Software and services will be the focus of the year’s biggest conference dedicated to mobile technology.

The Mobile World Congress convenes in Barcelona with the industry undergoing negative growth.

The rising stars of the industry are tipped to be in areas surrounding mobile broadband and applications for

devices such as cloud computing.

But there will also be announcements of new handsets and mobile gadgets.

The economic downturn is likely to be a dominant theme of discussion.

But the sense of a downturn for the mobile industry was made more tangible when Nokia - the leader among handset manufacturers - recently announced it foresaw a 10% fall in mobile phone sales for the coming year.

The Mobile World Congress expects almost 50,000 visitors

Nokia itself saw its sales fall by 15% from 2007 to 2008, with the fifth largest manufacturer Motorola suffering a 53% drop during the same period.

But that is not to say that the industry as a whole will suffer. Even if fewer people are buying handsets, analysts say the market for software and services based on mobile devices may be recession-proof.

The number of attendees at this year’s congress is down by 10%, but Michael O’Hara, chief marketing officer for the GSM Association - the umbrella organisation representing the mobile communications industry worldwide that hosts the Congress - remains hopeful.

Mr O’Hara points to the spectacular growth of mobile broadband as a sign that parts of the industry have no cause for concern.

“We are going to hear a lot of discussion about how to find your way out of an economic crisis,” Mr O’Hara told BBC News. “But I think you are going to hear that this isn’t an industry looking for bailouts, it’s an industry ready to invest.”

Next steps

There are currently almost 100 million subscribers to mobile broadband, and the GSM’s estimates put that number at over a billion by 2012.

Every time we have a technology transition period, a number of players don’t make it
Bengt Nordstrom, Northstream

As a consequence, one of the biggest talking points at the show is expected to be infrastructure. The current 3G infrastructure is seeing the end of a 10-year cycle, with a few isolated markets signing up to one potential successor, known as Long Term Evolution (LTE).

The High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA) infrastructure that currently drives mobile broadband can support data rates of up to 7.2 megabits per second (Mbps), and the next generation, known as HSPA+, could drive that number up to more than 20 Mbps. HSPA+ will be implemented in a number of markets worldwide later in 2009.

LTE promises speeds of up to 100Mbps - but requires major changes in the cellular base stations that would support it.

That level of investment is a tricky proposition for mobile network operators navigating in uncertain economic times.

And it is not a matter of being first to the post with that kind of speed said Bengt Nordstrom, chief executive of mobile consultancy firm Northstream.

“I haven’t seen a case where anyone benefits by being the first to adopt a new technology - they are just guinea pigs for the rest of the industry,” said Mr Nordstrom.

“Every time we have a technology transition period, a number of players don’t make it, and that’s probably the case this time as well.”

Mind the apps

The conference will of course host all the major players in the industry - with the notable exception of Apple.

But at Showstoppers, a pre-congress show-and-tell, a look at the smaller names points to a trend in which applications and services for mobile devices could become a major breadwinner for the industry.

The fully-connected, multimedia nature of handsets means they contain an ever richer mixture of personal and organisational data, and the ability to move, share, backup, and update that data across devices and “in the cloud” is another evident focus among some of the companies here.

And the mobile browser war continues, with plenty of options available from makers large and small alike - and a growing trend toward browsers and software based on open-source code.

While the success of Apple’s software marketplace, the AppStore, is expected to inspire many to follow suit.

The prospect of more applications marketplaces, in which both professional and amateur software developers can sell or give away applications for phones, is spreading widely throughout the industry, and there is much discussion about such giants as Microsoft and Nokia joining the fray.

“If you put a wide range of smartphones on a desk and step away two metres, it’s very hard to tell them apart - so that’s why software will be crucial in going forward,” said Mr Nordstrom.

Despite these shifts toward more software and services within the industry, no Mobile World Congress would be complete without the release of some new handsets, and all the big manufacturers are here.

Among the more notable releases, Palm’s new offering the Pre will make waves, and computer manufacturer Acer will enter the market with a handset.

Some manufacturers have made their releases ahead of the Congress, such as the LG Arena, and Nokia’s 5800 came out weeks ago to make room for the N73 launch that will happen here.

source

Microsoft Relevant Products/Services is having quite a week. The company is seeing reports of vulnerabilities before Patch Tuesday, fixing data-corruption issues, and getting flooded with visitors trying to download the beta version of Windows 7.

First up, security. If you didn’t patch for the Microsoft Windows Server RPC Handling Remote Code Execution Vulnerability last year, you could be targeted this year through a vulnerability that can be spread through USB ports.

Security researchers are warning of a worm dubbed Downadup. It appeared on Dec. 30 and can not only propagate by exploiting the vulnerability, but also by infected USB sticks and by exploiting weak passwords, according to Symantec.

The W32.Spybot, W32.Randex, and W32.Mytob variants all used almost identical methods to spread, the company said, but the new variant requires more effort to protect corporate networks.

Automatic Execution

“W32.Downadup.B creates an autorun.inf file on all mapped drives so that the threat automatically executes when the drive is accessed. The threat then monitors for drives that are connected to the compromised computer in order to create an autorun.inf file as soon as the drive becomes accessible,” Symantec Security Response wrote on the company’s blog on Friday.

The worm also monitors DNS requests to domains containing certain strings, and blocks access to those domains so it will appear that the network request timed out. According to Symantec, this means infected users may not be able to update their security software from those Web sites. That’s a problem, the company warned, because worm authors generally dish out new variants constantly.

Symantec said it’s seeing considerable detections of both variants of W32.Downadup and W32.Downadup.B. The infections are geographically widespread, with the highest infection rates typically in countries with high rates of computer and Internet usage.

“DownAdUp is reportedly getting worse in parts of Europe and Asia. We expect this worm family to slowly crawl through networks as it spreads through multiple vectors,” said Ken Dunham, director of global response at iSight Partners. “The use of updated antivirus and patches against MS08-067 and other vulnerabilities will help to mitigate such attacks. Policies in managing thumb drives may also help in lowering risk for risks such as this worm and autoruns.”

Getting Your Hands on Windows 7

Microsoft has released a fix for the Windows 7 MP3 corruption issue. The problem was first announced earlier this week. The issue is with Windows 7 build 7000, which was leaked a couple of weeks ago. When consumers play back MP3s using Windows Media Player 12, the data corrupts.

Users may have a hard time downloading the fix, though, because so many others are rushing to Microsoft’s Web site to download the beta of Windows 7. Microsoft’s servers are reportedly overloaded with visitors trying to download the new code. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer unveiled the public beta on Thursday, calling it “Vista a lot better.”

However, browsers are turning up errors such as “connection interrupted” or “Internet Explorer cannot display this webpage.” Other would-be visitors are getting a blank screen. Still others report very slow response times when they do gain access to the site. The traffic rose even before the beta was posted. Plans were to go online at 3 p.m. Eastern time.

source

Skype is offering its Voice over Internet Protocol service to Android and Java-enabled mobile phones, and to Intel-based Mobile Internet Devices (MIDs). This is the first time the software has been released for mobile users in the U.S.

At the Consumer Electronics Show, Skype announced Thursday the release of a light beta version of Skype for Android and Java-based phones. Java-enabled phones include those from LG, Motorola, Nokia, Samsung and Sony Ericsson.

Call Anywhere

The light version currently does not offer video calls. The capabilities include calls to other Skype users anywhere in the world, sending or receiving instant messages, and making low-rate calls to landline or mobile phones not on the Skype network. Users can also see when their Skype contacts are available online for chatting.

The MID version, also in beta, is for the new category of small consumer devices based on Intel’s Atom processor and the Moblin-based Linux operating system. They offer four-to-seven-inch screens, an enhanced Internet experience, and, for some, WiMAX or 3G/4G connectivity.

While Skype on a PC uses an Internet connection, the company pointed out that the light version for mobile phones works where phones work, without needing a Wi-Fi connection. But users do need both calling and data plans from a wireless carrier.

This means the prospect for mobile phones to save on calls via Skype is more complicated than on computers. The company noted that, while the light version requires both air time and data usage, there are no charges for Skype-to-Skype calls or for instant messages to Skype friends. But national calling rates may apply.

