This was a busy week for smartphones and tablets with Google I/O 2011 and a collection of other announcements. In case you missed the news and reviews, we have rounded up the most popular items for you to digest quickly. We also have our top picks for notebook reviews and news to give you some afternoon reading.

Smartphone and Tablet News for the week of May 13th

• Samsung Droid Charge Launches May 13th
  The Droid Charge will finally launch on May 14th. Saturday is an odd day to launch a phone, but it’s been confirmed by Verizon.
• Can the Verizon 4G Network Handle More Phones
  The 4G LTE network has experienced growing pains, is it ready for more devices?
• Verizon Answers 4G LTE Network, Device Questions…Sort Of…
  Chuong gets answers, about the ability of Verizon’s 4G network to handle more devices
• The cost of switching from Android to iPhone
  Kevin explores how much it costs to switch from Android to iPhone in part 3 of his switching series.
• Will an Amazon Tablet Succeed?
  Hugo Ortega explores what it will take for Amazon to bring a viable tablet to market.
• Netlfix Launches on Android
  Netflix lands on five Android devices. Find out if yours is one of the few supported devices.
• Google I/O 2011 Roundup
  All the big Android news from Google I/O
• Google’s ChromeBook Shakes Up the Status Quo with Offline Access
  Warner looks at what it means for Google to deliver offline access on the Chromebooks
• Motion Computing CL900 Tablet PC Goes on Sale
  The Motion Computing CL900 Tablet Pc is now available for purchase.
• Google Aims to Succeed Where Microsoft Has Failed
  Sumocate explores Google’s new strategy.
• The Best iPad and iPad 2 Apps [May 2011]
  Our top iPad and iPad 2 apps for gaming, productivity, photography, productivity and entertainment.
• Google Confirms New Nexus Device Is Coming
  A Nexus 3, or some yet to be determined name will grace the next Nexus device which was confirmed by Andy Rubin of Google.
• Google Confirms New Nexus Device Is Coming
  Photoshop lands on the iPad in the form of three apps – Adobe Eazel, Adobe Nav and Adobe Color Lava

New Notebook for the Week of May 13th

• HP EliteBook 2560p Combines Optical Drive and Small Form Factor (video)
  The new HP EliteBook 2560p brings an optical drive to the small 12.5″ form factor.
• HP EliteBook 2760p Tablet Announced
  HP adds Sandy Bridge processors to the Elitebook convertible tablet and keeps the 16:10 aspect ratio and 12.1″ display.
• HP ProBook 5330m Arrives with Consumer Features
  Hp’s new probook brings Beats Audio and other consumer features to enterprise users. Hands on Video.
• HP Mini 210 Gets Beats Audio and New Look
  Hands on Video of the new HP Mini 210 netbook with Beats audio and a slight design change.
• The HP Pavilion dv4 Gets Updated (Video)
  Hands on with the new HP Pavilion dv4 which will provide an option of Intel and AMD processors.
• HP Envy 14 Updated to Sandy Bridge and Gains a New Trackpad
  The popular HP Envy 14 gets Sandy Bridge Intel processors and a new trackpad with an image sensor, but no new high-res display.

Notebook News for the Week of May 13th

• Samsung and Acer Google Chromebooks Launch June 15th: Details, Specs & Pricing
  Google Chromebooks from Samsung and Acer are announced with a June release date. You can purchase outright or if you need 10 or more units, lease starting at $20 a month for schools and $28 a month for busineses.
• Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Arrives May 17th: Struts Thin & Rugged Design (video)
  Video of the ThinkPad X1 ultraportable arrives and shows off the rugged nature of this ultrathin notebook.
• Panasonic Announces Toughbook 53 w/ Sandy Bridge and Updates Toughbook 52 Rugged Notebooks
  Panasonic introduces a new business rugged notebook in the Toughbook line with Sandy Bridge processors.
• Dell Precision M4600 and M6600 Available For Sale With Speedy New Promo (Video)
  A look at what some customers can do with the powerful mobile workstations from Dell, which are now available for purchase.

Notebook, Tablet and Accessory Reviews for May 2011

• GBM InkShow: ARMOR X7 Rugged Tablet PC – “Tough Enough”
  Sumocat reviews the rougth and tumble ARMOR X7 Rugged Tablet in a GBM Inkshow. Watch it now. You know you want to!
• HP ProBook 6560b Review
  Check out this business class notebook from HP. Designed for the mobile professional this notebook doesn’t disappoint.
• Toshiba Satellite E305 Blue Label 3.0 Review
  The Toshiba Satellite E305 takes home an Eidtor’s Choice Award for overall value and performance. Definitely one of the hottest consumer notebooks of 2011.
• Antec soundscience rockus Speakers Offer Good Affordable Sound
  Kevin reviews a nice set of speakers that can go from your desk to the backyard and kick out enough sound to handle a outdoor movie this summer.
• Verbatim Tuff-N-Tiny USB Drive is Both Tuff and Tiny (Rugged USB Drive)
  Kevin reviews a small thumbdrive that can take a beating without losing your data.

