Well, new research from the peer-reviewed publication Fertility and Sterility suggests that laptop internet browsing could be damaging sperm. And it appears that the Wi-Fi could be the culprit.

The study took semen samples from 29 healthy men in order to take a look at the effects of laptops using Wi-Fi on sperm. The divided the sperm from each subject into two groups. First, the experimental group was subjected to Wi-Fi-connected laptops for a period of four hours. The control group was kept in the same conditions, but without the laptop hovering over them.

What they found was that the Wi-Fi seemed to be affecting the sperm in a pretty alarming way.

While the sperm in the laptop-exposed group was not killed, it did show signs of both lost mobility and DNA fragmentation. Basically, the researchers witnessed that the experimental sperm group weren’t swimming much anymore, and many of the ones that were were damaged.

The laptop-exposed sperm lost mobility 11% more than the control group, and 9% showed DNA fragmentation, as opposed to just 3% of the control group.

The researchers suggest that keeping a Wi-Fi-connected laptop near the testes for extended periods of time could be harming sperm.

To our knowledge, this is the first study to evaluate the direct impact of laptop use on human spermatozoa. Ex vivo exposure of human spermatozoa to a wireless internet-connected laptop decreased motility and induced DNA fragmentation by a nonthermal effect. We speculate that keeping a laptop connected wirelessly to the internet on the lap near the testes may result in decreased male fertility. Further in vitro and in vivo studies are needed to prove this contention.

Of course, some in the field are skeptical of these findings. The president of the Society for Male Reproduction and Urology told Reuters that while interesting, the study wasn’t biologically relevant; “This is not real-life biology, this is a completely artificial setting,” he said about the new study. “It is scientifically interesting, but to me it doesn’t have any human biological relevance.”

Still, this isn’t the first time that some sort of electromagnetic radiation has been linked to sperm problems. The long-believed position that cellphones, kept in pockets all day, damage sperm got more support in August when an Italian study found a link between Rf-EMR and decreased sperm count and mobility.

Despite how you feel about the accuracy of these studies, I’m sure I won’t be the only one that at least thinks about reevaluating the position in which I browse the web at home.

By contrast, buying rates of 3DTVs (three-dimensional TVs) are expected to rise 500 percent; tablet computers 160 percent; ebook readers 133 percent; and smartphones 26 percent.

The survey found that only 17 percent of survey respondents plan to buy a desktop or laptop computer in 2011– a 39 percent drop from 2010. Tracking with this trend, the survey revealed that 75 percent of U.S. survey respondents emailed each week from their PCs in 2010, down from 80 percent the year before.

The research also showed that respondents are using multiple devices such as tablet PCs for activities that used to be done on traditional PCs. For example, on at least a weekly basis, 40 percent of the respondents email from a tablet PC. In addition to checking email, respondents are using tablet PCs for browsing the web, watching videos and reading books, newspapers and magazines.

“The research findings raise the question as to whether, in the long run, desktop and laptop PCs in the home will be increasingly replaced by a group of newer technology alternatives such as tablet computers, netbooks, smartphones and e-book readers,” said Kumu Puri, senior executive with Accenture’s Electronics & High-Tech Practice.

“If strength is measured by unit sales, the computer will remain the strong consumer technology giant for many years. Our research found that 93 percent of survey respondents own a computer—a higher proportion than any of the 19 technologies included in the survey. But if measured by growth rate, the PC market–at least for consumers–has reached a level of saturation and will continue to see diminished growth rates. There’s increasing potential for an end in sight for the relevance of the personal computer in the home as we know it today.”