‘Tension’ Between VoIP Relevant Products/Services and Cell Plans

The Skype software is available worldwide, but the company noted that the ability to make Skype-to-Skype calls and low-cost calls to non-Skype landlines and mobile phones are presently only available in 10 countries — the U.S., the UK, Poland, Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paolo in Brazil, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Estonia, Australia and New Zealand.

Michael Gartenberg, vice president for consumer strategy at Jupitermedia, pointed out that Skype on mobile devices doesn’t necessarily mean carriers’ voice plans are obsolete. He noted that it does, however, “illustrate the growing tension between VoIP and regular cell plans.”

Gartenberg also said the mobile versions extend the Skype experience, eventually including video calls, that many users regularly have on their computers.

source

Model: Toshiba Satelite M305 - 14.1′ widescreen Laptop
At a Glance: Nice finish, good connectivity, Lableflash Drive, 14.1′ widescreen with TruBright Display

Design

It’s obvious that the new Satellite lineup from Toshiba is taking a direct line towards fashion friendly. Its Fusion finish is a simple delight in an otherwise mundane world of ‘normal’ looking laptops.

It features the sort of gloss and appeal that makes this laptop seem to fit in a rather more expensive looking crowd. Not a bad thing to achieve, however - it still seems a little thick for our tastes, especially running with a 14.1′ LCD, we felt that the weight of the unit seemed a little bulky, and that the LCD seemed excessively thick. On the plus side, the unit did feel pretty sturdy and wasn’t overbearing when it came to transportation.

The lid isn’t overstated, but it isn’t understated. We noticed some nice coloring, and it got nods around crowds when observedand as with any Toshiba branded laptop, its bold chrome was there to remind anyone what I was using.

Upon opening the M305, you will be very (shocked, impressed, startled, stumped) to find a very new trend: a very glossy black keyboard. I’ll state this right away - I love the look, but I’m a stickler for form and function. I didn’t (and really don’t) see the point of the glossy keys. Not that they look bad in any shape or way (as they don’t, they look rather impressive) but I just know, that the clean freak in most business professionals will find it’s way to this keyboard. And it found it’s way to methe fingerprints of the quick chicken strip basket you hammer down whilst on the moving walkway will find it’s way onto your keys, and much more quickly than you had hoped. I thought immediately to myself, ‘this should prove interesting.’

You’ll notice that the layout isn’t obtrusive or strange, normal layout although the delete key could be closer, and if you’re used to the switched version of the FN - CTRL key layout, be prepared to yet again re-learn common shortcuts. Surprisingly, the actual use of the keyboard wasn’t that bad. Tactile feel was nice, noise was minimalbut, right away, I did notice that if you didn’t wash your hands in the last 10 minutes or so, you’re leaving your mark on them.

On the top of the keyboard are lighted touch sensitive multimedia controls. Nothing really new or impressive, but a nice touch - harmon/kardon speakers align either side of the laptop. More on those later.

The trackpad was another entity entirely. It has a nice glowing bar above it, which is actually nice because since this is a flush mounted trackpad - unless you’re really familiar with the laptop, it’s sometimes hard to find! But that illumination plays a dirty trick tooit gets really, really bright in dark places - almost annoyingly bright. However, the trackpad does continue the ‘Fusion’ finish throughout, making it tie in rather well.

However, it might have been the drivers, or maybe just the fact that it was really that un-responsivethe trackpad suffered from major delays, odd scrollingand just had a really odd shape to it. It just didn’t seem to ‘track’, and when you finally got used to it, you found out that the ‘pad’ was too short on height which made you monster truck over the edge and wonder what happened to your cursor! I never got used to it and was definitely a let down on the device.

There is another lighted portion to the M305and that is it’s branding aspect.

Again, kind of annoying in the dark, but otherwise a nice mood light during normal ambient lighting.

Connectivity
Connectivity with the M305 was pretty standard - nothing flattering, and nothing too advanced. Given this is the more budget friendly line-up for the Toshiba Satellite series; we weren’t taken back at this price point.

The front houses just two input/connection items. The card slot and wireless switch - however, one thing that I’m now very appreciative of, is the dedicated volume switch on these units.

I’ve come the conclusion that I HATE trying to find the FN plus whatever F key I need to mute, turn up or down the volume in the dark! No, with this handy control on the front, it’s a no brainer and really quick. Love it Toshiba, and don’t get rid of it!

The left side houses a standard RGB output, fan, FAKE HDMI output (which leads me to believe other units may poses this function, or at least this chassis will get that upgrade) two USB 2.0 ports, a mini-firewire port and audio out/ mic in. It also has an Express card slot tucked above the latter ports, which offer some benefit to using newer technology.

The right side of the unit houses the DVD-RW Labelflash drive, another USB 2.0 port, Modem and Ethernet port, along with your standard slot-lock.

The rear is really simple - housing only the power jack.

Display
The LCD display features the TruBright feature and is at the native resolution of 1280×800 pixels.

Nothing out of the ordinary, however, it was a really nice, crisp, glossy display. Especially given that resolution is normally slotted for another inch and a half with 15.4′ models. It was welcomed real-estate space for sure. Colors popped well, brightness was even and there was no flickering. The bezel surrounding the display was rather large though, I’d like it to be a little less beveled and more slim - just preference perhaps.

Viewing angles weren’t too disappointing, but not too stellar as noted from the pictures below.

Fade and washout were imminent and it was sometimes hard to gather a wider range for viewing the laptop when it was on my lap, but side to side viewing was rather well. I couldn’t get the lighting to work on those pictures, so I guess you’ll just have to trust me.

Size & Weight
Even though the M305 is a 14.1′ unit, it feels a bit chunky. Although we like the robust feel, it could definitely shave off some plastic feel to make this unit a little more classy. Weight rang up to about 5 and a quarter pounds whilst the dimensions of the unit are 13.2 x 9.53 x 1.29. At nearly 1 and a half inches, the laptop seems thick - most notable again in the LCD bezel.

Upgrade Ability:
Our unit came configured with a 2.1 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T8100, a 250 gb Sata 5400 drive, 3gb of RAM, and an Intel X3100 with shared memory. Upgrading looks slim to none with no obvious improvements unless you went with more RAM or a faster hard drive - but even then the RAM woulnd’t be used by the 32bit Windows Vista Home Premium operating system. And at this price point, why bother.

Features
This laptop has one feature that sets it apart from most out there - and that is Toshiba’s newest ‘innovation’ for its ‘Sleep and Charge’ USB ports. You can now charge most USB devices with a USB cable, whether the laptop is on, off, or in standby mode. I can see a use for it on the road when I want to charge multiple devices at once with only one outlet, but other than that - it’s more of a novelty.

The M305 does include a very decent pair of harmon/kardon speakers. Even though they are smaller, they are by no means useless and offer a decent audio experience. Bass sucked, and some high notes were distorted a bit, but otherwise they offered a nice experience whilst I ran the DVD test.

The M305 does feature wireless A/b/g/ and also houses a 1.3m effective webcam at the top of the LCD. This is becoming a pretty standard feature now, but it’s still nice to see it at this price point.

Something that is missing however, is that this model does NOT come with an internal Bluetooth device. Something that I feel is sort of a skimp on Toshibas end, being classified more to the ultramobile, I think this should and could easily be remedied, but it’s something to note.

Performance & Conclusion

Performance
Here at laptop logic, we try to provide a consistent format for testing each unit. But sometimes, life throws some quirks at you and you have to provide what you have, with what you have. You can read more about our testing methodology here: http://www.laptoplogic.com/about/test/. And in order for most these tests to run smoothly, you have to uninstall all the ‘bloatware’ that comes with a PC to make sure that you aren’t getting conflicts (and even though we do this a lot, sometimes we still DO get conflicts). It’s good to note, that the M305 came with it’s fair share of ‘partnered software’ - I’m sure to keep the price down on this line-up, but it was noted that we do wish to opt for laptops WITHOUT all the trial office, skype, vongo stuff out there. Moving on…

PCMark Vantage Pro
Since about early April of this year, PCmark and 3dmark went their courses of being updated. That being said, we’ve encountered some funky conflicts with this program, mixed with our Worldbench program. It’s also happening with the Asus M70 we’re testing as well - but we did get some runs done although we had to use the older versions of 3dmark. Also note, that this is only our second posting with PCmark Vantage edition, so our only reference was the TX2000 we just recently reviewed.