Weekly Wrapup: Notebook, Tablet and Smartphone News (May 13th) is a post by Josh Smith from Notebooks.com.

The Recycling Bin (that little trash can that is likely on your desktop) is a holding place where files await deletion. An item in the Recycling Bin is not actually deleted until you empty” the bin. The Recycling Bin allows you to restore items that you may have accidentally deleted. If you are like me, your Recycling Bin is almost always empty due to regularly emptying. Many people don’t realize that the Recycling Bin actually takes up space on your Hard Drive, and in some cases, quite a bit of it.

This guide will show you how to get increase the hard drive space available for storing files by shrinking your Recycling Bin.

Modern computers ship with relatively huge hard drives when compared to computers from just a few years ago. I personally have a notebook with a built-in 250GB hard drive, and have a 1TB external hard drive connected to it. Each drive has its own Recycling Bin which actually takes up a certain amount of space on the corresponding drive.

With the size of today’s hard drives, the default value (automatically set to be around 5%) for the size of the Recycling Bin is rather superfluous. For instance, on my notebook’s hard drive, 14GB of space has been reserved for the Recycling Bin. On my 1TB drive, a whopping 50GB has been set aside for the Recycling bin. Unless you are regularly working with extremely large files, it makes sense to dial down the size of the recycling bin and reclaim that space for your own use, and this short guide will show you how.

1. Right-click on the Recycling Bin on your desktop and click Properties.
2. Highlight the drive of which you’d like to change the size of the Recycling Bin.
3. Check the Custom Size radio button.
4. Enter a value (in MB) for the new size of the Recycling Bin (remember, 1024MB = 1GB). I set mine to 5120MB (5GB).
5. Click OK and enjoy the extra space!

By default, the Recycling Bin will permanently delete the oldest items in it once it fills up and requires more room. If you try to delete an item bigger than the entire size of the Recycling Bin, you’ll get a pop-up that tells you that your file is too large for the Recycling Bin and it will ask if you’d like to permanently delete it.

Quick Tip: Increase Hard Drive Space by Decreasing the Size of Your Recycling Bin is a post by Ben from Notebooks.com.

ASUS further expanded their notebook families recently by introducing new UL series notebooks. These new notebooks share many similarities, including a brushed aluminum exterior. Additionally, most of these notebooks include NVIDIA GPUs that include NVIDIA Optimus technology to intelligently switch between integrated and discrete graphics for a seamless user experience and increased battery life.

ASUS UL series notebook: The ASUS UL series notebooks are powered by Intel processors and offers users between 8 and 12 hours of battery life in a package less than an inch thick. Users can select models that utilize the latest Intel Core processors or opt for a more power efficient low voltage processor for longer battery life. Below are several configurations of the ASUS UL series notebooks.

ASUS UL 20AT notebook:  The ASUS UL 20AT notebook comes with stylish brushed aluminum exterior. This ultra portable notebook weighs just 3.4 pounds and offers up to 8 hours of battery life.

Specifications:

• Less than 1 inch ultra-slim profile.
• Intel Core 2 Duo processor SU7300 1.3 GHz / Intel Core 2 Solo processor SU3500 1.4 GHz, Intel Celeron processor 1.2 GHz.
• Mobile Intel GS45 chip-set.
• Windows 7 Ultimate / Home Basic / Professional/ Home Premium.
• DDR3 1066 MHz up to 4 GB RAM.
• 12.1” LED back-light HD (1366 x 768) display.
• Intel GMA 4500MHD graphics card
• 250 GB/ 320 GB / 500 GB 5400 rpm hard drive
• No optical drive
• Integrated 802.11 b/g/n
• Built-in 0.3 MP web-cam

ASUS UL30JT notebook: The ASUS UL30JT notebook comes with a smudge-proof satin-brushed aluminum LCD lid and palm rest which is complemented with NVIDIA Optimus technology that helps the notebook achieve up to 10 hours battery life.

