LED backlit notebooks are the new fad for notebook manufacturers, the forerunners being Sony, Toshiba, Fujitsu, and Asustek. Now Apple and Hewlett Packard (HP) are going to release their models with the said technology in Q2 2007.

Even when big notebook makers are using LEDs, Taiwan LED manufacturers are unlikely to profit from the innovation, according to DigiTimes.com

The use of LED backlights has become more popular, but LED manufacturers in Taiwan would unlikely supply the demand since their LEDs simply don't cut it. The specifications of a backlit notebook is 1,680 nits, and Taiwan LED makers have yet to reach that brightness level. Patent restraints would also be a hurdle since notebook makers consider that better than cost competitiveness.

However, they will continue making the LEDs for handsets though they are constantly under pressure to be cost competitive.

Oooh, it seems that Fujitsu wants in on the small format hard drive market that Toshiba has been leading in. With everything from iPods to other small electronics devices coming out that use one form of a hard drive or another, the market seems to be booming.

While Apple has replaced its lower-capacity MP3 players like the iPod Mini with flash-based storage solutions that don't incorporate hard drives, other iPods continue to make use of the tiny parts.

According to VNUNet, Fujitsu is looking to make their entrance big, introducing a 1.8 inch hard drive with capacities up to 120 gigabytes. I hope that Apple takes notice of the drives and maybe uses them for a future iPod. That much storage space would be downright sexy.

[Via, VNUNet]