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Fujitsu has just made available two of its flagship ultra-portable computing machines, the U810 mini notebook and the T2010 tablet PC. Both machines boast of built-in AT&T BroadbandConnect HSDPA, which simply translates to a fast wireless data connection experience for users. Individually, both machines are equipped with good features as well, here’s what you can expect on these two new Lifebook’s.

The LifeBook U810 mini-notebook brags of being the world’s smallest convertible notebook with its 5.6-inch LED backlit touchscreen display and works like a traditional notebook with its ultra-slim QWERTY keyboard or by swivelling its VSVGA Crystal View illuminated screen. It also functions as a handheld tablet PC with a touch screen for finger or pen input. Other features of this mini notebook include an Energy Star compliant 800MHz A810 Intel processor, fingerprint reader, automatic BIOS lock, integrated webcam, 1GB DDR2 400MHz SDRAM memory, 60GB hard drive and Bluetooth.

While the LifeBook T2010 convertible notebook boasts of a 12.1-inch LED backlit display and a slim 1.3-inch chassis. This notebook is packed with an Intel Core 2 Duo 7600 ultra low voltage processor, 2GB DDR2 533 MHz SDRAM memory, 120GB SATA hard drive, Wi-Fi link and Bluetooth. The T2010 is also Energy Star compliant like the U810.

Both the U810 and T2010 are available now with retail prices starting at $999 and $1,499 respectively.

Product [Fujitsu] Product [Fujitsu] Via [SlashGear]

We first saw the tx2000 back in early January with a nice video and full set of specs. So while there not much else to mention, the tx2000 is now available and is retailing for $1,299.99. As expected the tx2000 has a 12.1-inch touchscreen display, 2.1GHz AMD Turion processor, 2GB of RAM, 160GB hard drive, NVIDIA GeForce Go 6150 graphics card, Wi-Fi 802.11b/g, Bluetooth and a LightScribe SuperMulti 8X DVD+/-RW drive. There are also options to upgrade and add a 250GB hard drive, bump the RAM up to 4GB and also add a Verizon Wireless V740 ExpressCard. The tx2000 weighs in at just 4.35-pounds.

Read [HP.com]

SSD storage is still far from mainstream, but with more and more companies beginning to offer an option it will eventually become a little more popular and hopefully become a lot more reasonably priced.

HP has recently added a 64GB solid-state-drive option on their 2710p Tablet PC. Similar to the other options out with SSD installed the price seems to be a barrier for a good amount of people. To have the 64GB SSD installed in the 2710p you have to be willing to part with an additional $919. Of course with time it will come down, while its expensive its still very nice to see it being offered. In addition to the optional 64GB SSD, the 2710p Tablet also has an option for an 80GB 4200rpm drive for $60 or a 100GB 4200rpm drive for $120.

Via [jkOnTheRun]

HP has just announced the Pavillion tx2000, which is the latest, and best, of their tablet PC line. Features include:

• An active digitizer for improved hand-writing recognition.
• 12.1-inch display that rotates and folds flat.
• Powered by AMD processors.
• Graphics are provided by an integrated NVIDIA GeForce Go 6150 graphics card that shares up to 128MB of RAM.

The base model will have a 120GB drive, with 160, 250 and 320GB upgrades available. You get a chose of Vista Home Premium, Vista Business or Vista Ultimate and HP Imprint Finish with optional HP webcam, integrated microphone, and fingerprint reader. The tx2000 is expected to retail for $1299. At 4.5lbs it isn’t the lightest tablet on the market, but it is loaded up pretty well feature wise.

Via [Notebooks.com]

Microsoft has some pretty neat tablet features in store for us in Windows Vista.  Take a look at the demo video above to see how the touch-screen operates and adjusts itself based on whether you’re using a finger, or a pen.  If you’re using a finger, a little two-button mouse will follow your finger around on the screen so you can click.  Also, if you whip your finger, the mouse will react accordingly and rotate where it is positioned in relation to your finger.  Check it out for yourself.