The Toshiba M305 gathered some decent productivity numbers - this is no powerhouse by any means, but the upgraded PCmark program does task the processor so it does fall into line with other similar spec units. The unit performed well, especially with the 3gb of RAM and a decently capable T8100, but it did fall behind the Tx2000 we just recently reviewed powered by the Turion x2 processor.

It’s a pitiful score as far as 3dmark goes, but this laptop made no claims to being a 3D powerhouse - but interesting enough, it managed to squeeze past all other recent “integrated” graphics units we reviewed! Nice work! In a nutshell - the M305 has excellent productivity and decent 3d ability (not mind blowing), so I stand by this number with somewhat of a ‘good job, mate’ attitude.

Unfortunately, Worldbench6 had issues with installation and conflicts we could not resolve in time. We have no worldbench score for this model - I rest my case with Vista on this one. *EDIT*
On a final run, we cut out the DVD program we used to test this model and the numbers finally came back with results. Not too bad of number holding it’s own with our recently reviewed E8410 by Fujitsu.

Battery Performance

Battery performance offered just over 2 hours of uninterrupted entertainment the DVD test. However, if you did manage to tweak your power settings to minimal useage and no wi-fi, I managed to read an e-book and fill in other menial tasks for about 2 hours and 52 minutes before the warning bleep came on.

Conclusion
The Toshiba Satellite M305 didn’t exactly wow me, but it didn’t leave me unimpressed. It wasn’t the lightest, it isn’t the fastest - but what it does offer at this price point is decent connectivity, a nice screen, impressive (although unnecessary) glossy looks, and a decent form factor for a business minded consumer. I’d love to see the updated unit with a dedicated graphics option, a thinner bezel, a little better battery life, a docking station capability that isn’t USB based, and a lot less bloatware - otherwise, this is a pretty worthy somewhat road companion, especially ticking under the $1,000 mark.

Pros:

• Great style
• Smaller Form Factor
• Decent Connectivity
• Price Point
• Dedicated Volume knob!
• Great Glossy Screen

Cons:

• Weak Graphics option
• Trackpad needs vast improvement
• A little on the heavy side
• Thicker than most
• bloatware galore
• so-so battery performance for a 14.1″

Bottom Line:
If you’re looking for a laptop slightly smaller than the run of the mill 15.4 inchers out there - and don’t mind the glossy keyboard and lackluster 3d performance - the M305 is a very nice option for the budget minded individual looking for productivity on the mobile computing road. Just make sure to pick up an external mouse, and pick up another battery and you will find a decent productivity laptop.

”

Design & Features

Model: Toshiba Satelite M305 - 14.1′ widescreen Laptop
At a Glance: Nice finish, good connectivity, Lableflash Drive, 14.1′ widescreen with TruBright Display

Design

It’s obvious that the new Satellite lineup from Toshiba is taking a direct line towards fashion friendly. Its Fusion finish is a simple delight in an otherwise mundane world of ‘normal’ looking laptops.

It features the sort of gloss and appeal that makes this laptop seem to fit in a rather more expensive looking crowd. Not a bad thing to achieve, however - it still seems a little thick for our tastes, especially running with a 14.1′ LCD, we felt that the weight of the unit seemed a little bulky, and that the LCD seemed excessively thick. On the plus side, the unit did feel pretty sturdy and wasn’t overbearing when it came to transportation.

The lid isn’t overstated, but it isn’t understated. We noticed some nice coloring, and it got nods around crowds when observedand as with any Toshiba branded laptop, its bold chrome was there to remind anyone what I was using.

Upon opening the M305, you will be very (shocked, impressed, startled, stumped) to find a very new trend: a very glossy black keyboard. I’ll state this right away - I love the look, but I’m a stickler for form and function. I didn’t (and really don’t) see the point of the glossy keys. Not that they look bad in any shape or way (as they don’t, they look rather impressive) but I just know, that the clean freak in most business professionals will find it’s way to this keyboard. And it found it’s way to methe fingerprints of the quick chicken strip basket you hammer down whilst on the moving walkway will find it’s way onto your keys, and much more quickly than you had hoped. I thought immediately to myself, ‘this should prove interesting.’

You’ll notice that the layout isn’t obtrusive or strange, normal layout although the delete key could be closer, and if you’re used to the switched version of the FN - CTRL key layout, be prepared to yet again re-learn common shortcuts. Surprisingly, the actual use of the keyboard wasn’t that bad. Tactile feel was nice, noise was minimalbut, right away, I did notice that if you didn’t wash your hands in the last 10 minutes or so, you’re leaving your mark on them.

On the top of the keyboard are lighted touch sensitive multimedia controls. Nothing really new or impressive, but a nice touch - harmon/kardon speakers align either side of the laptop. More on those later.

The trackpad was another entity entirely. It has a nice glowing bar above it, which is actually nice because since this is a flush mounted trackpad - unless you’re really familiar with the laptop, it’s sometimes hard to find! But that illumination plays a dirty trick tooit gets really, really bright in dark places - almost annoyingly bright. However, the trackpad does continue the ‘Fusion’ finish throughout, making it tie in rather well.

However, it might have been the drivers, or maybe just the fact that it was really that un-responsivethe trackpad suffered from major delays, odd scrollingand just had a really odd shape to it. It just didn’t seem to ‘track’, and when you finally got used to it, you found out that the ‘pad’ was too short on height which made you monster truck over the edge and wonder what happened to your cursor! I never got used to it and was definitely a let down on the device.

There is another lighted portion to the M305and that is it’s branding aspect.

Again, kind of annoying in the dark, but otherwise a nice mood light during normal ambient lighting.

Connectivity
Connectivity with the M305 was pretty standard - nothing flattering, and nothing too advanced. Given this is the more budget friendly line-up for the Toshiba Satellite series; we weren’t taken back at this price point.

The front houses just two input/connection items. The card slot and wireless switch - however, one thing that I’m now very appreciative of, is the dedicated volume switch on these units.

I’ve come the conclusion that I HATE trying to find the FN plus whatever F key I need to mute, turn up or down the volume in the dark! No, with this handy control on the front, it’s a no brainer and really quick. Love it Toshiba, and don’t get rid of it!

The left side houses a standard RGB output, fan, FAKE HDMI output (which leads me to believe other units may poses this function, or at least this chassis will get that upgrade) two USB 2.0 ports, a mini-firewire port and audio out/ mic in. It also has an Express card slot tucked above the latter ports, which offer some benefit to using newer technology.

The right side of the unit houses the DVD-RW Labelflash drive, another USB 2.0 port, Modem and Ethernet port, along with your standard slot-lock.

The rear is really simple - housing only the power jack.

Display
The LCD display features the TruBright feature and is at the native resolution of 1280×800 pixels.

Nothing out of the ordinary, however, it was a really nice, crisp, glossy display. Especially given that resolution is normally slotted for another inch and a half with 15.4′ models. It was welcomed real-estate space for sure. Colors popped well, brightness was even and there was no flickering. The bezel surrounding the display was rather large though, I’d like it to be a little less beveled and more slim - just preference perhaps.

Viewing angles weren’t too disappointing, but not too stellar as noted from the pictures below.

Fade and washout were imminent and it was sometimes hard to gather a wider range for viewing the laptop when it was on my lap, but side to side viewing was rather well. I couldn’t get the lighting to work on those pictures, so I guess you’ll just have to trust me.

Size & Weight
Even though the M305 is a 14.1′ unit, it feels a bit chunky. Although we like the robust feel, it could definitely shave off some plastic feel to make this unit a little more classy. Weight rang up to about 5 and a quarter pounds whilst the dimensions of the unit are 13.2 x 9.53 x 1.29. At nearly 1 and a half inches, the laptop seems thick - most notable again in the LCD bezel.

Upgrade Ability:
Our unit came configured with a 2.1 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T8100, a 250 gb Sata 5400 drive, 3gb of RAM, and an Intel X3100 with shared memory. Upgrading looks slim to none with no obvious improvements unless you went with more RAM or a faster hard drive - but even then the RAM woulnd’t be used by the 32bit Windows Vista Home Premium operating system. And at this price point, why bother.

Features
This laptop has one feature that sets it apart from most out there - and that is Toshiba’s newest ‘innovation’ for its ‘Sleep and Charge’ USB ports. You can now charge most USB devices with a USB cable, whether the laptop is on, off, or in standby mode. I can see a use for it on the road when I want to charge multiple devices at once with only one outlet, but other than that - it’s more of a novelty.

