Let's clarify two things right away: first, the Ideapad U1 hybrid notebook tablet is still in the very rough stages of development. Second, it's going to be awesome—if it can live up to its potential.
Let's review the concept quickly before we get into the details. The U1 is literally two separate devices, joined together and made to play nice. One is a multitouch tablet that runs Linux and has a speedily efficient Qualcomm ARM 1Ghz Snapdragon processor running the show. The other is a Windows 7 notebook with an Intel Core 2 Duo SU 4100 processor.
The build is like Lenovo's other IdeaPads, except for the translucent red top that houses the tablet. When the base and the slate are linked up, the latter acts as an 11.6-inch, 720p (1366x768) monitor that looked crisp despite being saddled with Intel's integrated graphics. The (non-chiclet) keyboard is based on the current lineup of IdeaPads, and both it and the touchpad worked smoothly. The U1 we saw wasn't set up to do much other than web browse, and pages loaded quickly. The notebook has built-in Wi-Fi, but can also run off of the tablet's 3G connection, which I can see being a pretty great benefit for times when wireless isn't readily accessible.

The fun part, though, is unclasping the tablet from its shell. It's firmly latched in, which is more reassuring than frustrating. Once removed from the notebook, there's a two or three second lag before the Snapdragon processor kicks in. It's not seamless, but it's close enough. Tablet mode greets you with a six-panel screen of apps similar to that of Lenovo's Skylight smartbook. The selection is limited for now, but Lenovo will be opening up the SDK to developers soon to give you more to play with than the standard YouTube, Gmail, and Facebook-type options.

You can also enter a type of content mode, which divides up your stored files between music, video, images, and documents. With the multitouch interface, you can quickly jump among all four, and adjust how much of the screen is devoted to each. The resistive screen was good, but not great—it at times took some pretty insistent pressing to get the response I was looking for. The viewing angles could also use work; unless you're looking nearly dead-on at the display, you're pretty much out of luck.
I was impressed by the sound quality—not excellent by any means, but better than I expected from a tablet device. One immediately obvious downside is the total absence of ports on the tablet other than the docking—there's not even a headphone jack. It's configured for Bluetooth, but I'd still like the option to plug in my buds. The tablet also currently lacks an accelerometer, so there's no way to orient documents or images based on its position. This is hopefully something that will be addressed before its release.
I said the two devices are totally separate, and I meant it. There are advantages and disadvantages to this set-up. On the plus side, while the tablet is undocked, you can hook the base up to a monitor and get full notebook functionality. If you remove it during web browsing, the tablet remembers which site you were on and places you there automatically (and vice versa). In fact, when I had Gizmodo in notebook mode and removed the slate, it automatically took me to the mobile version of Giz.
The down side is that right now, web pages are the only things that are transferable this way. If I were working on a document in notebook mode, there's no on-the-fly transition once I pop out the tablet. You can drag and drop, but a more seamless transfer would be helpful. It would also be nice to be able to control the tablet remotely with the base, but once they've separated there's no interaction between the two. Again, these are things that may or may not be addressed by the time the U1 comes out in the second half of this year.

About that release: it's up in the air right now as to when you can get your hands on one of these, because of all of the tweaks that need to be made. It will also be crucial for Lenovo to be able to build up a decent store of apps for the U1 and the Skylight if these are going to have any functionality beyond very basic web browsing and media playback. And for an estimated retail price of $999—minus whatever subsidy they're able to get from a partner carrier—that functionality had better be there.
All in all, the U1 is a slick device, if a little undercooked. If nothing else, I'm excited to see how far they can take this concept once they put it in production. But no rush, Lenovo. If you take the time get it right, it'll be something special.

Price in Pakistan: Rs.35,000

We have to admit to a major sin – despite the fact that our team consists of revered cell phone professionals, none of us happens to be a sworn business user that wakes up to the ringing of the Wall street´s opening bell, spends hours following Dow Jones and intently watches Bloomberg before going to bed. Still, we aren’t blind, spot the tools that modern business people are armed with and appreciate the proper ones. One of the devices that really impressed us last year was the Nokia E71 and the handset has earned its place in our gift guide for 2009 in the best business-oriented cell phones category. What we have in our hands now is the successor to this particular business tool, namely the Nokia E72. In reality, it retains everything we loved about the E71 and adds several improvements like 5-megapixel camera, 600MHz processor (the E71 is equipped with a 369Hz one), twice the amount of ROM (512MB), accelerometer and 3.5mm jack.

Its design and proper build quality are not just equally great, but even improved on. The handset comes boxed with a leather case that makes carrying around the device safer, because it does protect it from getting scratched. Aside from it, the box contains a charger, headset, USB cable, hand strap and user guide.

One of the qualities of the Nokia E72 that we like best is its dainty design. This is truly appealing business-oriented cell phone that comes with compact size, but emanates reliability.



You can compare the Nokia E72 with many other phones using our Size Visualization Tool.

Its display measures 2.4-inches, has QVGA resolution and remains totally useable in direct sunlight, even though the image quality gets rather bad in this case.

One of the minor design differences to the Nokia E71 is the integrated optical pad. It features great sensitivity (can be set) and is a fully functional replacement of the standard D-Pad. Still, if you don’t like this particular way of controlling the handset, you can easily turn it off.


The Nokia E72 retains the excellent keyboard of the E71 and we even think the buttons are actually easier to press. They have pronounced, pleasing travel, but unfortunately, their rather small size means you will have to use your fingertips, which in turn disallows faster text entry. The manufacturer has added shortcuts to activate the Bluetooth, silent mode and use the camera flash as flashlight. We do like the altered design of the functional keys and the send and end keys, it makes them easier to use and they look as if made of polished metal.

Source: PhoneArena.com

Take a step back from normal life just for 5 minutes and have a look at what Nokia and the University of Cambridge have been working on – Nokia Morph, nanotechnology for mobile phones.

This amazing new technology has limitless possibilities, not just within mobil ephones but technology in general especially when it comes to price and convenience.

Dr. Tapani Ryhanen, Head of the NRC Cambridge UK laboratory, Nokia, commented: “We hope that this combination of art and science will showcase the potential of nanoscience to a wider audience. The research we are carrying out is fundamental to this as we seek a safe and controlled way to develop and use new materials.”

Professor Mark Welland, Head of the Department of Engineering’s Nanoscience Group at the University of Cambridge and University Director of Nokia-Cambridge collaboration added: “Developing the Morph concept with Nokia has provided us with a focus that is both artistically inspirational but, more importantly, sets the technology agenda for our joint nanoscience research that will stimulate our future work together.”

Just take 5 minutes to watch this video – exciting times ahead!

Source: Nokia Press

We managed to track down the guys from Canada's Allerta and got to spend some time with a couple dummy models of the soon-to-be-released inPulse smartwatch for BlackBerry. Design-wise, it's very attractive, with a brushed metal body and a leather band. As a bonus to early orderers, the first 1,000 sold will be custom-milled on a CNC router -- ironically, it'll actually be more cost-effective for them to do it that way while they build up production volume. In terms of functionality, it will launch with support for displaying text messages, caller ID, new e-mails, and BlackBerry Messenger messages (yes, it supports BBM!). It'll give you information on who the message is from and a preview of the message's contents. We couldn't get a hard shipping date, but rest assured we'll let you know as soon as we do -- for now, our hands-on gallery will have to suffice.

Source: Engadget.com