Archive for November 20th, 2009

Our previous post on the mysterious HP HSTNN-I77C speculated that the tablet will be the latest addition to HP’s lustworthy Envy line of notebooks.  However, a new post from the Korea Energy Management Corporation (KEMCO) shows that this device will actually be an updated version of HP’s Touchsmart tm2 tablet.

Although it’s too bad that the HSTNN-I77C will not be part of the Envy line, it is good to see that many of the Envy’s features, including the unibody design and button-less trackpad, have made it to the Touchsmart line.

Since the new Touchsmart tm2 hasn’t been announced yet we have no idea on pricing on availability.  However, the tablet did pass through the FCC today (below) thanks to Intel, indicating that we will likely be seeing the new Touchsmart tm2 soon.

Today, FCC filings from Intel revealed a new tablet from HP called the HSTNN-I77C.  As you can see above, the tablet was included in a filing for Intel’s 1000 series WiFi card.

A Google search for the HSTNN-I77C turned up one interesting result from the Korea Energy Management Corporation (KEMCO).  According to KEMCO, the HSTNN-I77C is an Intel Core 2 Duo notebook that was tested by KEMCO on October 30, 2009.

Pictures of the HSTNN-I77C from KEMCO (below) reveal a number of similarities to HP’s Envy line, including a unibody design, a screen framed in black, and a button-less trackpad.  Additionally, the keys on both the Envy and the HSTNN-I77C have the same raised, MacBook-like design.  Even the font, use of capital and/or lowercase letters and the icons on the Envy and HSTNN-I77C are identical.

This is definitely an exciting development from HP.  I think the similarities between the HSTNN-I77C and the Envy 13/15 all but guarantee that the HSTNN-I77C will be released as part of the Envy product line.

And this is great news – a tablet would be a welcomed addition to the Envy line.  The sleek form factor of the new Envy line is ideal for a tablet, particularly since HP’s tablets to this point have been quite bulky.  Keep your fingers crossed that these rumors pan out and we see an HP Envy Tablet soon.

More photos after the jump:

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Penpower, a Taiwanese developer of computer peripherals, has packed a ton of features into their PDC Presenter Pen.  This device, which just passed through the FCC, combines presentation control features with handwriting and trackpad capabilities, all in a portable 4.6” by 2.4” package.

When presenting, the PDC Presenter Pen allows you to control slides with forward and back buttons.  The device also sports a laser pointer and LCD timer.

But the most impressive feature of the PDC Presenter Pen is handwriting recognition.  Users input characters with the included stylus on the device’s digitizer (#6, above).  The PDC Presenter can recognize Japanese, Korean, Chinese and English characters, and input this text into Windows applications.  You can also use the device to take notes or draw pictures, which in turn can be sent via MSN or Yahoo! Messenger to friends.

The PDC Presenter’s digitizer can also be used as a trackpad.  In this mode, the device’s buttons act as left and right mouse buttons, which is another handy feature.

Although the PDC Presenter packs a somewhat unusual combination of features, Penpower does have a pretty impressive device here.  No word on pricing or availability, but Penpower has a presence in the US, and this FCC filing suggests that we may see the PDC Presenter soon.

NETGEAR passed this decent-looking wireless cable gateway through the FCC today.  There’s not a whole lot new here – the device takes your cable Internet connection and pumps it through the air via 802.11 b/g/n.

Under the hood, the CG300D rocks a Broadcom BCM53115 gigabit switch processor.

Is this a new iPhone?  No, it’s the W003 from Shenzhen Hongjiayuan Communication Technology Co., Ltd.  This iPhone knock-off boasts a pretty solid suite of features, including WiFi, 3G, Bluetooth and even mobile TV.  And I bet Shenzhen Hongjiayuan wouldn’t have any problems with a Google Voice app either.

I’m not sure why Shenzhen Hongjiyuan would go through the trouble of passing the W003 through the FCC – the device clearly won’t be going on sale in the US.  Except for the slightly crooked home button, this is one of the better iPhone clones I’ve seen, however.