People might not be buying houses and cars at the pre-recession levels, but laptops are flying off the shelves led by netbook sales. (Quiet, don’t tell John. He hates netbooks.) → Read More
Well this is good to know. An HP Taiwan VP apperently let it slip that HP is working on mobile devices powered by webOS. It’s a shocker, I know. You would think that after HP spent over a billion dollars buying Palm, they would archive all of the acquired intellectual properties and keep moving forward with Microsoft platforms. Interestingly though, Mr. Monty Wong, VP of Personal Computer Systems Taiwan, did state that the Slate will be released before the fiscal years ends in October. Of course Monty didn’t indicate whether webOS will be present or it will still be released with Windows 7 contrary to previous reports. He also indicated that HP is keeping with its current netbook platforms rather than moving to webOS. → Read More
Verizon’s latest netbook nearly completes its collection. The 10.1-inch HP Mini 210 offers the N450 1.66GHz Atom CPU along with 1GB of RAM and a 250GB hard drive. Windows 7 Starter edition powers the netbook and it can be yours for for $149 with a 2-year data contract. Of course $50 more will get a larger screen and Windows Home Premium with the HP Mini 311. → Read More
Acer has said for a while now that they would be the first to market with Chrome OS devices. Seems like that would be up to Google, but I guess it helps to be willing and able. Sources are now saying that these devices will debut as early as June 1 at the Computex show in Taipei. → Read More
HDMI can be found on a few netbooks right now, but it’s set to become standard next year when Intel’s Cedar Trail-M platform hits the tiny lappies. Most of the current netbooks with HDMI are built around Nvidia’s ION GPU platform, which also drives up the cost. But by moving HDMI support to the CPU, it should come on nearly every netbook. → Read More
Sony Europe today unveiled their newest version of the “ultra-mobile PC” VAIO P, which was teased by the company late last month. And apart from a new design and fresh colors, Sony added quite a number of interesting features and functions. → Read More
Remember Sony Japan’s unusual promotion campaign for an 8-inch netbook (or ultra-mobile PC, as the Japanese like to call these devices) from December 2008? The target group was amused with the campaign. And it appears the marketing coup helped Sony actually sell the Vaio P, as the company today updated its Japanese site with yet another teaser for yet another “mysterious” netbook. → Read More
Fancy keyboard is fancy. → Read More
Short version: if you don’t want to spend more than $600 and you must have a 15″ screen, the 5538 is a perfectly decent option, as long as you don’t mind netbook-like performance. → Read More
Despite the boom in netbooks in recent years thanks to a poor economy and cash-strapped consumers, a recent Digitimes article reported that HP and Dell are actually reducing their investments in the commoditized 10-inch netbook market. In fact, HP is considering quitting the 10-inch segment altogether to focus on its 11.6-inch AMD notebooks as the Intel Pine Trail netbooks have not been very profitable. → Read More
The new 1001PX from Asus isn’t particularly noteworthy spec-wise. 250GB hard drive, 1.66GHz Atom processor… you know the drill. But it’s got a matte screen! I really don’t understand why people want these glossy screens so bad. Just give me the option, whether it’s cheaper or more expensive — I’m tired of staring into a mirror-like surface whenever I’m trying to write. Now, if they could just put this on the much-sexier 1005PR… → Read More
I hate it when a product like the Viliv S10 Blade looks so good as a concept but fails to live up to its potential. The S10 has a late-model Atom CPU, 1GB of RAM, and a multitouch 10-inch screen. Should be solid, right? Wrong. → Read More
Sony’s first attempts at a netbook were disastrously bad, but Sony has seemingly gotten its act together. The Sony VAIO M N450 is a true netbook. Too bad it’s now 2010 and no one cares about netbooks anymore. → Read More
First a Casio Exilim, now an ultra-mobile PC (or UMPC, as the Japanese say): Cult teddy bear Rilakkuma is on his way to dethrone Hello Kitty as the character of choice for Japanese electronics companies when it comes to giving gadgets that extra-cute touch. The bear is now to be seen on a special version of a Kohjinsha tablet PC [JP, PDF] that’s part of the company’s XS series. → Read More
AMD is finally looking to get into the netbook game for real. Forget about the thin-and-light NEO chipset that’s been out for a while—we’re talking about an honest, netbook-specific chipset based on the company’s Fusion initiative that’ll blend power-sipping CPUs with ATI graphics. The platform will draw between 10 and 15 watts of power and will be designed for screens 12 inches and smaller. → Read More
Now we’re cooking with a substance that appears to be similar in smell, flame size, and cost per energy unit as “gas.” Asus’ impending Eee PC 1005PR is a 10.1-inch netbook with a 1366×768 resolution screen, Broadcom HD decoder chip, and up to 11 hours of battery life. → Read More
When Sony’s VAIO W was announced, its $500 price tag seemed a bit steep for a 10-inch netbook. You did get some nice extras, though, like a 1366×768 resolution and built-in Bluetooth. It seems that Sony’s gunning for the lower-end netbook market with the recently-discovered VAIO M—a 10.1-inch affair with an Atom N450 CPU and 1024×600 screen. → Read More
It’s official. NVIDIA’s ION 2 GPUs are coming. You’ll see them on more than 30 products come summer time. The company is promising “10x faster graphics and up to 10 hours of battery life.” So much for that whole power-versus-battery-life tradeoff. → Read More
The infinity pools of the computing industry, frameless laptop screens are expected in the second or third quarter of this year, according to DigiTimes. → Read More
Sascha Pallenberg of Netbook News managed to get his hands on the aluminum ASUS Eee PC 1080P while at the CeBIT conference and called it “by far the most solid Eee PC I’ve ever, ever, ever had in my hands and the best keyboard I ever had on an Eee PC.” → Read More
