The future of the laptop and the tablet PC has been rolled up into one. German designer Evgeny Orkin has developed a concept design for The Rolltop. The Rolltop is constructed of a flexible OLED display that wraps around the removable power supply stand. Tucked into the power stand is a webcam, speaker sound bar, USB ports, and the power supply and power cord.

The screen can either be formed into a 13-inch conventional laptop (well sort of) or rolled flat for a 17-inch tablet with stylus. Another great feature is you can stand it upright with a fold out support leg and watch videos like a flat screen TV. And with multi-touch technology you don’t need a separate mouse and keyboard because everything is right on the screen. It might be hard to type on a digital QWERTY keyboard but it might be like a large iPhone.

I know its just in the concept form but it would really be cool to see one in person and maybe use one some day. To really appreciate the capabilities and possibilities of The Rolltop check out this video from Orkin Design.
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Popularity: 8% [?]

While Mac users bob and gasp in the wake of the release of Apple’s new operating system, Snow Leopard, Windows users are gloating (a bit preemptively). As Microsoft gears up to unleash its long-awaited operating system, Windows 7, friends and foes alike are hailing its amazing security. One industry publication declares that “the new version of Windows is stacking up to be the most secure to date.”

That’s a high and mighty claim for an operating system that has historically had more bugs, viruses, glitches, malfunctions, spyware, malware, and problems than all the other operating systems combined. Ok, that sounds a little harsh, but when you’re a household name in computing and founded by the erstwhile richest man in the world, people will throw rocks at you. Those rocks came in the form of a veritable torrent of hack-happy engineers unleashing their twistedness to deconstruct Windows versions from the system BIOS up. It’s been going on for a long time.
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Popularity: 6% [?]

Duracell has come a long way in the battery charging world and now is trying their hand in Smart Power charging stations. The Duracell myGrid eliminates wires all together and allows you to charge up to 4 devices at one time. It is compatible with Nokia, Motorola, Blackberry, and Apple products like the iPhone and iPod. All you need to do is attach a Power Sleeve or Power Clip to your devices and then when you need to charge just lay it on the ultra-slim power pad. The myGrid will automatically shut off when it is being touched and can detect when metal or moisture comes into contact. It will charge in the same amount of time as your standard charger but without all of the cords.

Duracell also has introduced some new portable battery chargers and other portable device chargers. Their new portable battery charger can recharge AA or AAA NiMH batteries in about 60 minutes. If you are interested in the myGrid it will hit the shelves in October for around $80. And the other 10 Duracell Smart Power devices are in stores now. Here is a Press Release from Duracell that goes over their new line up.
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Popularity: 7% [?]

Whether or not you were expecting it (and you weren’t), Kindle slashed the price of the new Kindle 2 by sixty dollars, bringing the price down to a manageable $299. Still pricey, but not as pricey as buying 1,500 paper books.

The new Kindle, after only two months on the market, is bigger than its predecessor and has a few extra bells and whistles. When it originally came out with a price of $359, customers gobbled it up, making it an instant Amazon bestseller. Now, Amazon hopes it will become an even bigger seller. With an appreciated dip below the three hundred mark, the Kindle is available to a broader market base.

The question is, “why?”
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Popularity: 6% [?]

It’s finally here. Google’s snazzy new phone service is slowly becoming available to one and all. Google Voice is a one-stop shop for all your phoning needs, combining all of your phone numbers into a single number and even routing all of your extra phone services to one device. The beauty of simplification has a lot of appeal for the phone-stressed time in which we live. Now, it’s available on a wider scale.

During the test phase, Google Voice was a service that only GrandCentral customers could use. GrandCentral, a shiny new toy that Google bought two years ago, was the predecessor of the new-and-improved Google Voice. Demand for the service was greater than the smallish number of GrandCentral subscribers, so Google opened the gates wider to those potential users who had requested the service before. Now, Google Voice is taking invitation requests from any and all users. The official site reads, “Google Voice is currently available for GrandCentral users only, but will be open to new users soon. In the meantime, please leave us your email address and we’ll notify you as soon as Google Voice becomes available.”

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Popularity: 7% [?]

