News Bits: WiMax Gets Vendor Support, Sony VAIO Zoom, Intel's Nehalem

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Many top notebook manufacturers to support WiMAX

At the Intel Developer Forum (IDF), top notebook companies including Acer, Asus, Lenovo, Panasonic, and Toshiba have committed to supporting WiMAX wireless broadband with the next Intel Montevina mobile platform. Montevina is expected to ship in May 2008.

Intel CEO Paul Otellini speculates that 1.3 billion people worldwide will find themselves within range of a WiMAX basestation by 2012. He said WiMAX is the &quot;new global network&quot;; currently there are 120 WiMAX trials going on worldwide. Otellini stressed that getting WiMAX into notebooks is critical. The upcoming Montevina platform will include the Cantiga chipset with the Boaz LAN chip. Montevina will also include the following:

• Shiloh - wireless connectivity (802.11n)
• Echo Peak- WiFi and WiMAX combined
• Dana Point - WiMAX-only module

Some questions remain regarding mainstream WiMAX support: Apple, Dell, and HP are missing from the lineup of manufacturers.

Read More (ChannelRegister.co.uk)


Sony shows off VAIO Zoom laptop concept

The Sony VAIO Zoom concept is certainly one of the most unique- and cool-looking concept designs out there. It has a holographic glass screen that goes transparent and a keyboard that turns opaque when off. It is not an official concept but there are many of us out there who would like to see it become one.

Read More (Gizmodo.com)


Intel shows off next-gen power saving chips

Intel today at the IDF demonstrated a new generation of processors that step up performance while at the same time not require any additional power. CEO Paul Otellini said that the company plans to finish the new chips in 2H 2008. The new architecture has been codenamed Nehalem. It will have up to eight cores.

This year Intel will introduce the Penryn processor on November 12, which will be the first mainstream 45nm processor. The current standard is 65nm. Intel will introduce fifteen new 45nm processors by the end of 2007, with 20 more coming in 2008. Intel says the Penryn chips will improve performance while also improving power efficiency. Otellini said that &quot;Smaller is better; smaller is cheaper.&quot;

Read More (NYTimes.com)


UltraCell XX25 fuel cell powers GETAC V100 laptop

UltraCell Corporation, a producer of fuel cells for mobile applications, today announced the XX25 fuel cell's compability with GETAC Inc.'s V100 laptop at the IDF. The XX25 provides up to 25 watts of continuous maximum power and weighs only 1.24 kilograms (2.73 pounds).

The GETAC V100 was announced earlier this year; it is an ultra-light convertible Tablet PC with a magnesium alloy case. It is designed to endure the most extreme conditions. While it gets 6 hours of battery life with the standard battery, it can get an additional 12 to 18 hours with the XX25 fuel cell. It plugs into the same port as the power adapter, eliminating the need for the adapter.


Phase-change memory 1000x faster than flash

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania say they have discovered a new type of non-volatile nanoscale memory that reads data 1000 times faster than flash memory, can scale into the terabit range, and can store data for 100,000 years.

The primary downside of this technology is that it is at least eight to ten years away from hitting the market.

Read More (TGDaily.com)


Microsoft receives 497 million Euro fine from EU

The European Union has given Microsoft a nearly $700 million antitrust fine. The court says that Microsoft did not give third-party software makers enough freedom in relation to the company's workgroup server operating systems, and used its monopoly in the client operating system market to squash competition in the multimedia player segment (Windows Media Player).

Read More (TGDaily.com)


20 Vista downloads to improve your system

PCWorld is running an article that details 20 different downloads for Windows Vista that help improve your computing experience and help with performance. There are four categories - System Tweakers, Startup, Log-On, and Boot Tweakers, Vista Component Tweakers, and Miscellaneous Tools.

Link to Article (PCWorld.com)


Kensington introduces new notebook mice and keyboard

(view large image)

Kensington today announced the SlimBlade Lifestyle Collection, a line of new notebook input devices. The devices have simplistic modern designs offered in several colors.

The four new mice include the SlimBlade Presenter Mouse, the SlimBlade Media Mouse, the SlimBlade Presenter Media Mouse, and the SlimBlade Trackball Mouse. Kensington also came out with a SlimBlade Media Notebook set.

Please go to Kensington.com to see full product details.
Kensington Press Release (BusinessWire.com)

 

WOOOOOO!! so many exciting news, i don't know where to start! so i wont.....

 

This is probably one of the most interesting News Bits I've seen in a while.

 

Didn't microsoft get fined for this with XP as well which is why they brought out a media centre edition in the first place.

VLC is the best media player anyway..using anything else is just..stupid.

 

phase-change memory looks pretty interesting.

 

Hmmm, so in a way this Sony VAIO concept is a full touchscreen computer, isn't it? No keyboard feedback then...just as the Gizmodo article complained about.

And the new Kensington mice don't look too comfortable on the hand...I guess any mouse doesn't look comfortable compared to Logitech's MX and VX line .

 

Personally I like Media Player Classic better than VLC. Less bloated.

 

That Sony Vaio Zoom pre-concept looks amazing, i wonder when actual notebooks will look like that...

 

Who knows...

It took years for the first affordable laptops to come out, and more years for manufacturers to lose the bumpers.

 

The Zoom looks awesome! Lets have the next MBP look like that, eh? No more 5 year old PowerBook look, though that is still remarkably fresh looking.

VLC pwns MPC. It comes with all of the media codecs built into it, which makes it universally awesome.

It would be wonderful if WiMax gets a boost from Centrino like Wifi did. Hopefully, Montevina makes Bluetooth built in as well, I'd like to see it be a standard feature with all notebooks instead of a $25 option.

 

If that Sony Zoom laptop actually comes out to what they show it off to be in the concept pictures, I'll eat my hat.

 

Very interesting news indeed.

 

One word for all that: Wow!

 

im kinda xcited about that sony zoom cocept if it ever does make it out
but keys without tactile feedback would be kind of murder
but then again if it does have USB ports theres always external ports but on the go it would be murder guess thats the price for looks

 

Interesting Article so I wonder If Apple,Dell,& HP will support WIMAX?

 

The sony zoom concept is amazing. But its lid/screen is probably prone to scratches and fingerprints which render it useless after some rough handling. As I understand it the zoom also have touch sensitive keyboard? Hopefully it's actually usable and not just eye candy like windows vista is.

 

I'm sure they will, but you need to remember that WiMax is still in the development phase. Even if we have chipset support for it, that doesn't mean it'll be all over the place in a short amount of time.

 

I second that.

For example we haven't heard anything about the Intel Metro since it was introduced as a concept quite some time ago.

These types of sleek notebooks will probably be marketed at some stage, but unfortunately not as fast as we would like them to.