Video [YouTube] Via [TechEBlog]

For some reason or another, Apple has chosen to stay away from the Tablet PC market for now.  Luckily there are companies like Axiotron that have stepped up to the plate.  The company is currently taking pre-orders for their new ModBook (that was announced at Macworld this year), which is just what it sounds like: a modified Macbook.  The computers are new Macbooks that have the company’s AnyView 13.3” Wide Screen monitor, ForceGlass Screen & Camera Cover, and WACOM Penabled Digitizer, allowing for touch screen functions.  They are selling three models with varying specs at $2,199, $2,399, and $2,699.

Head over to their site for complete specs.

Product Page [ModBook]

The EVO Tablet Arm is a floating docking station for tablet PCs and notebooks, allowing the user to create an ergonomic computing station at his/her primary desk. A gas spring arm “floats” the computer above the desk for comfortable viewing, with quick attach and release for work on the go. A full-size keyboard and mouse can be used to recapture the comfort of a desktop PC.

The EVO Tablet Arm is of particular value for tablet PCs, which can be awkward to use, particularly from a seated position—the user must either lay the screen flat on the desk, or cradle it in one arm while writing with the other. The EVO Tablet Arm solves this problem by allowing the user to suspend the screen in a comfortable viewing and writing position. Or, if used with a separate keyboard and mouse, the tablet can simply be used as a monitor.

The EVO Tablet Arm is a product line extension of the EVO LCD mounting arm that was introduced last CES. Winner of the prestigious 2006 red dot design award, EVO levitates flat panel monitors above the work surface, enabling intuitive fingertip adjustment of monitor height and position.

Read [Innovative Office Solutions]

Every year day the Apple rumor mill chugs along offering more and more bogus stories. This propaganda tends to especially heat up before each Apple conference, including MacWorld. This year, there’s been so much hype about Apple and its plans (iTV, Leopard, iPhone, iLife, MacPro, a tablet...) that we are probably setting ourselves up for a major disappointment. Nonetheless, Thomas Fitzgerald had decided to jump the gun early and list out his predictions in three areas: certainties, probable, and possible but unlikely—sounds like a crap-shoot to me.

Keep in mind that he claims, “These are not secret files I have received or inside information, just careful analysis of the current thoughts and public rumors.”

Certainties

• OS X Leopard - Apple will show and possibly announce a ship date (March/April) for Leopard at MacWorld. Which “top secret” features are shared is another thing.


• 2.iLife 07 - There is no new speculation as to what might be included in the new iLife suite, however I suspect iWeb will probably get the most work, it being the youngest of the Applications.


• 3.iTV - We’ll finally get an official name, maybe a release date, and more spec/feature info.

Probable

• MacPro revisions - Quad core Intel Xeon processors


• Revised Cinema Displays - Refresh needed


• MacMini Revision - Core 2 Duo refresh


• iPhone - Ah, the Apple branded cell phone. The one thing however that does suggest an iPhone’s imminent release is that Apple hasn’t denied it. If they don’t release one at this stage, their share price is going to tank.


• Full Screen iPod - Based on numerous patents and a rumor started on think secret well over a year ago, the full-screen iPod is the Apple rumor that just won’t die.

Possible but Unlikely

• Apple Tablet - They could have their own interesting take, possibly something similar to the UMPC’s


• MacBook Sub Notebook - AKA a Sony’s Viaos TX, cool but unlikely

There is a little taste to get you into the MacWorld cheer. For more, head over to Thomas’ site.

Read [Thomas
Fitzgerald]

Product: Nokia 770 Internet Tablet
Price: $359.99
Rating: 7.95/10.0 (Good)
Pros: Very portable, easy to use, good battery life, feature packed, more powerful than the typical handheld
Cons: Expensive, not great for a lot of typing, buttons are on the left side
Overall: A great productivity tool for business traveler and those that love to stay connected.  Handy and easy to use for both technophiles and technophobes.

