Asus will soon release four new laptops. The first in the line-up is Asus F8S that comes with 14.1” screen, Core 2 Duo (T7500) processor, 2GB RAM, 1GB Turbo Memory (on-board flash memory), 512MB ATI Mobility Radeon HD2600 graphics card, up to 250 GB hard drive, DVD burner, WiFi and Bluetooth. The laptop will cost you around $2300. The second laptop in the line-up U6S is an ultra-portable notebook weighing just 3.3 pound and priced for $3000. The laptop has a 12.1” LED backlit screen and has a battery life of 5 hours. The configuration of the laptop is Core 2 Duo T7500 processor, 2GB RAM, 128MB NVIDIA GeForce 8400M graphics card, 250GB hard drive, HDMI out, WiFi, Bluetooth and HSDPA. The G2S Extreme Limited Edition Laptop has a 17.1” screen, 2.6GHz Core 2 Duo extreme X7800, 2GB RAM, 1GB Turbo Memory, 256MB NVIDIA GeForce 8600 Graphics card, 200GB hard drive, HD-DVD/ DVD burner, TV tuner, HDMI out, WiFi and Bluetooth. This ultimate gaming machine will cost around $5000. The last of the lot is an UMPC with 7” screen that has 800 X 480 resolution. It uses a 945GU Express chipset with Intel’s 800MHz A110 processor. It also comes with 1GB RAM, 80GB hard drive, WiFi, Bluetooth, HSDPA, GPS and 1.3-megapixel webcam. The R2E UPMC for Asus will cost around $1600. All the Laptop will be available in October in Europe, no word when they will land in US.

Many websites have posted today that Apple has been working on a new PDA like device that will be released in first half of 2008. According to the description given by websites like AppleInsider, the new device will be like the iPhone with bigger screen (about 5” to 6” screen) and sport 720 X 480 resolution. The device will have new multi-touch functionalities like drag-and-drop, copy-and –paste and more, which are not present in iPhone. The device is Apple’s answer to the Ultra mobile PC (UMPC). Now what I don’t understand is why will Apple go after a dying market of PDA's or waste their time designing a UMPC (already proving to be flop). I think Apple should design a 10” multi-touch based fully functional computer that can be used as an Ultra portable laptop rather then wasting their time on a 5” to 7” screen UMPC. The problem with UMPC is you cannot keep them in your pocket and if you have to carry a bag then why not have an Ultra-portable laptop.

Gateway announced a sleek all-in-one desktop called the One. The design of the One looks inspired by Apple’s iMac desktop. The desktop uses Intel Core 2 Duo processor (1.5GHz to 2GHz) and ATI Mobility Radeon HD 2600 graphics card. The system comes with DVD burner, 1.3-megapixel webcam, three USB ports, one FireWire port and audio in/out ports. The price will start from $1300 and the date of availability is not yet know.

In its on going Intel Developer forum, Intel said it will launch “Santa Rosa Refresh,” in January 2008 an Update to its Centrino platform that includes the next generation 45nm Penryn processor and improved graphics capabilities. Intel also showed next generation Montevina processor technology, which will be released in mid 2008. The platform will have DDR3, WIMAX and integrated HD-DVD/Blu-ray support. The components will be 40% smaller and will be ideal for use in wide spectrum of notebook designs from sub 4-pound to full sized notebook. Intel is working with Cisco on interoperability testing of 802.11n draft 2.0 to ensure reliable performance and compatibility between Intel Centrino-based notebooks and Cisco wireless networks. Intel provided a glimpse of the entertainment power of the upcoming Penryn based Intel Centrino systems with video rendering and encoding. Intel’s Menlow platform, scheduled for launched in first half of 2008 will deliver great performance at low power and could fit in a 74mm X 143mm sized motherboard, thus enabling form factors that are small enough to fit in your pocket and powerful enough for Mobile Internet Devices (MID). Intel’s Moorestown Platform will consist of a System on Chip (SOC) and Communications Hub. The SOC integrates the CPU, graphics, video and memory controller to a single chip. The architecture allows for ultra low power operation in Mobile Internet Devices (MID). The idle power for a Moorestown based MID platform will be 10X lower compared to a Menlow based platform.

