Hey friend, ready for a full Lenovo IdeaPad S10 review? Sorry, this ain't it, but Laptop's initial hands-on with this "sweet 10-incher" might be enough to help with any imminent purchasing decisions requiring $429 in cash. What if we sweetened the deal and told you that Lenovo's netbook also features that very same un-netbooky X4500 integrated graphics found in Intel's Centrino 2 chipset -- no lame GMA950 here, pal. And as oddball as it sounds, one reader discovered that the red-colored S10 also features an external CD-RW/DVD-ROM for the same price as the white S10 (but $10 more than the black model). Check the full hands-on text (laced with adjectives like "spacious," "lovely," and "stylish") and video (where it's dubbed a Wind and Eee PC killer) just beyond the read link and just for you buddy.

Update: A number of would-be buyers are reporting another case of Lenovo's retail ineptitude. The X4500 graphics appears to be just another misprint -- like those free SSDs and $200 14.1-inch laptops seen before. Hell, even the optical drive appears to be the stuff of data entry error. At this point it looks like we've got another GMA950 netbook on our hands which certainly makes more sense. Our advice? If you're ready to purchase then at least get on the horn with sales and confirm that bill of materials.

[Thanks, Peter and and Boning C.]

All smartass-ery aside, we're pleased to see Microsoft's attempt to more fully engage the development community as it marches towards a 2010 release of Windows 7. The 1,000-strong engineering team is comprised of 25 different feature teams each made up of about 40 persons on average. The whole dry but peculiarly intriguing setup is fully detailed on Microsoft's new E7, corporate transparency blog sitting just beyond the read link.

By the way, how many Apple employees does it take to change a lightbulb? 13, 1 to do the screwing and a dozen lawyer-types to prepare for the recall.

[Via Pocket-lint]

While multi-touch input might be all the rage in handhelds and laptop trackpads at the moment, alas, it's not on the feature list for HTC's latest Touch Diamond and Touch Pro. However, the capability is indeed present and exploited on video by HTC's own debug application. Even more interesting is the way that the handsets' entire front, capacitive surface (not just the 2.8-inch, 640 x 480 pixel display) can be used for multi-finger input. So like Dell's Latitude XT Tablet which launched multi-touch ready, expect to see future, multi-touch capabilities come to HTC's latest... someday. Click through for the vid.

[Thanks, Marios S.]

Most unboxings don't require a forklift and crowbar. Then again, most of us aren't unboxing Microsoft's 125-kg (275-pound) Surface computer -- so big that one recipient quipped, "That's a big-ass box." How apropos. The recipient is Australian marketing agency Amnesia, making this the first international shipment of Surface we've heard about. That's good news as the platform seems to finally be taking off.

Yeah, we know that the video posted after the break is a corporate promotion loosed onto the Internets in hopes of going viral. But damn if this Samsung Omnia (i900) unboxing doesn't match our vision of how these oft tiresome rituals should be. What started a few years back as a cultural goof to poke fun at eager fanboy fanaticism has now become an integral part of a product's launch identity. But this, this is the future.

[Thanks, Saad R.]

First the iPod nano, now Apple's Mag(not so)Safe adapters. That look familiar? If so, Apple is ready to replace the faulty MagSafe adapter from your 13-inch MacBook or 15- and 17-inch MacBook Pro -- in warranty or out. You do live nearby an Apple-Authorized Service Provider right?

Look, it's pretty clear that the lithium-ion battery in the first generation iPod nano has the potential to burst into flames. Seriously, how many more cases do we have to see? Even after giving Apple a stern talking-to and ferocious wag of the finger back in March, Japan's government is once again investigating possible battery defects that caused a pair of Tokyo nanos to burn: nano model MA099 recently singed a piece of nearby paper while a model MA005 nano burned a traditional tatami mat in January (no injuries were reported).

Presumably Apple is calculating the cost-of-recall at this very moment. In other words, take the number of 1st gen nanos in the field, A, multiply by the probable rate of failure, B, multiply by the average out-of-court settlement, C. A times B times C equals X. If X is less than the cost of a recall, they don't do one.

Update: Japan has issued a warning to iPod nano users saying, "Users need to be careful about overheating of the machines," particularly when charging the players. Japan's government has reported a total of 14 similar incidents to Apple related to models MA004J/A, MA005J/A, MA099J/A and MA107J/A all sold between September '05 and September '06 -- two of which resulted in minor burns. NHK claims that Apple does not plan a recall but is ready to exchange defective parts.

