Over 86 000 laptops missing

An Intel-funded study by the Ponemon Institute has concluded that 329 surveyed companies in the US reported 86 455 laptops stolen or lost over the past year, notes Fudzilla.

The numbers are staggering, the report says, as the companies had a total of 3.68 million laptops, so it turns out that about 2.3% of them were lost or stolen over the course of a single year. What's more, the study concluded about 7% of all laptops would eventually be lost sometime during their operational lifetime.

Many of the losses were deemed easily preventable, so it is really all down to individual users, the report states. The really worrying statistic, according to the report, is the average cost of a single lost laptop for the companies. The hardware cost makes up merely a fraction of the loss, but once one factors in lost data, intellectual property, legal expenses and worker productivity, the average cost runs up to $49 246.

Dell has added another laptop to its range of slim laptops with the release of Vostro V130, writes SiliconIndia.

With slim dimensions of 0.65 inches at the front and 0.78 inches at the rear, the new laptop weighs in at only 1.5kg. According to Dell, it is one of the thinnest and lightest laptops available. Vostro V130 has a 13.3-inch WLED screen with a resolution of 1366x768. It comes with an option of either Intel Core i3, Core i5 or the Celeron Dual Core ultra low voltage processors.

It has a storage capacity of 320GB or one can go for a 128GB solid state disk instead. The laptop comes with a 2MP Web cam and microphone, and also features three USB ports, a Gigabit Ethernet port, and a five-in-one card reader.

Acer says it's aiming to capture 15% of global tablet-computer sales next year, challenging Research In Motion and Samsung Electronics for second place in a market dominated by Apple's iPad, reveals Taipei Times.

Shipments will begin next quarter as the Taipei-based PC maker jumps into a market where global shipments may reach 50 million units next year, CEO Gianfranco Lanci says.

Lanci's projections indicate Acer, the top maker of low-end laptops known as netbooks, may sell more than twice the number of tablets JPMorgan Chase & Co estimated last month.