Riding the Net

Samsung’s slimmer fuel cell design can power a notebook for up to a month

Toshiba and Samsung have been working on ways to rid customers of traditional lithium-ion batteries used in notebook computers. Both companies are looking towards fuel cells and the technology is very promising.

Samsung displayed a version of its Direct Methanol Fuel Cell (DMFC) in late December that was capable of powering a Q35 ultra-portable notebook eight hours a day for a month. The fuel cell, which contained an energy density of 650Wh/L and total energy storage of 1,200Wh, was contained in a rather large box that was nearly as wide as the notebook and roughly twice as tall.

Samsung has made great strides to perfect its DMFC and recently showcased an even smaller design at its company showroom. Samsung appears to have shaved a few inches off the device in length/width/height. The DMFC now looks to be roughly the size of a couple of extended batteries stacked side by side.

Samsung reports that the fuel cell is still capable of operating a notebook for up to a month.

Despite the advances being made in fuel cell technology, we are still a few years away from fuel cells being commercially viable.

“Though we still need to solve ‘going smaller and sturdier’ issues, I think that we have made a technical quantum leap in commercialization,” said SAIT VP Dr. Hyuk Change in November. “Within 2~3 years, the fuel cells including those for laptops currently in development with Samsung SDI will be widely used as it is forecasted to acquire a stable market with lower price lines.”

Link | www.dailytech.com

I’ve just uploaded a new version of my own desktop search engine… Springo. The fastest and easiest way to find anything in your PC, your local network and Internet.

Find your office documents, your multimedia or launch applications without wasting clicks. Look up terms from any application in online dictionaries and search engines like Google, Wikipedia and more. Uses much less resources than other search engines, you won’t notice it’s running.

Link | www.gospringo.com

Finally Hugo Ortega reviews the U1010 and now I don’t know if I could wait anymore…

In summary I think this device has the ability to command respect; it has come in at the right price, with the right specs. Had I of had the device without ever seeing The Shift (I’m taken aren’t I) the chances of me buying one would be higher! It is however a great kiddie Tablet, or Vertical Market Tool. Either way I believe the future is bright with these sort of devices.

Thank you Hugo!

Link | www.gottabemobile.com

If you are suffering Microsoft Vista performance or compatibility problems, probably you would like to try out this two new updates for Vista that address some of this problems … don’t forget to backup your data first, you know… good luck.

I’ll try the first one tomorrow.

KB938979

This update resolves issues that may affect some Windows Vista-based computers. These issues have been reported by customers who are using the Error Reporting service or Microsoft Customer Support Services.

By applying this update, you can achieve better performance and responsiveness in various scenarios. This update also improves the reliability of Windows Vista.

Download

This update resolves the following issues on a Windows Vista-based computer:

• You experience a long delay when you try to exit the Photos screen saver.
• A memory leak occurs when you use the Windows Energy screen saver.
• If User Account Control is disabled on the computer, you cannot install a network printer successfully. This problem occurs if the network printer is hosted by a Windows XP-based or a Windows Server 2003-based computer.
• When you write data to an AVI file by using the AVIStreamWrite function, the file header of the AVI file is corrupted.
  When you copy or move a large file, the “estimated time remaining” takes a long time to be calculated and displayed.
• After you resume the computer from hibernation, it takes a long time to display the logon screen.
  When you synchronize an offline file to a server, the offline file is corrupted.
• If you edit an image file that uses the RAW image format, data loss occurs in the image file. This problem occurs if the RAW image is from any of the following digital SLR camera models:
  • Canon EOS 1D
  • Canon EOS 1DS
• For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
  • 932988 Files from a Canon EOD 1D or 1DS camera may be corrupted after you use Windows Photo Gallery, Windows Live Photo Gallery, or Windows Explorer to edit the file metadata in Windows Vista or in Windows XP Service Pack 2
• After you resume the computer from hibernation, the computer loses its default gateway address.
• Poor memory management performance occurs.

KB938194

This update resolves some compatibility issues and reliability issues in Windows Vista. By applying this update, you can achieve better reliability and hardware compatibility in various scenarios.

