Recently in Computer Hardware Category

It's been called both "vampire power" and "phantom load" -- likened to the power-hungry HAL 9000 computer (at left) in Stanley Kubrick's classic film 2001: A Space Odyssey.

It's the little unblinking red light on the television set that is silently drawing energy from the grid; studies have shown it can add 10% or more to a household energy bill.

Now Spanish entrepreneurs claim to have invented a way to end the problem that has bedeviled energy regulators, environmentalists and appliance manufacturers. They have patented an algorithm that can detect when an appliance is in standby mode and automatically switch it off completely.

The standby-mode killer has yet to be proven commercially and must contend with other new products designed to tackle the same problem. But, despite some doubters, the Spanish inventors say theirs is the only product able to completely do away with a large, and growing, world-wide problem.

Now how about that!

Get more at the Wall Street Journal.

Looking for a faster, bigger hard drive this Christmas? (Two days till Black Friday sales by the way) Well, I came across this funny Youtube video of the day - filmed at famous Mac Store Tekserve in Manhattan, New York and paid for by drive manufacturer Seagate. It's a tad long, but it features a hip-hop office drama and the desire for "A new disk drive. 1.5 Terabytes...." (don't let that little jingle get stuck in your head) Just in time for the Christmas holiday season.

Via 9to5mac.com

From the first time Steve Jobs demonstrated "the pinch" -- the two-finger gesture used to zoom in and out of photos and Web pages on the iPhone -- some Apple observers assumed it was just a matter of time before a multitouch-enabled screen showed up on the Mac.

That hasn't happened yet. But now Hewlett-Packard has beaten Apple to the punch, announcing the first multitouch-enabled notebook PC, the tx2.

We are all wondering -- aren't we -- why Apple couldn't get this out to market first?

The tx2 is a convertible notebook, meaning its screen can pivot 180 degrees to show someone else what's on it or lie flat and act like a tablet PC.

The first convertible notebook aimed directly at consumers, the tx2 sports HP's version of multitouch technology, which lets you use two fingers at once to manipulate images on the screen or make on-screen gestures that signify specific commands.

A pinch motion works just like it does on an iPhone or MacBook, for example, letting you rotate pictures or press and drag files around.

Pricing? $1,150 or only $151 more than the starter MacBook.

More at BusinessWeek.

I grew up reading PC Magazine and I looked forward each couple weeks to picking up my copy of PC Magazine at the local grocery store. But today, Ziff Davis has announced that the legendary PC Magazine print publication is shutting down its print publication and focusing exclusively on online content. This is truly a sad day... Hold on while I grab some tissues...

PC Magazine started the whole in-depth comparative reviews of PCs and Microsoft software. They expanded later to including gadgets, MP3 players, mobile phones, GPS, and other technology. PC Magazine offered insightful tech tips and great columnists like John C. Dvorak. Back in the 80s and 90s the print publication was 400-500 pages, making for hours of tech- reading pleasure. Today, it's down to 150 pages and soon to be 0 (January 2009).

Well, I guess it's "greener" that way. But I for one will miss my print copy of PC Magazine.

Didn't I just blog yesterday about the wisdom of Pioneer opening its second U.S. retail store?

Well, I guess these companies have a better bead on what's going on the minds of their consumers because now HP is planning to launch 7,500 stores across Asia.

(That is a serious amount of stores!)

Hewlett-Packard plans to focus on China and India when it establishes these stores in 1,000 Asia-Pacific cities.

One of the largest computer companies in the world, HP is striving to offer an enhanced retail experience as well as improved customer support.

As well as appeal to nearly one-third of the world's population -- much of it moving steadily upward.

More at The Economic Times (India). 

Researchers recently completed work on a networking solution that will synchronize the myriad personal electronic devices (aka gadgets) people will use in the not-so-distant future. 

The group, called MAGNET Beyond, was composed of researchers from 35 companies who developed an architecture to harmonize devices such as laptops, telephones, MP3 players, games and a variety of sensors.

And why is this networking project called MAGNET Beyond?

No it's not a take-off on Bed, Bath and Beyond, but the name is an acronym for "My personal adaptive Global NET and beyond."

Yikes!

How many researchers does it take to come up with a good acronym?

Definitely not this group! Better luck with the technology.

More at ZDnet.

It used to be that every three years, workers would get brand new computers from their businesses' tech departments. But for many those days are over.

Many workers haven't been issued a new computer in years. 

The reason: Delaying computer upgrades is one of the easiest ways for a tech department to cut its budget. How about you working with a four-year-old ThinkPad with its maddeningly slow response times and out-of-date software ...

Now that the economy has taken a pronounced turn for the worse, more businesses are deciding to delay their regularly scheduled PC buying. In fact, 46% of businesses have either already or plan to postpone purchasing new computers, according to a survey of information-technology execs by CIO Magazine.

That's part of the reason that U.S. PC shipments will drop 1% in the fourth quarter compared to the year-ago quarter, according to research company IDC.

Now all of this bad corporate new has a shiny silver lining for us out here in consumer land --  PC makers are slashing prices, 20% to 30% in some cases, in an effort to boost demand.

Readers, how old is your work PC? Are outdated programs and hardware slowing you down?

Thanks to the Wall Street Journal (again).

Europeans will soon be able to buy their own XO laptop.

The One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) organization is planning to sell the devices via online store Amazon's European outlets starting this coming Monday.

The machines will be sold under the Give One, Get One plan that the OLPC organization has already run in the U.S. Under that plan, buyers get one machine for themselves and the other is donated to a school child in a developing nation. 

More at the BBC.

Crazy Eddie take note!
 
The Friday immediately following Thanksgiving has long been known as "Black Friday" because it represents the unofficial beginning of the holiday shopping season, or the day when retailers hold massive sales in hopes of steering their (red) losses into (black) profits.

And from what I've been reading about holiday shopping this year, gadgets may be one of the few bright spots ... 

Among the most heavily discounted electronics items poised to dominate this year's sales are low cost notebooks, according to sources, who note that Dell plans to offer $299 linux model via its website, while Wal-Mart markets a $299 Compaq and Best Buy a $299 eMachines portable.

And do yo think Apple will be sitting quietly ...

... Didn't think so; so check out AppleInsider.

And thanks to blogs.phillynews.com for the image.

Hopefully, these prices are insane!!!!!

Yes, there was a commuter this morning waiting for the 7:17 reading his Kindle.

And that's all I needed to start thinking about ebooks and ebook readers and how maybe someday all printed material will be digital and there will be no more newspapers or magazines.

Wait! I'm getting a bit ahead of myself.

Do find the whole thing pretty cool so was intrigued by this piece of writing today.  

So all you ever wanted to know about the Sony Reader PRS-700 is here at Mobile Tech Review. A very positive review, but there is something amiss ...

What's the catch? The touch screen layer reduces contrast. Yikes!!!

Digital readers like the Reader and Amazon's Kindle use e-ink technology, a very low power, paper-like display that's non-glare and high contrast (much like a book's pages).

Touch isn't part of the e-ink technology, nor is backlighting, so we rarely see a reader offering these. Sony, cutting-edge company that they are, found a way to add these two desirable features.

Sony added a touch layer on top of the e-ink display and embedded LED side-lights into the frame that surrounds the display. Clever.  

That's the good, and like I said, check out the whole story at Mobile Tech Review.