Category: battery news

Oct 28 2009

How a hedge against export compensation disputes battery

In recent years, the domestic laptop batteries, cell phone batteries for civilian use of security issues has become increasingly subject to public attention. Burning batteries or even cause of the explosion, in addition to the quality of the product itself may be defective, consumers are also caused by inappropriate use of the battery or other dangerous burning an important factor. However, accusations of strong public opinion, under the cumbersome and time-consuming responsibility to investigate identified before, enterprises have to bear the products have been notified to recall and other losses, even in the face of financial compensation. 
     
To this end, the Shenzhen Inspection and Quarantine Bureau that export battery business, a clear responsibility to provide proper guidance to consumers to use the product and to reduce, avoid compensation disputes, so that precautionary measures. 

First, in product design, clearly the use of objects and design requirements, we must give full consideration to the possible misuse of consumers, abuse the sony pcga-bp71 battery,sony vgp-bpl2 battery case to maximize the battery itself and the battery protection system under conditions of use in a variety of security. It should also be complementary products such as battery chargers, etc. to identify the best offer based on product features matching charger. 

Second is the customer’s product design program requirements, sony vgp-bps3a battery,sony vgp-bps5 battery,we must analyze its foreseeable or potential security flaws, and actively communicate with customers and make reasonable changes. Signature of the contract itself should be referred to the safe harbor provisions of the quality of products arising from the responsibility and liability arising from misuse of consumers clearly.

Third, the sony vgp-bpl5a battery,sony vgp-bps2 battery should provide a detailed instruction manual, instructions should be written with the consumer in the country or global common words, the battery product features, allowing the use of the conditions illustrated, for possible misuse, abuse to be a warning to the matching the parameters are given clear requirements, make provisions for the period of product use to guide consumers to the battery to be taken for various types of risk measures.

Fourth, compared with the leading sony vgp-bps2a battery,sony vgp-bps3 battery technology, production enterprises, to be with their own technological advantages, and actively participate in the development of industry standards at home and abroad to promote their own product quality continues to increase.

Oct 25 2009

“Battery industry” yesterday the establishment of production and research Innovation Alliance

Yesterday, China’s first domestic-oriented production and research innovation in the battery industry alliance formed by deep-set, this is the first in 28 provinces of Guangdong Department of Innovation Alliance production and research. Deputy Minister of Science and Technology, Guangdong Province, Cai-yan, said the Pearl River Delta region in the export of advanced battery production for more than half the country’s total exports, the establishment of the alliance will help to overcome the key IT skills in the field, promote the development of Guangdong battery industry. 

Union, 12 enterprises have 

Provincial and municipal-related R & D institutions 

According to the Alliance by Tsinghua University and other three units in the lead, the joint Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Zhongshan University, South China University of Technology, Shenzhen University and other institutions as well as seven related co-sponsored by 16 leading enterprises, including an advanced battery anode and cathode materials , electrolyte, battery manufacturing, battery equipment, finished assembling the battery, battery power management, battery users, electric cars and battery recycling the whole industry chain system. Of these enterprises have 12 provincial and municipal batteries and energy storage materials, engineering centers and key laboratories in 2008 in order to lithium-ion batteries as the representative of advanced battery products, sales of nearly 9.0 billion. 

According to the Union, the three-year plan, the Alliance will develop advanced dell gk479 battery and its key materials industry technology roadmap, the establishment of the Pearl River Delta region’s most prestigious secondary battery and key materials testing organizations. In the R & D investment, the total investment of more than 10 billion yuan, driven enterprises 40 billion of new investment, the Union business to double sales to grow to 20 billion yuan. 

Deep 2 ~ 3 years to urge the generated 

A number of high-end cell companies 

Cai Yan at the inaugural ceremony, said that the Pearl River Delta is currently in the advanced dell hd438 battery,dell kd186 battery production and export accounted for more than half of the country, and brings together a number of internationally renowned manufacturers of batteries and materials, is the development of China’s advanced battery industry weathervane. 

Shenzhen Bureau of Science and Technology Information Package Shi-feng, deputy director, said the introduction, Shenzhen specially formulated for the next period of time the dell y9943 battery,dell fk890 battery industry development plan is to focus on developing high-end batteries, an advanced battery industry chain and materials, by 2 ~ 3 years efforts to form a 5 to 10 of about 1 billion yuan with annual sales of large-scale high-end battery business, of which two with annual sales of more than 5 billion yuan.