The M305 does include a very decent pair of harmon/kardon speakers. Even though they are smaller, they are by no means useless and offer a decent audio experience. Bass sucked, and some high notes were distorted a bit, but otherwise they offered a nice experience whilst I ran the DVD test.

The M305 does feature wireless A/b/g/ and also houses a 1.3m effective webcam at the top of the LCD. This is becoming a pretty standard feature now, but it’s still nice to see it at this price point.

Something that is missing however, is that this model does NOT come with an internal Bluetooth device. Something that I feel is sort of a skimp on Toshibas end, being classified more to the ultramobile, I think this should and could easily be remedied, but it’s something to note.

Performance & Conclusion

Performance
Here at laptop logic, we try to provide a consistent format for testing each unit. But sometimes, life throws some quirks at you and you have to provide what you have, with what you have. You can read more about our testing methodology here: http://www.laptoplogic.com/about/test/. And in order for most these tests to run smoothly, you have to uninstall all the ‘bloatware’ that comes with a PC to make sure that you aren’t getting conflicts (and even though we do this a lot, sometimes we still DO get conflicts). It’s good to note, that the M305 came with it’s fair share of ‘partnered software’ - I’m sure to keep the price down on this line-up, but it was noted that we do wish to opt for laptops WITHOUT all the trial office, skype, vongo stuff out there. Moving on…

PCMark Vantage Pro
Since about early April of this year, PCmark and 3dmark went their courses of being updated. That being said, we’ve encountered some funky conflicts with this program, mixed with our Worldbench program. It’s also happening with the Asus M70 we’re testing as well - but we did get some runs done although we had to use the older versions of 3dmark. Also note, that this is only our second posting with PCmark Vantage edition, so our only reference was the TX2000 we just recently reviewed.

The Toshiba M305 gathered some decent productivity numbers - this is no powerhouse by any means, but the upgraded PCmark program does task the processor so it does fall into line with other similar spec units. The unit performed well, especially with the 3gb of RAM and a decently capable T8100, but it did fall behind the Tx2000 we just recently reviewed powered by the Turion x2 processor.

It’s a pitiful score as far as 3dmark goes, but this laptop made no claims to being a 3D powerhouse - but interesting enough, it managed to squeeze past all other recent “integrated” graphics units we reviewed! Nice work! In a nutshell - the M305 has excellent productivity and decent 3d ability (not mind blowing), so I stand by this number with somewhat of a ‘good job, mate’ attitude.

Unfortunately, Worldbench6 had issues with installation and conflicts we could not resolve in time. We have no worldbench score for this model - I rest my case with Vista on this one. *EDIT*
On a final run, we cut out the DVD program we used to test this model and the numbers finally came back with results. Not too bad of number holding it’s own with our recently reviewed E8410 by Fujitsu.

Battery Performance

Battery performance offered just over 2 hours of uninterrupted entertainment the DVD test. However, if you did manage to tweak your power settings to minimal useage and no wi-fi, I managed to read an e-book and fill in other menial tasks for about 2 hours and 52 minutes before the warning bleep came on.

Conclusion
The Toshiba Satellite M305 didn’t exactly wow me, but it didn’t leave me unimpressed. It wasn’t the lightest, it isn’t the fastest - but what it does offer at this price point is decent connectivity, a nice screen, impressive (although unnecessary) glossy looks, and a decent form factor for a business minded consumer. I’d love to see the updated unit with a dedicated graphics option, a thinner bezel, a little better battery life, a docking station capability that isn’t USB based, and a lot less bloatware - otherwise, this is a pretty worthy somewhat road companion, especially ticking under the $1,000 mark.

Pros:

• Great style
• Smaller Form Factor
• Decent Connectivity
• Price Point
• Dedicated Volume knob!
• Great Glossy Screen

Cons:

• Weak Graphics option
• Trackpad needs vast improvement
• A little on the heavy side
• Thicker than most
• bloatware galore
• so-so battery performance for a 14.1″

Bottom Line:
If you’re looking for a laptop slightly smaller than the run of the mill 15.4 inchers out there - and don’t mind the glossy keyboard and lackluster 3d performance - the M305 is a very nice option for the budget minded individual looking for productivity on the mobile computing road. Just make sure to pick up an external mouse, and pick up another battery and you will find a decent productivity laptop

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The desolate, dangerous wastelands of “Fallout 3″ are in for some serious landscaping. Bethesda Softworks is rolling out an editing tool for the post-nuclear hit, allowing gamers to create their own characters, in-game items and environments. Also coming are three new mini-games that add to the title’s overall story.

Bethesda Softworks announced Tuesday that it will software tools to allow gamers and developers to tinker with the publisher’s recent PC and console release, “Fallout 3.”

Dubbed the “Garden of Eden Creation Kit,” or G.E.C.K., the editor will enable gamers to create mods, or personal modifications of the PC version of the game.

Bethesda will make the editor available as a free download in December. Games for Windows Rackspace is the expert when it comes to delivering Windows and Linux hosting solutions. Click here to learn more. users will be able to create and add their own content to the game. In January, the game developer will release the first official downloadable additional content, “Operation: Anchorage” for Microsoft Xbox 360 Latest News about Xbox 360 and Games for Windows players. More downloadable content will follow in February and March.

“Creating game mods is something which has gone out of fashion, so it’s great to see Bethesda supporting it with this announcement. The most interesting thing in this announcement is that the downloadable content will also be available for Xbox 360. Making this kind of content available on a console is unusual — I can only think of one other instance of that really happening, which was ‘Unreal Tournament 3′ on [PlayStation 3],” Mark DeLoura, a video game expert, told TechNewsWorld.

Modding the Wastelands

“Fallout 3″ takes place in and around Washington, D.C., hundreds of years after a devastating nuclear war. With the G.E.C.K release, gamers can create a wide array of characters, limited only by their imaginations, to explore a vast and dangerous wasteland. The editor will offer the “Fallout 3″ community tools to enable players to expand the game however they wish. They can create, modify and edit data for use in the game, designing new landscapes, towns and locations as well as writing dialog and creating new characters, weapons, creatures and anything else they can dream up.

The downloadable content, available in three packs, will add new quests and items to “Fallout 3″ for the PC and Xbox 360, but not the version created for Sony’s PlayStation 3 Latest News about PlayStation 3. “Operation Anchorage” will feature a military simulation as well as an epic battle to liberate Anchorage, Alaska, from Communist occupiers.

In February, “The Pitt,” will enable gamers to travel to an industrial town located on the remains of what was once Pittsburgh, Penn. “Broken Steel,” coming in March, will provide gamers with the opportunity to join a guild of heavily armed protectors known as “The Brotherhood of Steel” and take on the remaining evil Enclave forces in order to retake the Capital Wasteland, continuing game play beyond the original “Fallout 3’s” main quest.

“Since online gaming is still looking promising, more and more gamers will demand downloadable content. Part of the online gaming experience is to create a personal and unique identity, so I think gamers will really appreciate the ability to customize content to their own liking,” Stephanie Ethier, an analyst at InStat, told TechNewsWorld.
PCs Have It Going On

Releasing modding software for a game is not new, but it has fallen somewhat out of favor recently.

“I love this kind of thing. Shipping game mod tools is something that has been done for quite a long time, but recently it hasn’t been as popular as it used to be. One of the most famous game mods is ‘Counter-Strike,’ which was made with the original ‘Half-Life’ game engine. For a few years, making a game mod was the way for hobbyists/students to show off their abilities and try to break into the game industry. These days, it is casual games, iPhone games, things of that sort,” DeLoura pointed out.

Bethesda’s decision to release the title’s editor reaffirms why gaming on a PC can offer a richer experience than on a console.

“It’s really, really, cool,” Michael Gartenberg, vice president mobile strategy at Jupitermedia/Mobiledevicestoday.com, told TechNewsWorld. “Once again it drives the notion of why the PC is such a powerful platform in terms of development. Even with the rise of consoles and mobile platforms and everything else … consumers still flock to the PC for their gaming. It’s because they can do cool stuff like this.”

While Sony’s recently released “Little Big Planet” and upcoming title “Home” will allow gamers to customize games, that sort of functionality must be included from the start of the game’s development.

