Compulab's Trim Slice on sale, for power users only

Remember the Trim Slice, that Tegra 2-powered nettop that surfaced back in January? Well, it's finally on sale, but the company would prefer that casual consumers hold off on buying. To recap, the chassis, just six tenths of an inch thick, is home to a dual-core ARM Cortex A9 CPU, GeForce ULP chip, SATA SSD, 1GB of RAM, 802.11n WiFI, Bluetooth, and a cornucopia of I/O ports. It starts at $199 for a model that lacks internal WiFi and storage (you can add these via dongles), and graduates to models with 4GB of microSD storage and a WiFi dongle ($219) and a "Pro" version with a 32GB SSD and wireless and Bluetooth dongles ($319). Whichever iteration you choose, though, you'll be greeted by a warning that the software remains a work in progress, so you'll probably want to stay away for now. Unless, of course, you're a developer -- or you really know how to have a good time.

NetbookNews

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Scientist cooks up adjustable strength metals

As you may know, crafting a katana is a delicate process that involves carefully constructing a razor-sharp high-carbon edge around a soft shock-absorbent core. One day though, smiths and forging fires could be replaced by electrode-wielding mad-scientists, with the technology to selectively harden and soften metal at will. At least that's what we envisioned when we read about Jörg Weißmüller's breakthrough research in the field of nanomaterials. The German scientist discovered that by placing precious metals in acid he could create tiny ducts through corrosion. Once those channels are flooded with a conductive liquid, electrical currents can be used to harden the material and, if you change your mind about the brittle results, the effect can easily be reversed to make it soft again. The tech could eventually lead to self-healing vehicle armor or scratch-resistant cellphones -- but, really, we just want to zap our way to a high-quality samurai sword. Physorg

Compal's 'Ultra Mobile' Ultrabook eyes-on

Intel's already teased Compal's "Ultra Mobile" Ultrabook from afar, but when this Ivy Bridge laptop popped up on the show floor after the Computex keynote, we decided to give it a closer look. While this prototype isn't quite in the same league as ASUS' gorgeous UX21, do bear in mind that we're still looking at a relatively slim package for a 14- to 15-inch Core i7 rig. Also visible around the machine are a couple of USB 3.0 ports, an HDMI-out port, a LAN socket, and an SD card reader. Until we hear more about this Ultra Mobile, enjoy our eyes-on photos below. Compal's 'Ultra Mobile' Ultrabook eyes-on omment

TDK starts mass production of transparent OLEDs, makes texting and walking safer

TDK is taking those transparent OLED screens we saw back in October and putting them into mass production. The 2.4-inch, QVGA (240 x 320) UEL476 display has a transmittance of 40 percent, but obscures light passing through the front so others won't be able to read your text messages from behind. Obviously, these aren't going to find their way into high-end Android handsets, but they may have a home in fashion phones like Lenovo's S800. And, you know, they seem perfect for SMS addicts who can't stop their thumbs from flying even while walking.

NYC

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