Even if you forgot your laptop at work or your PC crashes just as you’re about to print a coupon for a late night trip to the store, you can forget your worries if you’re going to print using the new HP TouchSmart Printer.

Today in San Francisco, HP shared the news of a new addition coming to their TouchSmart technology family. Finally, a printer made for the tech-savvy generation. And it’s just a little bulky.

The TouchSmart technology has already been used in HP’s TouchSmart computers. Used in this line of printers, it will allow users to access and print from the web using only the 4.3-inch LCD touchscreen on the printer. The main web-printer relationship will stem from the HP Apps Studio, which will be built into all printers of this line. Various apps will allow users to print maps, news updates, photos from online storage sites, printable coupons, movie tickets, and more. Current partners include Google, USA Today, Coupons.com, Dreamworks, Web Sudoku, Weathernews, and Nickelodeon.
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Popularity: 7% [?]

Digital frames are popping up everywhere these days. Even my grandmother received one for her 85th birthday, right along with a pair of fuzzy, pink slippers. I’m pretty sure that even if she did know how to work it, it wouldn’t tweet. And yours probably can’t tweet, nor can it view pictures on Facebook, Flickr, or Picasa. But the new SilverFrame, the latest and greatest digital photo frame from SilverPac, can do all of the above.

This 10.1-inch touchscreen-operated digital frame is Wi-Fi enabled and actually connects with several photo-sharing social networking sites. But really, it’s more like a mini computer than it is a digital frame. Windows CE 6.0 R2 is the operating system, supporting Windows Sideshow and Live FrameIt. It is also Bluetooth-enabled, allowing users to send images directly to the frame from their mobile phones. Additionally, the SilverFrame has USB ports and a multi-card reader, just in case you’re set on uploading pictures the old fashioned way. Images can be stored on the SilverFrame’s 1GB of onboard memory, and two 1.5W speakers provide impressive stereo quality sound. The SilverFrame even comes with an IR remote control and AC adapter.
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Popularity: 8% [?]

The Apple rumor mill is churning out fresh rumors at an alarming pace. The latest round, as reported by Ars Technica’s Chris Foresman, centers on MacBooks and the supposedly coming soon Apple tablet.

According to a report a “favorite” source of the Web site 9to5Mac, Apple is working on netbook or tablet with a 10″ screen. This would seem to verify other speculation that’s been making the rounds lately, but the project is apparently being kept “under lock and key” (probably literally, in this case) so no other details are included.

Also according to 9to5Mac, speed bumps are coming to the entire MacBook line, including internal 3G wireless networking hardware and non-removable batteries on the 13″ MacBook and 15″ MacBook Pro to match the ones already installed on the 17″ MacBook Pro. According to the rumors, Apple will release these new MacBooks along with their tablet at WWDC in June.

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Popularity: 4% [?]

Apple followers and Windows devotees alike are abuzz over the rumors, spawned from the Wall Street Journal report, that Steve Jobs is cooking up “a portable device that is smaller than its current laptop computers but bigger than the iPhone or iPod Touch.” - (WSJ). In other words, “he’s working on a cool new computer that is about… yea big.”

So… what is it? Let the speculation begin.

And so, speculation takes off on its careening course-sure to start arguments, inspire hateful comments, and keep bloggers busy. But it sure is fun.

So, here’s a bit of speculation. Assuming we have in the not-so-distant future a tablet-like device or a netbook being produced by Apple, what is it going to be like? Here are some general prognostications. Sorry, no pictures yet.
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Popularity: 4% [?]

This Chinavision emulator handheld is like an iPod for retro console games. It plays Nintendo, Super Nintendo, Sega Genesis, Game Boy Advance, and Neo-Geo games and has 4GB of onboard memory — probably enough to hold the entire library of one of those systems. If that’s not enough you can also stick a mini-SD card in a slot on the bottom for more space.

It looks like it came from an alternate reality, Steve Jobs decided to hell with copyright law and created an iPod for playing retro video game ROMs. In our universe, Jobs plays nice with copyright, so it’s up to a Chinese gadget manufacturer to create the device and sell it to the public for the low price of $87.31 — three for $83.82 each!
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Popularity: 6% [?]