Specifications:

• Less than 1 inch ultra-slim profile
• Intel Core i7 640 UM processor 1.2 GHz with turbo boost up to 2.26 GHz / Intel Core i7-620UM processor 1.06 GHz with turbo boost up to 2.13 GHz / Intel Core i5-520UM processor 1.06 GHz with turbo boost up to 1.86 GHz
• Mobile Intel HM55 chip-set
• Windows 7 Ultimate / Home Basic / Professional/ Home Premium
• DDR3 1066 MHz up to 4 GB RAM
• 13.3 inch HD (1366 x 768) slim-type glare LCD
• NVIDIA GeForce 310M with DDR3 1 GB VRAM & Intel GMA HD
• 250 GB 5400 rpm/ 320 GB 5400 rpm/ 500 GB 5400 rpm  / 500 GB 7200 rpm hard drive
• No optical drive
• Integrated 802.11 b/g/n
• Built-in 0.3 MP web-cam
• 322 x 232 x 14.8-24.6 mm dimension
• 3.1 pounds with the 4 cell battery, 3.7 pounds with the 8 cell battery

ASUS UL80VT/VS notebook: The ASUS UL 80VT/VS notebook meets the demands of on-the-go users who need an all-day battery with a claimed 12 hour battery life. This notebook also comes with a brushed aluminum exterior and a solid state drive.

Specifications:

• Less than 1 inch ultra slim profile
• 16 second fast boost with 160 GB solid state drive
• Choose between stunning graphics or battery conversation with graphics X boost
• Intel Core 2 Duo processor SU9400 / SU7300, 1.4 GHz Intel Celeron processor SU2300 1.2 GHz
• Mobile Intel GS45 chipset
• Windows 7 Ultimate / Home Basic / Professional/ Home Premium
• DDR3 1066 MHz 2 x SODIMM up to 4 GB RAM
• 14 inch 16:9 HD (1366 x 768) slim-type LCD
• NVIDIA GeForce G 210M with 512 MB DDR3 VRAM & Intel GMA 4500 MHD (switchable graphics)
• 250 GB / 320 GB  / 160 GB SSD drive (UL80 VS)
• DVD super multi
• Integrated 802.11 b/g/n
• Built-in 0.3 MP web-cam
• 338 x 240 14-26.88 mm dimension
• 4.4 pounds

ASUS UL 80JT notebook: The ASUS UL80 JT notebook comes with smudge-proof satin-brushed aluminum LCD lid and a 14 inch 16:9 HD display.

Specifications:

• Less than 1 inch ultra-slim profile
• Intel Core i5-520UM processor 1.06 GHz with turbo boost up to 1.86 GHz
• Mobile Intel HM55 chip-set
• Windows 7 Ultimate / Home Basic / Professional/ Home Premium
• DDR3 1066 MHz up to 4 GB RAM
• 14 inch HD (1366 x 768) slim-type LCD
• NVIDIA GeForce 310M with DDR3 1 GB VRAM & Intel GMA HD
• 250 GB 5400 rpm/ 320 GB 5400 rpm/ 500 GB 5400 rpm  / 500 GB 7200 rpm hard drive
• DVD super multi
• Integrated 802.11 b/g/n
• Built-in 0.3 MP web-cam
• 338 x 240 14-26.88 mm dimension
• 4.4 pounds with the 8 cell battery

ASUS UL50VF notebook: The ASUS UL50VF notebook comes with the same brushed aluminum exterior, a solid state drive and an NVIDIA GeForce GPU.

Specifications:

• Less than 1 inch ultra-slim profile
• Intel core 2 duo processor SU7300 1.3 GHz, Intel Celeron processor SU2300 1.2 GHz
• Mobile Intel GS45 chip-set
• Windows 7 Ultimate / Home Basic / Professional/ Home Premium
• DDR3 1066 MHz up to 4 GB RAM
• 15.6 inch HD (1366 x 768) slim-type LCD
• NVIDIA GeForce 210M with 512 MB DDR3 VRAM & Intel GMA 4500 MHD (switchable graphics)
• 160 GB solid state drive
• DVD super multi
• Integrated 802.11 b/g/n
• Built-in 0.3 MP web-cam
• 386 x 259 x 16.4 – 26.4 mm dimension
• 4.6 pounds with the 6 cell battery, 5.07 pounds with the 8 cell battery.

News Source & Photo credit: Notebookreview.com

ASUS Introduces New UL Series Notebooks is a post by Rajesh from Notebooks.com.

Hackers are always one step ahead of companies when it comes to hacks and jailbreaking the iPhone is no different. Within 24 hours of the iPhone OS 4 beta hackers had managed to run un-authorized applications on the iPhone’s new mobile operating system.

