News Week of September 21, 2008

Fitaly: New skins and expander improvements

We are pleased to announce that Fitaly can now be downloaded with the following new Tomo� skins:

You will be happy to see that the colors come up as brilliant on the Tablet PC as you see them here. (Source: Press Release)

Lenovo ThinkPad X200 Tablet

The Lenovo X200t Tablet PC was introduced on September 22, 2008 as a complement and likely replacement for the company's X61 Tablet PC. It wasn't that the X61 needed replacement, but technology moves on, and so between a need to update to Intel's Centrino 2 technology and a general migration to wide-format displays, Lenovo made the step. And added a number of other features in the process.

Intel's Centrino, of course, is not a chip but a combination of various Intel chip technologies, including CPU, chipsets and network circuitry. Since Intel's marketing convinced the public that Centrino is essentially a brand, Intel's introduction of Centrino 2 earlier in 2008 practically mandated that manufacturers issue new versions of their notebooks, lest they be considered obsolete. Nothing inherently wrong with that, though sometimes good technology gets left behind in the process.   (Source: Conrad H. Blickenstorfer, Rugged PC Review)

Lenovo ThinkPad X200 Tablet

Lenovo's last remaining nearly square screen (with a 4:3 aspect ratio) is finally being replaced by the ubiquitous widescreen format. It had been almost a year since the company updated its beloved convertible tablet�the ThinkPad X61 Tablet. The ThinkPad X200 Tablet ($2,323 direct) packs in many more refinements, such as a lighter chassis, a better speaker system, Intel Centrino 2 parts, and three choices of display panels offered in the widescreen format. It easily retains the Editor's Choice, held previously by the X61 Tablet.  (Source: Cisco Cheng, PC Magazine)
Posted Wednesday, September 24, 2008 by ChrisD
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First Look : Lenovo X200 Tablet PC

The New Lenovo X200 Tablet Pc - 30 floors up in Manhattan

Those who have been waiting for Lenovo to release their newest Tablet PC will not be disappointed.   With its cutting edge technology, long battery life and weighing only 3.5 pounds, the new Lenovo X200 Tablet PC is going to a hot commodity.

Showcasing the latest technologies to improve user productivity featuring extremely long battery life, the new Lenovo X200 is designed to enhance the user experience in every way possible.

One of the most notable improvements in the X200 Tablet PC is the Touch features which have been redefined to include excellent palm rejection. - For those of you who have had problem with this in the past, the X200 has effectively resolved the problem of palm rejection when your writing.

The new Lenovo X200 Tablet PC features longer battery life, improved outdoor visibility from bright LED backlit panels, a dual swivel hinge and improved touch for better usability. An assortment of options including GPS, Solid State Drives, LED back light panels, roll cage, integrated camera and digital microphone, Integrated WWAN, WiMax, WLAN, UWB, Bluetooth and the x200 Ultrabase allow users to customize their X200 Tablet Pc to best suit their individual needs.   (Source: Linda A. Epstein, TabletPC2.com)

Annual CES Tablet PC, UMPC, MID gathering '09... plus Surface?

In the last few weeks, I've received several inquiries about the annual CES Tablet PC & UMPC Gathering. Correct, it'll still be actually at CES in January and it's only September. However, the feedback continues to be so positive and long lasting that people are already looking forward to the event! I'm pleased that it's continued to be so successful.

The industry is advancing and I want to make sure that the product interests represented are forward looking. Yes, I'm sure there will be plenty of Windows 7 chatter and hardware comparisons. A couple years ago we expanded the gathering to include mini-Tablet PCs more commonly known as UMPCs. Last year people interested in MIDs attended. My observation is that the common connection is an interest in natural input. Do you agree?  (Source: Lora, WhatIsNew)

Microsoft vs. Apple: the multi-touch war

Multi-touch is the latest craze it seems. Once the technology was finally perfected, it went through a series of acquisitions which Apple took under its disproportionate wing; hence why we see multi-touch technology in the iPhone and iPod Touch devices. It�s taken nearly three decades to see it reach our technology, but now it�ll be what could well replace the standard keyboard and mouse. But are we ready for it?

Windows 7 may already be the first (desktop) operating system to support multi-touch technology, and from little we�ve seen, it seems to work well. Since Apple gained the technology, they�ve thrown it into the Macbook Air, but little seems to be known about it. The keyboard and mouse will still stick around for a good while; there�s no doubt they�ll go out of style, fashion or use for a good long while yet though.

Touch screens have been around for a long while, ranging from Tablet PC�s, mobile devices (or �Palm Pilots� back in the day), to those beeping kiosks you have at railway stations to tell you which platform to jump from catch your train from. Having two-fingers being pressed against a screen would ordinarily confuse these simple minded devices, whereas a multi-touch device can translate a physical hardware input into a software based command - rotate, crop, move, select, expand, increase or decrease, and more�  (Source: Zack Whittaker, ZDNet Blogs)

Lenovo ThinkPad X200 Tablet

The ThinkPad X200 Tablet, the latest convertible business notebook from Lenovo, combines the portability of LAPTOP�s Editors� Choice award�winning ThinkPad X200, with the excellent tablet functionality of the ThinkPad X60 and X61. It may lack an optical drive and a touchpad, but it�s still one of the best tablets of the year thanks to smooth performance, durability, and numerous wireless options.  (Source: Jeffrey L. Wilson, Laptop Magazine)
Posted Tuesday, September 23, 2008 by ChrisD
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Lenovo/HP Tablet PC Shootout: Side by Side

Here are some pictures of the HP 2730p Tablet PC and the Lenovo ThinkPad X200 Tablet PC. You�ll see the size differences as well as the different layout of the keys. I�m still trying to figure out how to give you the best representations of the screen and viewing angles with the equipment I have. That said, both have very good good viewing angles in my opinion. In the photos below, both Tablet PCs have the screen brightness turned all the way to full on battery power, which as I�m sure some know is not the brightest setting if you are on AC power. (Source: Warner Crocker, GottaBeMobile)
Posted Tuesday, September 23, 2008 by ChrisD
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