Stories related to: laptop

Hamstrung by poor battery life, and burdened with an overly weighty Vista operating system that makes starting up a drag, a pair of new subnotebook computers offer a glimpse of what could be—but isn’t quite, writes Wall Street Journal tech guru Walt Mossberg. Lenovo’s IdeaPad—a junior ThinkPad—and the U2E, a quirky offering from Asus, are pricey to boot. More »

Laptop computers are the key to a new earthquake-sensing project in California, the MIT Technology Review reports. Researchers are working to connect home and business computers in a network that could monitor activity and even provide early warning of big quakes. Motion detectors would report shaking to a central server, letting seismologists identify unusual movement concentrated in a particular area. More »

Cheap, small notebooks look like the next big thing. Dell today announced it was jumping into the burgeoning segment, which doesn’t quite have a name yet—some call them netbooks, others mini-notebooks, still others ultramobile PCs or UMPCs. Dell’s machine will start at $399, and sport a wee 8.9-inch screen, the Wall Street Journal reports. More »

Tired of competing for attention with iPhones, BlackBerrys and laptops, some Silicon Valley companies are banning them from meetings. One exec calls it going "topless," short for laptopless, and the Los Angeles Times reports that it's boosting some companies' efficiency. "Aside from just being rude," an exec wrote, "partial attention generally leads to partial results." More »

A government laptop loaded with personal medical info on thousands of patients just “fell through the cracks,” a top exec with an NIH subsidiary says. The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute machine was stolen Feb. 23, apparently at random, from an employee’s car trunk. None of the 2,500 records on the machine was encrypted, a violation of federal guidelines, CNN reports. More »

A German company has a solution for university students who spend their time in cafés and need extra cash for coffee: laptop advertisements, Der Spiegel reports. Just slap a sticker on the back of your screen and you could earn $320 for a few months of public studying. Berlin-based Smaboo has 1,200 students hawking its clients' products in 30 German cities. More »

LG pulled a laptop model from stores following a report that the battery melted while in use, the AP reports. A company spokesman said it had opened an investigation into the meltdown, adding that the model is no longer in production and is sold only in South Korea. More »

Bluetooth companies plan to combine the technology with Wi-Fi to increase speed, an industry group said. The combination could facilitate the speedy transfer of large amounts of data—like music, pictures, or video—between devices, like your laptop and cellphone. The first products with the combined technology should be available in the middle of next year, reports AP. More »

If thin is in, Apple’s new Air should be the hottest fashion this season. The new subnotebook weighs under 3 pounds and is three-quarters of an inch thick—at its deepest. Like all things Apple, Air’s beautiful, simple, and evokes technolust among geeks and non-geeks alike. But, say reviewers who have had their hands on the machines, it’s not for everyone, especially at its base price of $1,799. More »

Dell has acknowledged that some of its laptops give a “tingling sensation” to users when plugging in cables or accessories—but insisted the “voltage does not present any risk of injury.” Complaints about the surprise jolts have been trickling in about a few different models for the past year, Techworld reports. Dell simply recommends unplugging AC adapters before attaching peripherals. More »

Steve Jobs today slid his latest trick not from up his sleeve, but from a manila envelope. The Apple CEO unveiled the ultra-thin MacBook Air laptop at the Macworld Expo, reports the AP. Boasting a 13-inch screen, the new Mac ranges in thickness from 0.16 inches to 0.76 inches and comes with a standard 80-gig hard drive. More »

Longtime business stalwart Lenovo will unleash a stylish new line of laptops on a crowded consumer field, the Wall Street Journal reports. Lenovo’s IdeaPad line will offer sporty red aluminum-alloy cases and higher-performance gaming specs, as well as novel features such as face-recognition software that lets users log in simply by looking at the screen. More »

Tech buffs have forecast a laptop takeover for years—and now US buying data is finally confirming a coup de desktop. Consumer laptop sales beat out desktop buys for the first time last year, and corporations will likely follow in 2008, the Los Angeles Times reports. New technology, lower prices, and the growth in WiFi are driving the portable boom. More »

The $100 laptop is turning into the $600 laptop on eBay, reports the San Jose Mercury News, sealing the novelty value of the computer aimed at children in developing countries . Nonprofit One Laptop Per Child is also hawking the laptops through year's end, but many shoppers shelled out extra in private auctions to ensure Christmas delivery. More »

Computer-maker Dell’s rollercoaster ride isn’t over and it’s left investors woozy. Despite increasing net income 27% in third quarter earnings released yesterday, Dell shares slipped nearly 10% in after hours trading, giving back nearly everything the stock gained leading up to the report and underlining CEO Michael Dell’s statement: “There’s more work to be done,” reports the Austin American-Statesman. More »

With laptops roughly as common as toaster ovens, business people are ready to work anywhere. Now, hotels and airports are scrambling to make sure anywhere is ready for them, the Times reports. Studying jetsetter habits, hotels are putting outlets in easy reach, attaching desks to beds and chairs, and most importantly, making sure you don’t have to wait 20 minutes for tech support. More »

Apple reported yesterday that it dramatically outstripped estimates for fourth-quarter profits, news that bumped the company's stock up 6% in after-hours trading. Apple saw $6.22 billion in sales this quarter for earnings of $904 million ($1.01 per share), a 67% improvement over the same time last year. Analysts were expecting earnings of 86 cents on sales of $6.07 billion, repors the Merc-News. More »

Sales of Mac computers are booming, boosted by the success of Apple's iPod and iPhone among PC users. Apple will move into third place among computer makers today—behind Hewlett Packard and Dell, reports the New York Times . The surge comes just as Apple is about to release the new Leopard version of its OS X operating system. More »

The famous but increasingly misnamed “$100 laptop” will actually cost $188—the fourth price increase for the innovative device designed for nonprofit group One Laptop Per Child, reports the AP. While still a bargain, the bump could scare off developing governments fixed on the “fanciful $100-per-child figure,” observers fear. More »