A Competitor for Macbook Air

Apple's much-hyped "MacBook Air" may finally have found its competitor in Lenovo's ThinkPad X300 -- at least that's what analysts are saying.
Like the MacBook Air, the ThinkPad X300 boasts an ultra-thin frame though it weighs in at around 3.12 pounds, which is heavier than the very light-weight MacBook Air.
Both the Air and the ThinkPad X300 sport a 13.3-inches wide-screen and a full keyboard.
But the Air lacks: an optical drive, a network port, extra USB ports (it has only one), and removable battery. By contrast, the ThinkPad X300 is a typical road warrior -- what with a built-in DVD drive, three USB ports, and a removable battery.
MacBook Air users cannot upgrade memory on the device, and there's no integrated support for EV-DO or HSDPA. By comparison, the ThinkPad X300 comes with an Ethernet networking jack, and can be customized with a cell-phone modem or GPS.
There's yet another advantage for ThinkPad X300 users; they have the option to choose between either Windows XP or Windows Vista.
Meanwhile, Lenovo's ThinkPad X300 comes with a 64GB SSD (Solid State Drive) only, which might be the reason for the ramped up price; somewhere between $2,500 and $2,800. By comparison, Apple's MacBook Air, when equipped with a 80GB hard disk drive (HDD), carries a lower price tag, i.e. $1,800.
However, add to the MacBook Air a 64GB SSD, and it comes for not less than $3,000, which is higher than the price of the ThinkPad X300.
While the ThinkPad X300 has almost all the features required to beat the hell out of Apple's MacBook Air; there's one drawback -- its processor speed. The notebook includes a 1.2GHz Core 2 Duo processor. Whereas, the MacBook Air incorporates 1.6GHz and 1.8GHz Core 2 Duo processors.
All said, the X300's 12W processor is believed to be more power-efficient than the Air's 20W processors, in turn leading to greater battery life.
Citing from a Business Week report, the development of the ThinkPad X300 has taken nearly 20 months from the original concept to production. The mandate for the notebook is not so much to be a revenue spinner for Lenovo as it is to be a "halo" product for the company, somewhat like a MacBook Air is for Apple Computer.
In a statement, Lenovo Chairman, Yang Yuanqing said that they want to send out the message that if there's any company in the industry that can continuously develop the most inventive and best-quality products with efficiency, it has to be Lenovo. Besides, they also want to send firepower against arch rivals, HP and Dell. Of which, Dell is believed to feel not at all threatened by Lenovo, not at least in the US market.
There's no word yet on availability and pricing of this notebook. Info Courtesy: Techtree

A Bluetooth Headset for the Hearing Impaired

In a bid to develop mobile phones for people with hearing difficulty, Japanese telecom operator NTT DoCoMo have launched their ultra-slim Bluetooth handset called "Sound Leaf Plus" during the recently-concluded Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.
The mobile receiver-microphone combo works using the "bone-conduction" principle. When pressed against the bone just below the ear, it sends sound vibrations to the auditory nerves through the cranial bones.
Weighing only 45gm, "Sound Leaf Plus" connects through the Bluetooth link or a hard wire to the cellular phone service. It is said that this is the first attempt when bone-conduction technology has been used in combination with a telephone coil.
Contemporarily, bone-conduction has been used mostly in specialized, military devices in the form of throat microphones or diver communication sets to provide hand-free operation for pilots and underwater operators. However, this technology has been in the news even before for consumer products like Aliph's JAWBONE Bluetooth headset and Pantech's A140PTA clamshell phone.
Meanwhile, NTT DoCoMo's new Bluetooth handset has been developed by NEC/Tokin, and includes a high-frequency switch that improves sound articulation. In addition to those with age-related hearing problems, the device is also useful for those with normal hearing when they're in noisy environments, said a NTT DoCoMo spokesperson.
"Sound Leaf" will be available to DoCoMo subscribers in Japan for a price of $116 or 13,000 Yen. For the rest, here's hoping this useful device reaches the Indian consumer in the near future!Source:Techtree

A $20 phone by SPICE...!!!

A lot of things happened at the Mobile World Congress last week. Significant among them; Spice Telecom unveiled a $20 mobile phone targeted at Indian users.
Being called a "People's Phone", the Spice phone is basically like a landline with all mobile phone features minus the add-ons. The company has done away with the screen, and instead, has integrated an audio program that announces the digits dialed by the user.
IANS quoted B K Modi, chairman of Spice Telecom, as saying that in spite of taking various measures to cut down on the price of the handset, they believe the handset will still be a technologically advanced instrument. In Modi's view, the phone will not only prove that India is equipped to give the best in technology but also the cheapest and at the most competitive price.
When it launches commercially, the $20 phone will have a range of color options to choose from, and will be compatible with all types of SIM cards.
Spice also announced that a Braille version of its phone will be introduced around the same time for visually impaired users.
Additionally, Spice has unveiled a movie mobile phone touted as the world's first phone targeted at entertainment freaks. This phone sports a 2.8-inches TFT screen, and can be loaded with removable optical mini-discs to enjoy up to 3.5 hours of DVD-quality movies. From: Techtree

A "Hydrogen Cell" Mobile battery by Motorola !

What if you could power your mobile phone with nothing more than good old H2O? That would really be something! Angstrom Power and teammate Motorola seem to have developed a way to power cellphones with a hydrogen fuel cell. Of course, it's still in the testing phase, with a prototype, but the concept is certainly interesting. Imagine, all you’ll need to do is fill up your cellphone with water – and voila, it’ll start working again.

Angstrom has already developed an LED Flashlight that runs on a similar concept of a hydrogen fuel cell. The good thing is perhaps we can look forward to a cleaner planet in the not-so-distant future.
Source: Tech2