Apple's next iPhone firmware update will bring some much-needed improvements to Google Maps and SMS. iPhone users will finally be able to send text messages to multiple contacts and use Google Maps for Mobile's GPS-ish locating service. 
3G wireless cards are typically the domain of high-priced business notebooks, but one blogger's managed to jam a HSDPA modem into the uber-affordable Asus Eee PC. 
The ModBook, the third-party MacBook tablet, may finally see the light of day a year after it was introduced at MacWorld 2007. I'd written off the Mac OSX Tablet as vaporware after numerous delays and excuses from its Axiotron, the designer, and Other World Computing, which is the Modbook's exclusive retailer. 
HP is updating its Pavilion 14.1-inch, 15.4-inch and 17-inch notebook lines and offering Blu-Ray ROM drives in its consumer line for the first tme. The new dv2700, dv6700 and dv9700 are very similar to the previous models and will accomodoate future components that will be announced in the coming months. 
It's not too late to order an a MacBook or MacBook Pro in time to sneak it under the Christmas tree. It's too late to order custom-configured Macs for Christmas, but Apple has several popular configurations that will make it to your door by Christmas eve. 
Toshiba is the first notebook OEM to introduce rewritable HD DVD optical drives. The new drives will be available to Japanese consumers as early as the end of this week. 
HP's having another 30%-off sale on its dv9500 series notebooks. Use coupon code NB2299 and save 30% on 17-inch dv9500t series notebooks priced at $1,299 or more. Use coupon code NB9333 to save 30% on AMD-powered dv9500z notebooks. 
Apparently there's not that much demand for Lenovo's ThinkPad Reserve, the leather-bound X Series ThinkPad with a limited production run of only 5,000 units. Earlier this year the ThinkPad Reserve got a fancy web site and Lenovo promised three years of 24/7 support for the princely sum of $5,000. But if you're willing to forgo the 'Executive-class service' you can pick one up for the bargain basement price of $3,000. 
Dell officially launched the Latitude XT Tablet PC, its first foray into tablet computing. The Latitude XT has a 12.1-inch touchscreen display and is tailored for mobile professionals. The Latitude XT can be configured with a 64GB solid state drive and an extended battery that provides up to 9.5 hours of runtime. 
Toshiba announced the Portege M700, a 12.1-inch convertible notebook with a backlit LED display. Users can touch the screen to navigate menus and launch applications, or use the active digitizer to take notes and draft documents. Built for professionals, the M700 is loaded with features and has a reasonable base price of $1,449. 
If you participated in the OLPC Give 1 Get 1 campaign on its first day, your XO laptop is in the mail. The XO laptops should arrive in time for Christmas. 
Here's a video that shows you how to make your own iPod or iPhone out of a $100 bill, or any other currency. This is a cool use of oragami skills. 
Toshiba plans on ramping up production on 128GB solid state drives for notebooks starting next year. The new drives will be available in 1.8-inch and 2.5-inch form factors. 
Jet Blue is set to announce free in-flight WiFi with limited access to email and messaging. The service will be available on only one of the airliner's jets as an experiment and users will only have access to Yahoo! Mail and Yahoo Messenger. BlackBerry users with WiFi-enabled handsets will also be able to send and receive email. 
Best Buy will begin selling Dell Inspiron and XPS notebooks at more than 900 U.S. stores over the next few weeks. It's about time Dell established a serious retail presence, but the timing is really off. It would have been great for Dell and shoppers to have these notebooks on display for the entire holiday season.
Get 20% off Lenovo's ThinkPad X Series Tablet PC with coupon code USPENDOFYEAR. This discount is stackable, which means the coupon can be used on top of Lenovo's $500-off X Sereies Tablet promotion. 
Save $799 on the Dell XPS M1330 performance laptop. Discount applies to custom XPS M1330 laptops with a 2.2 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 3GB of RAM 250GB hard drive, DVD burner and integrated Bluetooth. The starting price for this configuration is $1,399.
Get $500 off any HP Pavilion Notebook, including the HP HDX, configured at $1,399 or more. Visit HP and enter coupon code NB1399 at checkout. This offer is good while coupon supplies last, or on 1/7/08, whichever happens first.