Big-name companies in the computer industry such as Sony, Fujitsu, Toshiba and other manufacturers have finally decided to jump into the ULPC waters. Sony, in particular, is rumored to have recruited Foxconn Electronics to churn out parts for their rumored ULPC entry. More details in the full article.

Electronics consumers have welcomed the diminutive ULPC machines (such as the Asus Eee, HP Mini-note) with wide-open arms, but major names in the computing industry are wary about the new trend of low cost PCs and the threat that their attractive price tags pose in the computing market built on powerful and expensive machinery. Read more in the full article.

We have another CeBIT 2008 update for you. It's Panasonic's new line of mobile computers - actually, Ultra Mobile Personal Computers. At CeBIT, they're showing off their upcoming Tough Book, a UMPC sporting an Intel Atom processor. More info at the full article.

Intel is now bringing Intel Core 2 Duo functionality to mobile Internet devices (MIDs) and low-cost PCs for people on the go. They've just announced the new Intel Atom brand and Intel Centrino Atom technology. Make your way to the full article to learn more.

A team of Scottish, German, and Italian researchers have collaborated to subvert the limits of the silicon chip and have come up with a way to create nano-sized wires and intricate nano-chips that can turn handheld phones into an equal of high-end computer laptops. This new discovery will be published in the next issue of the scientific journal Science.

Researchers from the University of Edinburgh (Scotland), the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (Germany), and the University of Rome (Italy) have speculated that their new findings will pave the way to more powerful computers just about the size of your palm. "This will help to make small devices much more powerful in the future," said Dr. Michael Zaiser of the University of Edinburgh.

While many an enthusiast rambles on how great AMD processors are better than Intel or vice versa, soon there would be little to fuel the bickering when handheld supercomputers have come to be realized. "Holding a supercomputer in the palm of your hand will one day be possible - and we are going to make sure all the wires are in the right place," Zaiser said. That is, of course, once engineers and scientists have overcome the issues that come hand in hand with nano-miniaturization.

"What we found is when we made these wires smaller and smaller they started to behave in a very funny way," said Zaiser. The different behavior cued the researchers to use computers to predict these unconventional behaviors, which could help engineers understand the new phenomena and how to work around them.

In the experimental front, STI (Sony, Toshiba, IBM) have previously voiced out plans for a 45-nm iteration of the 1x8 core CELL Broadband Engine, while Intel is still secretive about developments on its 80-core prototype (codenamed POLARIS) which still has a couple of years before entering commercial production. AMD in the meantime has previously released news of its new Phenom processor, a multi-core on single-die architectural marvel.

In one of probably the most painful-looking videos we've ever seen in a while, Dell's joined the bandwagon of the no-nonsense, no-frills way of advertising by taking things apart on camera (often violently). Today's victim? A harmless, innocent Tablet PC. The horror, the horror!

Shock, terror, and awe aside, we're a bit impressed at how they did it, using an industry-sized power saw you'd see in Wood Shop class than anywhere else to do the deed. The end result? A Toshiba tablet PC, cut in half. Gone forever. Taken before its prime. Sent to that great LAN party in the sky. The sacrificial lamb to herald the arrival of the XT, Dell's latest brainchild.

The embed's below, you know what to do. Just remember to bring along some Kleenex. Enjoy the video!

To celebrate the upcoming release of James Bond's latest big-screen adventure "Casino Royale", Sony Electronics is offering these Limited Edition "James Bond 007 Spy Gear." Before you start thinking that (a) you're about ready to enter into the spy business yourself, or (b) Sony's about to drive Q out of business, these "spy gear" are actually uber-gadget promotional bundles featuring some of the latest from Sony's own Q branch. 007 wannabes, meet the TX and UX Spy Gear kits.

The TX features the lightweight Vaio TX notebook and a privacy filter for when you need to compose emails to M (or the girlfriend/s you have) in absolute privacy. It also includes a Cybershot DSC-T50 digicamera for photographic intelligence on-the-go. The DSC-T50 features a 3" touch panel and 7.2 megapixels of detailed digital pictures.

