Computers and hardware

The Consumer Product Safety Commission on Thursday issued a recall of 41,000 Toshiba laptops after reports of some overheating and even melting.

Toshiba posted its own recall of several models of its Satellite T130 laptops on its product support forums last week.

The CPSC said 129 instances of "overheating and deforming the plastic casing area around the AC adapter plug" had been reported. Two of those reports resulted in "minor burn injuries that did not require medical attention" and two in minor property damage.

Toshiba said on its Web site that the problem stems from … Read more

Hewlett-Packard is sitting on a new kind of technology that may one day replace flash memory, but has yet to mass produce it. That appears about to change.

HP has chosen Hynix to manufacture the once-theoretical circuit technology known as a memristor, the companies plan to announce Tuesday.

Together HP and Seoul-based Hynix will develop the memristor and sell it commercially as a new memory technology called ReRAM, or resistive random access memory. The first products will be available in anywhere from three to five years, according to R. Stanley Williams, the director of HP Labs' Information and Quantum Systems … Read more

In this video, CNET editor Brian Cooley shows you how to display your iPad's screen on an external monitor.

Dell is responding to concerns in the open-source community that it didn't comply with the rules governing Android software used in its Streak tablet.

The Streak was released in the U.K. in June, and in the U.S. in July. Recently, a group of developers started a mini-protest online after they found, they said, that Dell failed to release some source code components for the Streak as required by anyone using software governed by the GNU General Public License.

The GPL requires those who use software governed by the license to make available any changes they made to … Read more

Windows 7 is an unqualified hit, but it's not perfect. Here are five easy ways to make a good operating system better.

Show the selected folder in Explorer's left pane The first time I realized Windows 7's version of Explorer wasn't showing the active folder in the left pane, I thought I discovered a bug. In fact,  Microsoft disabled automatic folder tracking by default in Windows 7. To see the selected folder in Explorer's left pane, click Tools, Folder options,  and check "Automatically expand to current folder" under "Navigation pane&… Read more

Bit by bit, details about Samsung's forthcoming tablet are appearing.

On Tuesday, Samsung released a very short video hinting at some of the features of the so-called Galaxy Tab. The video can be found here.

The Galaxy Tab is just one of many devices attempting to challenge Apple and the iPad in the very hot consumer touch-screen tablet space right now. The video positions Samsung's Android tablet as going beyond what the iPad is already offering, which is necessary if any contender is going to make any sort of dent in Apple's lead.

It starts by showing … Read more

Apple's put a touch interface on so many of its other products, could an iMac be next?

If a patent application filed with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office is any indication, the answer is possibly yes. Patently Apple, a blog that keeps tabs on Apple's USPTO filings, noticed an application on Monday that depicts a hinged-screen version of Apple's iMac desktop that has a touch-sensitive screen. The hinge appears to allow the computer to alternate between a traditional vertical desktop configuration and a flat, iPad-like surface when rocked back on its hinge.

Because this would … Read more

Research In Motion's upcoming tablet may not run the BlackBerry OS after all.

In a report Thursday, Bloomberg says it was told by unnamed sources that the so-called "Blackpad" will feature software from QNX Software Systems, a company acquired by RIM in April.

At the time of the acquisition, RIM said it would use QNX software to "further integrate and enhance the user experience between smartphones and in-vehicle audio and infotainment systems."

Perhaps this is the "infotainment" device referenced? QNX software is used in a variety of applications; interestingly, BMW uses it for … Read more

Some of the world's biggest electronics companies are readying an assault on the tablet market. But before they even begin, they find themselves at an early disadvantage.

Though Samsung, LG Electronics, Acer, Hewlett-Packard, Asus, Research In Motion, and Dell have announced or hinted at touchscreen tablets that will arrive between now and March 2011, they're way late to the party. Since the iPad's debut in April, Apple has built a huge lead in this category--in terms of actual devices sold but also in many consumers' minds.

The category is new--a large touch-screen device bigger than a smartphone … Read more