Download

This update resolves the following issues:

• The screen may go blank when you try to upgrade the video driver. For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: 932539 The screen may go blank when you try to upgrade the video driver on a Windows Vista-based computer
• The computer stops responding, and you receive a “Display driver stopped responding and has recovered” error message. You can restart the computer only by pressing the computer’s power button.
• The computer stops responding or restarts unexpectedly when you play video games or perform desktop operations.
• The Diagnostic Policy Service (DPS) stops responding when the computer is under heavy load or when very little memory is available. This problem prevents diagnostics from working.
• The screen goes blank after an external display device that is connected to the computer is turned off. For example, this problem may occur when a projector is turned off during a presentation.
• A computer that has NVIDIA G80 series graphic drivers installed stops responding.
• Visual appearance issues occur when you play graphics-intensive games.
• You experience poor playback quality when you play HD DVD disks or Blu-ray disks on a large monitor.
• Applications that load the Netcfgx.dll component exit unexpectedly.
• Windows Calendar exits unexpectedly after you create a new appointment, create a new task, and then restart the computer.
• Internet Connection Sharing stops responding after you upgrade a computer that is running Microsoft Windows XP to Windows Vista and then restart the computer.
• The Printer Spooler service stops unexpectedly.
• You receive a “Stop 0×0000009F” error when you put the computer to sleep while a Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP) connection is active. For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
• 931671 Error message when you put a Windows Vista-based computer to sleep while a PPP connection is active: “STOP 0×0000009F”

A great list of UMPC at http://www.umpcportal.com/products/

An overview of the UMPC products in the UMPC Portal database. You can view the latest UMPCs here and end-of-life UMPCs are also available.

Link | http://www.umpcportal.com/products/

Some facts about the Fujitsu U1010 also known as U8240. Please let me know if have some more fresh information.

Probably the world’s smallest tablet-convertible ultra-mobile PC created by Fujitsu: roughly the size of a paperback book, 580 grams, 800Mhz A110 CPU, 512/1024MB RAM, 20/40 GB hard drive, 5.6 inches touch-sensitive screen (1024×768), VGA camera, fingerprint reader, card Reader.

I like the form factor, size, the full keyboard, weight and screen resolution. My concerns are performance, battery life (some users report around 2 hours, depending on use), start up time, fan noise and probably the worst, Vista OS. Subjective verdict is … probably good for commuting, quick emailing and document reading but users are recommending to replace Vista with XP Tablet.

Specs

• Platform Intel Ultra Mobile platform 2007
  - Intel processor A110 (800MHz, 512KB L2 cache, 400MHz FSB)
  - Intel 945GU Express Chipset
  - Intel ICH7U I/O Controller Hub
• 1024 MB RAM
• 20 GB / 40 GB hard drive
• 5.6 inch touch-sensitive screen
• Screen resolution (max) 1,024 x 768
• Bluetooth v2.0
• Realtek 8101L 100Base Ethernet
• Super AG/Super G wireless connection with dual antenna
• Card Reader SD, CFI, CFII
• 0.3 Mega Pixel camera
• Built-in biometric fingerprint reader
• Built-in trackpoint
• Jacks mic-in, earphone-out
• Weight w/battery 0.58 kg
• Dimensions 171 x 133 x 26.5 m. Size comparison (Fujitsu P1610 vs Kohjinsha SH6 vs Asus R2HV vs Samsung Q1 Ultra vs Fujitsu U1010).
• Battery type(s) included Lithium-ion, 7.2V, 2600mAH
• Mfr-claimed battery life 4 hours
• Operating System Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium
  (or Genuine Windows Vista Business)
  (or Genuine Windows XP Tablet PC Edition)

Online reviews

Akihabaranews.com: 3 days with the Fujitsu FMV-U8240
So finally…what to think about this new UMPC?
Well, when it comes to the design, the U8240 certainly is not as “sexy” as a Vaio UX and this will bother those choose regarding the looks…now…if you mention ergonomics, usability and processing power there is an italian word for it: BRAVO! Because using XP this Fujitsu was smooth and enjoyable, the main issue would be this problem with the rotation of the screen and the Touch Screen (maybe because of my beta version?) but honestly if I was to choose right now, I’d take this one over a Sony Vaio UX!