A hacker from the iPhone development team has uploaded a video of an iPhone 3GS running hacked iPhone OS 4 beta. His video clearly shows that he is able to run un-authorized VNC client ‘Veency’ on the iPhone OS 4 beta.

The AppleInsider reports that Apple is planning to build a new hardware security features in its next-generation iPhone in an attempt to thwart jailbreaking attempts. Only time will tell how long Apple’s countermeasures can delay jailbreaking attempts.

This news comes on the heels of reported iPad jailbreaks.

iPhone 4.0 Jailbreak Announced is a post by Rajesh from Notebooks.com.

Recently Dell added two new notebooks to the Latitude family; the Latitude E6510 and Latitude E6410. These notebooks first appeared in the UK, but have since made their way to the States. Both of these notebooks weigh less than 6 pounds and come with Windows 7 Professional, Intel Core i5/i7 processors, 4 GB DDR3 RAM, 250 GB hard disk and Nvidia graphics.

The Latitude E6510 comes with a 15.6 inch HD display (1366 x 768) at a starting price of $1,681 and the Latitude E6410 comes with a 14.1 inch (1440 x 900) display at a starting price of $1,750. Both of these notebooks can be customized at Dell.com and are expected to ship by April 30th.

Check out the comparison between these two notebook and their full specs below.

Dell Latitude E6510 Specification / Configuration:

Please visit Dell’s page for more information or to order E6510.

Dell Latitude E6410 Specification / Configuration:

Please visit Dell’s page for more information or to order E6410.

Source: Engadget.com

Dell Latitude E6510 & Dell Latitude E6410 are available on US is a post by Rajesh from Notebooks.com.

Acer has announced two new models entertainment notebooks; Acer Aspire Ethos T5943G and Acer Aspire Ethos 8943G. These entertainment focused notebooks are equipped with large 18″ and 15.6″ displays and a will be equipped with powerful Intel Core i5 or i7 processors as well as ATI Mobility Radeon HD5000 series graphics cards.

Additionally, these notebooks will be equipped with true 5.1 Dolby Home theater surround support (including subwoofer), fingerprint reader, webcam, USB ports, Firewire, eSATA port, Storage up to 1.28 TB (combining 2 640 GB hard disk) and an optional Blu-ray optical drive upgrade.

The Acer Aspire T5943G will support a Full 1080p HD (1920 x 1080) resolution and the Acer Aspire 8943G will support a (1366 x 768) HD resolution. Both of these models also come with Acer’s own unique software; Acer Arcade Deluxe which provides a single place to organize your multimedia files.

• Acer Arcade Photo: This application will let you organize photos in slideshows and albums as well as do basic photo editing.
• Arcade Music & Arcade Video: This software will let you organize and play music and video on the go. Arcade Video will also let you to convert home made movies to many formats.

Acer has not announced pricing or a firm release date on these models but it’s expected soon.

Full notebook specifications below.

Acer Aspire T5943G Configuration /specification:

Acer Aspire T8943G Configuration /specification:

Photo Credit: Notebookitalia

Acer announces Acer Aspire Ethos T5943G and 8943G Multimedia Notebooks is a post by Rajesh from Notebooks.com.

Multimedia application industry leader Adobe has officially announced the latest version of its creative suite will be officially launch on April 12th. Adobe Creative Suite 5, or CS5 as it is known, has significant changes that will streamline creative professionals’ work flows and take advantage of advancements in PC hardware that have been introduced since the company’s last CS iteration.

One much anticipated feature found in CS5 Photoshop is Content Aware Fill. With this feature, photo editors will be able to quickly remove objects from scenes, fix flaws and even fill in blank parts of scenes.

Those with the latest NVIDIA GPUs will notice gains in the HD video rendering department thanks to improved GPU acceleration.

Of course, Adobe is introducing a 64-bit version of CS5 Photoshop for Apple users as well. The Mac version of Photoshop features a new version of the Photoshop graphics editor rewritten in Apple’s 64-bit object-oriented Cocoa framework. Appleinsider.com has published an exclusive look of CS5 for Mac users with more on what they can expect in CS5.

Adobe also introduced the Creative Suite 5 launch site which displays count down clock the official launch date, which is when Adobe will start taking pre-orders. Adobe will be streaming the CS5 launch and the first public demonstration of the CS5 applications on Adobe TV. This event will be streamed on Adobe TV on Monday, April 12th, 2010 at 8 am PDT/ 11 am EDT/ 4pm GMT.

While announcing Creative Suite 5, Shantanu Narayan told the WSJ:

We will be giving many more details of CS5′s features, functionality and pricing on April 12 with shipping of the English version about four weeks later”

You can see the sneak peak of Adobe Photoshop CS5 in below video from CS5ORG.