The UX contains the Vaio UX MicroPC (think a Sidekick on steroids), a fully-functional PC complete with 4.5" display, Intel Core Solo processor, and Windows XP Professional. The kit also includes the DSC-T50 camera, and a Vaio UX Bluetooth GPS receiver.

Sold separately from the TX and UX kits is the 007 special edition 1GB MicroVault USB drive. Good luck trying to find somewhere on your body to hide it from the KGB, though.

Both the TX and UX kits are held securely in an aluminum attache case worthy of 007's class (for its looks, not for its secret compartments). They both also include a Welcome Kit that features an exclusive welcome letter, and a serialized glass photo certificate that corresponds to your Vaio.

All in all, a bundle of high-tech to toast with a martini (shaken, not stirred). And, if that Sony battery threatens to blow up, that turns your spy kit into a handy demolition kit to blow up a Bond villain with. Okay, we kid.

Nowadays, everybody's on the go, and that's why there's a portable version of almost everything these days. There are portable fridges, portable TVs, portable bathrooms... The list goes on and on. And then came ultra-portable PCs.

Yeah, yeah, laptops are portable versions of PCs and they've been around for years. However, we're talking ULTRA-portable here, and that's a different beast. Now, Sony just recently released their second ultra-portable Vaio, the UX-180p. This time around, they've upped the ante with the Sony Vaio UX-90s, which has the first 16GB solid state flash hard drive to hit the market.

If you wanna know how the UX-90s performs and well as learn more about its features and specs, check out the video review from Mobility Today below.

Just 8 weeks after its original release, Sony have updated their UX-180p Ultra mobile PC, now called the UX-280p. The tiny computer is actually a fully-functional PC, despite its small looks and a 4.5” wide SVGA screen. The Micro PC also features Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950 processor, 128MB dynamically allocated shared RAM/Video memory as well as a 4200rpm 40GB hard drive. A little slow if you ask me, but for a machine this size which also features G-Sensor Shock Protection - Hard Disk Drive Protection it's as good as you'll get.

The feature list doesn't end there as it also is packed with Optional Memory Stick DUO ports, 1GB of 400Mhz DDR2 RAM and integrated Bluetooth and WiFi. The Sony UMPC also comes bundled with Windows XP Professional and a handful of other software, but you might be surprised at the price. The UX-280p retails for $1,999.99, but bear in mind that you will have to get an optional optical drive for it to be possible upgrade to Windows Vista.

As the market for ultra-portable computers continues to expand and manufacturers scramble to meet demand while also trying to keep consumers interested in their products, originality and uniqueness are sometimes lost and products start to blend into a sea of blandness.

Leave it to Korea to buck current trends and release an ultra-portable that is truly without peer. The HiPAD (or HiPDA I've seen it written both ways on the same site!) is a tablet PC, or at least it looks like one. At the heart of the machine is an AMD Geode LX-800 CPU; a processor that is a compromise between power and efficiency.

With an available Gigabyte for memory (256MB standard) the processor will not have memory bottlenecks to slow it down. The most unique thing about the HiPAD has got to be it's ability to run both Windows XP (tablet edition) and Windows CE. The touch screen allows you to take advantage of the best features included with XP tablet edition while still giving you the option to run "normal" PC software designed for Windows XP.

WiFI, DMB and HSDPA provide connectivity and media services for the device. PCMCIA and CF slots provide effective expansion capabilities to the little portable that hint at some interesting possibilities. With Windows CE underpinning the media player and PDA-like functionality and XP tablet edition taking care of the tasks that involve heavy lifting (or heavy processing), it's almost like having two devices in one.

There is also a camera and navigation software embedded within the device. This hybrid-like device has a 10.4 inch touch screen, is one inch thick and weighs 2.9 pounds. For those who care about looks, the HiPAD isn't at all bad looking either! It has a sleek, smart design that only hints at the amount of productivity it can help you to achieve.

There's no word on cost as of this post. The amount of features packed into this tiny portable make it attractive, but price is always an issue. Hopefully, we'll see a version of the HiPAD in the US. American consumers would go crazy for a device like this if it was marketed well. (hint!)