ArcherMind has just unveiled the result of their collaboration with Chinese hardware makers, the first in-car navigation system based on Google’s Android operating system. Embedded with an ARM core processor, the system was shown off at the Embedded Technology 2009 event in Japan.

It’s exciting because we’re talking Android, but some other features include an 800 x 480 resolution 7-inch screen, a navigation system that allows you to surf the web, write and receive SMSs and to play audio books. Using 3G Wi-Fi and Bluetooth the system also features a hard disk drive, and an SD card slot for storage.

Over the last few months, there have been several new upgrade hard drives and SSDs that have been announced for notebooks and netbooks. One of the common issues for computer users wanting a larger hard drive is getting the data from their computer over to the new drive.

Apricorn has announced a new upgrade kit called the SATA Wire that is a cable that connects to the SATA SSD or HDD and to your PC USB port. The kit also includes software for Mac and Windows machines to migrate data to the new drive.

If there is one common truth about external storage solutions it is that you always use more capacity than you think you will. This is especially true of you are the type who produces and consumes lots of digital media. Hitachi has announced several new external storage devices boasting 2TB of space.

The external solutions include the SimpleDrive USB 2.0 storage solution selling for $249.99. It works with both Mac and Windows computers. Hitachi also crammed 2TB of storage inside its SimpleTech line of solutions. The SimpleTech Pro Drive has USB, FireWire 400/800, and eSATA connectivity to go along with its 2TB HDD for $299.99.

Here’s yet another super-slim ION-powered nettop from Chinese-based JIEHE, dubbed the Giada Slim N10. If slim is your thing you might want to check this one out. It’s light too weighing less then 1kg.

Some features include a dual core Intel Atom N330 CPU, NVIDIA ION graphics, up to 4GB RAM, a 2.5-inch hard drive bay, 3-in-1 card reader and your choice of either Windows Vista or 7 OS. As far as connectivity ports, it offers 5 USB 2.0, eSATA, VGA, HDMI and Ethernet.

Google’s Chrome first announced in July, will be available within a week. Google had previously said to expect an early version of the OS in the fall.

Driver support will probably be a weak point, but apparently Google has a legion of engineers working on building hardware drivers. Word is that Google is mostly relying on hardware manufacturers to create those drivers. In any event functioning drivers is important to Chrome OS’s success. Soon we will find out how well it works.

iBuyPower just launched its first Core i7 Notebook, the iBuyPower Battalion 101W870CU. The iBuyPower Battalion 101 comes with your choice of Intel Core i7 processor: the 1.6GHz 720QM, the 1.73GHz 820QM and the 2.0GHz 920XM.

Memory is 2GB of DDR3 RAM standard with the option to increase it to 8GB. It also boasts a GeForce GTX 280M card, along with a 17.3 inch widescreen full HD LCD display with a resolution of 1920 x 1080. Hard drives range from 250GB up to 500GB or SSDs which from 64GB up to 256GB. There’s also an optional Blu-ray drive, 7-in-1 card reader, 3D surround sound, 802.11 a/g/n WiFi and LAN.

Flash drives are growing in capacity almost as fast as hard drives are for our computers. Corsair makes all sorts of flash drives from high-end massive capacity units to cheap drives that hold small amounts of data.

Corsair announced a new pair of flash drives today called the Flash Survivor GT line. The new drives are ruggedized and are water resistant and shock resistant. Just like the normal Flash Survivor line, the flash drive is secured inside a sealed aluminum tube to protect it from damage.

Asus released a Core 2 Duo G51 a few months ago, but now they’ve just pushed out the exact same laptop with a Core i7 and a price tag that’s $200 less. The G51J-A1 was launched along with Windows 7, and the guys over at Hot Hardware put it through it’s paces to find out what it was capable of.

Here’s what they found: the new CPU allowed this machine to leave the C2D version in the dust in every test. Graphical performance was pretty astounding. Even though there’s no Blu-ray drive, at $1,499, you don’t really expect it to be included.

Sony is releasing three new laptops, all part of the Vaio Fall-Winter Signature collection. The Sony Vaio VGN-FW590FFD comes with a 16.4-inch LCD display, 4GB of RAM, 500GB hard disk drive, a 2.53GHZ Intel Core 2 Duo P8700 processor and ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4650 graphics.

We covered the Sony VAIO FW Nebula, which features a 16.4-inch extra widescreen HD display, an Intel Core 2 Duo Processor, an ATI HD Graphics card with up to 1GB VRAM, up to 8GB of configurable RAM, up to a 500GB hard drive or 256GB SSD, and you’ll get 5.5-hours of battery life.

Brinell’s Purestorage line of external HDDs feature and classy exteriors. They’re almost too pretty to carry around and risk scratching that beautiful leather, carbon, wood or stainless steel case. These are probably the sexiest way to carry 160GB to 500GB on your person.

They remind us of old cigarette cases and come equipped with Mini-USB cable connections, a cleaning cloth and backup and synchronizing tool PureSync by Jumping Bytes.

Litl describes their Webbook as “an internet computer that works great with your favorite websites”. The Litle Webbook aims to be versatile and can be used as a standard netbook or, flipped around, as a TV device with an optional remote and “TV style” control knob.

Some features include a 12-inch LCD display with an Intel Atom 1.6GHz processor, a GPU that can playback H.264 in 720p, 1GB of RAM, and 2GB of built in flash storage. What sets it apart is that it has no hard drive. All data is stored on the Internet. You’ll also get built-in WiFi, a headphone jack, HDMI, a USB 2.0 port, and a built-in webcam.

Rumors have been swirling for the past couple of days, and it looks like the rumors were real. This weekend, Walmart is kicking off their pre-Black Friday deals, including a $199 Xbox 360 Arcade that comes with a free $100 gift card. That basically drops the price to $100.

And that isn’t the only good deal they have either. The sale starts at 8 a.m. Nov. 7 and lasts through Nov. 13. Probably these deals will be finished on the first day. I know where I’ll be

USB 3.0 devices are just now showing up for mass consumption and Super Talent is leading the charge, having just introduced the first USB 3.0 flash drive, which promises transfer rates of up to 320MB/sec.

If you have a USB 3.0 socket, you’ll get speeds up to 200MB/sec. If you use it in a USB 2.0 connector it will slow to USB 2.0 speeds of course. No word on a price or release date, but expect it to ship soon in 32GB, 64GB and 128GB capacities.

Maingear just launched a new range of PCs dubbed Maingear Shift, which they are calling the “personal supercomputer that redefines computing performance, design and support”. The Maingear SHIFT uses the power of graphics processing units (GPU) and is designed to speed up everyday mundane tasks like video and photo editing.

The SHIFT features an aluminum case, steel skeleton and advanced cooling with bottom and top airflow and liquid cooling. Two models in the range are available, the SHIFT Intel P55, which comes with an Intel Core I7 800 series processor, Intel Kingsberg P55 Extreme Series motherboard,ATI Radon or NVIDIA GeForce graphics cards, up to 8GB of DDR3 RAM, up to 6 hard drives, or 12 SSDs, and either a Blu-ray or DVD burner.

It’s official. Sprint will be offering a subsidized version of the popular Dell Mini 10. The netbook will feature an internal EVDO Revision A modem for 3G access wherever you are, so you aren’t just relying on the availability of Wi-Fi networks.

Aside from that, everything else under the hood remains the same. That includes an Intel Atom 1.33GHz processor, 1GB RAM, a 160GB hard drive and Windows XP Home. Sprint is offering the Dell Mini 10 for $200, with a 2-year agreement with a $60 monthly data plan…after a $100 mail-in rebate.