Source: AppleInsider, WSJ

Adobe Creative Suite CS5 Officially Announced – Now with Details is a post by Rajesh from Notebooks.com.

It seems March is very busy month for MSI. After introducing a couple notebooks and netbooks, MSI has unveiled the MSI P600 notebook for business users. The MSI P600 15.6 inch business notebook comes in a simplistic curve & texture design and provides an extra layer of security for business users by providing finger print reader and face detection technology. The MSI P600 includes MSI’s exclusive ECO engine power management system to provide you 8 hours of battery life.

The MSI P600 business class notebook is equipped with a powerful Intel core i5 processor, Windows 7 Home Premium, 4 GB DDR3 memory, Intel GMA 3150 graphics and a 320 GB HardDisk. MSI P600 also includes a Multi-Touch Touchpad with a convenient touchpad lock function to prevent accidental clicks. The MSI P600 also comes with MSI’s own unique new Chiclet keyboard and software like; MSI Easy Viewer, MSI EasyFace and MSI Preview Mode.

MSI EasyFace: MSI EasyFace is MSI’s own face identification software to protect information on your notebook. You can use Easyface autolocker, Easyface logon and biometric identification to enhance security and protect personal information on your laptop.

MSI Easy Viewer: MSI Easy Viewer software utilizes a 3D image display which allows you to choose zoom in/out, full screen display, or auto play to preview images. It will also let you edit photos, white balance and image sharpness.

MSI Preview Mode: MSI Preview mode gives the ability to browse picture on user preferences including magnification and shrinking, full screen and auto display. In addition to this it also gives users slide mode to edit the pictures, HDMI Image enhancement, and intelligent White balance.

MSI has not announced pricing or a firm release date yet.

MSI P600 Specification / Configuration:

See our posts MSI debuts Gaming notebook MSI GE700, MSI unveils slim notebook X Slim-X360, MSI Wind U230 Notebook now available, MSI Wind U160 is available now for 379 to read about MSI’s other announcement / release of notebooks

Source: MSI News

MSI Introduces the MSI P600 Notebook for Business Users is a post by Rajesh from Notebooks.com.

Many companies are concerned with copyrights, but one Chinese gadget maker is selling a fake Macbook Air and a gigantic iPhone tablet without a second thought.

Teso, a gadget design outfit in southern China, is reportedly selling a knockoff Macbook Air that has the same outward appearance, right down to an Apple logo, but its insides can’t compare with the real thing. The price for this fake Macbook Air is $280 (3,000 yuan) on china which is far less than a genuine Apple Macbook Air and represents the fact that the device runs Windows XP and is powered by an Intel processor. According to a company official, Teso sells more than 5,000 knockoff’s every month in China, but cannot bring the devices to the U.S. due to copyright issues.

Teso is currently working on an iPad like model that it hopes to begin selling in the next month or two. The expected price for this iPad knockoff is below 3,000 yuan ($440 US). In order to avoid a complete copyright violation, Teso has transformed its iPad wannabe into a giant iPhone.

Chinese Company Knocks off Macbook Air and makes a Giant iPhone is a post by Rajesh from Notebooks.com.

Over the last few months, since the iPad was announced, we’ve seen a lot of companies coming out with tablets. In fact, tablets are arguably one of the hottest gadgets on the market today! Now Neofonie, from Germany, has also joined the tablet race by announcing their WePad tablet. Based on the specs of the WePad, and the name, it’s clear that Neofonie wants to compete with the iPad.

Neofonie’s Wepad might look similar to iPad but there are lot of hardware differences. The WePad comes with an 11.6 inch display, 1366×768 display resolution, 1.66 GHz Intel processor, webcam, touch screen, 6 hours battery life and support for Flash support and Java. They are also opening a Wepad app store to make it easy for users to buy and install apps.

If you’re excited about the WePad, there’s already a Facebook fanpage you can join.

NeoFonie WePad specification:

• Display: 11.6 inch

• Resolution: 1366×768 pixels

• Processor: 1.66 GHz Intel processor

• Port/Card reader: 2 usb 2.0 port, 3-in-1 cardreader

• Multimedia support: flash and java support

• Webcam: Yes

• Application: WePad application store and Google android marketplace

• Battery life: up to 6 hours of browsing internet

NeoFonie has also given a table with comparison of ipad side by side.

For more information on Wepad please see Neofonie’s WePad feature list in PDF format. Please note that this pdf is in German language.

Source: nDevil & Liliputing

The Neofonie WePad is Another iPad Competitor is a post by Rajesh from Notebooks.com.