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ELECTRONICS FIRM Kogan has sprung out of nowhere with its announcement of the world’s first laptop running Google’s Chrome operating system (OS).

The Agora laptop is available to buy now and will be delivered on 7 June according to Kogan. The company has jumped ahead of Acer and Samsung to release the world’s first laptop that runs Chrome OS. The Agora laptop is priced at £269.

The Agora has an 11.6in LED display with 1366×768 resolution and is powered by a 1.3GHz Intel Celeron processor. Kogan has put 1GB of DDR2 RAM in the laptop along with a 30GB solid state disk (SSD) drive.

There are three USB ports plus an Ethernet port, a 1.3MP webcam and an HDMI port. Kogan claims that the Agora boots up in 4.5 seconds. The device weighs 1.3kg, is 25mm thick and Kogan claims it has a battery life of 3.5 hours.

The news comes shortly after we heard straight from Google that its cloud-based operating system is for notebooks only. Security firm Kaspersky has commented on the security of Google’s new operating system, which includes such features as self-healing and automatic updates.

Ruslan Kogan, CEO of Kogan said, “We’ve been able to beat the rest of the world to bring the first commercially available laptop running Google’s Chromium OS.” µ

JAPANESE ELECTRONICS MAKER Toshiba came to The INQUIRER towers today to give us a closer look at its Portégé R830 laptop and some insight into the PC market’s future.

Toshiba senior product manager Ken Chang showed us the R830 and dubbed it the company’s “Hero Product”, telling us, “We’ve put everything we know about a PC into this product.”

Chang told us that the R series of Toshiba laptops has six key strengths and said those are that they are thinner, lighter, faster, stronger, smarter and easier.

For starters the R830, which is priced from £949, looks very smart with its brushed magnesium alloy chassis and it’s certainly light, weighing just 1.5kg, 630g lighter than Apple’s white Macbook.

It’s suitable to compare it to the Macbook as the R830 has a 13.3in screen. We like the LED display on the Toshiba, which has 1366×768 resolution. It is also non-reflective, which might not look as glamorous as a glossy screen but provides a much better experience for the user.

Toshiba has included support for both e-SATA and USB 3.0 to cover both formats, but Chang gave us his opinion, saying, “Now that we have USB 3.0 there is no need for e-SATA.”

Mobility is where it’s at with the R830, with its size, weight and impressive hardware including an Intel Sandy Bridge Core i5 processor. Toshiba also touts a notable 10 hour battery life, which will definitely help if you’re taking the laptop out and about.

We asked Chang what he thought about the growing tablet market, which is threatening the laptop market. He answered, “Everyone wants to go and be the next Ipad and to grab a slice of this new market.”

We really like products such as the Asus Transformer that combine the content consumption strength of tablets with addressing content creation by adding something like a keyboard dock, so we asked if he thinks the laptop market will be threatened by these kinds of devices.

He told us, “You still can’t beat the input device and I can’t see that disappearing.” He backed up this claim by showing us the consistent sales figures of laptops. He also said, “Over the next six to nine months the playing field will be clearer.” And, he added, “We’re trying to pick the right horse.”

So it seems that Toshiba is taking its time before jumping into the tablet market, intending to study the market so that it can create the right device. Maybe we’ll see it announce that within the next few months. µ

JAPANESE ELECTRONICS MAKER Toshiba has announced a glasses-free 3D laptop that will be released in July.

Toshiba says the complexly named Dynabook Qosmio T851/D8CR will be the world’s first glasses-free laptop. Unfortunately the projected release date of late July is only for Japan.

We contacted Toshiba to find out if the device will tip up in the UK, to which it replied, “this has only been announced in Japan so far, but I’ll make sure you’re made aware if we announce it in the UK”.

We don’t hold the greatest hope for a UK release anytime soon, since Toshiba’s glasses-free 3D TVs have been available in Japan since 2010 but they haven’t cropped up yet on the continent.

The Dynabook uses parallax technology to avoid the need for glasses to be able to view a 3D image. Using “face tracking” and “active lens” features the laptop can track the user’s face and recognise the position of the eyes to adjust the image accordingly.

Hopefully this will stop the current problems with the narrow viewing window found on other parallax devices such as the Nintendo 3DS.

The laptop can also display 2D content at the same time as 3D on the same screen. It achieves this using the active lens technology, which controls the polarisation of the screen.

Toshiba says, “Active Lens can be turned off and on quickly and locally, which means individual parts of the LED panel can deliver 3D images.”

