Dell updated Studio 15 laptop

Dell sort of spoiled the surprise by dishing out some of the details about its updated Studio 15 laptop on its support site a full two months ago (not to mention that little business in Singapore), but the company has now finally gotten fully official with the laptop, and made it available in the U.S., Canada, and Latin America. The big news with this update is a new and improved 15.6-inch LED-backlit display, which packs a native 1366 x 768 resolution, and gets paired with some upgraded ATI Mobility Radeon HD4570 graphics (available with 256MB or 512MB of on-board memory). Otherwise, you can expect the usual range of Core 2 Duo processors, a built-in 2 megapixel webcam, HDMI out, an optional Blu-ray drive, an optional backlit keyboard, and your choice of six colors, including the snazzy Black Chainlink design pictured above. This being the Studio series, you can also expect prices to remain at a reasonable $649 for the base model, with things moving up considerably from there if you opt for some of those aforementioned options.

Dell Vostro A90 repriced

Dell's 8.9-inch Vostro A90, the Mini 9 with an identity crisis, has now hit stateside with a starting price of $349, about one-third the price of its Japanese counterpart. As you can probably guess, it sports a 1.6GHz Intel Atom N270, up to 1GB RAM and 16GB SSD, Intel GMA950 graphics, 802.11g, 0.3 megapixel webcam, 4-cell battery, and Windows XP Home Edition -- sorry, no option for Linux here, but you can still order the Mini 9 if you want that option, a brighter color scheme, or a smaller bill.

Dell launches Vostro 1320, 1520 and 1720 laptops

It's been awhile since this family saw any updates, but we must say, Dell did a pretty laudable job with the redesign here. Make no mistake -- these guys are still aimed squarely at the gamboling suits in attendance, but we could certainly see a consumer or two pulling the trigger. The freshened line includes the 13.3-inch Vostro 1320, the 15.4-inch Vostro 1520, and the 17-inch Vostro 1720, all of which come with pre-installed videoconferencing and webcam software (so long as you purchase the integrated webcam and microphone). Furthermore, users can now opt for an SSD in place of the traditional hard drive, a fingerprint reader for added security or an encrypted HDD with Wave Systems software. The whole trio is available today in North America and select South American countries starting at $569 (Vostro 1520), $629 (Vostro 1320), and $649 (Vostro 1720).

Dell Launches the Ultra-Mobile Wasabi Printer

If you are old enough to remember Polaroid's instant cameras, then the concept behind Dell's new Wasabi PZ310 "ultra-mobile printer" will look very familiar to you. The Wasabi is a small printer that fits in the palm of your hand that can print color photos in less than a minute from digital cameras, mobile phones, and other mobile devices.

The Wasabi uses a printing technology called ZINK, which stands for "Zero Ink." As its name implies there is no ink involved in the printing process, and therefore no potentially messy and costly ink cartridges to replace:

"At the heart of the ZINK Technology is the patented ZINK Paper, an advanced composite material with cyan, yellow, and magenta dye crystals embedded inside, and a protective polymer overcoat layer outside. The crystals are colorless before printing, so ZINK Paper looks like regular white photo paper. Heat from a ZINK-enabled device activates the crystals, forming all the colors of the rainbow."

Wasabi measures 0.9x4.8x2.8-inches (HWD), weighs just 8-ounces with the 450mAh Li-ion battery (the battery is rated for 15 prints per charge), and comes in three different colors: black, pink, and blue. The Wasabi can hold up to 12 sheets of paper at a time and prints 2x3-inch, borderless prints in 55 seconds. The paper has a sticky backing so it can be attached to different surfaces.

Photos can be sent to the Wasabi one of two ways: Either using a standard PictBridge USB Type A connection or wirelessly via Bluetooth. This does not mean, however, than any Bluetooth device will be able to print to the Wasabi--especially mobile phones. A list of compatible mobile phones can be found here. Unfortunately, neither the iPhone nor iPhone 3G are compatible with the Wasabi; but the Blackberry Curve and Motorola RAZR V3 are.