Netbooks are still big business for Asustek. So much so that the hotness from 2009 outsold Asus tablets in 2011. Per numbers released at the company’s global sales meeting (and relayed by Digitimes), Asustek expects to ship 4.8 netbooks by the end of 2011 but only 1.8 million tablets. But that’s expected to change in 2012. The roles will be reversed and Asus sees big things for next year.

Once upon a time, the Eee PC was the netbook to own. It was loved by moms and modders alike. It was (and still is) cheap, well-equipped, and widely available at a number of retailers. In 2010 the Eee PC owned 20% of the netbook market and it’s estimated that Asus shipped 6-8 million units that year alone. But netbooks were always a stopgap product of sorts and never expected to be with us forever. With shipments predictable down in 2011, the company is likely looking to tablets to pick up the slack.

Asus offered basically one tablet model in 2011: the hot Eee Pad Transformer. This tablet was announced at CES 2011 where it instantly won over geeks with impressive specs but an even more tasty $399 MSRP. Even though it didn’t hit the retail market until May, it apparently sold pretty well for an Android device. It must have made up the bulk of Asus’ tablet sales. Besides the Transformer, there’s the Eee Pad Slider and the brand new Transformer Prime. But those three tablets stood tall against the company’s established but shrinking Eee PC product line.

Asus is predicting a total shipment amount of 1.8 million tablets this year. That number is expected to rise to 3 million next year, picking up the slack of the dying netbook, but also, per Asus, surpassing Samsung’s tablets. Yep, Asus expects to beat the Samsung Galaxy Tab army. That would be, in case you can’t keep up, the Samsung Galaxy Note, the GalTab 7.0, the 7.7, the 8.9, the 10.1 and all the different variations between them — those are just the models announced this year. If Asus follows its own recent path, it expects to best Samsung with a much more simple offering.

Netbooks shot Asus into the primetime and established the company as a consumer brand. But netbooks are quickly getting killed off by tablets. If Asus stays its course and things go as they hope, the journey between netbooks and tablets should be relatively painless.

Okay, maybe not. But this one from Samsung, which has no special specs except for the solar panel on the back, was originally not coming to the US. And now it is. For $399. July 3rd. Word to your solar powered mother.

[via Laptop]

ViewSonic, recently famous for making surprisingly cheap (and actually beloved) Android tablets, expects to cancel its entire netbook line.

Netbooks were an interstitial technology. They were cheap, easy to make, and seemed to perform the way users have always imagined a “third screen” device would, namely as a portable, instant-on device. However, the limitations of the desktop paradigm soon became apparent and the devices fell by the wayside. My concern? The same garbage that appeared during the netbook boom will soon overtake the tablet market.

via Digitimes

As you’ll recall, Apple sat out the netbook race. Sure, they put one ultralight device forward, the Macbook Air, but it was a premium device, while the other manufacturers drove prices into the dirt and sent quality lower and lower. The result, if you’ll look at the blasted laptop landscape today, is a market full of an amalgam of mid-range fleet laptops for business travelers that have taken some design cues from higher-end netbooks and goofy art-themed mini laptops for students.

The netbook – at least the small, squat, and compact devices so many claimed to love – has been abandoned for 13- to 15-inch models that are considerably thinner and lighter than they were a few years ago. Although my evidence is more or less anecdotal, I can assure you this is the trend I’ve seen in the the current crop of laptops coming up in the next few months and no matter how much you defend your netbook, you have to admit they got pretty bad near the end of the decade.

So how does the current tablet market compare to the long decline of netbooks? Well, I believe that the two markets are, in a sense, similar, but it’s the differences that are preventing any one manufacturer from gaining any traction in the tablet space.

First, we need to make a basic supposition. We assume, for sake of argument, the iPad is most popular consumer tablet thus far created (the sales numbers bear that out) and we need to assume that the popularity of the iPad is something to which all manufacturers aspire.

I also posit that manufacturers are social animals. They see what their peers are doing in the space and then head over to Asia to have it manufactured. There are only a few major manufacturers and these factories offer fairly limited configurations from which OEMs can choose. Sure, guys like Dell and HP can order up their own silicon but they didn’t get their laptops below $500 by customizing the motherboard. They bought some standard boards, slapped in some chips, and created permutations of the same thing in different trade dress. As it once was with stereos – manufacturers would hide the extra features like EQ sliders inside the case and simply charge a premium to expose them – you were basically buying the same laptop with a different name.

