Island hands out free laptops

The tiny South Pacific nation of Niue has become the first nation in the world to issue laptop computers to all its children, reports Times Online.

Every primary and secondary school student has been given waterproof XO laptop computers, which have a wireless connection to the Internet.

The move is part of the One Laptop Per Child charitable programme, designed to help children's learning, and stems from research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, in Boston, supported by Google and News Corporation.

Sales of laptops continue to skyrocket as more people prefer notebooks to desktop computers, says The Peninsula.

Hewlett-Packard witnessed a strong second quarter sales result, which can be attributed to laptop sales, which climbed 31% while desktop PC sales were flat.

In the US, the notebook market is reported to have driven the market growth by 53% year-on-year, while desktops did marginally better than expected at 0.7% despite global economic pressure and rising energy costs.

Esquire Technologies has unveiled the latest BenQ series of notebook laptops, the A53, S32, and Q41 models, which combine advanced technology and contemporary design, says CRN.

The 15.4-inch WXGA (wide screen resolution of 1366x768 pixels) Joybook A53 is powered by Intel's Core 2 Duo processor T8100. It has UltraVivid technology, WiFi capability, integrated Webcam and Windows Vista certification.

Mahomed Cassim, sales and marketing director of Esquire, says: "An industry-best eight-millisecond response time to display fast-action games and dynamic movies from the Joybook's PowerDVD creates a competitive edge in this series."