Oct 19 2009

BYD-iron battery, opening up the brand rather than the core technology

As early as August, there have been media reports: BYD did not intend to shut the door and its own development, but hope to open their counterparts in more core technology platform - iron battery, because BYD find new energy sources car really moving towards market-oriented, rely on one or two leading technology companies is simply impossible.

BYD Auto Sales Vice President Wang are in an interview with reporters, said that the media was “misunderstanding,” BYD-iron battery technology is used for nearly six years of time invested several billions of dollars of produced by crystallization, we have to respect this technology. 

He said that we in the cell area is a global supplier of excellent, if domestic and foreign auto companies are willing to purchase our iron batteries, we will not because we have the car plant closed iron battery supply, the supply of iron battery level, it is open. 

And Volkswagen, SAIC supply agreements 

In April of this year, Volkswagen Group chairman Winterkorn stay in Shanghai, told us when he explicitly stated, the public willing to work with BYD electric sony pcga-bp1n battery,sony pcga-bp2nx battery vehicle areas. Subsequently, BYD CEO Wang Chuanfu has been flown to the general public the headquarters in Germany, and the general public high-level “supply” of negotiation, and reached a supply agreement. 

This means that the future Volkswagen will produce electric vehicles may be assembled from China BYD iron battery. 

In August, BYD-iron battery supply in the domestic front began to “warm-up.” BYD has a large domestic auto companies to reach an agreement, the enterprise will be used for supporting the procurement BYD’s hybrid and pure electric vehicles like the lithium battery pack, which is the first time in the domestic supply of BYD Li-ion battery pack . Because of “confidentiality agreement”, although the BYD did not reveal specific information about this enterprise, but according to NetEase automotive knowledge, and BYD-iron sony pcga-bp2ny battery,sony pcga-bp2r battery supply agreement reached by the enterprise is SAIC. 

BYD-iron battery will be the income of a deadly weapon? 

Over the years, BYD-iron battery, or harvest the “results.” First self-developed F3DM equipped with dual-mode electric vehicles, and has begun to gradually try to commercialization, industrialization. Furthermore, BYD-iron battery at home and abroad this year, some large auto companies reached a supply agreement. Insiders believe that the supply of iron batteries BYD profit growth will be another “means for misappropriating” approach, and that this profit is considerable, as was the supply of mobile phone batteries mobile phone manufacturers like. 

Wang shared the view that iron sony pcga-bp2s battery,sony pcga-bp2t battery can eventually become a profit jumped BYD point, which depends on the promotion of commercialization of electric cars the future it will become a new business model. First, look at this project can not be allowed to market acceptance, we have a most dedicated promoters, and the most persistent an enterprise, if more and more added to the team, the commercial speed very quickly. 

In the new energy field, shot a lot this year, BYD, which it wants to compete for the world’s pattern of development of new energy vehicles the right to speak about. 
Followed by 60 million acquisition of Hunan Hunan passenger cars, the success of the advantages of the new field of energy extends to the passenger area, to form a car-based, taking into account bus (large passenger vehicles), and micro-cars full of new energy vehicle development system, the 7 the end of BYD with Buffett’s MidAmerican Energy completed the two sides entered into a strategic investment and the sony pcga-bp2v battery,sony pcga-bp71 battery subscription agreement, Sino-US energy subscribed 225 million shares BYD new H shares, the transaction amount of 1.8 billion Hong Kong dollars, now, Buffett shares BYD the formal completion of the transaction. 

Then, a total investment of nearly 50 billion BYD electric vehicle battery production base in Huizhou in Guangdong completed, this base will assume the core technology BYD electric vehicle - iron battery production tasks, which means that BYD has been on the mass production of electric cars are well-prepared. 

In the sony vgp-bpl2 battery,sony vgp-bpl5a battery field, BYD ahead of peers with the technology and resources; but this advantage began to “iron cell” in the form of an extension to its automotive fields.

Sep 30 2009

Ni-MH battery industry market with the most potential for development

We are Japan’s Toyota, Sanyo, Matsushita, NEC, Sharp and other power battery related businesses conducted an investigation and found that pairs of vehicle battery power investment has become one of the hot investment in Japan. Japan’s new national energy strategy, promoted the development of power batteries in Japan.