Asia CNET: Average user rating: 7.6 / 10
Though still not cheap enough for most consumers to consider as a complement to their existing notebooks, the LifeBook U1010 is an excellent companion for those who need a full-fledged operating system while on the move. However, its poor battery life on the standard cell certainly reduces its mobility factor. The extended four-cell battery is definitely a must if you want to take this on the plane.

star-techcentral.com: The littlest notebook
Overall the U1010 is a promising device, if Fujitsu fixes the slowdowns and software bugs that we experienced.

The keyboard itself is the only real sticking point here, and any user intending to get one of these babies should try typing on it before you make the jump or consider the possibility of using a third-party keyboard otherwise.

Pros: Tiny; feature-packed.
Cons: Keyboard takes some getting used to; not powerful enough to run Windows Vista Home Premium with all the Aero effects turned on

What others are saying

Picked up U1010 in HK and disappointed with performance ( 5/10) by punuffney - Jul 24, 2007
Pros: great feature set, reasonably priced for feature set and form factor
Cons: Performance, battery life, start up time and fan noise

Sold Out Everywhere…. (9/10) by Eskasi - Jul 23, 2007
Pros: Almost everything (if you are looking for a UMPC)
Cons: Get the ext batt…you also have to intall the drivers yourself

hongkongphooey.wordpress.com says
* the CPU is slow compared to my Sony U27, much lag in video playback
* the 5.6″ screen not as crisp as I thought, touch sensitivity mediocre
* the 4-cell battery not going to last too long
* running Vista on this machine is really stretching things a bit, should have better performance under XP Tablet OS

jajubear at umpcportal says
I got a U1010 set with 1GB RAM, with Vista, it is SLOWWWWWWW… But I guess that is true for most other computers…

Fortunately, I had purchased a fujitsu P1610 model earlier with XP tablet and I deleted Vista and installed with XP and XP drivers… was trying my luck since Fujitsu specs did mention about it running on XP. Unless you know what you are doing, it is not advisable to try this…

Managed to get 95% of it working (all the important stuff), but I think I can get it 100% working if I did the install properly because some hardware when asked for drivers, I just clicked ignore.

The 95% functionality on XP to me is preferable to using Vista (say hello to long waits and crashes), good luck to those people using this productivity destroyer called Vista…

XP u1010 (1GB RAM) compared to my XP p1610 (512MB RAM) seems noticeably faster probably due to the RAM

Video reviews

At uncutvideo.latino.aol.com/

Where to buy

www.GeekStuff4u.com
from $1,903.00 (1 GB RAM)

www.dynamism.com
from $1599.00 (512 MB RAM)

www.conics.net
from $1,503.33

Forums about U1010

www.UMPCportal.com Forum

Additional info

XP drivers for the u1010 can be found at
1. http://www.pc-ap.fujitsu.com/support/drv_lb_xptpc_u1010.html
2. http://www.pc-ap.fujitsu.com/support/drv_lb_vista_u1010.html

The second link is for Vista, the XP drivers for the SD/CF do not work for some users but the Vista Drivers do.

The new G900 is having lots of teething problems, but it seems Toshiba is reacting quite quickly because they have just released a software patch designed to solve the issue of G900 devices failing to return to standby mode from deep sleep mode correctly. Lets hope they keep solving all the remaining issues as soon as this one…

Review

Via | Expansys
Link | www.toshiba.com

HP’s LaserJet 1320: A lung’s worst nightmare?
Laser printers get raked over the coals in an Australian air quality study

The laser printer has become a common staple in businesses and homes across America. The printers often have a higher initial cost then the throw-away inkjet printers available today, but the cost-per page for B&W printing is unmatched with laser technology.

An Australian researcher, however, has found that our fondness for laser printers comes at a risk. Research Queensland University of Technology physics Professor Lidia Morawska and her team — comprised of members from the Queensland Department of Public Works and The Cooperative Research Centre for Construction Innovation — have found that some printers can emit a high number of unhealthy toner particles into the air.

The particles, which can be inhaled into the lungs and cause respiratory problems, are potentially carcinogenic and could be as unhealthy as cigarette smoke.

According to the study, “The highest printer particle number emission rate found in the chamber study was 1.6 * 1011 particle min-1, which is close to the median value of submicrometer particle number emission rates for activities, such as cigarette smoking (1.91 * 1011 particle min-1), occurring in residential houses.”

