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For those who have long worked with two computer screens on overcrowded desktops, Lenova has emerged with an ergonomic alternative with the Thinkpad W700ds Dual-Screen laptop. The notebook offers not only a large 17-inch main display, but a 10.6-inch secondary display that slides out from the right-hand side.

Back in November, a new report ‘Evaluating SME experiences of Government procurement,’ commissioned by the British Venture Capital Association together with the CBI and the Federation of Small Business, found that small businesses continue to face a number of barriers in winning public contracts.

Ericsson's Mobile Broadband Module would locate a lapton connected to a cellular network. Intel's anti-theft technology in the Centrino 2 mobile platform allows disabling laptops and even a tracking their locations. Others are moving into this demand market for phone and laptop data/anti-theft security.

In November, the Boeing subsidiary, Spectrolab Inc was awarded the 2008 SpotBeam Award for Space Innovation from the California Space Authority (CSA) in recognition of 50 years of advancements in photovoltaic solar cell technology, solar panels and related products. Spectrolab, manufactures an improved Triple-Junction (ITJ) and Ultra Triple-Junction (UTJ) solar cells with efficiencies of 26.8% and 28% p under space conditions. The dual-junction solar cells average 21.5% efficiency for space programs, and 23.7% efficiency for terrestrial applications Triple-junction concentrator cells have also been developed with efficiencies up to 36.9% at 310 suns efficiency. But a new materials approach from Kopin Corp promises high efficiency photovoltaic cells, with both low cost and good stability.

Dr Gavin Pringle, principal applications consultant at EPCC has been allocating the disciplinary projects acronyms awarded DEISA HPC hours between Europe main research countries (not forgetting other players such as China, Russia, Japan and the USA). The first country named is project leader, other participants are named subsequently.

Improving the productivity of machining processes is one of the basic requirements in every machine-tool engineering specification. The Fraunhofer Institute for Material and Beam Technology IWS in Dresden has integrated a laser module into the tool station of a milling spindle. The 5-axis, computer-controlled milling center now performs two jobs: 3D deposition welding using a 1.5-kW diode laser, and component finishing using 5-axis milling. The IWS’s manufacturing experts exhibit their two-in-one machining solution on a joint Fraunhofer stand at the Euromold trade show in Frankfurt this month.

Aberdeen City Council external auditors, Henderson Loggie, placed a qualification on the troubled council’s books for 2007-08, in a move the accountancy firm’s representative Ian Robbie yesterday described as significant. The auditors said they were unable to obtain sufficient evidence to confirm that all bank transactions had been properly recorded, a problem caused by the introduction of a new computer system.

Lexar Media has available of Crucial DDR3-1066 (PC3-8500) and DDR3-1333 (PC3-10600) three channel memory kits in support of Intel's next generation Core i7 processors. Users ready to harness the power of three channel memory can find guaranteed-compatible Crucial DDR3 modules in 3GB, 6GB and 12GB kits.

Intel Corporation has announced its Intel Health Guide (IHG), a care management tool designed for healthcare professionals treating patients with chronic conditions, for the UK. Claiming a new category of personal health systems that go beyond the simple remote patient monitoring systems available today, Intel is collaborating with healthcare industry leaders in Europe, such as NHS Lothian, UK, the Institute for Prevention and Telemedicine (IPT) and the Academic Medical Center (AMC), Amsterdam, The Netherlands to demonstrate the clinical benefits of the Intel Health Guide for a wide range of chronic conditions.

Gaberlunzie notes that John Markoff in the New York Times is writing about a name to conjure with, that of Steven Wallach, who apart from winning awards has completed the soul of his newest machine, based on the Field Programmable Gate Array, the chips that originated for industrial use, but now widely used to prototype computer systems, since they can be easily reprogrammed, and yet offer the blazing speed of computer hardware. Early customer, University of California San Diego predicts substantial performance gains with fewer server rack, translating into saving on cooling and facility costs.

The Renishaw Advanced Metrology Centre, opened this month at Herriot-Watt University will facilitate both teaching and research in modern industrial metrology and materials analysis using highly accurate co-ordinate measuring machines (CMMs), laser calibration equipment, and sophisticated Raman spectroscopy.

In time for your Christmas wish list, inone of the first commercially available ranges of video glasses, Vuzix iWear is using the 'Eyescreen' full-colour organic microdisplay from MicroEmissive Displays to deliver large-screen viewing experiences to its new AV230XL device.The new video eyewear uses MED’s microdisplays, similar in size to the human pupil, to equal the visual effect of a conventional 44-inch TV screen. The glasses can be connected to almost any video device such as a personal video player, cellphone, PC, or game terminal, and will enrich theuser experience on offer from innovations such as mobile TV, video telephony and virtual reality. The sub-0 selling price oprnd up exciting video experiences to a broad consumer market.

Law criminalising denial of service attacks and the supply of hacking tools, already in force in Scotland, has been enacted in England and Wales after a number of delays. There is now a new offence of doing anything without authorisation with intent to impair, or with recklessness as to impairing, the operation of a computer.The new offence carries a maximum penalty of 10 years' imprisonment and a fine. It replaces the more limited offence of unauthorised modification, which carried a five-year maximum sentence. The changes also increases the maximum penalty for unauthorised access to computer material from six months' imprisonment and a fine to two years' imprisonment and a fine.

More than 250 companies worldwide have migrated to HP Integrity systems from mainframes over the past two years, saving up to 70% in operational costs. According to Robert Frances Group, a leading provider of consulting and research, the capital savings range from .5m up to m, with up to an additional operational cost savings of more than m over four years. The study shows HP Integrity servers consumed 41% less energy and used 48% less space than the IBM z9 mainframes they replaced.

Going the way of the Bank of Scotland, Wolfson Microelectronics, one of Scotland's top technology companies, has seen share price drop by 66% since the beginning of the year. Analyst Nick James, at Panmure Gordon, upgraded Wolfson Microelectronics Plc from "hold" to "buy," in mid October, while reducing his estimates for the company. The target price has been reduced from 100p to 87p, as he expects management will soon have to give in to a sale if efforts to boost investor sentiment continue to fail. And unlike banks, no government bail out for manufacturing industry.

A new science and technology university in Saudi Arabia will house one of the world's largest supercomputers and will help lure top researchers to the conservative desert state. The King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) is due to open next year on the Red Sea coast, near Jeddah, the most liberal city in a country where religious conservatives have extensive control over society.

Hurrah for some IBM sanity. It makes things, it offers services, it does R&D and patents technologies and devices. Banking on IBM seems to make sense, and as a manufacturing & service organisation that is one of the main bellweathers for technology, it has reported its quarterly earnings are ahead of schedule and in excess of Wall Street (is that still there?) expectations.

Modifications to the Computer Misuse Act - enacted in 1990 before the advent of the interweb - were included in the Police and Justice Act 2006. These changes were then themselves amended by the Serious Crime Act 2007. In order to avoid confusion the government decided to apply the changes all at once, through a (delayed) legislative order that comes into effect on 1 October 2008. Scotland, having devolved authority on computer crime law, has the clear criminalisation of denial of service attacks entered the statue books north of the border a year ago in October 2007.

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