This Japanese companies increase their investment in power batteries and integration efforts. Sanyo and Panasonic and other leading companies to increase investment, NEC, and Yuasa, and other enterprises have joined. Panasonic even offer to buy Sanyo Electric, mostly fancy Sanyo’s energy business. Sanyo is currently the world’s largest rechargeable acer zatravelmate 290 battery maker, is also the world’s seventh-largest solar cell manufacturer, the acquisition will strengthen Panasonic’s leadership in the field of power battery dominance. The Toyota is most of the world’s leading commercial vehicle manufacturers new energy plan as early as 2010, annual production of hybrids to 1 million units, providing the battery from the company’s ongoing expansion PEVE transformation, is also being developed PHEV and FCEV.

Lithium-ion power batteries and nickel-hydrogen batteries will be common prosperity. Panasonic and Sanyo are all that the lithium-ion battery can not be replaced in 2 ~ 3 years, nickel-hydrogen acer zatravelmate 3000 battery, mainly due to cheaper nickel-hydrogen battery safety, has reached large-scale production. Lithium batteries also need to continue to research topics, such as security, so take time commercial.
We believe that the power battery industry in China has a comparative advantage should be chosen development path. In the technical line of choice, it is necessary to attach importance to technological advances, but also consider the commercial success rate. In the Ni-MH battery field, our technology and resources are an advantage, China’s performance of the world’s leading nickel hydroxide, rare-earth rich in natural resources, has unique advantages in resources, therefore, the development of nickel-hydrogen battery is the country’s most realistic option. Lithium-ion acer zatravelmate 4010 battery materials in China at the international level to track the research and development stage, many of the core material is in research into, such as cathode materials and electrolyte, etc., only China can truly master the production of these raw materials and manufacturing processes, possible large-scale promotion.

In the investment advice, we recommend the area of nickel-hydrogen batteries Keli far (600,478, stock bar), and the torch high-tech (600,872, stock bar), while China Baoan (000009, stock bar), and Jiangsu Guotai (002,091, stock bar) is expected to become the field of lithium-ion acer zatravelmate 4050 battery, one of the ultimate beneficiaries.

Sep 28 2009

Chinese Army issued the mobile phone market,lithium battery factory come to help out

Global mobile phone industry, the international financial crisis dragged down into the negative growth period, amid the economic downturn continued weakness in consumer spending, with sales followed a substantial decline, leading to a drastic shrinkage of the global handset industry profits. International Data Corporation predicted that the financial crisis, the global handset market in 2009 will appear the first time since 2001, shrinking.

     Global mobile phone industry suffers an economic cold, a lot of impressive past achievements of international mobile phone brands have set back the battlefield. When the international mobile phone brands was devastated when no longer glorious past, sony vgp-bps5a battery,domestic mobile phone is being ushered in new opportunities. When consumers live Wujin purse when the pursuit of the concept of the brand after the station has been relying on, practical purchase price of a mobile phone the primary factor, but it is cheap and high quality Chinese-made mobile phones are good at. Financial crisis for the international mobile phone brands is a disaster for China’s mobile phone industry is the expansion of opportunities.

     In the recently concluded 2009 Tianjin International Mobile Phone Industry Exhibition, Tianyu Lu Wei Bing, general manager of GSM Division, said the crisis era of the global handset market is quietly changing the pattern of emerging markets a growing share of China’s mobile phone brands are fully into the world. At present, the Sky lanton among the three major mobile phone brands in China ranks second only to Nokia, Samsung. Following the 2008 to go abroad to enter the Southeast Asian market after the 2009 Tianyu successfully entered the Middle East, South America and other markets. According to Lu Wei Bing introduction, is now overseas month Tianyu has shipped over 60 million, and overseas sales are still in rapid growth.

     Chinese mobile phone brands stand on the world stage of confidence also comes from China in early 2009, the official issuing 3G licenses, especially the Chinese standard TD-SCDMA development is thrown its weight behind the government.

