Gadgetell | Tech News, Reviews, and Interesting Things

HP is rolling out their newest TouchSmart and it’s a Tablet PC.  What’s the big deal?  Well, Gadgetell got a chance to actually play with the HP TouchSmart TX2 and it is really something.

At first blush, the TX2 looks like a standard Tablet PC with a hinge that allows the entire 12.1-inch screen to be turned around and folded down for a slate style experience.  The real fun is in the touch screen which is capacitive and not resistive; that means you don’t have to press the screen very hard for the computer to register inputs.  A simple tap to the screen is enough for the TX2.

Multi-touch

The laptop supports multi-touch input as well.  While Windows Vista doesn’t do multi-touch yet, HP has built this technology into the drivers.  The multi-touch inputs are translated into keystroke commands so you can have multi-touch beyond HP’s MediaSmart software. 

Plenty more including more pics and lots of specs after the break.

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While on a quick shopping trip to Staples to replenish ink for my printer (which apparently is filled with gold at the prices they charge) I was handed a sheet of paper listing some trade-in discounts for a myriad of products.  From routers to printers to laptops, the trade-in value was significant, enough to make me think, “Hey I’ve got an old router somewhere.“

Why is Staples hoarding old tech gadgetry?  Do they just reprice them and sell as new or is something else going on here?  Follow to find out.

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Looking to get an Eee PC for less than an iPod?  Sounds like a good idea, doesn’t it?  Well, in its quarterly investors earnings call, Asustek announced a great number of things, including the fact that the baseline Eee PCs will be lowered to $200 by the end of 2009.  It seems 1.7 million Eee PCs were shipped last quarter, and Asus is expecting 1.8 million to be shipped this coming quarter.  There is some bad news for some, though.

Along with the price announcement, Asus announced that the 7” and 8.9” models will soon be phased out in favor of the 10-inch models.  That’s somewhat sad to me at least.  The 8.9” is the perfect size I think, especially if the screens on the 8.9” and 10” are the same resolution.

More after the break.

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Yet another case of the few ruining it for the many.  Due to “at least 40” reports of laptop batteries overheating and causing fires as well as potential property damage, Sony is recalling 35,000 Lithium Ion batteries in the US and another 65,000 in other countries.  In a stroke of genius, none of these batteries were actually put in Sony laptops.  Instead, most of them (32,000) are in HP Pavilion dv model and Compaq laptops, and to a lesser extent Toshiba Satellite and Tecra laptops (3,000) and only 150 Dell Latitude and Inspiron laptops.  The batteries were made way back in October 2004 to June 2005.

More after the break.

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HP has officially unveiled the Mini 1000 netbook, which serves as a follow up to the Mini-Note 2133.  And a nice follow up it seems to be, based on the specs and available options for the Mini 1000 it seems HP has taken some of the disappointing factors from their original 2133 netbook and made some notable improvements.

To begin with, the Mini 1000 will eventually be available in three models: you have the Windows XP based model that will start at $399, the Ubuntu-based Mobile Internet Experience (“MIE”) model that will start at $379, and the limited edition Vivian Tam model which will start at $699.  As of now, the Windows XP model is available for purchase, while the MIE model is expected in early January.  The limited edition Vivian Tam model will be available “in time for the holidays.“

Keep reading for more details.

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HP has just introduced their latest USB flash drive, and although flash drives rarely offer any unique features outside of the exterior design, the Floppy Drive Key does give you a little more.  The Floppy Key Drive is actually a two-in-one device that offers the traditional USB storage, but it will also work as USB floppy drive.

Sure for most people a floppy drive is long since outdated, but anyone who is still performing BIOS updates will likely find this useful.  The HP Floppy Drive Key has a small switch on the drive that allows the user to switch modes between functioning as a flash drive and a floppy drive.

The Floppy Drive Key is currently available from HP for a slightly expensive $79 (1GB) or $49 (256MB).  Aside from the convenience of having just one device, it may be a little more cost efficient to pick up an old school and much less expensive flash drive and look for a used external USB floppy drive.

Product [HP]

• HP ships touch screen laptop before Apple, we’re not worried
• HP introduces the TouchSmart TX2 laptop
• Neopets Puzzle Adventure debuts in a flash demo

It looks like HP is going to be rolling out a brand new netbook this December.  However, this particular model is not going to be for everyone.  The new model will be a special edition in partnership with Vivienne Tam.  As you can see from the recently released picture, the Vivienne Tam Edition will feature a nice floral exterior, which may be the barrier for some.  Keep reading for some speculative specs.

This netbook seems to be a nice improvement over the current HP netbook.  Many have voiced issues with the Mini-Note’s current VIA processor, and the Vivienne Tam Edition will be powered by an Intel Atom processor.  As of now, most of the specs have not been confirmed, but it is expected to feature a 10-inch display.

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HP phones are all business, and the latest announcement from them shows us they will stay with that focus.  While both are based on Windows Mobile 6.1 and feature a new optical gliding navigation (one upping the BB Pearl) the two phones take different form factors.  Both are geared for Europe and are available without a SIM card or as part of a Vodafone package.

The two phones, the Voice Messenger, a candybar style and the Data Messenger, a horizontal slider with full QWERTY keypad look fantastic as compared to other iPaqs.  Style has finally infiltrated HP and hopes are high they’ll bring this sense to the US market.  Both phones feature Wi-Fi, HSDPA, AGPS and 3.1 megapixel camera with flash.

Check out more of these uncharacteristically stylish gems.

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Sources have revealed to the Wall Street Journal that Yahoo! will announce layoffs when they reveal their quarterly earnings tomorrow.  The exact number of jobs affected isn’t know but is estimated to be at least 1,000.  The move isn’t much of a surprise, however.  Last month they hired a consulting firm to help them streamline their operations.

The company, which once boasted the top search engine on the net, has been struggling as of late.  Its shares have fallen 32% over the past month, its deal with Google was put on hold due to an FTC investigation, and earlier this year they rejected a takeover bid by Microsoft.  Shares entered the week at $12.90 after hitting a 5-year low of $11.37 last week.  Microsoft takeover bid was for $33 a share.

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Perhaps HP is making an effort to clear some inventory in preparation for a refresh of the Mini-Note or maybe they are just looking to offer a little more competition in the netbook market.  Either way, it seems it will be the consumer who will be the winner because they have just announced a new, lower price on the low-end Mini-Note models.

The Mini-Note pricing will now begin at just $399, which will give you a very capable netbook running SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 10 and features a 1.0GHz Via C7 processor, 8.9-inch display, 512MB of RAM, a 4GB SSD, VGA camera and a 3-cell battery.  Interested in what else HP’s got?  Keep reading.

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