The device will feature a 7-inch panel, supporting a resolution of 480 by 800, an ARM-based processor from Freescale, a 512MB DRAM and 4GB of NAND flash for storage, senior analyst Luke Lin said citing upstream component makers.

Because the project [...]]]> Hewlett-Packard (HP) is expected to start selling a printer-bundled tablet PC in September, Digitimes Research reported.

The device will feature a 7-inch panel, supporting a resolution of 480 by 800, an ARM-based processor from Freescale, a 512MB DRAM and 4GB of NAND flash for storage, senior analyst Luke Lin said citing upstream component makers.

Because the project was planned before HP acquired Palm, the device will adopt Android, Lin added.

Lin said the whole project is handled by HP’s printer department and is outsourced to a Taiwan-based PC maker.

The printer, which will be bundled with the device is manufactured by Wistron and will feature a dock for the connection between the device and printer.

Since the device is a project from in 2009, Lin believes shipment volumes are unlikely to be strong, but should be a good tablet PC market tester for HP.

HP shares were down 3 cents at $38.19 on the NYSE.

Via: ibtimes.com

Says Rubinstein: “We’re working a wide variety, as Todd said, smartphones definitely, slates, netbooks, working with the guys in the printer group. [...]]]> During the Fortune Brainstorm Tech conference this week, Palm CEO Jon Rubinstein has confirmed that the company, under the new management of HP, will also be creating WebOS netbooks, alongside tablets, Smartphone and printers.

Says Rubinstein: “We’re working a wide variety, as Todd said, smartphones definitely, slates, netbooks, working with the guys in the printer group. webOS [...] will have a unified user interface across all of these, will have a unified developer environment, and it’s all based on the foundation that we build in webOS from day one.

When we developed webOS, we thought about making this scalable across a variety of mobile devices; that’s what we’ll be delivering going forward.”

While tablets, printers and smartphones had been confirmed in the past by either HP or Palm, netbooks had only vaguely been mentioned.

In April, HP purchased Palm for $1.2 billion, after outbidding RIM, Apple and Lenovo.

With the acquisition, the company also acquired all of Palm’s patents and its WebOS mobile operating system.

Via: afterdawn.com

As our environmental policies move far [...]]]> The environment is obviously one of the biggest issues of the moment. The federal political parties are spending their summers trying to sell Canadians on their plans for the future, provincial governments are unveiling regulations to address waste, and municipalities are getting into the game with increasingly sophisticated recycling programs.

As our environmental policies move far beyond establishing emissions standards or cleanup requirements, law and regulation are increasingly focused on creating incentives for business to reduce polluting activities and for consumers to adopt environmentally-friendly habits.

Given the desire to re-orient longstanding practices, laws not traditionally considered part of the environment file should also be examined to determine whether they are consistent with promoting “greener” behaviour. In fact, Parliament recently passed a new law that tries to embed sustainable development into government policy. The notion of “green copyright” sounds odd, yet the policy choices found in BillC-61, Industry Minister Jim Prentice’s controversial copyright bill, disappointingly run directly counter to the current emphasis on the environment.

For example, Canadians trash an estimated 184,000 tonnes of old computers, cellphones, and printer cartridges each year, with many of these items containing potentially hazardous materials such as mercury and lead.

In response, the Ontario government recently proposed a new electronic waste fee on consumer electronics to encourage the recycling of older devices.

Despite attempts to reduce e-waste, Bill C-61 establishes new barriers to the reuse of electronics. If enacted, it would prohibit the unlocking of cellphones, forcing many consumers to junk their phones when they switch carriers (there are an estimated 500 million unused cellphones in the U.S. alone).

Similarly, the U.S. version of Bill C-61 has resulted in lawsuits over the legality of companies that offer to recycle printer ink cartridges. In one lawsuit, Lexmark sued a company that offered recycled cartridges and though it ultimately lost the case, the lawsuit created a strong chill for companies set to enter that marketplace.

Bill C-61 also creates new barriers in the race toward network-based computing, which forms part of the ICT industry’s response to the fact that it accounts for more carbon emissions than the airline industry.

Network-based computing — often referred to as “cloud computing” — benefits from the efficiencies provided by large computer server farms that are often situated in close proximity to clean energy sources.

Network experts argue Canada could parlay its high-speed optical networks and environmental advantages in the north to become a global cloud computing leader with zero carbon emissions, yet the new copyright bill now stands in the way.

The bill prohibits companies from taking advantage of cloud computing to offer network-based video recording services (as are offered by some U.S. based providers). It also stops consumers from shifting their music, videos, and other content to network-based computers, limiting these new rights to devices physically owned by the consumer. In fact, the bill even blocks consumers from using network-based computer backup services — such as the MobileMe service just introduced by Apple — since multiple personal copies of purchased songs or videos is forbidden.

Via: canada.com

Brad Roderick, executive VP of InkCycle, explains that [...]]]> KANSAS CITY, MO–(Marketwire – April 15, 2010) –  Grenk, a line of recycled ink and toner cartridges produced by InkCycle, recently released a new educational outreach video about the hazards of electronic waste and with new smart phone applications to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of Earth Day 2010.

Brad Roderick, executive VP of InkCycle, explains that two of the biggest electronics that we do not recycle correctly are computer monitors and home theater equipment. ”Those have to be handled in an environmentally appropriate way. They can’t just be thrown into the garbage. So there is a growing amount of electronic waste that is being created, and we have to find environmentally responsible ways to be able to deconstruct that material,” said Roderick.

The environmentalist raises the question: What do we buy anymore that doesn’t have some electrical or electronic component to it? ”E-waste is an important issue, not just in the U.S. or North America, but globally. It’s an important issue on a number of fronts,” said Roderick. ”Most people are unaware that virtually every major city has had its landfills closed, and they’re at maximum capacity. So where does excess landfill material go? It has to be shipped somewhere. In less scrupulous environments, e-waste is typically sold and bought by the pound and goes off shore,” explained Roderick. Watch the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iAiIetC_73Y.

InkCycle is a Kansas City-based company with a green line of remanufactured ink and toner cartridges known as grenk (www.grenk.com/blog). The company recently produced a series of green-educational Web videos for consumers, corporations and the media about recycling electronic waste, eliminating over-consumption and lessening individual and corporate carbon footprints.

Via: marketwire.com