Hasta La Gadget!

Art and technology, peanut butter and chocolate: Some things go better together. That’s why Dell, which makes computers, is partnering with Threadless, which makes clothing. The two companies have just announced an exclusive collection of original Threadless graphics, which are available for customizing select Dell laptops.

Buyers can currently choose from 11 designs, each created by a member of the Threadless community. The collection will constantly be refreshed with new selections. You can view the Threadless collecton in Dell’s Design Studio, an art gallery shopping site, where customers can select from hundreds of designs, artists, colors, and patterns. Dell will also join the Threadless Everywhere Tour, which runs from July 2 to October 9, offering art shows, socials, music festivals, and other events across the country. 

Want to make your 17-inch MacBook Pro look like something a little more literary and a lot less techie? Then head over to Twelve South and pick up one of the new 17-inch BookBook cases. It’s a MacBook case that looks like a book–get it? You can get the BookBook in Classic Black or Vibrant Red. It’s a tough call: the sedateness of the black model is appealing, but the red model has red on the corners, as well.

You’d better hurry if you want one, though, because Twelve South says it has a limited number available at this size. They go for $99.99 each. Twelve South has a gallery of photos up, if you want to see the BookBook in action. 

Oh, for those halcyon days of early January. Microsoft’s Steve Ballmer was on stage, Hewlett-Packard tablet in hand, and the iPad was still officially a rumor.

Six months later, it’s a brave new world. HP is buying Palm, the the Apple iPad is now the geek accoutrement du jour, and the poor HP Slate? Locked in a closet, if not a dustbin.

Forrester’s Sarah Rotman Epps helped host her firm’s Untethered conference Wednesday in New York City, and generated this tweet: “HP: WebOS tablet coming. No comment on Windows device.”

Phil McKinney, a gregarious sort of gentleman, was scheduled to speak at the conference, where Technlogizer’s Harry McCracken said he asked about the fate of the Slate. McKinney offered up the no comment of doom, which led Epps, McCracken and other attendees to bury the poor Slate in the grave of ignominy.

At least we know that Palm’s webOS lives.

Aside from spilling a hot cup of coffee on your laptop keyboard, there’s nothing worse than that sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach when you realize that your laptop or your smartphone is gone. Whether you accidentally left your briefcase in a cab, or your smartphone is stolen while you’re on the subway, the end result is the same: You just want your mobile device back, and quickly.

Many owners are never reunited with their mobile devices, but here may be some hope. According to ActiveTrak, as many as 95 percent of devices running their proprietary GadgetTrak software are actually recovered. That’s encouraging news for mobile technology buffs, as both the financial investment in and emotional attachment to those devices can be substantial.

The Onkyo DX1007A5B notebook is why I flew 7,800 miles to attend Computex. It doesn’t feature the fastest processor or break new ground in terms of the platform. And to be honest, I didn’t even know Onkyo made PCs until I saw this system in the Microsoft booth. But this is exactly what I expected to find at the show, and it doesn’t disappoint.

Hardware-wise, the system is nothing special: AMD Athlon Neo CPU, 4GB of RAM, 320GB HD, and Windows 7 Home Edition. But the cool thing is the displays, plural. Two 10.2-inch displays are mounted horizontally, so you can extend your desktop horizontally. Since that would be kind of awkward to carry, they collapse down into a standard form factor for travel.

But wait, there’s more! Twist the screen around, and the system works as a tablet. Albeit without a touchscreen, but still pretty neat.

Practical? Probably not. But you got to love the effort. Check out the video to see it in action and tell me you don’t agree.