Design – 7.5 - The Nokia 770 is overall a well designed product.  The small size and slim figured was actually better than expected for surfing the web.  Since it has only a 800 x 480 screen, you would expect that the device would make websites so small they’re illegible; but with the great resolution of the 770, reading print is a breeze.  And for those of you that don’t have 20/20 vision like me, there’s a handy zoom feature built in…but we’ll save that for the features section below.  The device comes with a hard case, which like a calculator slips on the back of the 770 while it’s in use.  This definitely makes for safe portability when you want to go to Starbucks or a Google hotspot.  One of the weird things about the unit is that the control buttons and directional pad are on the left side, making it a little awkward for us right-handers.  For this, I would suggest Nokia have a feature where you can flip the screen and controls upside down…that’d be hot.  Other than that, the 770 is a portable and convenient device to have around.

Read on for more about the Nokia 770...

Features – 9.0 - If you’re looking for a laptop replacement while you’re on the go, the 770 service the purpose mighty well (unless you need to do a lot of typing).  It connects wirelessly to any WiFi hotspot, or via Bluetooth to your cell phone.  So if you have a big data plan with your wireless carrier and are sick of surfing the internet on your cellphone, we definitely suggest this tablet.  The browser and other built in features can do pretty much anything that your computer’s browser can do, making it very powerful.  You can stream media files, listen to internet radio, get your RSS feeds via the News Reader, or play other media files that you load onto it.  There’s built in USB 2.0 (for uploading / downloading content), and a headset jack so you don’t have to use the dinky speaker that’s on-board.  Here’s the complete list of supported file formats:

Audio: AAC, AMR, MP2, MP3, RA (Real Audio), WAV, WMA
Image: BMP, GIF, ICO, JPEG, PNG, TIFF, SVG-tiny
Video: 3GP, AVI, H.263, MPEG-1, MPEG-4, RV (Real Video)
Internet radio playlists: M3U, PLS

The 770 is built on their Linux-based Internet Tablet OS 2006 edition operating system.  Since it’s open source, you can find tons of addons, plugins, and hacks out on the internet.  For a rather complete list of applications that are design for the 770, check out maemo.org (Maemo is the application framework for the device).  Now back to the zoom function.  It’s everyone’s dream to have a browser that will zoom in on the content without making the site look skewed.  The built in browser (which comes pre-loaded with a Flash player) has this functionality front and center on the address bar.  The navigation of websites is also very painless because you can literally touch the screen and drag to where you want to go…or you could be boring and use the directional pad or scroll bars.

Finally, you may not like the whole typing with a stylus thing, so if you touch a textbox with your finger, a full screen keyboard will appear.  I thought it was pretty amazing how it recognized that it was your finger and not the stylus.  If you’re going to be doing a good amount of text-entry however, I would recommend sticking to the stylus because the full-screen keyboard had some alignment issues.

Performance – 7.5 - Surfing the internet, listening to podcasts or streaming internet radio, checking your webmail or reading your RSS feeds are all things that the device is good for…but if you have a need for more power, you may want to look into a small laptop or tablet PC instead.  The Internet connection was not phased at all when we switched from one hotspot to another; the SSIDs show up just as they do on your computer.  The Internet speeds that it received were very close to as fast as my computer, which was very impressive for such a small, battery-powered device.  If you’re a heavy internet user, and want to part from your computer, the Nokia 770 is perfect for you.

Overall – It was very hard to part with the device after the review was over.  Since I’m clearly always on the web reading and checking my mail, the Nokia 770 was a good addition to my everyday life.  Since I’m a blogger however I really prefer to have a device that has a keyboard so I can jot things down or even write stories.  Overall, the device is great at what it does, and is definitely worth a try.

Editors Note: The categories were weighted in the following manner to reflect the importance of some features over others (in our humble opinion). Design 30%, Features 35%, and Performance 35%.