Essentially, laptop manufacturers saw a way to make a cheap buck with commodity hardware. They offered sub-par performance and non-optimal sizing to a world that was ready to buy into a lie that you didn’t have to pay for quality. The same consumers who lapped up netbooks in the hopes that they would make good “second computers” are now lapping up iPads – and, to a lesser degree, Android devices – and actually using them as second computers.

In terms of manufacturing, the age of tablets is different from the age of netbooks mostly because there is no way to make a cheap tablet. You only have a certain, finite amount of space inside a small tablet case and, more important, tablet PC parts are expensive and often custom-built. Touchscreens are expensive because mother-glass manufacturers see Apple buying up their stock and they hope to make a killing. Flash memory is expensive because, well, Apple bought it all. And the tablets themselves are expensive because Apple set the prices. If Motorola could have gotten the Xoom below $250 I’m sure they would have but, given that there is a more popular alternative out there that costs twice as much, playing a scorched-earth pricing game would leave money on the table.

But manufacturers can’t “beat” the iPad because they’re still playing by netbook rules. As Stephen Elop said, there will soon be “200 tablets” on the market and only one clear winner. But hardware manufacturers are like sharks – they can’t sit still. They need to produce products constantly, no matter the popularity, and as a result, on the aggregate, no one device they produce out of the other 199 can touch the reigning king. It may sound hyperbolic but it’s true. However, they’ve been surprisingly reticent to produce many tablets. I’ve heard it said over and over: “If RIM had released the Playbook a year earlier, they would have owned the space.” Instead they announced early and hemmed and hawed and then released a device that is potentially superior to the iPad but, in practice, little more than a smooshed out Blackberry smartphone.

Also, consider the reason carriers selling tablets with a contract: it’s the only way manufacturers can make a modicum of profit. Tablets are expensive to produce. Even at $499 they can’t make much out of a straight-to-consumer deal. There is no other way to explain why $450 Acer Iconia A500 is more expensive than the presumably more fully-featured Acer Aspire One netbook other than the commoditization of parts. While margins are slim on both devices, I would wager Acer is making more on the Aspire One than the tablet.

In the end, manufacturers must do what they know best in order to survive. They have to commoditize devices to reduce their price sufficiently and they have to drive down prices to remain competitive in a saturated marketplace. The current tablet market will not allow that for many of the reasons I mentioned above and also, simply, because no one wants a garbage tablet. In fact, a bad tablet is worse than no tablet at all, as evidenced by all the years Microsoft tried to flog their Tablet Edition software and hardware to an uninterested populace. On the low end the only tablet worth mentioning is the Nook Color, and anyone who tries to sell you a $99 tablet is out to steal your money. In the end, the netbook craze resembles but can never mirror the current tablet craze. Although I’m reticent to call this a “post PC” world, I think this is a bit more than a fad, though, and it seems that Apple is so far ahead in terms of sales, popularity, and usability that everyone else is, in a word, flummoxed. They just can’t fit a tablet into a global supply chain that rewards chintz.

I’ve heard that there’s a bit of a backlash against Google and Apple for not catering to Asian markets, and others are jumping at the chance to fill in the vacancy. While I’m not impressed with Windows 7 as a tablet ecosystem and MeeGo and Android are still in their infancy, I guess it might be nice to have a device that just does it all. Why not?

The Maestro S (being shown off at IDF Beijing) has a new 1.5GHz Atom Z670, 2GB of RAM, and 32 gigs of SSD storage. Its built-in accessories include a full keyboard and trackpad, plus a big ol’ kickstand there on the left side. It looks chunky as hell, but they’re claiming 16 hours of battery in Android and 10 in Windows 7.

Will it ever come to the US? I doubt it. It’d be mighty expensive and it goes against what consumers are demanding right now. But just so you know, these things are out there. Netbook News has more information and a video for you, along with a good round-up of the other good stuff they saw at the conference.

Well, lots of people, probably the ones who got burned by the last generation of netbooks. The fact is no matter how cute they are, they’re pretty underpowered and end ultimately disappoint. In the eCAfe’s case, it doesn’t really even have a real OS, but a sort of faux-OS devised by Hercules that, while it boots in a fantastic four seconds, doesn’t sound too compelling.

The specs are buried pretty deep, and for good reason: the 800MHz Arm A8 processor, 512MB of RAM, and 16GB of storage aren’t very impressive. However, it is well-provided with ports: three USB 2.0, HDMI out, a card reader, and Ethernet. But while this might have pushed a few units back in 2009, I just don’t see it making a splash in today’s tablet-obsessed world.

