Verizon Wireless' Samsung Stratosphere offers 4G LTE support, a four-inch Super AMOLED display, and a QWERTY sliding keyboard for just $150. It's a great deal for business users, if they can tolerate its heft and modest cameras, according to this eWEEK review.

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Lanner announced its fastest LEC-branded industrial computer to date, featuring an Intel Core i5 or i7 processor and up to 8GB of DDR3 memory. The LEC-2220 has a 2.5-inch SATA bay, dual-screen support via DVI-I and DVI-D ports, I/O including gigabit Ethernet, USB 2.0, and serial, plus a choice of mini-PCI-Express, PCI Express, and PCI expansion, says the company.

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Advantech announced an “infotainment terminal” for hospital patients that includes a capacitive multitouch screen and a dual-core Intel Atom processor. The PIT-1503W offers a 15.6-inch display with 1366 x 768 pixel resolution, CompactFlash or hard disk storage, plus a wealth of options that includes a TV tuner, a two megapixel webcam, Wi-Fi, RFID, and a smart card reader, according to the company.

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Flooding in Thailand will create “massive shortages” of hard disk drives (HDDs) in the first quarter of 2012, some analysts say. Meanwhile, some vendors have already panicked and are turning to the gray market, where prices of HDDs have increased by more than 100 percent in some cases, DigiTimes claims.

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Karuma announced a seven-inch Android 2.3 tablet designed for kids. The PlayBase is equipped with a 1.2GHz processor, 1GB of DDR3 RAM, 8GB of storage, and an 800 x 600-pixel capacitive screen protected by a shock-absorbent silicone cover that can be folded back to use as a stand, says the company.

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Sealevel announced a fanless, rugged embedded computer with an RS-422/485 pass-through port that supports the company's N-series SeaI/O expansion modules. The Relio R1420 is equipped with 2GB of DDR2 RAM, a CompactFlash slot and an optional SSD (solid state disk), dual gigabit Ethernet ports, four serial ports, six USB 2.0 ports, and 8-bit GPIO.

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A 21st century revamp of the classic Commodore 64 computer is now offered with Linux Mint 11 running on a quad-core Intel Core i7 processor and 2TB of hard disk storage. Equipped with a classically styled case and “color-matched” keys, the device has modern innards that also include 8GB of RAM, S/PDIF, HDMI, and DVI video outputs, an eSATA port, and wireless networking.

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Motorola Mobility updated its Xoom tablet with a 10.1-inch Xoom 2 and an 8.2-inch Xoom 2 Media Edition tablet, each running Android 3.2 on a dual-core 1.2GHz processor. The Wi-Fi only devices are debuting in the U.K. and Ireland, and feature 1280 x 800-pixel screens with splashguard coating, while the 10.1-inch model is 10 percent lighter and 33 percent thinner than the original.

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Epiq Solutions announced what it claims is the world's smallest commercially available software defined radio (SDR). The 4.6 x 2.2 x 0.9-inch, four-ounce Matchstiq incorporates a broadband (28MHz) RF transceiver supporting 300MHz to 3.8GHz frequencies, an onboard GPS receiver, and an Iveia Atlas-I-LPe module integrating a Texas Instruments DM3730 processor and a Xilinx Spartan-6 FPGA.

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VizuaLogic announced a rear seat entertainment (RSE) touchscreen computer that runs Android 2.3. Integrated into a car's front headrest, the “SmartLogic Android Rear Seat Entertainment Package” is equipped with a 1GHz processor, 512MB of RAM, a seven-inch capacitive touchscreen, plus Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, IR, USB, microSD, and HDMI connections.

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Via Technologies announced a board featuring its 170 x 120mm Em-ITX format and a choice of dual-core processors. The EITX-3002 features HDMI, VGA, and LVDS video outputs, gigabit Ethernet, a touchscreen interface, and a CFast expansion slot, among other features.

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IEI announced a ruggedized, fanless panel PC with extensive wireless options. The vehicle-oriented UPC-V312-D525 offers an Intel Atom D525 processor, a 12.1-inch 1024 x 768 display, CompactFlash, a 1.3 megapixel camera, plus redundant DC power supplies, according to the company.

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MSC Vertriebs announced a 2.75 x 2-inch SOM (system on module) packing a 400MHz Samsung S3C2416 processor, up to 128MB of RAM, and up to 1GB of flash storage. The nanoRISC-S3C2146 offers 10/100 Ethernet, USB 2.0 host and client ports, multiple serial ports, plus VGA video output, according to the company.

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Ubuntu will eventually run on mobile devices including smartphones, tablets, TVs, vehicle smart screens, and kitchen appliances, promised Canonical CEO Mark Shuttleworth. Canonical's Linux distro has already made a start with its touch-friendly Unity interface, but Ubuntu will not go fully mobile until Ubuntu 14.04 LTS in April 2014, said Shuttleworth.

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AT&T will launch its first two smartphones supporting its 4G Long-Term Evolution (LTE) service on Nov. 6. The Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket is a larger (4.5 inches) and faster (1.5GHz) version of AT&T's earlier Galaxy S II offering, and the HTC Vivid features a 1.2GHz processor, 4.5-inch screen, and dual cameras, one of which is an eight-megapixel model.

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