'In the Big Blue corner, weighing in at 3.6 pounds...'

IBM has revamped its ultraportable ThinkPad X30 notebook computer, enhancing wireless access and extending battery life to eight hours.

The new ThinkPad X30, which makes its debut later today, combines a number of features found on larger notebooks and puts them into a 3.6-pound frame.

The notebook comes with built-in WiFi wireless networking and Bluetooth capabilities, software for network hopping, a security chip for hardened authentication and encryption, and a FireWire port for plugging in consumer-electronics devices such as digital cameras.

"We see a dramatic rise in wireless adoption," said Leo Suarez, vice president of worldwide product marketing at IBM. A year from now, 40 per cent to 50 per cent of notebooks will come with built-in wireless, he said. Two years from now the figure will climb past 70 per cent.

The new ThinkPad X30 also comes with a portable docking bay that plugs into the back of the notebook, giving it an extra battery and an optical drive. With the bay plugged in, the ThinkPad X30 can run for more than eight hours, the company said.

Despite a slump in PC sales in general, notebook sales continue to climb. Prices have been steadily declining, and consumers and IT managers have begun to more readily see the advantages of wireless computing, said Alan Promisel, an analyst with market research firm IDC. Notebook sales will increase 16.3 per cent in 2003, he predicted.

Increasing sales, combined with customer demands for performance, are prompting manufacturers to tweak and enhance their designs. Wireless connectivity, for instance, can sap battery power. To tackle this performance problem, IBM has installed power management software to improve overall energy conservation, especially during steady-state periods, when the system isn't handling taxing projects such as data transmission.

In all, more than 25 new patents are embodied in the design of the ThinkPad X30, the company said.

Michael Kanellos writes for News.com