     Tianjin mobile phones in this exhibition, in addition to Motorola, Samsung demonstrated the 3G mobile phone, the Sky lanton also introduced several of 3G products. Lu Wei Bing said: “The days will launch a variety of languages TD products at a reasonable price would be 3G product promotion to more consumers, but also reduce operating subsidies for the cost of a single provider for China’s TD industry to make our contribution to the prosperity of . Over the next six months time, we may have 8 to 10 models will launch TD products. ”

     Mobile Internet applications blowout birth, battery-powered hard-pressed

     Mobile value-added services has doubled, mobile devices, as well as how to support 3G mobile value-added services 3G power to become one of the main terminal. From 2G into 3G era, mobile phones that are hosted by more than a simple call feature, which combines phone, photography, video, navigation, data transmission, audio and video playback, send and receive mail, browse the web in one multi-functional. Bluetooth, WiFi, GPS, mobile TV and other functions a significant increase in RF, baseband and then pulled the working hours of system power consumption; video telephony, mobile TV, JAVA games and multimedia features are increased application processor computing load; the pursuit of super - screen, high resolution, thereby increasing the display and the surrounding power system, the burden of backlight. Set aside and 3G phone than 2G/2.5G increase in power consumption at 35 ~ 40%, single-function has been enough to make all kinds of fancy mobile phone battery stretched beyond their limits.

     Phone standby time and talk time a consumer calls to measure the performance of their most basic criterion, once the standby time can not meet consumer habits, high-quality user experience to speak of, it is difficult to attract users from 2G network to 3G network migration. Therefore, the battery issue has become the biggest problem on the road to expand 3G.

     The above-mentioned phone functions demand the battery capacity to achieve a breakthrough to ease the mobile power needs are met, in order to ensure adequate standby time. On the other hand, due to the integrated phone functions requiring battery voltage is always maintained at a relatively high voltage level. Recently, an accident caused by the battery in use has proclaimed: Dell laptop in the conference room fire, explosion, explosion-induced deaths in Gansu mobile phone is even more shocking, so against the use of mobile phones becoming increasingly common in the social situation, the safety of lithium-ion battery Performance is very important. In addition, consumers also want a longer battery life requiring the battery charge and discharge cycles more frequent.
      
     At present lithium battery can be divided into two categories: liquid lithium-ion battery (LIB) and polymer lithium-ion battery (PLIB). Liquid lithium batteries in the case of overcharging easily rupture triggered a fire must be installed to prevent the overshoot protection circuit, and even so are still buried in fire hazard. The solid polymer lithium battery charge and discharge characteristics of resistance than the liquid lithium batteries is more safe and reliable. And the polymer lithium battery lithium battery unit energy than the average 50% higher, in terms of safety, capacity, operating temperature, cycle life and other terms, which are ahead of liquid lithium batteries.

     Shenzhen B & K Battery Co., Ltd. Li-polymer batteries Division held in the same period CAO Jian, general manager of China Mobile Phone Industry, 2009 (International) Summit Forum to play a period of solid-state lithium battery using scissors cut the video, after the destruction of lithium batteries does not appear leakage, no smoke and other combustion phenomena, and even continue to work (keep the connection between the sony vgp-bpl5a battery,sony vgp-bps2 battery positive and negative).

     “Solid and liquid lithium-polymer battery cell is that the biggest difference between the solid polymer electrolyte inside the battery does not, while the electrolyte is an organic solvent, is a flammable chemical raw materials, non-use of the electrolyte can be said that fundamentally reduce the lead to the probability of burning lithium battery lead. This essentially determines the safety of lithium batteries, as long as the fire is not burning inside, it would not have exploded. “CAO Jian further information on the characteristics of solid-polymer battery, said,” solid-state polymerization the volume ratio of the energy lithium battery materials can reach 450Wh / H, while the cycle life of up to 500 times, 300 times in the charging and discharging, the capacity retention rate was 98%, this indicator is far higher than the current liquid lithium batteries. ”

     Currently there is the ability to produce solid polymer lithium battery company in Shenzhen B & K alleged that only one, which broke the monopoly of Japanese giant, solid-state polymer batteries battery situation. This is currently trying to go abroad to launch high-end mobile phone manufacturers, is undoubtedly a good news. Shenzhen B & K through the independent research and development, solid-state polymer sony vgp-bps2a battery,sony vgp-bps3 battery holds the intellectual property, enabling the domestic mobile phone enterprises overseas for less than the price of lithium batteries using solid polymer batteries for mobile phones to reduce indirect costs.

     Personalized cell phone era, custom cell surface

     Cell phone lithium battery into the 3G era has also made a number of specialized requirements. Apple pioneered the first of its kind cell phone built-in battery, iPhone style iPod inheritance will be solid-state polymer lithium battery built into the phone. Since the battery can not be replaced, there is no backup battery to add the possibility of electricity, while the cost of replacing the battery up to 75 dollars, so the battery capacity and life request a more demanding than ever.