“On the console you get ease of use, the plug-and-play notion where you don’t have to download patches and updates and can look at it on a high-definition TV. The PC experience is a little different. It comes with a high degree of flexibility, evidenced by this type of modding,” Gartenberg noted.

“We’re not talking about the same degree of customization and interaction. [With the 'Fallout 3' editor], I can almost build my own game if I want. They are giving me the keys to the kingdom, and I can go out and build my own experience,” Gartenberg explained

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Yahoo and Microsoft outperformed the U.S. search industry’s 7 percent increase in search results for the month of October, while AOL slipped further behind, according to a ComScore report released Wednesday.

During the month of October, 12.6 billion searches were conducted at home, work, and universities, up 7 percent from September results. Yahoo led the way in growth with a 9 percent increase to 2.6 billion searches, while Microsoft gained 8 percent to 1 billion.

That performance outweighed Google, which posted a 7 percent increase, and far outstripped the struggling AOL unit of Time Warner, which declined by 2 percent in October.

Google, however, still retains a sizable slice of the ever-growing U.S. search pie, holding 63.1 percent of the market share, according to ComScore. And that slice slightly grew last month by 0.2 percent.

Yahoo retained its No. 2 market share position with a 20.5 percent slice, up 0.3 percent. And Microsoft remained status quo with 8.5 percent.

AOL, however, not only saw its U.S. search count decline last month but also its market share, which dipped 0.4 percent, according to ComScore.

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Overview

Welcome to the review of the Best Buy exclusive “Blue Label” Toshiba Satellite e105. This 14.1″ features a Intel Core2Duo P8400 at 2.26ghz, 4GB of RAM and features Vista Ultimate utilizing all of the 4GB of 800mhz DDR2 RAM. But is this laptop only a looker or does it live up to it’s entertainment badge and performance features worth its relative “exclusive” price tag? Read on.

Design

Case look and feel:
The design is nice and the fusion finish is attractive - but it keeps its neutral feel with standard “technology” colors. It’s not surprising yet not boring - one would have hoped for perhaps some “color” in the name suggesting “blue line” but that remains to be seen. It is very business orientated however.

The material is all plastic, straight around and down the bottom. Speaking of bottom, it’s very clean with the only real openings occurring near the fan of the unit.

Size & Weight
The weight is slightly below average for a laptop of this size, not overbearing yet not feather light. For a 14.1, it sure travels like a 15.4. It looks deceiving because the bevel around the LCD is rather large and compose most of the outer dimensions. I wouldn’t call exactly super travel savvy, but it is travel friendly and does pack up well. The size measures in at 13.4 x 9.7 x 1.2, it’s the thin and the beveled edges that add a “apple-esque” feel. The weight seems back heavy which makes sense due to the nice capacity battery installed in this machine.

Keyboard
The keyboard is comfortable, but it seems a bit more compact, which makes sense due to the touch sensitive panels on the right hand side. It offers decent feel and travel, the button layout is standard with a nice large control key on the left. It’s not the most annoying thing, but there is some flex towards the upper left, but not the worst we’ve experienced. The back lit keys are also a nice touch, making more hints at the “mac-attitude” this model seems to be aiming for. It does well thus far…but it’s not the best keyboard we’ve used, and could use some improvement with button placement.

Trackpad
The fit and finish of the actual touchpad is nice. It features the same “fusion finish” carried on from the palm rest and has a nice texture. The buttons however, are excessively loud. Annoyingly loud - possibly the worst feature if you are applying at ninja school…but to each their own (I’m currently in ninja school, and they told me not to bring it back if you wanted to know…) The scrolling feature is a bit hesitant and unreliable. It seems to be lagging, but this could be inherent of the drivers and not the actual touchpad.

The fingerprint reader is a nice touch, and even though its convenient, it’s nothing outstanding nor diminishing. It’s nicely tucked between the loud mouse buttons.

Display quality
The 14.1″ glossy screen at 1280×800 resolution isn’t the most stunning regarding pixel count, but the colors were nice. There was plenty of glare (due to it being a glossy screen). It’s a bit disappointing that it doesn’t feature a higher resolution to really push it’s multimedia huff and puff to the next level, but it wasn’t the worst display we’ve encountered. Backlighting seemed relatively constant and even except for some light leaking from the bottom of our unit. The brightness however wasn’t the most impressive and the contrast seemed a bit washed out, and only got worse with any amount of angel up or to the side. This also produced severe color shifting and inversion; so take note if you want to watch that DVD or video to make sure you are directly front and center (and be prepared to sit through the entire DVD too!)

Connectivity
The Satellite E105 features a nice amount of connectivity options for this price range and target audience. It touts some interesting features that are often found in higher price range laptops, which is nice. However, the implementation of them and omitting of others seems to alienate it from users with older technology. This might be fine and dandy for some, but it’s missing some key components to fully utilize these features.

The left side of the Satellite E-105 features 2 USB 2.0 ports, one doubled as an e-sata port (which is awesome). It also features an HDMI port, FM tuner location (to insert the FM antennae supplied) and ethernet connection. No modem, no firewire of any sort, and no love for good old VGA…

The front features a 5 - 1 multi-card reader which accepts SD, MS, and surprisingly also XD. There is also the headphone and microphone ports on the front. I have mixed feeling about this…reasons being if the user wishes to rest the laptop on a riser which cradles the laptop on it’s leading edge, it renders these ports unusable. It’s nice when the laptop is used as a “laptop” and is somewhat multimedia centric, it makes some sense.

The status LED lights are also located here and supply the essential information like if your wireless is enabled, your hdd is working, and if the machine is on battery or charging. The wireless switch is also here, which doesn’t bother me so much as location. It’s a nice switch and lets you know it’s on or off with no fuss. (Fuss is also a bad thing in ninja school…)

The right side features a standard DVD-R and another USB port.There is also the power connector and lock-slot.

The rear is void of anything spare a nice aluminum color paint on a plastic chassis.

Upgrading possible?
Since this is a unit made specifically for a big box store, upgrading isn’t really an end user choice after the point of purchase occurs. The simplest upgrade would be to the hard drive, but at 320gb, I’m not sure why you would want to go through the hassle as that’s usually more than enough space. If you’re comfortable going further than that, it’s up to you, but I wouldn’t recommend it. And since this unit comes stacked to the brim with 4GB of RAM, that area is covered (and utilized) by the 64-bit Vista Home Premium operating system.

Features
This unit inherits a lot of nice features for this price point…but remember when I went on above about how it doesn’t fully utilize them? Here’s an example. This unit features an HDMI port - which is awesome for transmitting video/sound at the true digital level - however, without a blu-ray drive to natively support those fancy HD resolutions…it’s almost moot. You could load up your HD programming on the hard drive, but that requires an extra step that most consumers won’t be looking at. I suppose it’s nice to be able to connect directly to a larger HDTV or LCD capable of the connection, but this is the ONLY video out source on this laptop. No VGA, which means, if you have a nice standard LCD that has been (and continues to be) a awesome performer with DVi or VGA - you’re outta luck! (Unless you pick up a spendy adapter…)

What about Bluetooth. Darn right this has bluetooth (2.1 in fact) which is awesome, but what isn’t awesome for the older crowds is that it’s wireless card supports A/G/N - no B. I know wireless B is an aging standard, but it’s still a standard. 802.11a signals operate at 5ghz range, and offer burst rates up to 54mbs…but the range is somewhat to be desired. Not to mention the availability of utilizing said signal often requires a special router. Now, 802.11b and g operate at the 2.4ghz which can (and often times is) very crowded. But the main factor is sometimes, people don’t need faster speeds, they need coverage, and 802.11b does this relatively well (not as good as G or draft-n, but good). Also, sometimes B is all you get at some locations…so don’t expect to connect to them with this laptop is all I’m saying.

The FM radio port is an interesting touch, I’m not sure how impressive it seems but it’s nice to note that it’s there - although, with the wide array of available radio stations now broadcasting online…it seems almost like a novelty. Besides the point of catching the local forecast, it requires a solid FM signal, which is a lot of places I suppose (well, at least more available than unprotected safe wi-fi’s) and might be utilized more than I see it will be. If your local radio programming rocks and you don’t have a device that can tune to it to listen to radio (or traffic, or weather, or airport announcements…) then this is a thoughtful addition indeed. BUT - in retrospect, I wish it was capable of receiving HD radio as well. Why not right?

