In late May, Dell announced to the world that it would bring a Tablet PC device to the market this fall. Dell showed a grainy video of its new Latitude XT in action, but failed to give any concrete details on the device. Some features were simply inferred from the video like the 12.1" display, built-in fingerprint reader and Windows Vista operating system. Thankfully for us, LesDeLLiens.com has unloaded a wealth of information on the Latitude XT in addition to some high resolution imagery. Consumers will be greeted with an ATI RS600ME northbridge and an SB600 southbridge. The GPU to be used will be an ATI Radeon Xpress 1250 with 256MB of HyperMemory which can be paired with either a traditional CCFL or LED-backlit 12.1" WXGA display. LesDeLLiens.com says that the Latitude XT will come with an Ultra Low Voltage Core 2 Duo U7600 (1.2GHz) processor although other processor options are likely to be available. Up to 3GB of memory will be supported by the system. Other features include Bluetooth 2.0+EDR, 802.11n, docking port, three USB 2.0 ports and the option of 4, 6 or 9-cell batteries. One feature of the battery packs used on the Latitude XT is visible in the picture of the device’s underside – Dell has included a touch sensitive power meter into each battery pack. The meter should report battery status even when the device is turned off. According to the site, Dell's first Tablet PC will launch on November 5.
LesDeLLiens.com unloads Latitude XT details
10/14/07
Dell Latitude XT Tablet Specs, Images Leaked
New Wii System Software Adds USB Keyboard Support
Those who have noticed their Wii sporting a glowing blue light (or no light at all for a non-Internet connected console) will be pleased to know that a new system firmware has been released. New in version 3.1 of the firmware is expanded USB keyboard support, improving greatly over keyboard implementation in previous firmware versions. Hyperlinks may now be included in messages, which can be launched directly into a web browser with a Wii Remote click. Users of the Internet Channel will find with the new 3.1 firmware an experience that better matches a full-featured web browser. Speaking of the Internet Channel, there also appears to be an updated version of the browser software available for download. Also, an improved “Everybody Votes” Wii Channel is also online, allowing users to input questions of their own. Version 3.1 firmware builds on all the changes introduced in version 3, such as an on-screen digital clock and the ability to rearrange the Wii Friends address book. Currently, the only way to obtain the new system software is through the Wii's Wi-Fi Internet connection, as games have yet to ship with the firmware update included.
New Wii software learns to work with USB keyboards
Magnetic Storage Breakthrough Wins Scientists Nobel Prize in Physics
The Nobel Prize is synonymous to many with developments and inventions that revolutionize a particular field. This year the Nobel Prize in Physics has gone to French scientist Albert Fert and German Peter Grünberg. The pair won the 2007 Nobel Prize for physics for their discovery of the phenomenon of “giant magnetoresistance,” or GMR. This phenomenon is where weak changes in magnetic resistance give rise to big differences in electrical resistance. This is one of the core principles that allows for the development of sensitive reading tools for retrieving magnetically sorted data in devices from computers to portable media players. The Nobel Foundation regards Fert and Grunberg's accomplishment as "one of the first major applications of nanotechnology." BBC News quotes Professor Ben Murdin of the University of Surrey, UK, as saying, “Without [giant magnetoresistance] you would not be able to store more than one song on your iPod!" Murdin went on to tell BBC News, “A computer hard-disk reader that uses a GMR sensor is equivalent to a jet flying at a speed of 30,000 kmps, at a height of just one metre above the ground, and yet being able to see and catalogue every single blade of grass it passes over." Albert Fert became the first scientist to coin the concept of GMR and subsequently became the first scientist to publish on it. Grünberg came to similar conclusions independently, and became the first patent holder for the technology. An unsung hero of GMR, Stuart Parkin, industrialized the GMR process developed by Fert and Grünberg, and the first commercial hard drives featuring GMR appeared in 1997. This technology has made the miniaturization of hard drives that we have seen on recent years possible. The Nobel Prize awarded to Fert and Grunberg comes years after they made the discovery of giant magnetoresistance in the 1970s allowing for the pioneering of high capacity magnetic storage devices. The two scientists will split the an award of approximately 1.5 million USD, though both have become independently wealthy over the last thirty years based on their involvement with GMR.
Nobel Prize awarded for discovery in magnetic storage breakthrough made in 1970s
Honda Hybrid Sports Car Concept Recalls The Bemoaned CRX
In early February, DailyTech first brought you news that Honda was working on a small sports car to take some of the "green" spotlight that has been hogged by the Toyota Prius since 2000. Honda later unveiled the vehicle as the Small Hybrid Sports Concept (SHSC) in March. The radical-looking concept was powered by an efficient 4-cylinder engine, Honda's Integrated Motor Assist (IMA) hybrid system and paired with a continuously variable transmission (CVT). The SHSC's powertrain was rather conventional, but its design was a bit too far reaching to be taken seriously as a production model. Honda is at again and today showcased a new small hybrid sports car in the form of the CR-Z. The CR-Z recalls the lightweight CRX hatchback and features more production-worthy styling than the SHSC. Honda simply describes the CR-Z as a "design research model of a lightweight hybrid sports car," and notes that the powertrain is a carryover from the Honda Civic Hybrid. Given the compact If the CR-Z were to reach production, it would join Honda's Global Small Hybrid (GSH) which is due to arrive in 2009 with a $22,000 price tag. The GSH will be a five-seater with unique styling to tackle the ubiquitous Prius.
Honda revives the CRX's spirit with a small hybrid concept
dimensions (and hopefully light weight) of the CR-Z, its fuel economy could end up being even greater than that of the Civic Hybrid which is rated at 40 MPG/45 MPG city/highway.
Mozilla Firefox Coming to Mobile Devices in 2008
The Mozilla Foundation unveiled plans to create a mobile version of Firefox that will be available to phone manufacturers sometime in 2008.
Mozilla takes aim at the mobile market
The company is hiring new staff and raised the mobile platform to a first class/tier-1 platform, which means developers will "make core platform decisions with mobile devices as first-class citizens."
Mozilla recently made two new high-profile acquisitions, hiring Christian Sejersen from Openwave's mobile browser development and Brad Lassey, recruited from France Telecom R&D. Sejersen will be responsible for creating a new R&D center that will be located in Copenhagen, Denmark, while Lassey will be able to focus solely on mobile Firefox development.
"People ask us all the time about what Mozilla's going to do about the mobile web, and I'm very excited to announce that we plan to rock it," said Mike Schroepfer, Mozilla engineering VP.
Among other things, mobile Firefox will be able to run extensions and experience tabbed Internet browsing similar to traditional desktop features users now enjoy. It remains unknown which mobile devices will feature Firefox in the future, but details will likely be released closer to a pending software launch date.
The mobile market continues to grow at an enormous rate, with billions of handhelds already available on the market. According to numbers from last spring, Firefox has between 75 and 100 million users and now has more than 15 percent browser global market share.
