QuickWeb on the HP DM1

By accident, I stumbled onto the QuickWeb feature on my HP DM1, while it was crammed into a bag. A quick google search later, I found that pressing F5 (which also corresponds to the shortcut to opening a browser) would boot the notebook into the QuickWeb environment, which is a Linux OS which allows quick access (about 20-25sec) to the Web upon booting.

Tested several websites with the browser, and found most functions working (e.g. Flash, Java, etc). The browser was generally snappy, and easy to use.

As most of my work is done online, this is an interesting option that I may use quite regularly in the future.

A portable Windows device with QWERTY keyboard

Panasonic Toughbook U1 gets new sunlight-viewable screen, still solid to its Atom core -- Engadget
The price is expensive (US$2,799), but it has the right combination of features
- Windows (full desktop experience)
- hardware QWERTY keyboard (needed for extended text entry)
- touchscreen (important feature on a portable device)
- reasonable battery life

Xperia Mini Pro lands in Singapore; Xperia Pro still delayed

The successor to my current phone (X10 Mini Pro), has arrived in Singapore.

Features include

1. a bigger screen (from 2.5-inch to 3-inch)
2. faster processor (from 600MHz to 1Ghz); this also means Adobe Flash is supported
   
3. OS upgrade (from Android 2.1 to 2.3)
4. front-facing camera (Skype just announced expanded video-calling capability for its Android app)
5. hardware QWERTY keyboard has more keys, including 4-way arrow keys and shortcut keys
   

Looks tempting, but I don't think I will get this phone, as it does not have the backlit CMOS sensor (a.k.a. Exmor-R) in its camera. The long delayed Xperia Pro has that feature, but is also bulkier.