[via Hot Hardware]

Asus has made its Eee Pad Transformer official. Never heard of the device? It’s been floating around for a few months now, including making a secretive appearance back at CES in January. To quickly describe it, it’s part tablet, part netbook. And here I thought tablets had replaced netbooks.

The Eee Pad Transformer’s biggest thing is that you can use it as a standard, Android 3.0 (Honeycomb) tablet. Surf the Web, fiddle about with apps, that kind of thing. But Asus decided that wasn’t good enough. “This isn’t good enough!” one of their engineers might have shouted once. So in addition to being a fully featured, as-you-like, tablet you can also use it as a netbook.

By setting the tablet in a small dock, you can then use the attached keyboard to use the device more like you’d use a netbook. Perhaps you find it’s easier to type when at as desk using a normal keyboard? That’s your call, I suppose.

The point is, it does both.

(No, there’s nothing stopping you from hooking up your iPad in similar fashion, but let’s not dwell on that for now.)

The hard specs aren’t bad: Tegra 2 dual-core processor, 10.1-inch display (Gorilla Glass, mind) at 1280×800, built-in 5-megapixel camera for recording HD video (or whatever else), HDMI output, etc.

It’s a tablet. You won’t be rendering video on it, but perhaps reading this or that forum, tweeting this or that bit of wisdom, etc.

Oh, and it has a 16-hour battery. So says Asus, at least. That’s fairly substantial.

It’ll be released in Taiwan today (or it already has, timezones being the pesky things that they are), and Asus says it should be around $400-$700 (depending on accessories) when makes its way around the world.

Existing netbooks generally cost somewhere north of $300, though of course they can be found cheaper. Suppliers have informed Digitimes that Asus/Asustek is looking to aim lower, with a $200-$250 price point and a lightweight OS, possibly Android or Chrome. The laptop itself would be likely be 10″ or 11″. That could easily be subsidized down to zero dollars with a six-month 3G contract, though that particular “$0 laptop” ship may have sailed in 2009.

A $200 Chromebook? Hey, I might be down for that. It’s something I might actually be able to work from, unlike my iPad, and at $200 it’s such a small investment that I could have one sitting around the house for emergencies and not feel like I ripped myself off.

We’ll soon see whether these reports have any salt to them. We haven’t heard anything about Chrome OS since the Cr-48, really, but I still have hopes.

First a LifeTouch-branded Android tablet, now a netbook: NEC took the wraps off the so-called LifeTouch Note [JP] today, a netbook with Android 2.2 and a 7-inch LCD touchscreen on board.

There will be three different models (with or without 3G and with more or less internal memory).

Here are the main specs of the top model:

• 7-inch LCD resistive touchscreen with 800×480 resolution
• Android 2.2 with access to the Android market and various Japanese marketplaces
• QWERTY keyboard
• NVIDIA Tegra 250 2-core CPU (1GHz)
• 8GB of internal memory
• Bluetooth 2.1+EDR
• 3G connectivity
• IEEE 802.11b/g Wi-Fi
• 0.5 mono speaker
• GPS
• 2MP camera
• USB 2.0 port, SDHC card slot
• size: 234×138×25mm, weight: 699g

As far as the models and prices are concerned, this LifeTouch Note will cost $660. The same device without 3G will be $120 cheaper, while the most basic version (4GB internal memory, no 3G) will be priced at $480.

Netbooks… they still make those? I thought tablets killed ‘em a little while back. Meh, whatever. Sony has another one due out before the holidays, only it’ll be released in Japan before it’s released elsewhere. The Vaio Y series, which actually debuted at the beginning of the year at 13.3 inches, will now live life as a happy, productive 11.6 incher. (Though the old 13.3 incher should still be available.)

The stats aren’t bad. It’s got an i3-380 (unlike, say, the MacBook Air’s Core 2 Duo) running at 1.33GHz, anywhere from 2GB to 8GB of memory, and storage of 320GB. I suppose you’d want an SSD these days, but that probably depends on how you’re going to use the laptop. Oh, and the display is 1366×768.

Sony hasn’t said how much it costs, nor when it’ll be available outside of Japan.

The Aspire One AOD255 rocks the dual-core Atom N550 cpu along with 1GB DDR3 memory. Along with the added horsepower, the battery is now rated at eight-hours. The rest of netbooks specs are predicitable — 10.1-inch LED screen, Intel graphics 802.11, b/g/n, 1.3 MP webcam, 250GB hard drive — but they are also just fine for the form factor.

