July 3 - 8:15am EDT   Only Windows PCs may be required to carry China's controversial Green Dam Youth Escort content filtering app, computer makers said on Friday. Although the government officially requires every computer sold in the country to have the software included, any system that can't install Green Dam, including any of Apple's computers or Linux PCs, doesn't have to bundle it. The exemption also applies to any computer that doesn't meet the "technical requirements" for an install, according to one anonymous PC vendor. [full story]

July 2 - 9:05am EDT   Many of the Windows PC makers building ultraportable notebooks based on Intel's low-cost CULV platform are learning first-hand that their cheaper case designs aren't enough to sustain the systems, a research note from AmTech analyst Doug Freedman says. Many of the companies design the systems with plastic shells to keep their prices down but are discovering that the cases are cracking, often forcing major replacements. Which companies are affected aren't mentioned, but Lenovo and MSI are some of the first making systems in the category with the IdeaPad U350 and X-Slim line respectively. [full story]

July 1 - 12:40pm EDT   Large PC builders are dragging their feet when it comes to environmental promises, claims Greenpeace. The activist group has once again updated its Guide to Greener Electronics, which assigns relative rankings to major high-tech corporations. A new development is the assignment of "penalty points" to major PC builders, including HP, Dell and Lenovo. The companies have delayed plans to strip PVC and brominated flame retardants (BFRs) from computers, Greenpeace says, and in the case of HP, none of its current systems have reduced toxicity. [full story]

June 24 - 5:20pm EDT   Lenovo is now shipping its IdeaPad S12 notebook PC in the US. The 12.1-inch netbook PC sports the prerequisite 1.6GHz Intel Atom CPU and a 1280x800 resolution. The netbook will also be the first to offer NVIDIA's Ion chipset later this summer, giving it 1080p HD video and 3D video processing capabilities along with an HDMI output. The versions now shipping include an integrated Intel GMA 950 graphics processor. [full story]

June 23 - 8:15am EDT   Lenovo on Tuesday launched an anticipated refinement of one of its most important notebooks in the ThinkPad T400s. The 14-inch notebook takes advantage of both an LED-backlit display as well as the same, small and light drive cage used in the X301 to shrink both the thickness and weight of the T400 without compromising its feature set. It measures just over 0.8 inches thick and is 20 percent lighter at just under 4 pounds, but can still fit a DVD or Blu-ray drive as well as regular Core 2 Duo notebook processors. [full story]

June 16 - 1:15pm EDT   Clearwire on Tuesday officially released its 4G WiMAX wireless broadband network in Atlanta, making it the largest city in the US to offer the service. The service, CLEAR, is available to about three million people in a 1,200-square mile area, offering users DSL-like cable speeds wherever they are, wirelessly. Running on a WiMAX radio system from Motorola, the service is said to deliver realistic download speeds between 4 and 6Mbps, with burst speeds greater than 15Mbps. In comparison, existing 3G networks provide download speeds between 1 and 1.7Mbps. [full story]

June 15 - 8:55am EDT   Dell's rumored Android device may have finally been captured in an image captured in a Chinese forum post (membership required to see). The image shows a handset with a full and reportedly capacitive (finger-controlled) touchscreen running Google's mobile OS, but reveals few other clues as to its features. It clearly exists in a prototype stage and not yet close to product. [full story]

June 11 - 3:45pm EDT   New images show there may soon be an addition to Lenovo's ThinkPad T400 notebook range with a new, slimmer model, the T400s. Its 0.83-inch thickness represents a noticeable reduction from the T400's 1.12-inch design. Specs will be shared with the range, according to SOBlog, including a choice of 2.4GHz and 2.53GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processors and a 14.1-inch, LED-backlit display with a 1440x900 resolution. Due to the T400s' slimness, users won't be able to upgrade from Intel's integrated 4500MHD graphics processor, however. [full story]

June 3 - 3:55pm EDT   At the Computex show currently taking place in Taiwan, MSI has shown off its WindBOX nettop PC powered by NVIDIA's Ion chipset. The computer's presence at the show indicates MSI is the latest to jump on the NVIDIA Ion bandwagon, with Acer and Lenovo confirmed to be releasing Ion-based PCs, with ASUS, Foxconn, Pegatron and, most recently, Dell and HP, rumored to be releasing their own as well. [full story]

June 2 - 1:50pm EDT   Computer makers HP and Dell will both launch netbooks and all-in-one desktop PCs running on NVIDIA's Ion platform sometime between the start of July and the end of September, says a Tuesday Digitimes report. The unnamed industry sources claim the two manufacturers will join ASUS, Foxconn, Lenovo and Pegatron in providing Ion-based computers, all of which have been linked earlier to the hybrid graphics and system chipset. Models and their features aren't mentioned in the slip. [full story]

June 2 - 7:45am EDT   Intel at Computex today formally outlined the details of its mid-year refresh of its notebook processors, including its Consumer Ultra Low Voltage (CULV) platform. The new platform is intended to bring ultraportable designs to low-cost but still reasonably fast systems and centers on Intel's new GS40 mobile chipset. The technology is a fraction the size of the regular notebook platform, permitting far smaller and thinner systems, but still has a GMA 4500 graphics core capable of full hardware HD video decoding, higher-level 3D features and native HDMI output. [full story]

May 27 - 5:00pm EDT   The Lenovo IdeaPad S10-2 netbook introduced by the hardware manufacturer earlier this month is now available to be ordered from Lenovo's website, with retail store availability for the PC being early June. Specs for the 10.1-inch, 1024x600 resolution netbook include a 1.6GHz Intel Atom CPU, a 160GB hard disk drive preloaded with Windows XP, a Wi-Fi radio and a six-cell battery. [full story]

May 26 - 3:50pm EDT   Taiwan's handset manufacturer HTC is due to release an Android-powered smartphone in China in June, its chief executive Peter Chou told the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday. The phone will be a version of the Magic, the second Android-powered handset from HTC that went on sale in Europe recently, although with custom software from China Mobile, the world's biggest wireless provider, at about 500 million subscribers. With the Magic, HTC hopes to double its China sales to 1.6 million. [full story]

May 25 - 8:55am EDT   Lenovo completed its PC introductions today with a nettop as well as a low-cost, mid-size notebook. The IdeaCentre C300 has a 20-inch display and a DVD burner like many full all-in-ones but uses a 1.6GHz Atom 230 to drive down costs. It has a distinctly fashion-oriented design and comes in a more exotic red as well as black or white. [full story]

May 25 - 7:55am EDT   Lenovo chose Memorial Day to launch a range of PC updates that include a world-first. The IdeaPad S12 is the first netbook to have an option for NVIDIA's Ion platform and overcomes one of the performance setbacks for netbooks: the advanced graphics can fully decode 1080p HD in hardware and is capable of 3D that would be off limits for Intel-based video. It also helps drive visuals on the newly enlarged 12-inch, 1280x800 display or the (optional) HDMI output. [full story]