Quanta Computer has started test production for the US$100 notebook project initiated by the One Laptop per Child (OLPC) research initiative, and samples should be available as early as November, according to sources within Taiwan's IC design sector.

Next year, the notebook market may see products based on Intel's Common Building Block (CBB) initiative introduced by leading brands, according to sources.

Cupertino (CA) - It was bound to happen sooner or later, Apple is warning that some of its new iPods are infected with a Windows virus. Apple says that a "small number" of video iPods, produced after September 12th 2006, were infected with the RavMonE.exe virus. The company has received fewer than 25 reports of infected iPods.

Chicago (IL) - Sony announced today that it is recalling batteries from its own Vaio notebook computers in Japan and China, adding to the seemingly never-ending list of computer manufacturers affected by a massive recall of Sony brand laptop batteries. An exploded Dell: The beginning of the Sony battery recall disaster...

Lenovo is partnering with Utimaco to offer new ThinkPad notebooks with biometrically secured hard drives. Utimaco has integrated their SafeGuard Easy 4.3 program which will encrypt all the entire hard drive with a fingerprint swipe on select ThinkPad notebooks.

Seacaucus (NJ) - Panasonic today announced new additions to its Toughbook series of notebook computers, the company's line of durable, rugged laptops. Soon to be available, the CF-19 tablet PC and CF-30 clamshell notebook contain the latest technology in battery life, wireless connectivity, and screen display, according to Panasonic.

Toshiba is developing a new head mounted display system that gives a 360-degree view on a domed 40-centimeter large screen. A photo of this large television-shaped helmet appears in the UK-based paper The Daily Mail. Not much is known about the display because all we see is a model, presumably female because you really can't tell, watching a screen full of clouds.

Consumers will soon be able to easily upload their camcorder videos with a new "Point and Shoot" camcorder from Pure Digital. The inexpensive recorder can record up to 60 minutes of video and then upload it to either Google Video or Sony's Grouper service with one click.

Fujitsu is on the verge of building laptops that offer flash memory instead of the conventional hard disk drive (HDD), according to a report in the Nihon Keizai Shimbun.

Cupertino (CA) - Apple today expanded its Ipod Nano line with a bright red model, which contributes a portion of its revenues to RED, an organization founded by U2 lead singer Bono and Bobby Shriver dedicated to battle AIDS in Africa. Click here to see images of the new Ipod models ...

New York (NY) - Palm today took the wraps off a new Treo smartphone, which will become available within a few weeks in the U.S. The new phone maintains the general appeal of its predecessors, but packs more features in a smaller, more colorful form factor. Palm also has begun offering Google Maps for the Treo as a free download.

London (England) - Sony today announced details about its new C-Series line of Vaio laptop computers, the first of which will be available at the end of October. Before the end of the holiday shopping season, the notebook will be available in five different colors. Sonys marketing people explain that the "C" in C-Series stands for "choice", "color", "cosmopolitan", and "chic" and according to an announcement made today, the new laptops will be available in silver, pink, green, grey, and black by the end of November. Each model also comes with a matching color carrying case.

Sony is working on a portable media player that will support video playback, Reuters is reporting today. Sony is working on a portable media player that will support video playback, Reuters is reporting today. The announcement reportedly was made during a news conference in which Sony displayed the upcoming new music-only Walkman players. The vague confirmation came from Sony's senior vice president, who claimed, "We are developing a product that handles images, but I cannot make any comment on specific plans."

T-Mobile USA is taking the wraps off of a Wi-Fi-enabled smartphone, dubbed the T-Mobile Dash. The device will be available exclusively from T-Mobile beginning Oct. 25.

Belkin announced a new version of its TuneStage Bluetooth music system which beams music to home stereo systems. The TuneStage II uses a small transmitter on the Ipod and a receiver that is wired to stereo system. Users can search their playlists, adjust volume and play music from up to 30 feet away from the receiver.

Symbol Technologies has released a new computer that can be worn on either the hip or the wrist. The WT400 line of computers have a 2.8" 320 by 240 pixel screen, 128 MB of RAM and use an Intel XScale PXA270 520 MHz processor. Designed to be used mainly as a product scanner in busy stockrooms, the computers are ruggedized against bumps and 4-foot drops to concrete.

Toshiba has announced a new line of desktop replacement laptops sporting Intel's Core 2 Duo processor and external TV tuners. The Satellite P105 series has a 17-inch display and weighs 7.1 pounds. Two models in the line, the P105-S6124 and S6134 will have USB external TV tuners and be loaded with Windows XP Media Center 2005. They will use the 1.6 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T5200 along with 2 GB of DDR2 and either a 160 or 200 GB Serial-ATA hard drive.

As reported on the official Microsoft blog, version 1.0 of Slam, a social networking application for Windows Mobile devices, has been released. Slam allows users to send text and picture messages in bulk to an entire group of pre-defined mobile numbers.

Not wanting to feel left out, Hitachi announced today that 16,000 of their notebook computers are affected by the worldwide recall of Sony laptop batteries. This adds to the massive recall from multiple PC manufacturers that have faulty batteries made by Sony.