Zune Scene posted the configuration and release date of soon to be released Microsoft Zune 2. The flash based Zune will be available in four colors pink, red, black, and Army jeep green and it will come in 4GB and 8GB capacities. The hard drive based Zune (Scorpio) will come with a 80GB hard drive. Both the Zunes will have a new “squircle” shape button, which will function as a navigation button for the menus. The launch date for both the models is scheduled for October 16th. The prices for the different models are not yet known but they will be priced to compete with the new iPods.

Meizu in January posted mockups photos of their M8 phone, a copy of iPhone, which was to be released before iPhone and cost half the price of the iPhone. But that never happened and now they are at it again by copying the design of iPod Touch. They are not even changing the UI according to the photos posted on Meizublog. The Meizu M7 will cost $100, $110 and $150 for the 2Gb, 4GB and 8GB models respectively. The player will have a 2.8” LCD screen with 480 X 280 resolution and the player will measure 3.5” X 1.9” X 0.3” only. Let see whether they can develop a product or just show mockups like they did with M8 phone.

There is no question that we will be in need of more transfer speed as more and more HD content becomes available. Even the new flash memory standard called UFS (to be released in 2009) will have faster access speeds. To satisfy our need for speed, “SuperSpeed” USB Promotions Group was announced at the Intel Developer Forum. The group will finalize USB 3.0 spec by middle of 2008 and new devices based on the spec will be released in 2009. The two main goals of SuperSpeed USB are to increase transfer speed by 10X and dramatically lower power consumption. That means the transfer speed will increase from 480Mbits/s in USB 2.0 to 4.8Gbits/s in USB 3.0. The SuperSpeed devices will use the same connectors and the same programming and device models as existing devices. USB 3.0 will be backwards compatible with USB 2.0.

Hasselblad announced its update to the H3D series of digital SLR. The new H3D II series offer 3 models with 48 X 36mm sensors and 22, 31 or 39-megapixel resolutions. The camera has improved heat dissipation on the sensors for better signal-to-noise response, better raw-processing software and a GPS to record location data, which can be automatically uploaded to Google Earth. The H3D II will cost around $25,000 for 22-megapixel camera and around $37,000 for 39-megapixel camera.

Intel’s Paul Otellini provided an overview of the advantages of the upcoming 45nm based Penryn processors at the Intel Developer Forum. The processors use high-k metal gate and will ship in November. Penryn will have small size, low-power requirements and high-performance capabilities. Intel plans to introduce 15 new processors based on this technology by end of 2007 and another 20 new processors in 2008. Otellini said, “ We expect our Penryn processors to provide up to 20% performance increase while improving energy efficiency.” The new 45nm processors and 65nm chipsets would use halogen free packaging technology beginning next year, making them more environment friendly. Otellini also announced that a version of penryn dual-core processor operating at 25 watts would be available on the upcoming Montevina platform, which will include Intel’s mobile WiMAX. Notebooks based on this platform will be introduced in early 2008. Intel’s CEO also did the first public demonstration of Intel’s Nehalem processor and said that the company will deliver new processor based on Nehalem architecture in second half of 2008. Nehalem processor will be the first chip to utilize QuickPath Interconnect System Architecture that includes integrated memory controller technology and improved communication links between system components to significantly improve overall system performance.

Today at Intel Developer Forum in San Francisco, Intel’s CEO Paul Otellini showed world’s first 300mm wafer built using next-generation 32nm process technology. The 32nm test chips incorporate logic and memory to house more than 1.9 billion transistors. The 32nm process also uses second generation high-k and metal gate transistor technology. Paul Otellini said “ Chips based on its upcoming 32nm technology are due out in2009 and will include transistors so small that more than 4 million of them could fit on the period at the end of this sentence.” Using 32nm process will increase performance and decreases power requirement.