a 12.1-inch XGA monitor. With 80 GB HDD and 512Mb RAM the laptop also has features like Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, dual-layer DVD burner, while the graphics are powered by Intel 945GM integrated graphic set.

It comes pre-loaded with Window XP (Vista Compatibility is missing I suppose) and the Asus’s own “Splendid video intelligence technology” will give you enhanced viewing experience as it will automatically set the contrast, brightness and color ratio. Apart from this there are also USB ports, Ethernet Jack and VGA output.

The price of this beauty weighing 1.4kg is not known but you can be sure of finding it in Chinese markets soon.

Via: Engadget

Toshiba is ready to unveil a new convertible tablet called, Portege R400 that is set to be the company’s “signature” laptop, and get rid of the keyboard & design layout from the M400, no need to quip its flagship feature: HSDPA. Developed especially to go with Windows Vista minutiae, Sporting a 12.1-inch “LED backlit” widescreen display, the latest machine is apparently the “world’s first PC that automatically match up your info with Active Notifications.”

Toshiba’s ConfigFree setup, in a bid to make having connected as simple as possible, apparently makes managing your WiFi, Bluetooth, EV-DO and gigabit Ethernet connections a breeze, however the actual standout of the Portege R400 is its promise to be the “world’s first system with a wireless dock to get connected to desktop peripherals,” which is supposed to be coming out as strong usable if bandwidth doesn’t show too great a bottleneck. The still-mysterious R400 may come on soon, probably close to, say, January 30th.

Designing aspect based on the popular Pavilion laptops HP seems ready with its new offering in the tablet PC arena Vista based tx1000.

The tablet PC will have following specs to drool about:

• 12.1-inch widescreen display
• 5-in-1 card reader
• stereo speakers
• headphone jack
• Wi-Fi
• Omni-directional microphones
• LightScribe DVD burner
• Touch screen
• Finger print reader & webcam

Look out for this tablet when Vista is released if it is not released sooner.

Via: Gizmodo

Ever thought of having a laptop that can go on and on for a month before needing a recharge. The world moved one step closer to that dream when Samsung recently displayed futuristic fuel cell docking technology that has ample power to power your laptop for a month.

The cell device was displayed with working model of Q35 ultra portable which the company says can run for a month but with various laptops having varied power consumption ratio so it will probably be a far fetched idea to say that all laptops will be able to last a month but still what ever time may it be it will be far better than what laptop batteries are able to provide now.

Company further said that their fuel cell has the energy density of 650WH/L; that is just about 4 times the other offerings in the market, further the company claims to have reduced the noise levels a big obstruction in realization of its commercial worth.

Samsung also said they are on work on a mini fuel cell that uses little fuel but can power a laptop for 15 hours. Although the safety aspect of these fuel cells are yet to be tested but never the less it is a good innovation.

Via: Engadget

UMPC or the ultra mobile PC’s were touted as the devices that will change life and provide good computing device on the go.
Many concepts came and some were near about laptops while other were hybrid of phone–cum-PC.

Here a brief review of the best UMPC’s that you saw in 2006 based on looks design and yes the most important performance.

1) Kohjisha SA1F00

This is almost a laptop with 500MHz AMD processor 7-inch 800 x 480 screen with 8 GB HDD and host of other features like WI-FI, Bluetooth CF card slots. It’s priced in the range of $750 to $1000 depending upon specs you choose.

2) Sony VAIO UX Series

It’s a good UMPC with 1.2 GHz Core Solo processor but the price tag of $1700 and above depending upon specs can put away many possible buyers.

3) ASUS R2H

A Celeron 900 MHz processor base UMPC this supports Windows XP and is priced at £799 in UK.

4) Raon Digital Vega

This one has 4.3-inch screen with the maximum resolution of 1024 x 768 with RAM of 256MB and 30 GB HDD. Price is in the range of $978 to $1016 depending upon specs.

5) Fujitsu P1610

This UMPC has an 8.9-inch display with 1.2 GHz solo processor, RAM of 512MB coupled with WI-Fi and battery life of 3.5 hours, it is priced at $1649.
Link photo: http://www.ixbt.com/short/images/p1610.jpg

Here is what you can look forward to in the year 2007

1) VISTAGAMI not Origami
The number one UMPC to look forward to will be (as the reports are suggesting) Vistagami another Microsoft foray in the UMPC market after the well known debacle of Origami. It is supposed that this new venture will have better battery life and hopefully become first UMPC to support Vista.

2) HTC Athena

The other UMPC to watch out for is HTC Athena Half Phone Half UMPC. A UMPC styled device with full QWERTY keyboard powered by Windows mobile 5.0 and having 2-megapixel camera with GPS.

3) Samsung SPH-P9000

Samsung has also showcased their concept ULTRA Portable PC ‘SPH-P9000′ a folding keyboard UMPC with 5-inch screen and 256 Mb DDR RAM with WiMax support.

4) Fujitsu CD Case-sized UMPC

Fujitsu has also Show Cased their concept folding UMPC which when folded is of the size of CD case with 8-inch display

One of the major disappointment for all the fans of the UMPC was the pathetic battery life of them although it saved you from carrying larger laptops all the time but on an average the battery life never lasted a working day.