IBM on Monday introduced new ThinkPad notebook computers that are designed to protect data when they suffer a fall.

The ThinkPad T41 and the ThinkPad R50 both include the IBM Active Protection System, which is similar to the technology that tells cars when to deploy airbags. A microchip on the motherboard detects when the computer is falling and parks the read/write head on the hard drive until the computer is stabilized. This helps prevent the data loss that can happen when a notebook computer falls off a desk, said officials at IBM in Research Triangle Park, N.C.

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