July 2 - 9:05am EDT   Macessity on Wednesday announced SlimKey V2, a new display stand with an integrated powered USB 2.0 Hub. Designed to match Apple's Cinema Display, the SlimKey sports an 'Apple centric' powder coated aluminum finish. Macessity says the stand can support up to 35 pounds, has an easily accessible 4-port side access USB 2.0 hub, and a recessed storage space suitable for Apple's new 'slim' keyboard. Shipping with a compact power adaptor and USB 2.0 cable included, the SlimKey V2 is priced at $65 and available to pre-order now. [full story]

June 30 - 2:40pm EDT  High-priced upgrades have long been a collective burden of shopping at the online Apple Store. A new article from CNET UK has a run-down of pricing comparisons, noting that Apple's direct upgrade prices are, on average, about 200% that of Dell's. For instance: Going from a 120GB 5,400rpm drive to a 250GB 5,400rpm drive for a MacBook will set you back £90.01 from the Apple configurator. Doing the same upgrade with a Dell XPS M1330 costs just £30.01 on the Dell site. Likewise, buying a MacBook and switching from 2GB of 667MHz DDR2 to 4GB will cost an extra £120 from Apple. Doing that same swap with the Dell XPS M1330 costs just £40.01. [full story]

June 25 - 7:10pm EDT   Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “build a better mousetrap and the world will beat a path to your door.” Solo is hoping to do just that with a new strap for laptop cases promising a “no-trip” experience. The company says its Smart Strap bags come with a patented retractable shoulder strap designed to stay out of the way when not in use. Anyone who regularly carries a laptop knows how much of nuisance case straps can be. [full story]

June 17 - 4:55pm EDT   Fujitsu's newest laptop has been spotted early and in an unlikely place, as the T4220 replacement recently popped up on the Virginia Tech University Bookstore. The Tablet PC features a 13.3-inch 1280x800 (WXGA) display, and is expected to run an Intel Centrino 2 vPro chip of unknown speed along with 2GB of DDR3 RAM. [full story]

June 3 - 12:10am EDT   Ahead of the expected launch later Monday night, some photos of the Asus EeePC 1000 have surfaced, showing two models: the 1000, and the 1000H. BlogEee reveals that the ultra-portable will feature a keyboard 92-percent the size of a standard laptop keyboard, while appearing to have a similar build to that of the EeePC 901, including the built-in 1.3 megapixel web camera, touchpad, power buttons, and status light indicators. [full story]

May 28 - 7:10pm EDT   Dell CEO Michael Dell recently offered a glimpse of his company's highly-rumored ultra-portable at the All Things Digital executive conference in California. Dell was carrying a sleeved laptop, opening the cover to reveal a bright candy-apple red shell crowning a miniature portable akin to the Asus Eee PC and HP Mini-Note. He was sparing with details, but images reveal three USB ports, a card reader, VGA output, and Ethernet connections, with the system running an unknown version of Windows. [full story]

May 23 - 4:35pm EDT   Hypersonic PC, which started selling pre-assembled laptop computers late last year, has announced the launch of its Avenger AG2 notebook on Friday. The 12.1-inch display sports a 1280x800 resolution and the sub-notebook is available with Intel's new 45nm Penryn-era Core 2 Duo processor at up to 2.5GHz. The basic version of the Avenger uses a more modest but still quick 2.1GHz chip. [full story]

May 5 - 10:30am EDT   The lithium-ion battery shortage caused by a fire at South Korea's LG Chem plant back in March should be over in the third quarter of the year, an executive at a notebook battery maker said on Friday. While the shortage is hurting sales of all notebooks, including the ASUS Eee PC, smaller, lower-volume companies are hurt most, as they get least priority when supplies do become available. [full story]

April 22 - 11:40pm EDT   Averatec today unveiled two semi-ruggedized laptops, the Voya 4473 14.1 inch model, and Voya 6494 15.4 inch widescreen version, both of which offer users a drop- and vibration-resistant design, with a spill-resistant keyboard and touchpad. The laptops are constructed from magnesium alloy, with corner bumpers and an anti-shock mounted hard drive. Specific pricing for the two models was not readily available, but Averatec says the Voya lineup starts at $1300. [full story]

April 21 - 7:25pm EDT   Promate on Monday unveiled a universal laptop back-up battery it calls the ProBattery as well as solar-powered Bluetooth car kit. The company, which makes electronics accessories that range from protective screen films for PDAs to external media drives, promises to keep laptops running for up to eight hours. To make it compatible with a wide variety of laptops, the 6600mAh Lithium Polymer battery uses a selectable 5V, 16V or 19V power output and 15 modular notebook connectors. [full story]

April 18 - 4:30pm EDT   Taiwan-based MSI recently revealed more information on its low-cost, ultra-portable laptop, the Wind Notebook. The roughly 2.2lb notebook will run on Windows XP and feature an unusually large 2.5-inch HDD with an 80GB capacity. The Wind will be offered with either an 8.9- or 10-inch LCD display, the resolution of which is pegged at 1024x600 pixels. It is expected to compete with ASUS' Eee PC 900. [full story]

April 18 - 3:25pm EDT   The MacBook Air, with its use of an LED-lit display, is supposedly spurring adoption of the technology all throughout the industry, due to its energy conservation and even lighting. According to Macworld, Apple's slender ultraportable – due to its aesthetic appeal – is spurring an almost exponential rise in LED use in devices ranging from laptops and desktop LCD monitors, to LCD televisions. [full story]

April 9 - 6:30pm EDT   Solo today unveiled a new designer bag made for 15-inch laptops called the Urban At Ease Laptop Messenger Bag, constructed from a durable matte canvas fabric, with an oiled leather trim and padded corduroy sleeve. The sleeve stretches to fit almost any 15.4-inch laptop, and features several interior, side, and rear organizers. The Urban At Ease Laptop Messenger Bag is currently available for $95, in either black or olive finish. [full story]

March 31 - 8:20am EDT   Apple's new 15" MacBook Pro, based on Intel's latest Penryn processor, earned high marks from PC Magazine. In a recently published review, Editor Cisco Cheng took the new model for a test drive, benchmarking performance and feature enhancements. His conclusion - MacBook Pro is a winner. Cheng called it "one of the fastest laptops I've tested". That's high praise indeed, coming from a publication devoted to Windows PCs. [full story]

March 24 - 7:05pm EDT   Intel's heavily rumored Netbook is now official, being renamed the 2go PC, and manufactured by PC builder CTL. According to Engadget, the education-oriented budget laptop will feature an Intel Celeron M, as well as a 915GMS graphics chipset. The 512MB of included DDR2 memory is upgradable to 1GB, while the PC features 40GB of storage. CTL will sell the 2go PC for approximately $400, and will see distribution within two months. [full story]