IBM debuts hard drive 'airbag' crash protection
Though the article says the T41 and R50 are now available on IBM's site, I couldn't find them (at the time of this post).
Essentially, APS watches out for sudden movement and parks the hard drive's read/write head when it detects. The heads are released when the system is no longer moving. IBM compares the technology to a car's airbag system, and although APS just parks the drive heads, IBM reckons that should be enough to protect the drive when the host machine is dropped.
APS will be added to the new ThinkPad R50, a 3.3cm (1.3in) thick 2.5kg (5.6lb) portable offered with either a 14 or 15in screen. IBM is offering a variety of processors, including the Pentium M Centrino chip, Mobile Celeron and Mobile Pentium 4s. A range of hard drive capacities, optical storage units and graphics chips are available through IBM's BTO service. As an alternative to Centrino's 802.11b WLAN adaptor, IBM is offering its own a/b/g wireless card.
The T41 extends the T series, with its 14.1in displays, ATI Mobility Radeon graphics and Pentium M processors, 40 or 80GB of hard drive space and DVD-ROM/CD-RW combo drive.
Though the article says the T41 and R50 are now available on IBM's site, I couldn't find them (at the time of this post).