     According to CAO Jian introduction, B & K in addition to custom high-capacity, long-life lithium batteries, it can also resistant to high temperature for the battery to conduct a research and development, to ensure that the sony vgp-bps3a battery,sony vgp-bps5 battery in the tropics, special high or low temperature environments may also work. In addition, underground mine communications, military and communications applications also require high-security cell.

Sep 14 2009

Lenovo Parent May Move Farther From Chinese Government

The purchase of a stake in Lenovo’s parent company, Legend Holdings, by a private investment group could be followed by more moves away from Chinese government influence in the company, Legend said Tuesday.

The Chinese Academy of Sciences, a state-controlled high-tech research institute and the largest stakeholder in Legend, is reducing its holding in the company to bring it closer to the private sector. The academy wants market experience to play a bigger role in the corporate governance, management and marketing of its subsidiaries, it said in a joint statement with Legend.

In a step toward that goal, the academy is selling a 29 percent stake in Legend to China Oceanwide Holdings Group, a private conglomerate, for 2.76 billion yuan (US$404 million), Legend said last week.

The move comes as Lenovo, the world’s fourth-biggest PC maker, struggles to recover from a major hit to its sales from the global economic crisis. The company this year began restructuring to bring its focus back to emerging markets and has posted net losses for the last three quarters. Legend is responsible for strategic guidance and governance for subsidiaries including Lenovo, Legend said.

“Many clients abroad may think Lenovo is a nationally-controlled company,” Liu Chuanzhi, the chairman of Lenovo and newly named chairman of Legend, said at a briefing. “China Oceanwide’s entrance makes even clearer that Lenovo is a private enterprise.”

The state academy will still retain a 36 percent stake in Legend, remaining the company’s biggest investor, but it may move to end that status. The academy aims to reduce its stakeholding in companies to below 35 percent by 2010, it said.

Legend also hopes eventually to list on a stock market, Liu said, a move that could dilute the academy’s holdings in Legend.

Executives declined to comment on what business deals might be reached between the companies held by Legend and China Oceanwide, but said there was room for cooperation. Legend’s subsidiaries besides Lenovo are focused on equity investment and real estate, while China Oceanwide has holdings in industries like real estate, finance and energy.

Legend is also an investor in a new $115 million angel investment fund launched this week by Kai-Fu Lee, Google’s former China head

Sep 13 2009

Chinese Government Sells Lenovo Parent Stake

A privately owned Chinese group will buy a stake in Lenovo’s parent company being sold by a Chinese government academy, the companies said Friday.

China Oceanwide Holdings Group will buy the 29 percent share in Legend Holdings, Lenovo’s parent company, for 2.76 billion yuan (US$404 million), a Legend spokeswoman said Friday. A China Oceanwide representative confirmed the deal.

The deal places more control of Lenovo’s parent in the hands of private investors, which could influence its business strategy.

The stake is being sold by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, a state-run institution that conducts national research projects. China Oceanwide was the only buyer who met the conditions set in the academy’s sale notice, the Legend spokeswoman said. The academy required that the buyer agree not to resell its stake, alter Legend’s strategy or propose changes to the company’s management for five years. The academy will retain a 36 percent stake in Legend, leaving it the company’s largest investor.

China Oceanwide controls companies in industries including real estate, banking and energy.

Legend and China Oceanwide said details of the deal and Legend’s new strategy would be available at a briefing next Tuesday. Lenovo declined to comment.

Lenovo, the world’s fourth-largest PC maker, began restructuring early this year to refocus on its business in China and other emerging markets. The global economic recession dealt a heavy blow to the company’s operations in developed markets. The company has posted net losses for the last three quarters

Sep 10 2009

Chinese Government Sells Lenovo Parent Stake

A privately owned Chinese group will buy a stake in Lenovo’s parent company being sold by a Chinese government academy, the companies said Friday.

China Oceanwide Holdings Group will buy the 29 percent share in Legend Holdings, Lenovo’s parent company, for 2.76 billion yuan (US$404 million), a Legend spokeswoman said Friday. A China Oceanwide representative confirmed the deal.

The deal places more control of Lenovo’s parent in the hands of private investors, which could influence its business strategy.

The stake is being sold by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, a state-run institution that conducts national research projects. China Oceanwide was the only buyer who met the conditions set in the academy’s sale notice, the Legend spokeswoman said. The academy required that the buyer agree not to resell its stake, alter Legend’s strategy or propose changes to the company’s management for five years. The academy will retain a 36 percent stake in Legend, leaving it the company’s largest investor.