Nearly half of all adults (47%) go online with a laptop using a Wi-Fi connection or mobile broadband card (up from the 39% who did so as of April 2009) while 40% of adults use the Internet, email or instant messaging on a mobile phone (up from the 32% of Americans who did this in 2009)

The report found the use of application not related to making calls has grown significantly over the last year. Compared with a similar point in 2009, cell phone owners are now more likely to use their mobile phones to:

*Take pictures-76% now do this, up from 66% in April 2009

*Send or receive text messages-72% vs. 65%

*Access the Internet-38% vs. 25%

*Play games-34% vs. 27%

*Send or receive email-34% vs. 25%

*Record a video-34% vs. 19%

*Play music-33% vs. 21%

*Send or receive instant messages-30% vs. 20%

"The growing functionality of mobile phones makes them ever-more powerful devices for on-the-go communications and computing," said Aaron Smith, Research Specialist and the author of the Pew Internet Project report.

"Cell phones have become for many owners an all-purpose chat-text-gaming-photo-sharing media hub that is an essential utility for work and a really fancy toy for fun."

African-Americans and English-speaking Latinos continue to be among the most active users of the mobile web. Cell phone ownership is higher among African-Americans and Latinos than among whites (87% vs. 80%) and minority cell phone owners use a much wider range of their phones’ features compared with white mobile phone users. In total, 64% of African-Americans access the Internet from a laptop or mobile phone, a seven-point increase from the 57% who did so at a similar point in 2009.

Young adults (those ages 18-29) are also heavy users of mobile applications, but older adults are gaining fast. Compared with 2009, cell phone owners ages 30-49 are significantly more likely to use their mobile device to send text messages, access the internet, take pictures, record videos, use email or instant messaging, and play music.

 "The mobile user population is becoming more diverse over time and more people are relying on their cell phones as their primary form of wireless connectivity," said Smith.

"Even as laptops have become more commonplace in recent years, significant numbers of young adults and minority Americans are relying on a cell phone as their on-ramp to the mobile web."

Other highlights from the report include:

*More than half of cell phone Internet users (55%) go online from their mobile phone on a daily basis.

*Most wireless laptop users go online wirelessly at home, but six in ten wireless laptop users go online from multiple locations. One in five (20%) do so from home, work and somewhere other than home or work.

*Laptop computers are now nearly as common as desktop computers-55% of American adults own a laptop computer, just below the 62% who own a desktop machine. In the past year, laptop ownership among African-Americans has risen dramatically (51% of African-American adults now own a laptop computer).
 

Are you planning on purchasing an iPad? Let us know.

1.) The Name
Numerous names were being thrown around in the months/weeks leading up to the release (iTablet, iSlate, iPad) but which name was Apple going to choose? I had grown accustomed to referring to the device as the iTablet, I could even see calling it the iSlate… but iPad never seemed quite right. Why would Apple want to name their new product something that sounds so familiar to the iPod? Some people are objecting to the name referring to it as the “iTampon”.

Talk about foresight, this Mad TV iPad skit aired several years ago… and easily became 10x funnier. 

2.) No Multitasking
Are you serious… who thought this was a good idea? How can the iPad even compete with Netbooks if you can’t multitask? This means that if you’re writing a document you can’t listen to music, you can’t have TweetDeck open if you want to check your email, you can only do one thing at a time, which has always been a complaint with the iPhone.

3.) No Camera
Why is there no camera on the iPad, front or back? It’s got a microphone… but no camera. Look at the size of the case that surrounds the screen, there is ample space for a camera. The iPad should’ve at least come with a 3-megapixel camera built in. As it stands, this means no iChat/Skype chat for you. Good move Apple, good move.

4.) Huge Ridiculous Adapters
Want to access your camera or plug in something USB… well there’s an adapter for that, actually 2 separate adapters both excessively huge.

5.) Same Touch Keyboard
The iPad needed to re-revolutionize the keypad for touchscreen devices, make it easier to use. So what did we get… just a larger version of what we already had. It’ll be incredibly hard to type on, unless you’re lying flat with your knees holding the device up, or you buy the iPad Case (essentially a book cover).