You know that Aston Martin DBS not sitting in your driveway? Here's the watch to not go with it, the €27,500 (more than $40,000) Jaeger LeCoultre AMVOX2 DBS Transponder. First spotted last year, the Swiss timepiece capable of locking and unlocking the DBS from a distance of 10-meters has had a rough time making the transponder reliable due to the mechanical watch's impact on electrical fields -- a Faraday Cage of sorts. The solution was to craft a 128-mm sapphire and metal antenna inserted into the curve of the inner bezel ring. Man servants and gold diggers will find the watch at fine retail shops sometime around December.

Compal's been a vocal supporter of Intel's MID followup to the tragic UMPC platform ever since It was announced in April of last year. Hell, the Taiwanese ODM even dedicated a team to crank out all the devices expected in the first half of 2008 but never came thanks in part, to Intel's Atom slippage. Now Compal looks ready to toss a MID to consumers (either direct or through a third-party manufacturer, it's not clear) with the unveiling of this handheld at Intel's IDF in San Francisco. The QWERTY slider packs GPS, a Linux-based OS with media player, browser, eMail and IM clients, and Option's GlobeTrotter Connect and GTM501 HSPA data kit offering tri-band HSUPA/HSDPA and quad-band GPRS/EDGE connectivity the world-over. No pricing or availability has been announced but we hope to hear more later today.

Update: Ah ha, it's the same reference design used by Aigo's Patriot, aka, M528.

[Thanks, Stuart L. and LosOutlandos]

Just days after FCC approval, the IdeaPad S10 netbook just popped on Lenovo's retail site tossing a big Chinese wrench in ASUS' plans for global Eee PC domination. At least we think so -- the S10 wasn't expected to hit the US until October (China September 5th). Availability says "ships within 2-3 weeks" but clicking on the "customize and buy" link results in an "Exception Occurred" error -- pretty much on par with Lenovo's US retail launch routine. Anyway, for $399, er $429 (thanks again dollar) you'll take home 512MB of memory and 80GB worth of hard drive, a 1.6GHz Atom N270 proc, Windows XP, and a paltry 3-cell Lithium-Ion battery. Annoyingly, the progression from the base-model black color to white or red costs an extra $10 without any appreciation in specs. While ASUS' is approaching the netbook market like attrition warfare, it might just be a few, well-placed products with stellar support that wins over the netbook market in the end.

[Thanks, Kevin]

Besides the RAZR, few handsets have milked longevity like Nokia's 8800 slider -- first introduced in April 2005 (spied in March). Unlike RAZR, however, the 8800 somehow manages not to annoy... too much. The latest Carbon Arte model brings 3G, a 3.2 megapixel camera, 4GB of flash memory, and OLED display with anti-fingerprint coating. Fine, but it's the rocket-esque carbon fiber, titanium, and stainless steel materials that help push the price tag to €1,100 (that's about $1,600) before taxes and of course, carrier subsidies. Expected to brazenly appear in the smoking dens of Europe's finest gentlemens' clubs sometime in Q3.

We've seen these zoom lens add-ons before. Now Brando's slapped together this 6x "Telescope" for the iPhone 3G -- a phone not exactly revered for its image quality. Just snap the unit to the back of the iPhone 3G and get to work. How good is it? About as bad as the $19 worth of optics within. Seriously, 19 bucks and available now.

Well, there it is, the Lenovo IdeaPad U8 launched official at the Beijing games just as we expected. With the launch come the final specs for this Asia-only MID we've seen incubating now for months: 4.8-inch touchscreen; the latest, sub-3 watt processor from Intel (uh hem, that'd be a Silverthorn-class Atom); 350-grams and 21 x 173 x 84-mm; up to 2GB memory and 6GB flash storage; dual-cameras; support for China Multimedia Mobile Broadcasting (CMMB) digital television via that protruding USB dongle; and 802.11b/g WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS, EDGE data and China-specific TD-SCDMA 3G, presumably. Expect to see it trotted out tomorrow as Intel's San Francisco IDF gets underway -- with any luck, it'll be sporting WiMAX for a North American / European release.

[Via Pocketables]