HP has finally formally announced the long-rumored multi-touch TouchSmart tx2 convertible tablet. The unit will be the world’s first multi-touch consumer notebook. It boasts a 12.1-inch swivel display which is LED-backlit. The tx2 comes pre-installed with Windows Vista. It also comes with a bezel-mounted fingerprint reader, an integrated webcam with microphone, Bluetooth, WiFi, stereo speakers, a multicard reader and a LightScribe SuperMulti DVD burner. HP has also loaded it with an AMD Turion X2 dual-core processor, MediaSmart 2.0 software, a VGA output, Ethernet, and at least one USB port. According to sources, they should be going on sale at the HP website any day now. The company has issued no word on pricing.

Alienware announced today their upcoming CrossFire X-enabled M17 gaming notebook. The company had been hinting at a surprise announcement for some time, and this is it. The notebook sports a 17-inch display, a Core 2 Quad / Extreme CPU, and up to 4GB of DDR3 RAM. It also features twin ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3870 GPUs, a WXGA+ / WUXGA panel, an optional HDTV tuner, up to 640GB of HDD space in a RAID 0 array, a dual-layer DVD writer / Blu-ray reader, WiFi, Blutooth 2.1, gigabit Ethernet and a facial recognition sensor. The unit weighs a hefty 9.5 pounds and the 12-cell battery won’t keep it charged for too long. The M17 is available soon online and retails starting at $1,399.

Fujitsu’s LifeBook S6510 has been tested by the folks over at Notebook Review. The 4-pound super-thin 14.1-inch laptop was found to be rigid with an acceptable LCD. It performed well in tests and the keyboard was user-friendly. However, it does emit a bit of heat, but it passed the grade as a good light-weight business laptop.

Novatel is offering up the new and smaller USB727 with an integrated microSD slot supporting cards up to 4GB for Sprint and Verizon customers.

Designed to work with any computing device equipped with Type A USB ports, including most desktops, notebooks, tablet PCs and PDAs, to provide instant on-the-go mobile broadband access. With out-of-box support for a variety of operating systems including Windows® (Vista, XP, 2000), Mac OS® X and Linux, the Ovation U727 enables users to surf the Web, check email and access important business documents with speeds similar to those of a cable or DSL connection.

"Mobile professionals and consumers alike want to make the most out of whatever equipment they carry and Sprint customers get maximum value from the Ovation U727 which delivers both high-speed access via the Sprint Mobile Broadband Network and the ability to store and access documents and other critical information," said Danny Bowman, vice president of customer equipment for Sprint. "A smaller form factor, GPS locate-and-find capabilities and newly available support for the Linux platform truly help make this a next-generation connectivity device for our customers."

Verizon customers can buy this with a $100 rebate on a two-year contract.