October 12th, 2008

OLO's iPhone-powered computer: a Redfly for Apple?

OLO is showing a mysterious device on its website that appears to be an iPhone-powered subnotebook. There are no details to speak of, but there are two options: 1. All the guts are in the iPhone. This is the approach of the Redfly, which lets the mobile device do the thinking and it just extends your toolset. This limits costs but also functionality. 2. The iPhone merely augments a full laptop… → Read More

October 9th, 2008

Netbooks to increase Linux's visibility, usability

Novell, the company that markets SUSE Linux, an enterprise-oriented commercial Linux distro, has a lot at stake in the coming netbook wars. After all, the little machines are overwhelmingly running various flavors of Linux (with the notable exception of Eees pre-loaded with XP and the like), and if Novell can get in on the ground floor, that’s not only cash in hand but a hugely increased… → Read More

September 28th, 2008

What is the "ultimate" netbook?

Whether you call them ultraportables, subnotebooks, netbooks, or tiny laptops, you’re talking more or less about the same thing: small and light form factor, limited capacity and capability, and (hopefully) less than or around $500. There are so many out there, though! Acer, Asus, Dell, HP, MSI and more are all in on the game, and with such a flurry of options and feature sets, it’s… → Read More

September 5th, 2008

Dell: "By the way, your Inspiron Mini secretly has 3G" (update: not)

People have found that their little Minispirons are sporting 3G capability that was unadvertised and is at the moment unsupported. I don’t know whether this is sketchy or cool. On the one hand, they’ve included a part in a computer that has no functionality and you have to assume that you’re paying for it. On the other hand, they didn’t BS the world and try to sell it up… → Read More

September 1st, 2008

Commodore jumps into the tiny laptop melee – hell yes

It seems that tucked away in the folds of IFA, there is a tiny laptop taking the ancient Commodore family name. Some enterprising Norwegians wrote it up, and included in the post what appears to be the hottest girl I have ever seen. I don’t know if you can tell (I’m really good at photoshopping) but she’s not actually holding the Commodore — I just craftily made it look… → Read More

August 14th, 2008

Redfly drops in price to $399, supports a bunch of new phones

I’ve got one of these sitting in my apartment right now, and we’ll have a review for you soon — but if you’re already convinced of the usefulness of these little smartphone symbiotes, now would be a good time to pick one up. They’ve just dropped $100 in price and now they support a dozen more phones — Treos, Touches, Tilts, and a ton of other WinMo smartphones… → Read More

August 7th, 2008

Eeexquisite, sub-1"-thick Eee S101 cradled by Asus CEO

The “exquisite,” “elite,” “extreme slim” Eee model, the S101 (as seen in the pyramid o’ Eee) has been caught in the wild. I think I’ll let the Google translation do the talking: ASUS held on the 6th of that meeting, ASUS CEO Jerry Shen Xue on Apple with a paper bag containing Eee PC S101, the imminent end of a sudden display market, the law says that… → Read More

July 30th, 2008

Lenovo doing the netbook dance

Seeing as every other laptop maker worth its salt is making some kind of subcompact notebook or netbook or tiny laptop or what-have-you, Lenovo has decided to get in on it. Who’ll be providing the hardware is up in the air, though Pegatron (love that name) is an option, having made Lenovo’s Ideapads, and Wistron is as well, having put together nearly a million X-series Lenovos. → Read More

July 11th, 2008

Original flavor Eee PC for ¥100, no gaijin please

If you’re in Japan and don’t have the scrilla to lay out for an Eee (really though, is it that much?), head over to a Kojima store and pick yourself up one for ¥100, and get a free 3G USB modem. That’s about 75 cents to us Americans. What’s the catch, apart from it only being available in Japan? Well, first of all it’s the original, 7-inch, 4GB Eee — not… → Read More

June 2nd, 2008

Qualcomm likes Windows Mobile 7 for tiny laptops

Qualcomm is betting that its Snapdragon chipset (see a hands-on we did at CTIA) will taste better with Windows Mobile 7, especially when it comes to tiny notebooks. The company is looking to make a move into the inexpensive laptop arena with the added twist of having the devices run Windows Mobile 7 instead of Linux or Windows XP/Vista. Qualcomm’s Snapdragon chipset, which includes a 1GHz… → Read More

June 2nd, 2008

More details about the Atom-based Asus Eee 901

The impending Eee 901 has been spotted at the WiMax Expo in Taipei and is expected to be formally announced and launched tomorrow. We saw some early details a couple of weeks ago, but here’s some more information. IDG News is reporting that the Eee PC 901 will have a 1.6GHz Atom processor, 1GB of RAM, and will ship with a 12GB SSD and Windows XP or with a 20GB SSD and Linux, depending which… → Read More

May 29th, 2008

Hands-on with MSI Wind, looks pretty stellar so far

CNET’s UK office got a special hands-on with the forthcoming MSI Wind notebook and they like it so much that they said it “could take the throne from the Asus Eee PC as the best mini laptop on the planet.” The 10-inch screen is apparently better than the one on HP’s Mini-Note 2133, and the overall design aesthetic and keyboard on the Wind is better than the Eee but not… → Read More

May 29th, 2008

Michael Dell spotted carrying 'Dell Mini' notebook

Hot damn, boys and girls. Either that’s a hilariously large novelty pencil or we’ve got ourselves an Eee-sized Dell notebook to look forward to. To which to look forward. Which to whom we will forwardly look. Grammar is hard. Anyway, Michael Dell was spotted carrying this little guy around at All Things D by Gizmodo. Details are pretty murky but early photos seem to present a pretty… → Read More

May 28th, 2008

ASUS announcing 10-inch Eee on June 3rd?

To quote the lovely and vivacious Susan Powter, “Stop the insanity!” Apparently ASUS is getting set to announce a 10-inch version of the super-popular Eee subnotebook on June 3rd at Computex 2008 in Taiwan. According to an invitation received by UMPC Fever, “ASUS is looking forward to welcoming you during Computex 2008 in Taipei, Taiwan, for the ASUS’ 08 Computex Trilogy of… → Read More

April 9th, 2008

Dell decides that there's money in tiny, cheap laptops

Dell will join the likes of Asus, HP, Acer, and whichever other computer companies jump on the tiny laptop bandwagon between now and June to offer low cost, ultraportable notebooks to the masses. Dell will be teaming up with China’s Compal Electronics “to launch low-cost notebook computers…as early as June,” according to a Compal official. June is going to be an exciting… → Read More

March 6th, 2008

ECS 'G10IL' is a pretty Eee with 3G wireless built in

Welcome to the tiny, inexpensive laptop game ECS. You’ve made an intriguing entry with your G10IL, although that name could use a little work. The keyboard looks pretty nice and the inclusion of 3G wireless (HSPDA 7.2) is a good idea. There’s also a built-in webcam, three USB ports, Ethernet, and even a 56K modem. Unfortunately, there’s not too much other information on this… → Read More