Laptop Care

Typography Insight, developed by Parsons design student Dong Yoon Park, is sort of like an iPad typeface encyclopedia. Only encyclopedias are boring, and Typography Insight is beautiful and fun. With a wonderful and decently responsive interface, you can beef up on type terminology  compare fonts with a nifty overlay mode, or just get all up in their perfect formed faces to appreciate and learn nuances. Park says the type trove will be available in the App Store "soon,"—though no word on whether it'll be a freebie or not. Either way, the guy's got a gift for interfaces, and made this typography geek very happy. ( Typography Insight )

The tablet computers that compete with the iPad have mostly been uninspiring. The Eee Pad Transformer stands out with a design that isn't just copied from the iPad: It's a tablet that turns into a laptop. For $399, $100 less than the cheapest iPad, you get a tablet computer with a 10-inch screen and hardware that doesn't cut corners. It's fully usable on its own. For another $149, you can buy a keyboard that connects to the tablet. Together, they look and open like a small laptop. The Transformer is made by Asustek Computer Inc., the Taiwanese company that started the brief "netbook" craze a few years ago by selling small, inexpensive laptops. With the keyboard attached, the Transformer is nearly indistinguishable from a netbook. ( Physorg.com )

People suggest carrying your laptop in a scuffed duffle bag, because laptop bags are so obviously full of goodies worth nicking. To a hungry thief, a pizza box carried under-arm would prove even more tantalising. (Gizmodo)

Fujitsu Flexbook, a concept device by Taiwan-based designer Hao-chun Huang, offers portable, multi-use computing within a single device. With a waterproof keypad and 21:9 screen, 'flexbook' is designed for portability and range of use among the constantly connected. Featuring a flexible structure with a center joint, the laptop can be folded into a range of configurations, while a 180-degree swivel touch screen offers different configurations of viewing,  including a laptop and tablet mode. The design lets the device's shape reflect its functionality: folded as a book for reading e-books, a tablet for browsing newspapers or in crowded environments, or a laptop when preparing typed documents. Flexbook is also easily portable, serving as its own case when folded it in half. The device is further customizable through the availability of easily swappable rubber skins, which huang envisions available for purchase online where users can select their own colours and patterne...

That HTC is touting the stylus for its Flyer tablet as a wonderful feature is risible on its own—outside of those with very specific uses, nobody should ever need a stylus in 2011. But the price is insane. The stylus won't be included with the Flyer—instead, it'll be an $80 add-on. Eighty dollars. That's almost a fifth of the cost of the entire tablet. And although the thing does have some multimedia features tucked in, it's still, at its heart, a stick. A stick you use to draw on your screen—an interface element that I thought had been mummified long ago. But it's back! And very overpriced. ( Gizmodo )

There's an amusing trend among gadget makers: They keep trying to improve their products by adding a second screen. All too often, this is less like adding a second patty to a hamburger and more like adding a second neck hole to a sweater. It does more harm than good. The most recent example is Acer Inc. with its $1,200 Iconia laptop. Closed, it looks like a regular laptop. Open it up, and you'll find no keyboard, but two 14-inch, touch-sensitive screens facing each other. If that sounds weird, well, it's no less weird in use. It's a bit of a mystery why this product ever made it from concept to store shelves, though there are some tantalizing hints. On a desktop PC, having multiple screens is almost like having one big screen - more meat in the hamburger. But on the Iconia, the second screen replaces the keyboard and touch pad. You can't use a laptop without those things, so the Iconia has a virtual keyboard and touch pad appear on the lower screen. ( Physorg...

Considering netbooks are as dead as the dust that lines your windowsills, you've really got two choices when buying a portable computer: a laptop or a tablet. The teeny MacBook Air has tried inserting itself between the two, but for those of us who prefer a full-sized screen, Niels van Hoof's Feno laptop concept could be the answer. Well, if it were more than pixels on our screens, that is. The designer suggests flexible OLEDs could be used on laptops so they could fold up in three, making them smaller and lighter than before. I like how it's still wide enough to slide a CD in, and that there's also room for a little pop-out mouse. It'll never get turned into a real product of course, but it's nice to dream isn't it? ( Gizmodo )

If you’re the laptopper who has to have all the latest and greatest gadgets, the unique Bigger & Brighter USB Flex Neck Laptop Light is a must in your collection. Now, you can type by the light of your clip-on laptop lamp that goes where you go. When not in use it easily packs up into your laptop bag or pocket. The USB Flex Neck Laptop Light features a versatile, flexible neck that can be angled to your choosing. The two bright LEDs illuminate your workspace without disturbing others in the room. Buy the USB Flex Neck Laptop Light for $19.99. ( laptop picker ).