We’ve encountered some of these concept designs in the past, but most have remained as impractical and baffling as ever:

Pretty, right? I just can’t help but think that the darned things would slip right out of my hands as I try to dial a number. If I can figure out how to dial on some of them that is. [Design Boom]

When separated, the keyboard communicates with the screen via Bluetooth and can act as a keyboard (duh), microphone, speaker and game pad. It also serves as a remote control when the pico-projector is used.

Apparently the F-04B’s 12.2-megapixel camera takes “nice pictures for a phone”, but the touchscreen could do with being a little more responsive.

The phone was first shown as a prototype at CEATEC 2008, but Akihabara News says that Fujitsu and Japanese carrier, DoCoMo, have “officially” announced it as the Separate Keitai F-04B. No word yet on what OS it runs, availability or pricing (inside or out of Japan). Definitely a unique idea. [Akihabara News]

The T5010, which has a starting RRP of $2,599, comes with an Intel Core2Duo processor, a 13.3-inch 1280 x 800 TFT LCD display, a 320GB HDD, Bluetooth and a six cell battery, plus the option of either 2GB or 4GB of RAM. The T4410 and T4310 both only have a 12.1-inch touchscreens, but different Core2Duo processors. The T4410 is also only available “for project only”. The T4310 has a starting price of $1,899.

All three obviously come with Windows 7 too, so you can take advantage of that multitouch software.

[Fujitsu]

My number one is the soap dish; not because it’s the best looking one—that stone wins in that category—but because it looks like a goddamn soap dish. “Hello? Who’s this? I can’t hear you…who put this f—king Dove bar on my phone?” [Akihabara News]

You will have to pick up the LifeBook T5010 with its new capacitive touchscreen with Vista until you can get it with Win 7 on October 22, but it will still support the same two finger gestures like zooming and panning. You just won’t get the touch pack fun in Vista. It will, however, come with a pen for writing on screen.

Fujitsu is touting that this convertible swings both ways. Uh yea, it can swing from tablet into a standard notebook with the “industry’s first bi-directional swivel hinge”.

Here is one thing we are learning quickly: multitouch lappies aren’t budget. Like Lenovo’s new multitouch, $US1800 ThinkPad x200T, this one starts at $US1759. [Fujitsu]

Fujitsu Adds “Touch” to Its Flagship LifeBook T5010 Convertible Tablet PC
Begins Rollout of New LifeBook Mobile PC Series Designed to Exploit Anticipated Windows 7 Features
Sunnyvale, CA, Sept. 15, 2009 ― Fujitsu gave mobile users in North America another reason to choose the LifeBook(R) T5010 convertible tablet PC today, announcing the convenience of multi touch input. The new dual digitizer’s touch screen function on the 13.3-inch display offers a new level of interaction by supporting two-finger touch for actions including panning, rotating, flicks and zooming. With seamless switching between pen and touch, users can change tasks on the fly, from casual surfing to detailed editing or writing.

The Windows Vista(R)-based LifeBook T5010 convertible tablet PC is the first in a line of new LifeBook platforms and form factors designed to take advantage of the advanced capabilities of Microsoft’s soon-to-be- launched Windows 7.

News Highlights
• NEW optional dual digitizer (active digitizer/capacitive touch)
with two-finger support for gestures including zoom, rotate, and flicks; stylus support for inking, editing/annotating files
• Converts from tablet into a standard notebook with keyboard
input using the industry’s first bi-directional swivel hinge
• Weighs approximately 4.5 pounds in weight-saver configuration
• 13.3-inch mercury-free WXGA bright LED backlight LCD with wide
viewing angles
• Modular bay, which supports an optical drive or optional second
battery
• Optional mobile broadband support on select models (AT&T
integrated broadband connect and Verizon Wireless mobile broadband built in)
• Enterprise manageability support with Intel active management
technology
• Optional Microsoft(R) Windows 7 Professional, Vista Business,
XP Downgrade
• Intel(R) Core(TM) 2 Duo processor technology
• Full-size, spill-resistant keyboard with touchpad
• Optional integrated webcam and (standard) dual digital
microphones
• Full suite of security features: dedicated SmartCard slot,
integrated fingerprint sensor, security panel, BIOS and hard drive password protection, embedded TPM 1.2, Computrace(R) BIOS agent.
• Priced starting at $US1,759 (1) with an active digitizer and
priced starting at $US1,859 with a dual digitizer option. Users can choose from a recommended configuration, or they can customise their LifeBook T5010 convertible tablet PC using the Fujitsu Configure To Order (CTO) program. Available immediately through the Fujitsu website and select retailers/e-tailers(2).

You see, the Esprimo is tiny. Almost hockey puck tiny. Get it? But in that tight little form factor is a wealth of surprisingly robust features, like a 4GB of memory and a 320GB hard drive for all your tiny file saving needs. Also inside is a Blu-ray optical drive and an accompanying HDMI port, which makes sense. The Core 2 Duo tops everything off.

One last caveat: All those features above are found in the “higher end” model, which is weird to type because the base model will cost a cool grand when it arrives in Germany in late September. [Fujitsu Slippery Brick via Engadget]

If you bought a Fujitsu LifeBook A1120, A6220, A6230, P1630, P8020, S6520, S6420, S6421, T2020, T1010, T5010, U2020, U2010 and Fujitsu L1010 after June 29, 2009, you’re eligible to get an upgrade to Windows 7. It’ll cost you $28.99 though, to cover “materials, shipping and handling charges within Australia”. Also, you can only pay via credit card.

Perhaps the scariest aspect of this is that there are only “limited quantities” available. Which means that you should register sooner rather than later if you want a fairly cheap upgrade.

[Fujitsu]

Apple scored the highest with an A overall (that’s a combined score of online and phone tech support). HP, Acer and Dell tied for lowest with C- each.

The good news: Most techs were able to answer basic usage questions after hold times within 5 minutes…with the exception of Dell, who maxed out at 19 minutes before connecting Laptop to a line that was “full of static and hissing” only to be transferred through one of those seemingly infinite tech support loops.

The bad news: While some problems across manufacturers varied, like Acer claiming that a computer was beyond its warranty date (despite not having even been manufactured by its alleged expiration), others were fairly common, like the low call quality from overseas lines.

Of course, we’re just skimming the surface of Laptop’s results, so hit them up and read the whole story on the current state of online and call-in technical support. [Laptop][Image, it's actually a 911 call centre in NY]

To give you an idea of what to be excited for: the company estimates that “using USB 3.0, a two-hour HD video could be copied to a 3.5-inch hard disk drive in three to four minutes.” That translates to 5GBps and leaves USB 2.0’s measly 480MBps in the dust. (Note that we might not see the 5GBps speeds initially.)

Fujitsu’s chips are expected to be in PCs next year, which is a bit later than we expect to first see USB 3.0 support. [ZDNET Asia]