BONUS: No Flash (We just couldn’t stop at 5)
Most of us are probably accustomed to Apple devices not being Flash compatible, but if Apple is truly wanting to compete with other Netbooks they need to remedy this. With a larger screen comes more responsibilities, i.e. you can’t just leave gigantic holes in the middle of webpages if you claim it to be "the best web experience you’ve ever had".

The iPad is still in its infancy, so we’re sure that it’ll get better with time. Only time will tell if Apple’s iPad will be a success or an iFlop.

What are some other problems you see with the iPad? Leave us a comment.

Our own Mike McDonald caught up with Sony’s product manager for the device at the show and talked with him about the device. He pulls it out of his pocket, so that gives you an idea of the size. While I doubt I would carry it in my pocket, it’s nice to know it would fit there.

The product manager, Xavier Lauwaert calls the device a life changer. This might be a bit of exaggeration, but then again, it doesn’t look bad. I would imagine some people would prefer a different OS though.

Specs include:

– 1.33GHz Intel processor
– Genuine Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium or Home Basic (32-Bit)
– 8" LED backlit 1600X768 display, 1.4lbs.
– Up to 60GB hard drive, available 128GB SSD
– Up to 4-hour battery
– 2GB RAM

Other features of the Sony VAIO P Series Lifestyle PC include instant mode for instant access, built-in Verizon 3G broadband connectivity, a built-in MOTION EYE webcam, a special window arrangement utility, and a complete GPS solution, further emphasizing it’s use on the road.

Starting at $899.99, the device certainly looks to be one worth checking out. Sony will start shipping at the beginning of February, but preorders are currently available online. More info from Sony.

The companies include Dell, Ericsson, Lenovo, Microsoft, T-Mobile, Toshiba and Vodafone. The group’s goal is to help people easily identify laptops that have built in access to the Internet via high-speed networks. The marketing initiative is worth more than $1 billion over the next year.

The group will label laptop computers that meet their standards for mobile broadband access with a badge that identifies the laptops as ready for mobile broadband connections.

"Mobile Broadband is like a home or office broadband connection with one crucial difference: freedom. Freedom from hot spots, freedom from complexity and freedom from security concerns," said Michael O’Hara, CMO of the GSMA. "Today, 16 of the world’s largest technology companies have committed to change the way people get online forever.

"This commitment is manifested in a service mark that we expect to see on several hundred thousand notebooks in the shops by the holiday season. The Mobile Broadband badge will assure consumers that the devices they buy will always connect – wherever Mobile Broadband is available – and that they can expect a high standard of simplicity and mobility."

According to research commissioned by the GSMA and conducted by Pyramid Research, there is demand for $50 billion worth of such laptops this year.

The group says that integrating mobile broadband into notebook PCs is the first step in a wider strategy to deliver wireless Internet access to a number of previously unconnected devices, including cameras, MP3 players, cars and set-top boxes.

"While there will always be a place for WiFi connectivity, the great merit of Mobile Broadband might be that it liberates the user from the spatial tyranny of the so-called ‘hotspot," said Shiv K. Bakhshi, Ph.D., IDC director of mobility research.
 

The UW website states:

“Adeona is the first Open Source system for tracking the location of your lost or stolen laptop that does not rely on a proprietary, central service. This means that you can install Adeona on your laptop and go — there’s no need to rely on a single third party. What’s more, Adeona addresses a critical privacy goal different from existing commercial offerings. It is privacy-preserving. This means that no one besides the owner (or an agent of the owner’s choosing) can use Adeona to track a laptop. Unlike other systems, users of Adeona can rest assured that no one can abuse the system in order to track where they use their laptop. “

A very cool feature is using the iSight camera to take pics of the “user” after your laptop has been lost/stolen.  This feature is for Mac OS X, but Adeona is useful for laptops of all kinds.  The team is looking at Adeona for mobile devices.

Linux, OS X and XP/Vista are supported.

Btw kudos to: Ph.D. students Gabriel Maganis and Thomas Ristenpart, working with UW faculty members Tadayoshi Kohno and Arvind Krishnamurthy.

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