More rugged than Chuck Norris in a suit of armour, Panasonic’s latest addition to their Toughbook notebook series is set to be introduced at the CTIA Wireless IT & Entertainment 2006 event next week.
Billed as the “ultimate road warrior PC,” the semi-rugged Panasonic Toughbook 74 Notebook is an upgraded version of the company’s Toughbook-73 13.3-inch XGA model and comes stuffed with connectivity options.
Powered by a beefy Intel Core Duo T2400 1.83GHz Dual Core Processor, the mean, mo’fo’ Toughbook-74 comes with a 13.3″ XGA TFT Touchscreen HighBrite (Outdoor Readable) display, backed up by 512MB of RAM.
The built-in Mobile Intel 945GM Express Chipset, DVMT (Dynamic Video Memory Technology) provides external video support for screens up to 2048 x 1536 at 16 million colours.
In line with its rugged ambitions, the lappie is packaged in a full magnesium case with carrying handle and sports a water/spill resistant keyboard and a shock-mounted 80 GB hard drive.
Running on Windows XP, the Panasonic comes with a combo DVD/CD-RW drive, Intel Tri-band 802.11a+b/g (Wireless LAN), optional built in EV-DO WAN and Bluetooth.
Battery life has been ramped up to a claimed Mobile Mark-tested 7 to 8 hours – enough for a full day stomping around in the Great Outdoors.
Not surprisingly, all this portability, power and durability doesn’t come cheap, with a basic configuration costing around $3,000.
Specifications:
SOFTWARE
Microsoft WindowsÆ Windows XP Professional SP2 Setup, DMI Viewer, AdobeÆ Acrobat Reader, On-Line Reference Manual, Hard Disk Data Erase Utility
CPU Intel Core Duo Processor T2400: 2MB L2 cache; Processor speed 1.83GHz (Dual Core); 667MHz FSB
STORAGE & MEMORY
512MB SDRAM (DDR2) standard, expandable to 4096MB, 80GB HDD Combo Drive (DVD-ROM/CD-R/RW) standard
DISPLAY
13.3″ 1024 x 768 XGA transmissive, daylight-readable TFT Active Matrix Color LCD with Touchscreen
External video support up to 2048 x 1536 at 16,770,000 colors
Mobile IntelÆ 945GM Express Chipset, DVMT (Dynamic Video Memory Technology) up to 128MB
460 Nit LCD Brightness
AUDIO
SigmaTel STAC9200 AC-97 v.2.3 Compliant Audio Codec
Integrated stereo speakers
Convenient keyboard volume and mute controls
EXPANSION SLOTS
PC Card Type I or II
Secure Digital (SD) Card
Express Card
MULTIMEDIA POCKET
Combo Drive (DVD-ROM/CD-R/RW) standard
Accepts optional DVD Multi Drive (DVD-RAM/DVD-ROM/DVD-RW/CD-R/CD-ROM/CD-R/RW)
KEYBOARD & INPUT
87-key with dedicated Windows key
Electrostatic touchpad with scrolling support
Touchscreen LCD
Stylus with integrated holder
INTERFACE
External Video: Mini-D-sub 15 pin Headphones/Speaker: Mini-jack Stereo
Microphone/Line In: Mini-jack Stereo
Mini Port Replicator: Dedicated 84 pin
Serial: D-sub 9 pin (UART 16550 compatible)
USB2.0(x2): 4 pin
10/100/1000 Ethernet: RJ-45
56K bps Modem: RJ-11
WIRELESS LAN
Intel PRO/Wireless 3945 Network Connection with respective drivers
Slide on/off switch
Security + Authentication: LEAP, WPA, 802.1x, EAP-TLS, EAP-FAST, PEAP
+ Encryption: CKIP,TKIP,128-bit and 64-bit WEP, Hardware AES
POWER SUPPLY
Lithium lon battery pack (11.1V,7.8Ah)
Battery operation: 8 hours
Battery charging time : approximately 4.5 hours
AC Adapter: AC 100V-240V 50/60HZ, Auto Sensing/Switching worldwide power supply
Intelligent power measurement for precise battery status reporting
Pop-up on-screen battery status reporting
POWER MANAGEMENT
Hibernation, Standby, ACPI BIOS
DIMENSIONS & WEIGHT
1.7″-2.4″(H) x 12″(W) x 10.3″(D) 5.9 lbs
Back in our day, the only round thing that kids had in their pockets were marbles, conkers and gobstoppers, but German MP3 player maker Maxfield wants kids to shell out for their Max-Joy digital music player. 
