Gateway’s EC Series of UltraPortable notebooks has just added to their family with the emergence of the new EC14D configurations. Now you may think that this is just your typical small notebook but don’t jump the gun on that just yet. The EC14D series is a rare breed as it features an integrated DVD drive, a feature not typically seen on notebooks with an ii.6-inch display. According to a Gateway spokesman “The integrated DVD drive in such a compact device will be a huge benefit for customers who want the flexibility to enjoy and share different movies, music, photos and more stored on a DVD or CD.”

The EC14D is designed with the mobile person in mind. The EC14D has some pretty good specs about it. It has an 8X Super Multi double-layer DVD drive that allows users to read all types of DVD and CD media allowing them to enjoy popular movies and games on the fly. It also gives them access to their music files and photos for downloading and sharing on websites like Photobucket, Facebook or Twitter. To add to its mobility the EC14D has a 6-cell battery to allow you to run your notebook up to 8 hours on a single charge.

Connectivity wise the EC14D comes with an 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi connection. This gives users fast and easy connection to the internet at any Wi-Fi hotspot. Other specs include an Intel Pentium ULV Processor SU 4100, Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit, 11.6″ HD Widescreen Ultrabright LED-backlit TFT LCD screen with a 1366×768 resolution and 16:9 aspect ratio, Mobile Intel GS45 Express Chipset, Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 4500 MHD, 4096MB DDR2 Dual-channel 667MHz memory which is upgradeable to 8 GB, 320GB(2) 5400RPM SATA hard drive, Integrated 8X Super-Multi DVD player, integrated webcam, Multi-in-1 digital media card reader, Gigabit Ethernet LAN, 3 USB 2.0 ports, 1 HDMI port and a multi-gesture touchpad all packed into a case measuring 11.49″(W) by 1.12″ to 1.18″(H) by 8.33″(D) and weighing only 3.55lbs.

Along with the EC14D, Gateway is also offering new models in the rest of its EC Series notebook lines. Overall the EC14D looks to be a pretty good little notebook and one that is especially good for mobile notebook needs. If by reading this you have suddenly obtained the dire need to get one of these notebooks then you will be happy to know you don’t have to wait long. This device is said to be available by the end of January for a starting price of $629.99.

In an effort to dominate yet another aspect of technology, Apple has revealed that it will be producing a new tablet later this year. The new tablet, said to be competitive with netbooks and e-readers, will likely retail for anywhere from $600 – $1,000. While the hand-held device won’t be revealed until later this month, people are already anticipating it and making all kinds of speculation, all over the internet. Rumor has it, the tablet will be on the market, sometime in March.

As devices that can both surf the web and play movies and music become more popular, the tablet may be coming at a very good time. According to BusinessWeek.com, the tablet would be a competition for both e-readers such as Amazon’s Kindle and netbooks from companies such as Acer and Hewlett Packard.

According to Gene Munster, an analyst at Piper Jaffray & Co, Apple could see 1.4 million of the devices by the end of 2010, increasing company sales by two percent or more, depending on the finalized price of the product. “Apple’s tablet would compete well in the netbook category, even though it would not be a netbook,” said Munster, who expects software to be one of the keys to making the Apple tablet stand out against the competition.

Another bit of speculation is that the new tablet will be app-friendly, meaning it will work with the over 100,000 apps available for iPhone. Kathryn Huberty, an analyst with Morgan Stanley, says she expects the tablet to be ten inches with touchscreen and built-in Wi-fi. She also expects the product to take e-books and magazines a step further by making them an interactive experience that will provide users with links to videos such as author interviews, photos, audio, websites and advertising.

Maynard Um of UBS AG suspects the new tablet could be like an oversized iPod touch…or like a scaled-down notebook computer. It has been said that Apple expects to ship 10 million tablets within the first year of release. Former Google executive Lee Kai-fu says he’s spoken with someone familiar with the product and that it will look like an oversized iPhone with its 10.1 inch multitouch screen with three-dimensional graphics.

But the truth of the matter is, no one knows for sure. A spokesperson for Apple says the company will not comment on speculation and rumors. Luckily we won’t have to wait too much longer to find out just what Apple has in store for the world of handheld devices. Steve Jobs is set to reveal the tablet later this month.

When the polycarbonate, unibody MacBook was first released by Apple, many people were quickly turned off. It wasn’t that the laptop itself was horrible, despite a few shortcomings. The main issue with many people wan’t he actual device itself, but rather the large $999 price tag. Well good news, for some of you out there, has just been seen on Apple’s website. The unibody MacBook has just seen a price drop to $728. But there is a catch.  The $728 price currently only available to students and those in education and for a limited period of time.

The MacBook is a good laptop all around. It comes with a 2.26GHz Intel Core 2 Duo Processor, 2GB of DDR3 memory and a 250GB hard drive. Along with that you get 8x double-layer SuperDrive, NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics card and a built-in battery with an expected 7hr life.

Students and educators should take advantage of this deal as soon as possible because there is no word on when the sale will end and if you are looking at getting a MacBook you have no time to waste. Looking at Apple’s website it appears you also get free shipping as well, another great deal to take advantage of as long as it lasts.

Google’s Gmail has had, for a number of years, keyboard shortcuts to help you navigate around your e-mail.  But, for many Gmail users these shortcuts were often non intuitive and diffucult to learn. Recently, Google e-mail service has introduced the Gboard that will aleviate this problems for it’s thousands of members. The Gboard is now on the market and can be purchased for the reasonable price of $19.99.

The Gboard is the size of a standard numberpad keyboard and features 19 brightly colored keys. These keys all allow you to utilize shortcuts dealing with your Gmail. Gmail-specific features include starring messages, starting a search, and jumping between message threads. When the Gboard is not used with Gmail, the buttons will simply act like normal keyboard buttons and type whatever letter or number that corresponds with the shortcut.

Conveniently, the Gboard is powered through a USB port. This means that you will not need any special software or driver. You will have to enable keyboard shortcuts under Gmail’s settings before fully utilising your Gboard, but that isn’t any difficult task.

The Gboard has been described a bit like Marmite, people are either going to love or hate the Gboard. If people have already mastered all the shortcuts that are utilised with Gmail, then I would recommend they save themselves the $20 and continue as they currently are.  For the many that have found the Gmail shortcuts difficult to master however, it could be very useful tool.

With a total of 69 shortcuts and many more to come if Google releases some of their experimental features that are currently being tested in the labs, the Gboard could be the first step to developing a full-sized version with more than 100 keys. For now though, the Gboard should satisfy Gmail users who have had issues with figuring out the shortcuts, and the low price tag just can’t be beat.