E-Sata - this is a really awesome addition that doesn’t really fall into the above mentioned category of non-utilization. And as it doubles as a USB 2.0 port, I see nothing but good things on that feature - I only question with 320gb of storage on hand with this unit, what will users REALLY use this for? Not saying the option and function isn’t great - but 320gb - which is what the HDD size is on the E105 - is often more than enough for the average consumer. A little puzzled that’s all.

Webcam, fingerprint reader, and card readers are all pretty much standard nowadays….What really strikes me as a horrible choice is NO express card feature. Maybe many of you might not use it, but this has incredible possibilities for the future and this laptop is void of it.

The touch sensitive buttons are nice, but some are redundant - case in point - fn+esc brings the mute function - it’s easy to remember and accessible, but they decided to also have this as a touch sensitive feature to the right. Otherwise they are nice to look at, and besides the volume controls, are simple to operate. The volume function (other than the mute) is touchy and sometimes unresponsive. In this case, I’ll make it noted that I love the old dial that the previous Satellite models had for controlling volume, and not so much these touch sensitive things. Call me old school, but not everything has to be “touch” - in fact, bring on a button that gives me actual tactile feedback (but not so loud please…) One simple editors opinion perhaps…function over form, form over function… You decide.

Performance & Conclusion

Performance
Here at LL, we strive to provide standard tests to gage the performance aspect of our laptops. To read more about this standard testing procedure, head on over here and you can read all about it.

Windows Vista Experience Score
Processor: 5.2
Memory: 5.9
Graphics: 4.1
Gaming Graphics: 3.8
HDD: 5.2

The Memory scored awesome, HDD did too - but gaming graphics this does not have. It’s a simple statement that this will be the deciding bottleneck of this machine.

PCMark Vantage Pro: 2951

Not that bad of a score actually, which is nice, but with 4GB of RAM, we’ve better performance - albeit mostly due to a dedicated GPU - in other laptops with less pocket change spent.

3Dmark Vantage

3Dmark Vantage refused to run on this machine, I’m assuming inherently due to the 64-bit operating system and lack of any sort of performance graphics involved with the Mobile Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator 4500MHD funked out no matter what setting (even entry wouldn’t give it a go) I tried.

WorldBench 6: 83

GPU’s aside, this is a nice score for a 14.1…not as nice as the SL400, but respectable.

Battery Performance: DVD: 210 min

At nearly 3 and a half hours on full brightness and volume, this packs some serious entertainment value for those who require a larger screen and nice battery life. Although, I have to say, the DVD I watched sometimes experienced some lag of starting new chapters/titles - and this wasn’t because the DVD acoustic feature was enabled, it must be inherent on how the machine handles spin-up/down during watching a feature and track changes. Again, between the SL400 and this machine, the SL400 wins by a marginal amount, but it’s there to note that the performance aspect with a GPU doesn’t necessarily mean lower battery life. Take note Toshiba!

Battery Performance: Normal Use: 260 min

Despite some claims by big box store and technology giant, I found that the average runtime for this battery to peak at 4 hours and 45 minutes, and with it’s absolute lowest settings to gather 5 hours 15 minutes. Is it possible to get near 5.5 hours out of this machine? Yes, if you disable sound, backlit keyboard, wi-fi, bluetooth, have the LCD on lowest brightness and aren’t doing any sort of mutli-tasking…but you don’t need a $1200 laptop to do this, you can pick up a netbook to do that. To be fair, I rate the battery performance very decent and above average for laptops in this size range. It’s on par with the new Macbook, but not as much as the SL400 however.

Real-life usage:

I felt this laptop had plenty of power for the average consumer, and it made me feel like I was pretty much in control. Despite all the bloatware that plauge Toshiba’s, getting past this and tweaking your Operating system to perform how you want it to makes the laptop much more enjoyable. Having only one partition and at 320gb, I might suggest that they had included two partitions to save the user some trouble if something were arise. 320Gb to possibly get corrupt is a serious amount of space, but then again, I’m old school and it’s probably the deciding reason behind the e-sata port (to connect your backup storage solution to it!)

I’ve noted it before, and I’ll note it again, get used to tapping the actual touchpad (or external mouse) unless you want people to think you are having a Snapple ™ cap war.

It didn’t get too warm, the battery life was great, wi-fi was decent and having bluetooth built-in was real nice to sync with my smartphone and use my bluetooth mouse. Some users may find some frustration in the 64-bit environment, but most won’t notice the work. And with it’s decently speedy processor and RAM, things ran pretty smooth.

Conclusion
It has some nice feature points, the design is cohesive with modern minimalism, and the backlit keyboard is more than a welcomed addition. However, sometimes you need to think things through a bit instead of just throwing features on (or off) a laptop and consider it “what the public asked for…”. I feel like that with this model, as it stands it could have used a bit more thought. For the price, I can’t say that the feature set won’t be worth it to some, but there are quite a few laptops out there that have similar specifications (or better) and are only missing one or two of the feature points this carries – for far less.

And when I mean I like having tactile feedback, I mean being able to discern a button is being pressed, not letting everyone know I’m clicking on a new chat box during ninja class with my touchpad!

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Normally, we think of robots as humanoid and self-aware, like Rosie or Data. Some day, they might be more like that, but robots are here in our homes today, cleaning our floors and even making our coffee. What does the future of human-robot relations hold?

You might not think you have robots Latest News about robots in your house, but think again. There’s your dishwasher, for instance; you put dishes in it, walk away, and a half hour later they’re clean. Same thing with your washing machine. Or your programmable coffeemaker.

Though these everyday mechanical devices aren’t humanoid, they are on the robotic spectrum, in the sense that they perform functions with minimal human involvement.

“People use the word ‘robotics’ a lot, and it means a lot of different things,” Rich Hooper, a robotics consultant who develops and designs computer-controlled machines for Austin, Texas-based Symtx, told TechNewsWorld. “Robotics has gotten so loosely defined that it means almost anything with movable parts.”

Steve Rainwater, a robot technologist and editor of the Robots.net blog, agrees.

“‘Robot’ is a word that’s almost impossible to define; it has come to be used for too many different things these days,” Rainwater told TechNewsWorld. “Personally, I think of robots as autonomous machines that evolved initially with the help of humans. I also tend to think of the word robot as an ideal that we haven’t really achieved yet, rather than just a description of the artifacts that have resulted from trying to realize that ideal.”

Growth of an Industry

Whether they’re called robots or just smart machines, these devices are quickly becoming an everyday feature of our lives. In fact, according to a study done by the International Federation of Robotics, there were 3.4 million personal domestic service robots in use at the end of 2007, and it predicted another 4.6 million domestic service robots will be sold between 2008 and 2012.

“The first possibility is that we’ll eventually have general purpose humanoid robots that do many tasks and interact with us more or less like we interact with each other,” Rainwater said. “This is the future so often predicted in science fiction stories. You might want to ask your household robot to do the dishes, babysit the kids, mow the lawn, or play a game of chess with you.”

The smart machine path is one other — perhaps more likely — future.

“The other possibility is that homes of the future will have function-specific robotics integrated transparently into the house itself,” Rainwater said. “The house will become a network of smart machines that interact with you and each other.”
The Future Is Now

iRobot is one company that helped to make robots part of our everyday lives. There’s the Roomba, which is an automatic vacuum cleaner, and the Scooba, an automatic floor washing system. Then there’s the pool-cleaning Verro and the gutter-cleaning Looj.

“Roomba made practical robots a reality for the first time and showed the world that robots are here to stay,” the company’s Web site says. “With nearly two decades of leadership in the robot industry, iRobot remains committed to providing platforms for invention and discovery, developing key partnerships to foster technological exploration and building robots that improve the standards of living and safety worldwide.”

Founded in 1990 by roboticists Colin Angle and Helen Greiner and headquartered in Bedford, Mass., iRobot has more than 400 employees and a wide selection of household robots.

Other robots available to consumers now are items like the Clocky, an alarm clock that spins away if it’s chased, produced by Nanda; or security robots that travel around the premises of a home or business sold by companies like MobileRobots.

Honda has also been working on a humanoid robot project called “Asimo.” Still in the development phase, Asimo can carry trays, push carts, climb stairs, and do a number of other tasks. In the future, it might be used to care for the elderly, provide service at social functions, and do simple housework. It is also being developed to work in conjunction with other appliances.

