Technology Blog

The world might be all abuzz about Ion 2 already, but we reckon we can still make room for an NVIDIA Ion nettop that measures a malnourished 21mm in width and offers full 1080p video playback. The successor to Lenovo's IdeaCentre Q110, the Q150 is built around a pair of Intel Atom options -- the single-core D410 or dual-core D510, both running at 1.6GHz -- and will come with Windows 7 Home (Basic or Premium) preloaded, built-in WiFi, a quartet of USB 2.0 ports, and an HDMI output should you pick up the Ion option.

Well, thank you, Lenovo! Not only for updating the thin and light IdeaPad U Series laptops with new chiclet keyboards and ambient light sensors, but for finally giving us some details on Intel's new Core i3, i5 and i7 ULV processors.   

That's right, the new IdeaPad U lappies will be available at the beginning of June and will pack brand new Core 2010 ULV chips, which is in line with what we have heard about the release. Like the current U Series, the 11.6-inch U160, 13-inch U360,14-inch U460 and 15-inch U560 all measure less an an inch-thick and don't weigh more than 3.8 pounds.

A mouse with eighteen buttons! Does the WarMouse Meta – or what used to be known as the OpenOffice Mouse – need any further introduction? We didn't think so, and ever since we laid eyes on this thing we've been dying to know how you'd even go about using the programmable point-and-clicker. There's no doubt that the $79.99 Meta with its 512K of memory is the most advanced mouse we've ever seen – each of its 18 buttons along with their double-click functions can be configured for different applications, and its analog joystick can be customized to perform eight different commands.

Lenovo has built a reputation for constructing quality laptop keyboards, as evidenced by those found in its ThinkPad and IdeaPad lines. But a good keyboard has somehow eluded its 10-inch netbook line until now. In addition to getting new Intel parts, the Lenovo IdeaPad S10-3 ($370 direct) has received a full-size keyboard and the kind of typing experience that has garnered praise for netbooks like the Editors' Choice Toshiba mini NB305-N410 ($400.00 Direct, ) and the HP Mini 5102 ($400 Direct, ). Unfortunately, while the Toshiba NB305 and HP 5102, which have a roomy touchpad and soft mouse buttons to compliment the keyboards, the S10-3's one-piece touchpad does the opposite.