Nicholas Negroponte is one of the visionaries of the $100 laptop. Unfortunately, he has yet to fully realize his dream… and it looks like it will be a long ways off before it does become a reality.

Research firm Gartner has come out with a study that indicated that the laptop industry will still have to wait another three years before the $100 laptop will happen.

Among the issues cited include hardware specifications, power, availability and cost of an internet connection, as well as finance and payment options in emerging markets. But the study also said that there is a potential for mini notebooks or ultraportables like the EEE or MSI Wind. Their impact is on product innovation that could define the laptop market in the years to come.

Firefox 3’s release has barely gone cold but the guys behind the red-hot browser is already releasing an alpha of a new Firefox version.

The new version, codenamed Shiretoko, will be designated as version 3.1 when it is finally released. At this point, only developers and testers have access to the Alpha.

What’s so cool about the upcoming version is the new Smart Location Bar, or as Firefox fans call it, the awesome bar. This new bar will reportedly give users more control on the links the bar presents when they type something. This is a level of personalization that is just really cool and awesome.

Another addition is the Control+Tab that lets users view the tabs in what is best described as a filmstrip. This feature is currently available as an add-on, but with 3.1 it becomes a standard feature of the browser.

I wonder what the guys at Microsoft is doing with IE8?

Energy is becoming a crucial global issue because of the global energy crisis and the environmental impact of energy consumption.

D-Link has initiated some forward thinking with the company’s “green” WiFi routers. The new routers possess green features that will make it more energy efficient.

Three routers in the company’s Xtreme N WiFi line will now have Green Ethernet technology. This feature lets the router sense the cable length and link status and adjusts power based on the results. There is also a WiFi scheduler that allows user to initiate automatic shutdowns. The green features now allow users to save up to 32 per cent on power. That is a very significant saving. Other models even offer a 41 per cent saving.

I just bought a new D-Link router but these new models may just make me switch because of their eco-friendly features.

With fuel prices rising globally, it’s becoming harder and harder to just ignore how painful it is becoming to our pockets everytime we gas up. Fortunately, there are still a lot of people out there who see the humor in the situation. Just like the genius who thought up of this solution to saving gas…

My broadband provider gave us the shittiest, most temperamental WiFi modem-router I have ever encountered in my life. It’s so temperamental, my PS3 always gets disconnected and my wife’s Macbook suffers from the same problem. Any device that goes out of a four feet radius gets wonky connections, and this includes my Nintendo DS and my ASUS EEE (yes, I have THAT kind of a home).

I finally had enough of the router and decided to get a new D-Link WiFI draft N router. Prices for the N routers have dropped significantly that I thought to myself that it would be a good time to try it. Setting up the D-Link was a breeze. But the best bit is that my wife doesn’t mumble under her breath anymore everytime she gets disconnected from Perez Hilton.