“In the home, Asimo could someday be useful as it can connect wirelessly to the Internet to retrieve requested data, for example,” Alicia Jones, Honda’s North American Asimo Project Supervisor, told TechNewsWorld. “Asimo could also be integrated with other household electronics so that it could control those devices as requested by a user. Of course, it will still be some time before Asimo is ready to help in other ways in the home.”
Robot Rights

Robots continue to fascinate people, if only because they see themselves reflected in these machines. And as they become more common, questions of the ethics of this kind of labor might come to the fore.

“If you’re doing something that a human can do, you might as well have a human do it,” Hooper said. “As much as I like robots, I don’t really identify with them.”

Rainwater argues the other side of this debate, suggesting that robots might eventually have something akin to basic human rights.

“Robots are fascinating because, unlike all the other machines we humans have invented, they’re the first that may someday have the capacity to be our friends and companions,” Rainwater said. “In a sense they’re our children. Some people think robots may even eventually become our evolutionary successors. That’s something to think about before you kick that robot dog that’s annoying you

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We’ve been excited to try out this new ultra portable for the past few weeks and were thrilled when HP shipped us one. HP has been designing some excellent screens over the past few years, and they compete for the brightest on the market. Their foray into the convertible market should show their versatility.

Is it easy to make a resistive digitizer display that’s both responsive and clear? Does pricing suffer? Read on to find out.

Design Portability

This ultra portable HP lives up to its name at less than four pounds. The plastic casing helps to put this notebook on a diet, and it’s cheaper than carbon fiber.

Case and Design

The tx1000’s case is sleek and smooth to the touch. HP decided on a plastic case instead of aluminum or carbon fiber, most likely for a compromise between weight and price. Although the monitor swivel is only held by a single hinge, it feels sturdy, for the most part. It clicks satisfyingly into place, and rotates in a clockwise direction. The lid closes to the base via two magnetic latches. These latches are stubborn to connect, and even when connected do not feel up to par with the rest of the notebook. Given the production quality of the hinge, I’m disappointed with the weak construction of the latches. Here it is pictured with the dv2000 for a comparison. The tx1000 is on top.

Design

Portability

This ultra portable HP lives up to its name at less than four pounds.The plastic casing helps to put this notebook on a diet, and its cheaper than carbon fiber.

Case and Design

The tx1000s case is sleek and smooth to the touch.HP decided on a plastic case instead of aluminum or carbon fiber, most likely for a compromise between weight and price.Although the monitor swivel is only held by a single hinge, it feels sturdy, for the most part. It clicks satisfyingly into place, and rotates in a clockwise direction. The lid closes to the base via two magnetic latches. These latches are stubborn to connect, and even when connected do not feel up to par with the rest of the notebook. Given the production quality of the hinge, Im disappointed with the weak construction of the latches.Here it is pictured with the dv2000 for a comparison. The tx1000 is on top.

Keyboard

The keyboard is a good size given the notebook dimensions. The only key that got cut in the development process was the right shift key.Luckily, I never noticed until I looked, since I normally use the shift key on the left side.Im writing this review on the HP, which I normally do for laptop reviews.Its fairly easy to use and my hands arent in danger of cramping.

As an added bonus, on the bottom right corner of the monitor sit four buttons, which Ill describe in a clockwise fashion. The first launches HP QuickPlay for DVDs, allowing you to play movies. The second launches the full QuickPlay program, allowing you to perform a number of activities I will describe elsewhere in the review. The third button is shaped like a sun, and opens the Windows Mobility Center. The fourth button is shaped similar to a recycle symbol of a continuous circle, and rotates the desktop to your liking.It only rotates 90 at a time, so you wont be able to set any trippy angles. On the left corner of the LCD sits the On/Off, Power Source and HDD status lights in electric blue.

Touchpad

The touchpad sits flush with the palm rest and is defined by a pitted area, with the mouse buttons below.A separate pitted column lies to the right and is responsible for screen scrolling.

Below the 86-key keyboard sits an unassuming black button, which changes the light to its right from blue to red.It also disables the touchpad, which can be great when youre using a secondary pointing device (i.e. mouse or stylus).

Features

Front

The front of the laptop features the power slide under the left palm rest (complete with blue light), two SPDIF ports for headphones, a Consumer IR receiver, Microphone in, and a WLAN switch mirroring the power slide underneath the right palm rest.

Rear

The rear of the notebook is relatively sparse.Its dominated by the battery in the center, with 2 USB Ports, a Kensington Lock Slot, and a line-in for dialup.

Left Side

The left side holds the 5-in-1 Card reader with the Express Card slot toward the back. In front is the optical drive, a LightScribe Super Multi 8X DVD+/-RW with Double Layer Support.The rear of the unit leaves space for the AC Adapter connection.

Right Side

The right side includes most of the connectivity options, with the vents starting from the back of the unit.Moving towards the front is the S-Video port, VGA port, followed by an Expansion Slot 3, RJ-45 for LAN, another USB 2.0 port, and the stylus slides into the front.The stylus is attached by a lanyard, and clicks into the holder.

Features, Cont’d

Heat and Noise

The noise generated from this notebook is minimal, as long as its from the optical drive or drive. As soon as the cooling fan kicks in, the notebook makes its diminutive presence known. To be sure, this notebook takes some time to heat up, although it does end up pretty toasty on the rear right side.

Upgrading and Expansion

On the memory side the notebook is upgradeable to 2GB of DDR2 SDRAM. The unitwe were reviewing came with a full clip.It would be the first performance aspect Id look into upgrading if given the chance, so its best to request this from the manufacturer to make it easy.

Connectivity Options

This ultra portable HP has a range of choices if youre interested in staying connected, as well as transferring media.An Express Card slot sits on the left-hand side below the 5-in-1 digital media reader.

Display

The 12.1 WXGA High-Definition Brightview widescreen display is outfitted with the optional integrated touch screen. Its a must-have at its present $59 upgrade price. Some people may complain because this resistive digitizer display can lose clarity over traditional monitors.I didnt discover a significant drawback with this monitor over others, and I would definitely choose the touch screen for the possibilities.The native resolution is 1280×800, which may seem low for notebooks today, but given the monitor size, its adequate.

This monitor is so bright that it can overwhelm you if youre in dim surroundings.On several occasions I was unable to view the keyboard as it was washed out by the brightness of the screen.Luckily, theres a simple tweak through Windows Mobility Center that helps you drop the brightness to an acceptable level, and save energy.The default setting is maximum brightness, which seemed to be the issue.

Speakers

The integrated Altec-Lansing stereo speakers are built around the hinge on the monitor. I instinctively looked toward the palm rests at first, and these speakers are hidden very well. The sound produced from these small speakers is a sharp contrast to the ASUS A8JS that I reviewed previously. The ASUS was known for its volume issues, or lack thereof. The HP produces more sound than youd expect for its size, but no bass add-on quite yet.

On the actual CPU side, above the keyboard, lies the volume controls.From there you can adjust the volume waxing or waning, as well as mute completely.Although theres no direct on-screen indication of your volume choice, the traditional speaker icon will change every few bars to reflect your selection.

Webcam

The 1.3 megapixel Webcam is built-in directly above the monitor.It serves its purpose for a built-in webcam, although 1.3 megapixel is pretty outdated.Personally, I rarely use a webcam, and if I needed anything better Id purchase an external webcam. This serves its purpose though, and its a welcome addition to this ultra portable.

WiFi

I had no issues setting up access for my home network through the 802.11a/b/g wireless LAN that came with this unit. At no point did I suffer a connection loss either, which is a respectable feat.

Battery

The tx1000z comes standard with a 4-cell Lithium-Ion battery.Spring the 40 bones for the 6-cell, you wont regret the extra juice.The battery life on this machine was a pleasant surprise.It lasted over four hours (nearly 4.5) in normal (powered) mode.This use drops to about 120 minutes when youre watching a DVD, but thats good for one full movie. Note that this is for the 6-cell Lithium Ion battery, not the 4-cell.The 4-cell supplied only 3 hours in normal mode, and wouldnt finish a movie of average length.

HP QuickPlay

HPs QuickPlay suite works similar to numerous other media programs found with notebook manufacturers.It offers a few options, the first of which being a simple DVD player.The second is a media player that looks suspiciously like iTunes, even down to the color scheme.QuickPlay also includes a player for recorded television, as well as the ability to stream karaoke. Lastly, it includes an option to download HP enhancements and updates to current HP software.

