Apparently, Asus didn’t have quite enough fun dishing out swank new laptop gear at CES, as the firm is now prepared to unveil its first LED-backlit machine at this year’s CeBIT Show in Hanover, Germany. The ultralight U1F weighs in at just 2.2-pounds, and sports an 11.1-inch WXGA+ LED-backlit screen, steel edges, leather-clad palm rests, black motif, an ultra-low voltage Intel Core Duo processor, and of course, will come pre-loaded with Windows Vista. Unfortunately, Asus isn’t spilling any more details on this one until the time is just right, but hopefully this noticeable move towards LED-backlit lappies will persuade a few other firms out there to follow suit, and soon.

[Via Laptoping]
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Although you probably haven’t shaken a Polaroid picture in quite some time, a bit of that allure is reportedly headed to your handhelds, as Massachusetts-based ZINK looks to deliver a pocket-sized printer that can be “embedded in any device” and shoot out photos sans ink. The sensational sounding product will initially be used to print 2- x 3-inch color photographs, and interestingly enough, won’t require a single drop of liquid to form the images. In ZINK’s system (another pic after the break), “images are created when a heated printer head comes into contact with a sheet of specialized paper,” which is actually a polymer containing three crystalline layers. Varying temperatures and pressure points create the pixels of color, and just in case you figure out your latest printout doesn’t showcase your eye color as well as you’d hoped, it’s recyclable. The company’s first offerings will likely be offered in a $99 standalone format or as a $199 camera / printer hybrid, while the snazzy paper will run you $19.95 for a pack of one hundred, but we’re definitely holding off on this here invention until we see just how impressive (or not) the printed results actually are. [Warning: PDF read link]

[Via CNET]
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Asus is still keeping pretty mum about the Lamborghini VX2 they soft-launched at CES, but we’ve come by a booty load of images and a bit more info about the unit from an Asus Taiwan insider. In its US implementation (supposedly due Q3) it seems the VX2 should, if we understand correctly, pack a 15.4-inch WSXGA+ display, Centrino Pro or Core 2 Extreme, 512mb NVIDIA 8700, have VGA as well as digital out (we spotted U-DVI, although we probably wouldn’t rule out HDMI soon), 1394, S/PDIF, 1.3 megapixel camera, be based on the V1 chassis (for compatible docking), and a carbon-fiber shell and fine Italian leather trim for you to sully with your greasy palms. (We hear the Euro version, which should be around in Q2, should have different specs.) Peep the sweet, sweet gallery.

[Thanks, Tony]

Gallery: Say buon giorno to the Asus Lamborghini VX2

    

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Just in case you forgot, Tesla isn’t the only electric car game in town, and while the noted manufacturer is said to be working on its own crossover utility vehicle, this here Lotus ZAP-X electric version of the APX crossover is all thanks to Lotus and the Zap! guys. Lotus is, of course, bringing those hip-cool stylings and aluminum frame, but Zap! has replaced the V6 gas engine with in-hub electric motors, which can provide a combined 644hp, and vault the vehicle to 155 mph. Zap! is claiming an impressive range of 350 miles, with a 10 minute charge — though we’re guessing you aren’t going to pull that kind of juice out of your regular ol’ wall jack. If that’s not enough for you, an auxiliary power unit with even more batteries is planned, and since the motors are in the wheels, there’s plenty of room in the hood for such add-ons. Says Zap! of the ZAP-X: “The innovative placement of the power train leaves the space previously occupied by the conventional engine and drive train for additional battery capacity and amenities, making it a very consumer-oriented electric car concept. These design features will give the ZAP-X crossover the structural strength, and potentially storage and range that no electric vehicle has yet achieved publicly.” Not too shabby at all. Unfortunately there’s no word on when you’ll be able to get one of these into your driveway, or how much it’ll cost you, but the vehicle is definitely planned for a US release, so it’s only a matter of waiting.