The larger, 11.6-inch Aspire One AO721 goes about things a little different. Instead of utilizing Intel chips, this netbook dances with AMD with an Athlon II Neo K125 and 384MB ATI Radeon HD 4225 GPU. Nearly everything else is the same with its Intel counterpart, but the AO721 comes packing with 2GB of DDR3 memory and a six-hour battery.

Expect these models to hit the usual retailers sometime this month for $329 and $429.

Following Sony, Panasonic also showed [JP] some new computer hardware today, namely the so-called Let’snote J9. It’s essentially a mini notebook with a 10.1-inch screen that runs on Windows 7 Home Premium and has a modular 128GB SSD on board. Another selling point is the Core i5-460M (2.53GHz) CPU that powers the device.

Here are some other key specs:

• LCD screen with 1,366×768 resolution
• 2GB RAM (6GB max.)
• Gigabit Ethernet
• IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n Wi-Fi
• WiMAX
• two USB 2.0 ports, SDXC slot
• HDMI interface
• weight: 990g

Panasonic plans to start selling the Let’snote J9 in Japan on October 15 for $2,140, including the nice black bag you see on the pictures above (no word yet on international availability).

Well what do you know? Netbook growth is so low right now that in a recent report by NPD, Morgan Stanley Research lists last months growth as a negative number. That’s right, people are apparently selling the notebooks back or something. (not really, but no one is buying netbooks right now)

Morgan Stanley’s Katy Huberty’s report is intended to show the state of the netbook market and since the iPad was announced, netbooks declined steadily. She states that the iPad is partly responsible to the loss sales. August saw a 4% decline over last year’s numbers and apparently September will produce similar numbers. If the back to school spending spree can’t save netbooks, nothing can. Not even Santa.

I couldn’t agree more with the claim that the iPad hurt the netbook market, but let’s not put the netbook’s huge decline totally on the $500 iPad. You can’t convince me that netbook and iPad shoppers are the same demographic. Netbooks had their 15 minutes of fame last year and were already on a steady downward trend by the time the iPad hit the market in April. Could it be that mainstream consumers finally wised up and opted for a modern notebook instead of underpowered crap? I sure hope so.

Best Buy’s CEO recently stated to the Wall Street Journal that internal estimates pegs the iPad with cannibalizing notebook sales by as much as 50%. That seems more like it. A good chunk of customers that walk into Best Buy looking for a laptop, expect to pay a certain amount and the iPad is at the low-end of that scale.

Tablets in general will probably appeal to those that have a working computer but are just looking for a fresh experience. Netbooks somewhat filled that market the last year, but the early hardware paired with Windows Vista likely turned off most buyers from exploring that route again and can perhaps partly explain their massive decline. Either way, I can’t wait for the tablet to kill the netbook star.

slates like the iPad as delivering the concept of “always-on, all-day devices” that smartbooks had initially promised.

Ding dong. Witch dead.

My problem with netbooks is that they promised far more than they delivered. When you opened a netbook your initial thoughts were “Oh, I can get lots done on this.” Then you tried to run anything. In the end, users were frustrated, reviewers were angry, and the netbook became a doorstop. Our implicit expectations of tablets, however, forgo these problems. In fact, a tablet is supposed to look disappointing and then, when it doesn’t, we become enamored. The Dell Streak and the iPad fall into this category – they’re not supposed to be good, but they are.

This may sound losey goosey and emotional, but think about it: when you see a clawhammer, you think “I can hammer nails with this.” When you see a tiny hammer, you think the same thing but when you try to build a house, you’re stuck. However, when a device surprises you its value immediately goes up in your mind and experience.

Anyway, good riddance.

Here’s your chance in case you want to surprise your daughter or little sister with a geeky present: Onkyo in Japan has announced [JP, PDF] a super-cute, kid-friendly, and Miffy-themed netbook today. It’s not only the hardware itself that’s covered with Miffy designs, but Onkyo (in cooperation with Bandai Namco) is shipping it with Miffy-powered software as well.

For example, Onkyo promises pre-installed Miffy wallpapers, screen savers, a Miffy calendar, Miffy widgets, icons etc. (see below for a selection).

Spec-wise, buyers can expect a 10.1-inch LCD with 1,024×600 resolution, an Atom N450 (1.66GHz) CPU, 1GB RAM, a 160GB HDD, two USB ports, Ethernet, IEEE 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi, an SD/Memory Stick Pro slot, a 0.3MP web cam, Windows 7 Home Premium or XP Home as the OS, and 2.5 hours of battery life. The Miffy netbook is sized at 265×192×27mm and weighs 1.1kg.