China Oceanwide controls companies in industries including real estate, banking and energy.

Legend and China Oceanwide said details of the deal and Legend’s new strategy would be available at a briefing next Tuesday. Lenovo declined to comment.

Lenovo, the world’s fourth-largest PC maker, began restructuring early this year to refocus on its business in China and other emerging markets. The global economic recession dealt a heavy blow to the company’s operations in developed markets. The company has posted net losses for the last three quarters

Sep 09 2009

Hands on With Toshiba’s JournE

Perhaps one of the most interesting products to come out of the first day of this year’s IFA electronics fair in Berlin is Toshiba’s JournE Internet and multimedia tablet.
The lightweight device sports a 7-inch touch screen and Wi-Fi connection for quick access to the Web and popular social networking and sharing applications like Facebook, Flickr, MSN Messenger and Picasa. It also has a media player for viewing pictures, listening to music and watching videos. But the best thing about it might be the price: €249 (US$356), which is considerably less than many competing products.

But what’s it like to use? Toshiba has several demonstration models on its IFA booth and I took it for a test drive.
When the device is first switched on it takes a few seconds for the Windows Embedded OS to boot up and a Windows desktop momentarily appears before being replaced by a much smarter looking page that was developed by Toshiba. It has 15 icons per page in three rows of five with each providing a shortcut to an application or service.

Performance was unfortunately difficult to evaluate because of the slow wireless connection at the Toshiba booth. The device is supposed to provide a gateway to Internet services so a slow connection gives an appearance of sluggishness but a few times the connection appeared to speed up and at those points the device felt faster.

It’s relatively light at 450 grams so doesn’t really become tiring to hold. It’s 14 millimeters thick, which is about the same as a cell phone.
The prototype offered access to several sites including The Weather Channel. Accessing that site required input of a city name and provided a chance to use the on-screen keyboard, which takes up about a third of the screen when it appears and is big enough to finger type without hitting neighboring keys.

Toshiba is playing down the detailed specifications of the device and its operating system saying they’re not the point. It’s supposed to be orientated around Internet services so the underlying hardware shouldn’t really matter, be it Windows Embedded or another OS. Toshiba chose Windows Embedded because it has a wide range of applications available. However, future models might be based on other software, hinted Marco Perino, general manager of EMEA digital products and services at Toshiba.

One of the desktop buttons has direct access to a Toshiba Store where the company is planning to offer free and pay content and widgets for the device, Perino said. There’s already a wide range of Windows Embedded software available so the store should fill up fast with applications, he said.

Perino is keen to get services like the BBC’s iPlayer streaming and on-demand TV service on the device. It’s starting out as a gadget to provide Internet access in the living room perhaps while people are watching TV, but with access to iPlayer or other national equivalents it would also become a gateway to on-demand and live TV entertainment.

Like many smartphone makers, Toshiba has done much to disguise the old-fashioned Windows user interface but Windows dialog boxes do pop up a few times. They’ll be gone when it ships in Europe later this year, Perino said.
And that probably is going to be the key to the success of the JournE touch. The price is right but if the user interface is slick and smooth enough then it will satisfy the needs of most people for casual Internet access and multimedia and could become a hit. If the interface is excessively difficult to use or bogged-down in Windows dialog boxes and other quirks then users might stay away.

After it launches in Europe it will be rolled out to other markets, he said

Sep 07 2009

Samsung Brings Windows 7 to Netbooks

Samsung will use Windows 7 Starter Edition on two new netbooks, it announced on Thursday.

Both the N130 and N140 will come with the Starter Edition of Microsoft’s upcoming operating system, but Samsung isn’t putting all its eggs in the Windows 7 basket. Windows XP Home Edition is also an option on both devices, according to a statement.

The two devices have the same hardware specification, including an Intel Atom N270 or an N280 processor, a 10.1-inch screen and up to a 250 GB hard drive. The latter is only available with the Windows 7 version.

The biggest difference between the two computers is battery life. Using a 6-cell battery, the N140 should last for up to 11 hours, compared to 7.5 hours for the N130, according to Samsung.

The N130 also includes optional support for mobile broadband technologies HSPA (High-Speed Packet Access), WiMax and WiBro, which is a South Korean version of mobile WiMax.

Both models are expected to start shipping in September. The N130 will cost between €349 and €399 (US$500 and US$570). Pricing for the N140 adds €50 to both sides of that price span