“The high standard deviation of the average emission rates estimated in this study also indicates that the particle emission process and the behavior of individual printers are complex and that they are still far from being completely understood,” the study continues. “Many factors, such as printer model, printer age, cartridge model, and cartridge age may affect the particle emission process and all of these factors require further study.”

The research team tested 62 laser printer models from Canon, Hewlett-Packard, Ricoh and Toshiba. Of the laser printers tested 17 were shown to be “high particle emitters.”

Of the printers tested, HP’s LaserJet 1320 and 4250 models were shown to be serious offenders, while HP’s LaserJet 5 barely made a blip on the radar screen.

Hewlett-Packard issued a statement earlier in regards to the study’s findings. “Vigorous tests under standardized operating conditions are an integral part of HP’s research and development, and its strict quality-control procedures,” said the company in a statement to CNET News. “As part of these quality controls, HP assesses its LaserJet printing systems, original HP print cartridges and papers for dust release and possible material emissions to ensure compliance with applicable international health and safety requirements.”

Morawaska’s study will be published in the American Chemical Society’s Environmental Science & Technology (ES&T) journal.

Link | www.dailytech.com

This explains a lot of things …

Science Daily — Multitasking seems to come easier for some and is virtually impossible for others, however new research shows that it is difficult for all in the late night and early morning. Previous studies have shown that the time of day greatly affects human’s reaction time.*

This performance decrement is constantly found during the night with its’ lowest point in the early morning. This leads to the assumption that the time of day directly affects the speed of cognitive processing.

Daniel Bratzke at the University of Tuebingen wished to take these studies a bit further and figure out what makes our reaction time so slow during the wee hours. While many researchers have studied this, Bratzke focused on one of the three stages of human processing because he argues that measuring overall reaction time does not allow researchers to separate the effects of three different processing stages. Bratzke describes, for example, that the stage models of human performance assume at least three distinct processing stages: early perceptual, central decisional and late motor. He writes, “Given this widely accepted view, the question arises whether time of day affects all processing stages in general or one or more stages selectively.”

There is evidence that the circadian variations in reaction time are at least partly due to changes in two of the processing stages; in the early perceptual stage for example, it takes longer to detect and identify a visual stimulus if you are tired. Likewise, manual dexterity, grip strength, and tapping, which assess motor ability, are susceptible to our circadian rhythm, with a low point in the morning and peak in the late evening.

Bratzke wished to localize the time-of-day effects on processes that occur during the central decisional stage, such as decision-making. Along with his colleagues, he hypothesized that reaction time performance decrements during the night might be associated with slowing of this central processing stage. They refer to this as the central-slowing hypothesis.

Bratzke observed six subjects during 28 hours of constant wakefulness. During this time, the subjects performed various cognitive tasks every two hours. Bratzke used a dual-task performance test (psychological refractory period paradigm) to assess the duration of the central processing stage with two stimuli introduced at different times. The results provided evidence for a circadian modulation on reaction time with a constant decrement in the late evening while reaching it’s lowest point in the early morning. Importantly, dual-task interference increased in the night and early morning as well. Thus, central processing slowed down during the night, a result that supports the central-slowing hypothesis.

It is important to note that Bratzke monitored circadian phases through salivary melatonin concentration and body temperature. These biological markers of circadian phases corresponded with the decrement in reaction time, telling us that sleep deprivation was not the only moderator in the performance decrement.

These results build upon a recent study showing that even the well-practiced simple task of vehicle braking is subject to dual-task slowing. When watching the car brake in front of you while processing another stimulus concurrently the braking response can be markedly slowed down. The present results suggest that dual-task slowing as e.g. in this driving situation is influenced by the time of day with the most pronounced slowing in the early morning. Bratzke writes, “in addition to sleepiness, a combination of slowed reactions and impaired central efficiency might contribute to impaired driving performance and a higher risk for traffic accidents in the early morning.”

Bratzke completed this research with within the interdisciplinary network “ClockWORK” which is funded by the Gottlieb Daimler- und Karl Benz-Stiftung.

Link | www.sciencedaily.com

Years ago when Seinfeld was a new television show, Jerry Seinfeld was still a touring comic. At the time, I was hanging around clubs doing open mic nights and trying to learn the ropes. One night I was in the club where Seinfeld was working, and before he went on stage, I saw my chance. I had to ask Seinfeld if he had any tips for a young comic. What he told me was something that would benefit me a lifetime…
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