The device went on sale today, but it’s Japan-only and limited to just 300 units (prices: a whopping $905 for the XP version, $1,017 for the Windows 7 model).

The new Atom N550 dual-core netbooks should be showing up in August, so you’ve got a good month during which to relax, compare specs, and pick a color that matches your new drapes.

What do we recommend? To be honest, the most important thing for all these netbooks isn’t really the specs; they’re all very similar hardware-wise. Instead, your major choice is between SSD and HDD, and between form factors and finishes. Go to your local electronics store and see what they’ve got — feel the weight difference between this one and that one, and see whether you can deal with a slightly petite keyboard. Personally, I’d go with SSD, 2GB of RAM, Windows XP, and a 6-cell battery.

Hot on the heels of the W100 dual touchscreen tablet, Toshiba also unveiled the AC100 today, a 10.1-inch netbook that runs on Android 2.1. One of the big selling points of the AC100, which is the company’s first Android machine, is that it can remain in standby mode for up to seven days (the eight hours of battery life aren’t too shabby either).

These are the main specs of the so-called “cloudbook”:

• 10.1-inch Wide WSVGA LCD screen (1,024×600 resolution) with LED backlight
• NVIDIA Tegra 250 processor (1GHz)
• “up to 32GB SSD”
• 512MB of DDR2 memory
• Bluetooth 2.1 +EDR
• WLAN (802.11 b/g/n)
• USB port, miniUSB port, HDMI interface, SD/MMC card reader
• stereo speakers
• 1.3MP CMOS web cam
• weight: 870g

In the European press release, Toshiba says the AC 100 will become available “in the third quarter of 2010 throughout Europe, Middle East and Africa” without giving any details on prices or availability in the US. In Japan, Toshiba will start selling the AC 100 (under a different brand name and with different specs) in late August for $440.

Here’s a video (shot by netbooked):

Pitched as the “world’s first dual touch-screen Windows mini-notebook PC”, the device is sized at just 202×123×25.4mm and weighs 699g (battery included). It can be used both horizontally and vertically (thanks to the built-in accelerometer, it can be turned into an e-reader – as shown above). The battery life is pretty disappointing though (2 hours with standard battery, 4 hours with high-capacity battery).

Here are the main specs:

• Intel Pentium U5400 CPU (1.20GHz)
• 62GB SSD
• 2GB RAM
• WiMAX
• Bluetooth 2.1+EDR5
• Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n4
• MicroSD/SDHC card slot, USB port
• 1MP CMOS web cam
• Windows 7 Home Premium 32bit as the OS

Robert Scoble has made a video of the device (embedded below):

In the American press release (copied and pasted below), Toshiba speaks of a “limited run of the libretto W100″ that will be made available later this summer. In Japan, the device will go on sale at the end of August with a price tag of $1,320.

Update: Make sure to check out netbooked’s awesome hands-on report, too.

Revealed as Part of Toshiba’s 25th Anniversary of Laptop Innovation Milestone, libretto W100 Demonstrates Next-Gen Ultra-Mobile PC Design With Full Windows 7 Functionality

IRVINE, Calif. – June 21, 2010 – Embodying a quarter-century of innovation, Toshiba’s Digital Products Division (DPD), a division of Toshiba America Information Systems, Inc., today announced the libretto® W100, a next-gen ultra-mobile concept PC. This limited-edition 25th Anniversary device goes beyond slates, netbooks and smartphones to deliver something more: a full Windows® 7 experience that can be enjoyed across two multi-touch touch screens.

“The libretto W100 continues the libretto brand’s heritage of defying convention by packaging a full Windows computing experience into highly compact ultra-mobile form factor,” said Carl Pinto, vice president of product development, Toshiba America Information Systems, Inc., Digital Products Division. “This concept PC sets the pace for Toshiba’s continued commitment to innovation, demonstrating what’s possible in the next generation of ultra-mobile PCs.
“We will issue a limited run of the libretto W100,” continued Pinto. “We design our products around the way people actually want to use them, so getting this concept PC out into the hands of early technology adopters will allow us to gather invaluable feedback that we can filter into future product developments.”

