Sharp's announcement that its next generation of Aquos televisions would come with a fourth colour of sub-pixel raised some slightly bemused smiles.

But the company has told TechRadar that the addition of yellow to the traditional red green and blue will have a key benefit.

Televisions currently use the primary colours – red, green and blue – to generate all the colours that the televisions shows, but Sharp's latest Quattron technology adds a yellow sub-pixel.

"The primary objective to to increase the colour spectrum," Sharp's UK marketing communications manager Martin Arnold explained to TechRadar.

"The TV has always been able to produce yellows – we're not saying that we're adding a yellow or a gold colour, but what we're actually doing is increasing the colour spectrum."

Golden touch

"Golds in particular have always been difficult to replicate on television, so by adding the fourth as a sub-pixel it's allowing us to increase the colour spectrum from billions of colours to trillions of colours and what that does is it opens up a wider colour aperture," he added.

"So whereas beforehand TVs struggled to replicate golds, Caribbean blues and aquas we more accurately represent those colours to the viewers."

Arnold explained that the fourth sub-pixel fits alongside the normal three because the company has managed to shrink the others.

"We've managed to make the red, green and blue sub-pixels 25 per cent smaller and that's given us the room to add the fourth sub-pixel, so you don't need any more pixels.

"What it also does is reduce the jaggedness of the picture because the sub-pixels are smaller."

Big investment

Sharp has invested heavily in the proprietary technology, and will spend even more money in marketing a concept that they believe brings tangible benefits to the screen.

"The real benefit is that this technology is not dependant on source, so it's available for anybody," adds Arnold.

"It's not what I would classify as a gimmick, because it will increase anyone's viewing pleasure."

Sharps Aquos Quattron range has a UK release date for the end of April or the beginning of May and final prices will be confirmed closer to launch.

Vodafone UK has responded to claims that its HTC Magic phones can be bought complete with viruses.

A worker for online anti-virus firm Panda Security bought a Magic from Vodafone in Spain, and wouldn't you know it, found three different types of malware on their device.

These came in the form of autorun files that once mounted to a Windows PC would cause all sorts of havoc.

Keep calm and carry on

However, Vodafone UK has told TechRadar that British users, and the wider Vodafone community, have nothing to worry about:

"The device involved in the incident was purchased by a customer of Vodafone Spain and is currently being investigated.

"The early indications are that this was an isolated local incident," said the spokesperson.

"Vodafone UK has received no reported security problems customers using the HTC Magic, although we continue to monitor the situation closely.

"We take our customer's security and privacy extremely seriously and will take further action to protect our customers should it be necessary."

While the verdict is still out with regard to consumer appetites for a 3rd portable computing device, PC makers are betting the farm on consumer interest in tablets that fill the gap between small-screened smartphones and bulky (by comparison) netbooks/laptops. We've already seen an uptick in tablet devices on display at the big CES and CeBIT trade shows, now tablet and MID device vendors look ready to blow out Computex when it kicks off on June 1st in Taipei. According to Roy Chen, ARM's ODM manager for worldwide mobile computing, more than 50 ARM-based tablet PCs will launch in 2010 starting in Q2 with "a lot more" landing in the third quarter -- a date that just happens to line up with the most optimistic Chrome OS launch schedule. ARM's seeing so much interest that it had to rent additional floor space to show off the devices. Chen said that many of the tablets are slated for China although all of the world's top 10 carriers have signed up as well. ARM was showing off two Android based tablets at the press event, including the 7-inch Compal device (pictured above) we gave a whirl at CES. Let's just hope that tablet makers have plans for some compelling content and service hook-ups with a focus on the user experience -- 50 near-identical slabs of touchscreen computing won't generate much enthusiasm around here.

Over 50 ARM-based tablets launching this year originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 10 Mar 2010 05:38:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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HP's Pavilion range comprises the majority of its consumer laptops and combines high-end designs with stunning usability and features. Its Pavilion dm3-1020EA is a compact and smartly designed portable that makes a stylish and capable travel partner.

At just 1.9kg, it is light and portable and its smooth, curved edges and sleek design let it slip easily into your hand luggage.

Its fantastic 276-minute battery life makes it perfect for people who work on the commute, allowing nearly five hours of mobile use.

A high-quality look throughout the entire chassis is provided by a combination of black plastics and brushed aluminium. These resilient materials also make it tough and able to withstand the rigours of daily use.

This level of quality continues across the user interface. The spacious keyboard delivers fantastic usability via the popular isolated-style design. All keys are firmly attached and move smoothly and accurately. The shiny metallic touchpad and mouse buttons are equally usable.

Where the dm3-1020EA really stands out is its bright and vibrant 13.3-inch LED screen. Image quality is stunning, with impressive sharpness and an excellent display of colour and contrast. Its glossy Super-TFT coating is more reflective than we would like, but this is a minor flaw.

Graphics performance isn't very good, but this is common with compact laptops such as this. Nevertheless, the integrated ATi graphics card provides ample power for watching movies, playing the most basic games and even photo and video editing.

Home and office abilities are less capable. Despite being a dual-core chip, performance is bettered by most other laptops at this price point. You can run most office applications and browse the internet with ease, but don't expect to multi-task with any degree of speed with this machine.

Average connectivity

Network connectivity is also less capable than we would have liked – or expected – from such a portable device. 802.11g Wi-Fi and 10/100 Ethernet provide average wireless and fixed connection speeds.

It should also be noted that, due to the slim chassis, there is no integrated optical disc drive (ODD) for CD or DVD access. An external USB drive is provided for use at home, but you won't be able to pop a disc into the side of this laptop for entertainment on the move.

Despite some very minor flaws, the Pavilion dm3-1020EA is nevertheless a stunningly designed, highly usable and eminently portable machine.

While its lack of an integrated ODD is unfortunate, this is still a great mobile device and one that is very easy to recommend.

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