Digital Gadgets

Apple patents display leap frog concepts for touch sensitive displays

US Patent & Trademark Office revealed Apple’s patent number 20060026536 titled “Gestures for touch sensitive input devices.” Apple’s heavy hitters such as Jonathan Ive, Duncan Robert Kerr and Steve Hotelling of the famed Chameleon patent are listed on this patent. The touch sensitive system will apply to a number of devices such as a tablet, the iPod, cell phones, PDA’s and other “consumer electronic devices.

This new series of patents support the breaking news that Macsimum first posted last week on the tablet patent titled “Methods and apparatuses for operating a portable device based on an accelerometer.” The patents present a great number of great new-to-market virtual object concepts that are like interactive widgets. The patent officially defines them as “Touch Images” and provides an explanation for such.

Commercial & industrial touch screens applications

It would appear that Apple may consider licensing their advanced screen touch technology – when you consider the following patent point.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a computer system 500 according to one embodiment of the invention. The computer system 500 may correspond to personal computer systems such as desktops, laptops, tablets or handhelds. By way of example, the computer system 500 may correspond to any Apple or PC based computer system.

More: macsimumnews.com

Stylish Xnote S1 laptop by LG

LG is playing a little coy about the features on this one If you’re looking to get your Core Duo on, LG has got another option for you to consider.

The sleekly designed, ultra thin Xnote S1 comes in a black-and-white motif that just screams, “I’ve got style.” The most notable feature is, of course, the Intel Dual Core CPU (there’s no explicit mention of a clock speed), but that’s not to say the rest of the specs should be ignored.

But what little info they’re providing sounds pretty good: the XNOTE S1 is a Core Duo laptop with a 15.4-inch WSXGA widescreen display, 5.1 surround With a 15.4 inch WSXGA (1680×1050) screen and excellent 5.1 surround sound, you have yourself a pretty powerful portable theatre on your lap.

There’s even a dedicated “Direct Media Experience Button” that shoots you straight into an interface designed for DVD, CD, or MP3 playback. Gaming should be a lot of fun with the ATI Mobility Radeon X1K GPU for all your 3D graphical needs.

They are dedicated media mode for DVD, CD and MP3 audio. Oh, and it comes in a snazzy black-and-white finish, too. Not too much else is known at this time, so we’ll just have to keep our eyes and ears peeled for some more Korean press releases to find out when, where, and how much the LG Xnote S1 is going to be.

The Versa E3100 Laptop from NEC

NEC launched their Versa E3100 laptop today which, at 2.2 kilograms (or 4.84lbs), is apparently the lightest 14-inch widescreen unit in its class.

For computer geeks who seek style, as well as performance, a new laptop may just fit your bill. The NEC Versa E3100 is a sleek design of a laptop, combined with some nice specs, totaling up to a very solid package. While many laptop manufacturers concentrate simply on giving a small laptop in a portable package, NEC insists on a full sized laptop, which is more portable than anything on the market. While it is easily movable, this is no Pocket PC; moreover it’s one of the more feature packed laptops out there!

In addition to that screen, the system packs your choice of Pentium M processor, 256MB RAM standard (upgradeable to 2GB), a 40, 60, or 80 GB hard drive spinning at 5400rpm, and a battery that NEC says’ll give you about 4 hours of juice.

Portability in the E3100 is mostly shown through its minimal weight. Who cares how big the body of a laptop is, if you still carry it around in a backpack? Weight plays a huge factor however, and NEC realizes this. In fact, at 2.2kg, this is the lightest laptop with a 14” screen in the world! It features some really cool burning technology in the form of a built-in DVD Super Multi Drive, which supports DVD+R, and Dual Layer discs! It’s powered by an awesome Pentium M, and a customizable amount of DDRII RAM.

The computer has 4 USB ports, wireless LAN support, and even a 4-in-1 memory card reader. Battery life is expected to be at around 4 hours, while the HD can be anywhere from 40-80GB. Finally, the package is rounded off with a Rapid 15-Minute Recovery program, which promises to quickly recover partial or complete lost data, in an easy and approachable way. Prices range for different customizations of the laptop.

Some models will also include an integrated DVD Super Multi Drive with double-layer recording capability and all models come with built-in wireless LAN, four USB ports, 4-in-1 memory card reader, and an infrared port. And while it may look black, NEC says the outer casing is actually something called “solitaire blue”.

Future Dell Laptops To Include HSDPA From Vodafone

Dell recently announced that within the next few months they will be offering notebook computers in France, Germany and the UK. HSDPA, or High Speed Downlink Packet Access is an upgrade to the mobile 3G web access many of use are used to seeing on mobile phones and PDAs.

Dell is to start selling laptops with HSDPA wireless broadband using Vodafone’s network in France, Germany and the UK within the next six months.

It is believed to be the first major agreement on the HSDPA standard - which is set to supplant 3G - between a carrier and a computer supplier. The service should have up to four times the performance currently offered by 3G.

Dell has just announced today that it will bring Vodafone’s third generation (3G) wireless broadband technology to Dell’s notebook customers in the UK, France and Germany. With its build-to-order capability, Dell aims to expand customers’ wireless connectivity options by delivering built-in access to Vodafone’s high-speed wireless data network in these countries. This new service will mean users will have readily available access to email, Internet and servers through the Vodafone mobile broadband data network.

HSDPA is a wireless broadband technology that boosts 3G download speeds by approximately four times. A subscription to a Vodafone wireless data plan will be required to use the new broadband service.

The really cool part about HSDPA is that it is three to four times as fast as current 3G networks we now have. No information was noted about when the service or availability of the notebooks will happen for those of us in the USA. Originally reported via.

Dell had previously announced similar agreements with Verizon and Cingular in the US.

An HSDPA network can support download speeds of up to 1.4Mbps with incremental upgrades expected to raise this to 10Mbps by 2008. In tests carried out by silicon.com sister site, ZDNet UK, peak download speed was measured at 1.29Mbps with an average over 10 minutes of 480Kbps. 300Kbps streamed video displayed perfectly.

The movement towards HSDPA as a standard is gathering momentum. In November, the first HSDPA network in Europe was launched on the Isle of Man by Manx Telecom, a wholly owned subsidiary of O2. At that time O2 hinted that at least two “mystery vendors” were developing laptops with integrated support - one of them presumably Dell.

Dell continues to set the pace in ensuring mobile users have the widest choices in wireless connectivity by integrating optional mobile broadband capability in future notebook products. It is the first major personal computer supplier to announce multiple wireless carrier partnerships in multiple regions, including agreements with Vodafone initially in France, Germany and the UK.

Our collaboration with Dell is an important part of Vodafone’s plan to provide customers with new mobile solutions that use HSDPA to bring the full potential of mobile broadband to life,” said Nick Jeffery, Global Marketing Director, Vodafone.

In December, Qualcomm, Samsung and Vodafone signed a deal to provide HSDPA networks in Europe but only for handsets. The phones will be made by Samsung using a Qualcomm chipset. Also, T-Mobile is to start selling HSDPA networks in Germany.

This is another important step in providing world-class mobile broadband technology to Dell customers,” said Jeff Kimbell, Director of Business Marketing, Dell EMEA. “Dell’s collaboration with Vodafone demonstrates Dell’s on-going strategy to deliver innovative technology solutions to market to meet our customers’ requirements. With Dell and Vodafone working together, customers can benefit from built-in, easy-to-use technology which provides access to the 3G wireless network deployed broadly worldwide.”