Optimized for Versatility, Performance and Convenience
The libretto W100 is powered by Windows 7 Home Premium and comes equipped with an Intel® Pentium® processor1, 2GB of fast DDR3 memory2 and a 62GB solid state drive3 – plenty of horsepower for enjoying rich Internet and multimedia content. With the libretto W100, users can take advantage of all the Windows applications they commonly use, including productivity apps like Microsoft Office and video chat like Skype™. Built-in connectivity features, including 802.11b/g/n4 and Bluetooth®5 give users the flexibility to connect from any hotspot or pair the device with their favorite wireless accessories, such as a mouse, headphones and more.
Innovative Design for Multi-tasking on the Go

With an ultra-portable weight of just 1.8 pounds6, the libretto W100 is designed to deliver a rich Internet experience, multimedia playback and the freedom to multi-task – just like a standard laptop – but with the advantage of two seven-inch diagonal touch screens7 to work, watch and play on. The multi-touch screens can work independently or together, giving users the flexibility to decide how they want to use them. Surf the Web on one screen while checking e-mail on the other, view two documents simultaneously or view a webpage across both screens. A built-in 3D accelerometer allows the libretto W100 to rotate into portrait or landscape modes, making the device look and feel more like a book, newspaper or magazine.
Designed for portability, the libretto W100 features a compact and durable clamshell design with a brushed metallic finish. The traditional clamshell design allows the device to fold up for easier portability, while protecting the screens from breaks and scratches. Measuring a mere 4.84 inches by 7.95 inches when closed, the device fits easily into almost any bag or jacket pocket.

“Since producing the first Intel 286-based clamshell laptop 25 years ago, Toshiba has continued to take a leadership role in bringing new mobile computing technologies to market,” said Tim Bajarin, president of Creative Strategies. “This new libretto is yet another showcase of the company’s technological laptop prowess – they have their minds on the future and a unique, creative view on delivering innovations and form factors that provide a full computing experience in very small packages.”

Simplified Navigation with Premium Toshiba Apps
The libretto W100 features six virtual keyboard modes plus a virtual touchpad. The keyboards feature haptic technology, providing sensory feedback when the keys are selected, making typing fast, accurate and easy. Keyboard modes include simple, full, numeric 10-key and split thumb mode keyboard styles, providing users with options to fit their own personal style or task.
To make navigation as easy as possible, the libretto W100 includes several premium Toshiba apps that enhance the computing experience.

- Toshiba Bulletin Board gives users greater personalization of their desktops with fast access to daily activities, tasks and projects, plus the ability to drag and drop photos, videos, links, documents and application shortcuts into one place.
- Toshiba ReelTime™ helps users easily find files based on when they were opened with a simple visual history. With the flick of a finger, quickly scroll through automatically generated previews of documents, photos, videos and more, filter by file type or use the calendar to go back weeks or months.
- File Browser makes it easier to access file folders and applications.
Quick access to the apps and keyboards are easily accessible via on-screen icons.
Features available on the Toshiba libretto W100 include:
- Dual 7.0-inch diagonal multi-touch displays7 (1024 x 600)
- 6-mode virtual keyboard with haptic response
- Windows® 7 Home Premium operating system
- Intel® Pentium® U5400 processor1 (1.2GHz)
- 2GB DDR3 memory2
- 62GB Solid State Drive3
- 1.0 megapixel HD Webcam with Toshiba Face Recognition
- 802.11 b/g/n wireless4
- Bluetooth 2.1+EDR5
- MicroSD card slot
- One USB 2.0 port
- TOSHIBA Bulletin Board, ReelTime™ and PC Health Monitor software
- 8-cell battery
- 7.95″ (W) x 4.84″(D) x 1.2″(H)
- 1.8 lbs.6

Availability
A limited number of the libretto W100 concept PC will be available for purchase later this summer from select retailers and direct from Toshiba at toshibadirect.com.

It’s got the same 10.1-inch screen and all the ports and fixins of the 521, but inside is an Atom N455 or N475 processor. It’s also got support for Bluetooth 3.0. Personally, I’d say that at this price/feature point, the most important thing is not in fact the processor, but the keyboard, trackpad, and other features you’ll be noticing every day.

[via SlashGear]

Maybe the standard Sony Vaio P is a bit pedestrian for your taste. It’s just not enough, right? Well then, how about one covered with crocodile skin? It’s supposed to be a digital clutch anyway.

Pricing info isn’t available, but it’s not going to be low-cost. The model’s spec’d out with the Atom Z560 Intel US15X chipset, 256GB SSD, and optional 12-hour battery. Plus all that crocodile skin can’t be cheap. [SonyBrands via eeepc via liliputing]