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While Interact-TV is no stranger to the media center arena, the company is taking a diversion from its previous PMP / storage-based offerings to unveil a fully-featured Linux-based media center for your AV rack. Aside from sporting a sleek, almost space-aged design, the unit can play back / save DVDs to your video library, automatically lookup DVD cover art and meta data, burn recorded TV shows to DVD, import video files from a networked PC, output in 480i or 720p, and handle AVI, DivX, MPEG1/2/3/4, WMV, JPEG, Cinepak, DV, QuickTime, RealMedia, H.263, and H.264 formats. Moreover, this box offers up a thorough audio / photo management system, one-touch recording as a PVR, and access to a bevy of extraneous information via the Telly Portal. As if this weren’t enough, you’ll also find an upscaling DVD player within, and if you’re curious about the components running the show, there’s 512MB of RAM, up to a 400GB hard drive, dual-layer DVD burner, six-channel audio, component / S-Video / composite outs, NTSC TV tuner, IR trackball remote, optional wireless keyboard, gigabit Ethernet, FireWire, USB 2.0, and a complete lack of fans due to the passive cooling system. Vista may be getting most of the limelight on this day in particular, but the MyTellyHD packs quite a wallop for a low-key Linux HTPC, and considering the fairly low $899 starting price point, there’s not much to grumble about on this one.

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Alright, now we’re feeling a little left out. It was one thing for Japan to get the Vaio G before everyone else, it is Sony’s home turf after all, so how can we begrudge them launching this skinny little number there first? But now that Europe is getting its very own version of the Vaio G, the G11, we’re starting to think Sony doesn’t love us anymore. All the same, undeserving as Europe might be, there’s some fancy new stuff in the G11, so we’ll try not to get too caught up in the unfairness of it all. The most notable aesthetic difference is that new black lid color, but there’s more to this case than meets the eye: there’s a 90cm drop rating (Europe’s elitist way of saying 35-inches) thanks to the carbon fiber casing, which is pretty dang good for a laptop with no visible signs of toughening. Sony gives this laptop an “on-the-road” battery rating of 9 hours — as if Europe has roads — but Japan was rating its own at 6 and 12.5 hours, so we’re not sure what’s changed. Improvements under the hood include a speedier Intel ULV Core Solo U1500 1.33GHz processor and a 100GB HDD. There’s also a super-multi DVD burner, 12.1-inch XGA LCD with LED backlight technology, and Windows Vista Business preloaded. The standard VGN-G11XN/B model comes with 1GB of RAM, while the VGN-G11VN/T boasts of 2GB and swaps the gray lid for brown one. No specifics on price, but with specs like these and a business-oriented target market, it ain’t going to be cheap.

[Via Core Duo News]
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Check the rest of Panasonic’s 2007 Lumix digital cameras: the TZ3/TZ2 (pictured), FX12/FX10, LZ7/LZ6, and LS75/LS70/LS60. All the new digicams deliver Panasonic’s Mega OIS optical image stabilization, Venus Engine III image processing capable of recording shots at ISO 1250 sensitivity, and the ability to record 848 x 480 videos to SDHC or SD cards at 30fps. The DMC-TZ2 and DMC-TZ3 are all purpose, wide-angle shooters which carry some bulk unlike the new DMC-FX30 we checked earlier. Both the TZ2 and $349 TZ3 ship in May and pack a 28mm wide-angle, 10x optical zoom LEICA DC VARIO-ELMAR lens in a less appealing (and less expensive) chubtastic slab. The TZ3 sports a 8.5 megapixel CCD and 3-inch 230k color LCD while the TZ2 brings both a smaller 7.39 megapixel CCD and 2.5-inches LCD capable of 207k colors. The $229 DMC-FX12 and $199 DMC-FX10 should hit in March with a regular 3x LEICA DC VARIO-ELMARIT optical zoom lens and 7.2 and 6.0 megapixel CCDs, respectively. The $199 DMC-LZ7 and $179 DMC-LZ6 each boast a 7.2 megapixel CCD, 6x LUMIX DC VARIO optical zoom lens and convenient AA battery operation. The LZ7 offers a 2.5-inch LCD versus the LZ6′s 2.0-inch display. Bringing up the rear is the LS-series of Lumix cams. AA-batteries and a 3x LUMIX DC VARIO optical zoom lens can be found in each of these entry level models with the LS75 sporting a 2.5-inch LCD and 7.2 megapixel CCD. The LS70 shares the CCD but steps the LCD to 2-inches like the LS60 which further cuts the CCD down to 6.0 megapixels. We’ll punch in the holes on price and availability when the details roll in. All the pics after the break.

[Via LetsGoDigital, Thanks David]

Read — DMC-TZ3 / TZ2
Read — DMC-FX12 / FX10
Read — DMC-LZ7 / LZ6
Read — DMC-LS75 / LS70 / LS60

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