There’s 256MB of on-board storage, with the option to add more song space via a SD memory card slot. 
The Max-Joy runs off a single AAA battery, which the makers claim will give up to 19 hours’ playback time, offering plenty of potential for parents to get a bit of peace. 
As voice recorders go (and, let’s be honest, they’re not the most exciting of gadgets) Sony’s new CD-U70/ U50 devices look to be quite natty numbers. 
Battery life is listed as an impressive 140 hours for voice recording and 6 hours for MP3 playback, with the unit offering Digital Pitch Control, Digital VOR (Voice Operated Recording) and 5 message folders to keep your perambulating wafflings filed away neatly. 
You know the problem: you’ve rushed into work late, sat yourself down at the desk only to realise that there’s not enough USB ports on the machine so you can’t plug in your DVD backup. 
The ‘Mini Mirror Hub’, described as “the most tiny, fashionable USB 2.0 HUB,” can connect up to four USB 2.0 (or USB 1.1) devices, supporting 480Mbps, 12Mbps and 1.5Mbps speeds. 
USB Ashtray
USB Heating Gloves
Currently hovering betwixt prototype and retail status, Advance Tech Communications new Windows Mobile smartphone market looks hot! hot! hot!
On board storage is taken care of courtesy of a generous 8GB hard disk, backed up by 512MB RAM and 512MB ROM, with a micro-SD expansion card slot.
Instead, the company are proclaiming their new device to be a “laptop computer miniaturised to the size of a handheld device,” which perhaps isn’t the snappiest description they could have come up with.
The London book fair, just finished. At it, there was no sign of an e-book reader from Microsoft – which is odd, because all the stuff Microsoft has been teasing us about with 
Toshiba is rolling out its first Satellite models with Intel Core Duo and Core Solo processors. 
The notebooks include Intel’s 945 Express chipset employing Intel Centrino Mobile Technology to reduce power consumption while and give a kick up the backside of the laptop’s graphics to wireless performance. 
The Qosmio G30 is part is of Toshiba’s multimedia PC line and will come with a TV tuner and Dolby Home Theatre support.
Backed by Toshiba and NEC, it faces heavy competition from the Blu-Ray corner, whose hard-hitting supporters include Sony, Matsushita, Panasonic and Samsung.
Seiko Instruments has announced their first Bluetooth watch, known as either the BT Watch or the rather less snappy, CPC TR-006 ver.1.0.
If you get an SMS or email on your phone the watch can alert you, and if your phone’s ringing, you won’t have to rummage about in your bag or pockets to see who is calling – the number will appear on the watch.
Now, much as we like the idea of cool high tech toys buzzing away on our wrists, we have to say that this watch looks more than a bit silly – it’s so big you may as well strap your mobile onto your wrist and be done with it!
We reckon it would be cool to have text messages, news headlines, RSS feeds, football scores and other short bursts of info appear on your watch – particularly when you’re stuck in a dull meeting. 
Those clever Koreans at LG are at it again, releasing the ONE PHONE II, a smart new Bluetooth home/mobile phone and the XNOTE TX, a tiny laptop with a built in DMB module.
It appears that this phone, however, uses the technology to automatically switch to a landline and not a Wi-Fi home network like the Fusion.
Packed inside its ultra-thin body is 12.1-inch, 1366×768 pixel LCD, a 1.3GHz Intel Pentium-M processor, Geforce Go 7300 graphics, a healthy 60GB disk with support for up to 2GB RAM. 
Battery life is quoted around a disappointing 2 hours (up to 8 hours with additional battery), although this plummets down to just 1hr 12 mins if you’re using the attached optical drive.
We have to say we’re mightily impressed with the desirability factor of the so-small-you-want-to-pat-them-on-the-head XNOTEs and it’s great to see LG coming up with design to rival Apple/Sony’s finest.
Samsung has announced the world’s first 8GB Hard Disk embedded smartphone, the SGH-i310, which is expected to start shipping in Europe during the second half of this year.
The smartphone seems pretty pocketable too, measuring 111.9 x 48.5 x 19.8 mm and weighing 120g.