Performance

The tx1000z is outfitted with AMD Turion 64 X2 dual-core processors with HyperTransport technology, which should improve multi-tasking speeds.HP chose AMD to utilize a less expensive processor, allowing them to devote more resources to other aspects of the notebook.The processors also use PowerNow! to increase battery life.

Graphics are driven by an Nvidia Go 6150 video card with integrated memory. The tx1000z was never meant to be a gaming or design powerhouse, so this suits the slim power profile of this notebook.If youre looking for something with more muscle stay tuned for HPs HDX notebook, to be reviewed by Laptop Logic soon.

Usually we would have more performance benchmarks than this, but for whatever reason nearly all of the usual suspects (SysMark, MobileMark, and 3DMark ‘0x) failed, due to poor (or non-existent) WindowsVista support. Hopefully the latest versions of these programs will ship soon so we can get a better idea of performance under Vista.

Conclusion

This notebook is a show of finesse in a market skewed by the mutually exclusive demands of speed and power.There are a number of features on this laptop, such as the touchpad toggle switch, dual microphone jacks, and hinge-mounted speakers that illustrate an excellent notebook isnt about posting the best benchmark scores.

Although this wasnt the fastest notebook Ive tested nor the longest lasting, I can say its the first that Ive felt a pang of regret on finishing the review. Its also the first this side of the PC-Mac divide that I felt had some personality. Kudos to HP.

Availability/Warranty

The HP Pavilion tx1000z is available now starting at $999.99 after rebate and comes standard with a one-year warranty. Up to three-year warranties are also available for an extra charge.

Recommendation

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Overview
When we reviewed the tx2000’s predecessor, aptly named the tx1000, last July, we found it to be an interesting machine. It was unique in being one of the only entertainment-minded laptops with a resistive digitizer display. HP has refreshed the tx1000 with the tx2000, which brings a technology refresh as well as a full active WACOM digitizer.

Design
We found the design of the tx2000 to be strikingly similar to the previous model. While the previous model combined black and silver cues, creating a piecemeal effect, the new model swaps the silver hinge with a black one for more uniform design. The same goes for the inside, where the black keyboard was replaced with a silver one, matching the base. The tx2000 also sports an ‘Echo’ imprint, which looks like crop-circles, on both the lid and the palmrests, unlike the ‘wave’ imprint that was present on the tx1000.

The hinge looks nearly identical to the previous model, although HP decided to emblazon a helpful arrow to tell you which way the hinge turns. Once you turn the LCD around (the right way) it snaps closed in four locations to tablet form. The clasps won’t automatically snap in place, so you need to make sure you apply equal pressure.

The speakers remain on the hinge itself, which is an excellent design choice. In real-world usage the classic laptop position is poorly suited for a number of activities, including watching videos. If you’re on a plane, for instance, the normal laptop position is usually at odds with the seat in front of you. Try turning the monitor around and watching from that position. You’ll be glad the speakers turned with the picture.

The keyboard remains nearly identical to the tx1000, which is to say smooth with excellent tactile feedback. The key noise is on the loud side, but some break-in is sure to reduce that somewhat. The keyboard was changed to silver to match the base, and the right shift key was enlarged to full-size. The entire keyboard feels less cramped than the original. I have larger-than-average hands, so this is high on the totem pole for me.

Fortunately, the touchpad is the same one we came to enjoy on the tx1000. It uses an interesting inverted bump design for superb tactile feel, and a separate bar on the right for scrolling. This seems to work better than other laptops, which combine the scrollbar with the touchpad. Above the touchpad is a silver switch which turns the touchpad on or off, if you’re using an alternate input device or to avoid accidental touch recognition.

The tx2000 doesn’t quite tip the scales, although 4.26 pounds isn’t light for a 12.1′ ultraportable. The travel weight goes up to around five pounds, depending on the power supply. While in the same form factor size range as other 12′ widescreen notebooks, the thickness is a rather portly 1.23-1.52 inches.

Features
The tablet mode of the tx2000 is what makes this laptop stand out from the rest. The active digitizer display is effectively a WACOM tablet, providing more accurate ink lines than a traditional resistive digitizer display like the tx1000. This review found the tablet positioning ill-placed for a southpaw, with my left palm accidently double-clicking icons along the left-hand side. This was troubling, considering the active digitizer should differentiate between the stylus and my hand.

Although stylus strokes were very accurate — when they were picked up — we found the display had a difficult time deciphering our handwriting at normal speed. If we slowed ourselves down, the tablet had an easier time of it. It’s important to run the tablet training mode to learn exactly what this display is capable of doing. Also, running the tablet and pen properties allowed you to calibrate both the screen and the stylus, providing the opportunity to remap keys and even adjust the firmness of the eraser.

WiFi is provided by a Broadcom 4321AG 802.11 a/b/g/draft-n wireless adapter. Support for draft-n is welcome even though the standard isn’t official. You also get Bluetooth as part of the package. The wireless adapter had no trouble connecting to my Wireless-N network. If you’re looking for a wired connection, the tx2000 won’t leave you in the dark. The included nForce networking controller transfers wired data at the 10/100 level. A 5-in-1 card reader is standard, along with three USB 2.0 ports, S-Video, Expansion port 3, microphone-in, two headphone outs, and an IR receiver for the included remote. There’s also VGA for an old-school monitor setup.

The 12.1′ WXGA High-Definition HP Brightview Widescreen boasts a native resolution of 1280 x 800, which is decent for such a small display. The display exhibited fair clarity, and screen rotation is faster than the tx1000. Off-angle viewing is below average as well, although you probably won’t have a group of people crowding around a 12′ screen. It is much brighter than the previous model, which is a welcome improvement, but the overall display experience is average. Although it’s a quality display, it’s obvious that there’s something between you and the picture.

Our unit came with 4GB of RAM, which is the current maximum. The majority of tx2000’s sold are equipped with 2GB RAM.

Heat and Noise
The tx2000 was relatively silent throughout general use and high-load testing. This can be attributed to the improvement of the fan location, which makes a more direct outlet and reduces heat buildup. On the same token, the heat emanating from the vent can be uncomfortably warm if the vent is even slightly obstructed. The only time heat became an issue was when using the laptop in tablet form resting on my lap.

When placed into tablet form, the screen orients so the fan is facing directly toward you. That means you have a significant amount of hot air blowing directly onto your leg. It looks like HP didn’t have much of a choice, since the opposite end housed the power plug. You have to pick between a power cord jabbing your leg or a load of hot air. After 30 seconds of use, I decided on the power cord.

Performance & Conclusion

We were interested to see what the TL-66 could muster. It posted a Worldbench 6 score of 53, which isn’t very impressive. 3DMark ‘06 scored a paltry 192 3dMarks. The Turion X2 processor helped post a more respectable 2313 using PCMark Vantage.

Battery Life on the tx2000 was above-average given the small 4-cell battery. We managed to squeeze nearly four hours of general use, although that was light on the stylus. If you switch the tx2000 to performance mode or use the digitizer exclusively, you may see lower times. It’s important to note that an optional 6-cell battery is available, although this raises the unit’s height from 1.23″ 1.52″.

Conclusion

Pros:

• Dual-Mode Display
• Good Battery Life
• Thoughtful Design
• Good Value
• Brighter than the original

Cons:

• Tall when Closed
• Below-Average screen clarity
• Bulky for an Ultraportable

HP has been bringing some thoughtful design to the laptop market for the past few years. This laptop is especially unique — it’s a convertible notebook with an entertainment focus. The tx2000 seems much faster than the benchmarks it posted, and we didn’t feel hampered by the AMD processor platform. Unfortunately image quality suffers on the touchscreen, lacking the clarity and vibrance of other displays. Also, we found the digitizer to be inaccurate when registering touches, although the inking was easy to use. Calibrating the pen and the screen helped, although the hand writing recognition software found it difficult to read my handwriting. To be fair, it’s not easy for me either.

As a laptop, this device is easy to recommend. However, I wasn’t impressed with the accuracy of the active digitizer. I’d like to see what HP brings to the tablet with their next refresh. With a more consistent method of transcribing penstrokes to electronic letters, HP will have a real hit on their hands. Until then, this laptop is only halfway there.

Price as tested, $1,737.98

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