Much like the line-up of laptops and TVs that we saw at Toshiba World Conference in Rome earlier this month, the Dynabook can convert 2D content to 3D in real time using a dedicated image processor called Spursengine. µ

KOREAN HARDWARE GIANT Samsung didn’t put keylogging software on its laptops, and the company partly responsible for causing the fuss has made a grovelling apology.

A report accused Samsung of releasing two of its laptops with a pre-installed keylogger, which is able to log keystrokes and take screenshots. It resulted in a major PR blow-up, with the Korean firm forced to issue a statement denying that it had stuck Starlogger in its hardware to spy on people.

In a blog post, the insecurity firm Gfi Labs confirmed that the keylogger detection was based on a false positive in its Vipre antivirus software. Alex Eckelberry, general manager of Gfi security, said, “We have no one to blame but ourselves.”

Gfi Lab’s Vipre software detected C:\WINDOWS\SL, the Slovenian language directory for Windows Live, as malware. This is the same directory path used by the StarLogger keylogger, hence the confusion.

Eckelberry said of the directory, “At some point several years after the original detection was written, Windows Live started using that directory to install Slovenian language files for Windows Live.”

“Samsung started pre-installing Windows Live, including all the languages, and there you have the problem we’re having today.”

Although it was a big mistake by Gfi, rival insecurity firm F-Secure stuck up for the company, saying the original report was flawed.

F-Secure’s security chief Mikko Hyponnen said in a blog post, “Unfortunately Mohamed Hassan (CISSP),who did the original analysis did not double-check his findings and blamed Samsung instead.”

“Apparently he did not look at the contents of the ‘SL’ folder at all.” µ

LAPTOP MAKER Lenovo has announced that its X220 laptop and a convertible tablet PC will be available in April.

Both are designed to be ultra portable, fast and durable. The X220 laptop and tablet will have second generation Intel Core i7 processors. They will both have a 12.5-inch high definition display and updated design features including self-closing hinges and a larger button-less touchpad. USB 3.0 will be an option, presumably not included for low end models.

Lenovo said the laptop will weigh less than 1.4kg and the convertible tablet less than 1.8kg. Battery life for the laptop will be up to 15 hours, which can be boosted to a total of 24 when used with an external battery. The convertible tablet PC will last for up to 16 hours with the aid of an external battery.

Durability is a feature of the two products, which will have “improved durability with wider drain-holes in the spill resistant keyboard and a 50 [per cent] improvement in drop test performance,” said Lenovo. The tablet’s multi-touch screen apparently has ‘Gorilla glass’ that can withstand scratches and scrapes. It has been tested to military specifications, said Lenovo.

The convertible tablet will have a multi-touch screen that can be swivelled around on a hinge and controlled using a stylus. Apparently the tablet will inform the user if they move the tablet without the pen in it’s holder to stop people from losing it.

No prices in sterling have been issued but the X220 will start from 9 and the convertible tablet starting at ,199. µ

Comment on this article Flame Author Print Share this: del.icio.us Digg Facebook Linkedin reddit! StumbleUpon Twitter Share Related articles Iomega puts Boxee into a NAS box Eases the burden of high definition streaming Tuesday, 4 January 2011, 20:12 PM Read more Julian Assange is a political prisoner Obama justice Friday, 10 December 2010, 18:05 PM Read more Dell Streak A hybrid smartphone and tablet in one Friday, 27 August 2010, 13:49 PM Read more HTC Wildfire A solid smartphone for those on a tight budget Monday, 23 August 2010, 12:42 PM Read more Black Hat grows up Getting serious Monday, 2 August 2010, 17:59 PM Read more End of processor golden age predicted SEMICON is something special, for now Thursday, 15 July 2010, 14:18 PM Read more < Previous article| Comments Wincrap again…

Again with wincrap, and 15 hours with i7? I don’t believe it… Apple and Acer managed 7-8 hours with 9 cells battery, bigger than standard, weighting more. Lenovo is way lower than IBM was, that’s sad… I have lots of faulty motherboars with leaked capacitors, less than 6 months usage…low quality products, and after T61p, lpoor quality laptops, breaking often and only 1 year standard warranty…

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AS THE INDIAN GOVERNMENT proudly displayed a tablet computer which it claimed would cost just , questions were being asked as to whether the device would ever see the light of day. With India’s track record, we wouldn’t bet on it.

Perhaps the Indian Government and its citizens should take it as some form of flattery that the media decided not to deride the device itself but rather its path to market. On the surface there’s little to argue about. A basic touch screen tablet designed for millions of children at a price which would make anyone who purchased an Ipad more than a little jealous.

