Gizmodo: personal computers

Gateway Shutters Online Store, Exits Direct PC Sales Business Completely

Elaine Chow — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 15:30:00 EDT

Gateway will now no longer be selling its PCs through Gateway.com and has shut down all its direct PC sales to become a 100% retail channel PC company. The move is only somewhat surprising—its newish parent company Acer has always focused on offering its goods through resellers. But seeing how Gateway was one of the original success stories for the selling PCs directly to consumers model, the shuttering of its online store is a little like the death knell of an era. [Cnet]

U.S. Travelers Lose 12,000 Laptops Every Week

Elaine Chow — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 21:30:00 EDT

All you travelers coming home tomorrow from your wild and crazy Independence Day weekend vacations, don't be one of 12,000 people who lose their laptops at airports every week. That's right, that ain't no typo—12,000 dudes and dudettes somehow manage to misplace their portable computers every seven days. That's 600,000 machines a year, many containing sensitive information that companies need to account for.

According to a study by the Ponemon Institute and Dell, only 30 percent or so lost laptops are ever recovered. Los Angeles' LAX airport reported having the most lost laptops out of any other airport, with 1,200 going missing every week. The most likely place for you to lose your computer is at security checkpoints and departure gates—so no matter how many beers you downed this weekend, try to be a little more alert while going through those areas, yeah? [Newlaunches]

picture credit: Mike Reger

Origami Experience 2.0 Ready For Download For UMPC Owners (Vista Only)

Elaine Chow — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 17:30:00 EDT

Microsoft has released its second version of the Origami Experience, making it available as a free download for Ultra-Mobile PC users with Windows Vista. The OE 2.0 software includes Picture Password, Weather, RSS functionality, an e-mail client, calender and other web features – basically what you get with Vista, but more touch screen friendly. OE 1.0 was barely used, partially because UMPCs had yet to really catch on in January 2007, but also because it made them slow down to a crawl. Hopefully, they've rectified that problem this time around. [JKontherun]