HP's new 10.1-inch Mini 110 mini-notebook comes in three colors with options for storage (solid state or 2.5" HDD), OS (Win XP or HP's Mobile Internet), resolution and battery.

SHOWCASE: The HWM Malaysia and Singapore team were flown to Beijing last week to cover HP’s Touching the Future product unveiling by the Personal Systems Group (PSG) from HP Asia Pacific and Japan.

According to HP, consumer habits and usage of the Web have changed so much, that products today need to integrate these activities into their functionality to satisfy the need of the current Web generation.

Anticipating this shift, HP unveiled mini-notebooks, laptops, all-in-one PCs to regular desktops at the event. The star of the show was naturally the new HP Mini 110, which comes in three color options, two storage options and two resolution options on a standard 10.1-inch screen.

What’s impressive this time though is the option of two battery packs - the standard 3-cell Lithium-ion battery keeps the weight at 1.06kg but the 6-cell battery option lets the user use it two times longer than usual.

The HP Mini 110 is expected to cost US$299 and up and will be available from 28 May 2009 (Black Swirl version). The Pink Chic and White Swirl versions will be due 30 June 2009. (more…)

Kawasaki from the air

T&A: Nikkei’s Tech-On published a feature story on Japan’s Kawasaki city and how, through anti-pollution technologies, the city has managed to see Mt. Fuji through clearer skies from a once heavily polluted, dark sky industrial city in the 1960s and 1970s.

In the city’s recently ended International ECO-Tech Fair 2009 (17-18 February 2009), several anti-pollution measures and technologies were unveiled, including a bicycle that uses pedalling energy and a filter to convert muddy water into drinkable water, and an electric car that can go up to 370km per hour (2015 is the targeted go-commercial year).

It is quite apparent that many Asian cities, including those HWM is based in, are now looking at how Kawasaki did it and taking lessons learned from the fair to bring home and study.

We’ve polled our various regional editors based in the various industrialized cities in this region to find out if there are any new recycling and anti-pollution technologies introduced that could help keep our skies cleaner. (Editor opinions: 3)

Terence Ang, Supervising Editor, HWM

Terence (HWM SG): According to the National Environment Agency in Singapore, PM2.5, or fine particulate matter finer than 2.5 microns in size, is a growing concern when it comes to monitoring the ambient air quality in the city (it is also linked to higher incidences of respiratory and heart diseases). The US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) set the PM2.5 standard at a level of 15 (ug/m3), of which Singapore was far behind at an average level of 19 (ug/m3) in 2003. (more…)