The problem is, not only did the Indian government fail to provide a release date but it is still looking for a firm to build the device. Then came the news that while India’s human resource development minister Kapil Sibal had said, “The motherboard, its chip, the processing, connectivity, all of them cumulatively cost around , including memory, display, everything,” the bill of materials ended up at . That figure doesn’t even include logistics and labour.

What’s more, Sibal’s grandiose statement that the device “is our answer to MIT’s 0 computer” seems to put the cart miles before the horse. Given the issues Nicholas Negroponte had getting his vision off the ground, it is a grave mistake to think that even India’s government would have an easy ride to realise its dream of cost effective computing for all.

To many Negroponte might just be the guy who dreamt up the ’0 computer’, but the reality is somewhat different. He is the man who started MIT’s legendary Media Lab, helped shape tech magazine Wired and even invested in several start-ups including Skype and the Zagat Survey. Negroponte has quite a pedigree, but even his XOPC laptops failed, partly due to the very same problems which it seems Sibal has not considered when bandying about the a device claim.

When the one laptop per child (OLPC) program was initiated, Negroponte stated that for the project to work, it needed to harness economies of scale. Thanks to Intel railroading the XOPC by releasing the Classmate, the massive, multi-million unit orders never really materialised and the price stagnated. India’s tablet, however, gives Negroponte another crack at realising his vision. India, the largest democratic populous in the world not only represents a huge market but the future.

Negroponte’s offer of “free and open access” to Sibal should not be construed as some grandstanding gesture from a man who is clearly disappointed that his efforts fell short of his own goals. It offers the chance for the Indian government to learn from OLPC’s mistakes, curtail development steps, lower cost and actually bring a product to market.

Though the past 20 years have seen India become a technology powerhouse, when it comes to low cost laptops its success has so far been less than impressive.

Failures such as the Simputer and the Sakshat have left many questioning whether Sibal is merely making a bid for political glory. After all, details were worryingly scant and given that Sabil was essentially asking for firms to come forward saying it can build the thing at a price point that would satisfy him, it’s probably best not to take the tablet as a given.

Negroponte himself has had a chequered history with the Indian government after it decided to go it alone to try and produce the Sakshat, a computer that the government claimed would sell for just . The Sakshat failed miserably and in the end the government decided to buy a sack load of XOPC devices. The question is, how will Sibal see Negroponte’s offer? A way of muscling in on the publicity and the work done by Indian universities and its government or an opportunity for both parties to get what they want.

The truth is, the Indian government needs to work with Negroponte’s foundation, if for nothing else, to give it some credibility. The pricing figures Sibal announced seemed like they were plucked straight out of the Mumbai smog. For Indians this sort of pie in the sky political posturing that generates mass publicity simply offers up a chance for the country’s politicians to embarrass the country.

Negroponte’s plea to Sabil not to limit its tablet to just Indian children should be seen as an opportunity for India to provide the world with an answer to low cost computers with open hardware and software. Common sense suggests it should be a no-brainer but politically, Sibal may not want to be seen as accepting outside help. It’s a shame because working with the OLPC would also help both parties to drive down the cost of producing devices through the economy of scale that Negroponte so yearned for.

In the commercial arena competition is a good thing for the consumer, however it’s clear that neither the OLPC Foundation nor the Indian government wants to make a load of cash out of low cost computers. As Negroponte has put his ego to one side and extended the hand of cooperation, Sabil and his team should do the same.

Political points scoring by damaging kids’ education is something that no one wants to see. A lot of the criticism levelled at the Indian government is testament to the desire to have a low cost computer that can truly affect the lives of millions. One hopes that in the zeal to promote the best of India, Sabil and his team don’t ignore others who are willing to help. It would be a shame for everyone, least of all Sabil’s political ambitions. µ

In the second half of our Mobile Buyer's Guide, we focus on portable machines with screens smaller than 14". The market as a whole is getting a thorough overhaul over the summer, both because of brand new chips coming from Intel, AMD, ATI, and NVIDIA (for those of you keeping score at home, that's…everyone) and because of the rapidly approaching back-to-school season, which always means newly refreshed notebook lineups. With so many new systems out there, who's going to put in the groundwork to figure out which ones can hold their own in the market and separate the contenders from the also-rans? We did, and our findings are in this article. Read on for more details!

Finding a reasonable gaming laptop without spending a ton of money can be difficult; finding one with DX11 support and high quality components for 00? That's just being greedy, isn't it? And yet that's exactly what MSI's GX640 brings to the table. Sporting AMD's Mobility Radeon HD 5850, it's a slight step down in performance from the HD 5870, but it's also several hundred dollars cheaper. The GX640 isn't without a few blemishes, but overall this is a very feature rich laptop for a great price.