Tuesday, January 6th, 2009
…it’s gorgeous!
The war for the netbook high ground just got seriously hot with the release of some images showing the MSI X320 in all its glory. Apart from having some pretty impressive specs, the X320 is a pretty stunning example of what can be done with an ultra mobile device…
The X-Slim 320 is not the smallest of netbooks - the 13.4 inch screen makes it the bigges netbook so far! The 320 measures a miniscule 1.98cm and about 2.87 pounds and comes with either a 4 or 8 cell battery that, allegedly, lasts up to 10 hours. MSI haven’t given out the specs with their press release but Engadget Chinese report that it’s running on a 1.6GHz Intel Atom Z530 processor, 1366 x 768 resolution and up to 2GB DDR2 RAM. All the usual bits are included such as 802.11a/b/g/n, Bluetooth, 3.5G network card, three USB ports, an Ethernet port, VGA output, and an all-in-one card reader. Interestingly Crave are suggesting that the X320 might feature the NVIDIA Ion platform. Now that would be worth buying.
The X320 is due to hit the beaches in the second quarter of 2009 with a price tag of around $800 - if it features all the specs above, in particular Ion, this could well be one of the best netbooks on the market to date.
One more pic for you:
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Monday, January 5th, 2009
The Sony Vaio P (UMPC) specs are out in the wild and it’s looking pretty good. The Vaio P features an Atom Z250 (1.33 Ghz), 2GB RAM (possibly so that it can run the Vista resource hog) , a Hard Disk, optional SSD, GPS and UMTS all for around 700 Euros.
Images have been seen on the web so it’s likely that Sony are getting ready to launch soon - probably at CES press events on 6th/7th January (only a day or so to wait).
Looks like a netbook apart from the price. Now all you need to do is buy one and install Linux :).
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Tuesday, October 21st, 2008
The soon to be released Asus Eee S101 has been given it’s own, dedicated webpage. Head on over here to find a range of videos and images of the so-called MacBook Air killer. One of the more important pieces of info on the site is the official release date gotten its own official press page - look on the right hand side of the landing page where you’ll see ‘S101 launch schedule’ then hover your mouse over this link to pop out page with all the info you need. There’s no date there for the UK but I’m assuming they should be here about now, inline with European launch dates.
One of the more interesting videos suggests the Asus S101 runs almost silent with 5 hours of battery life - very nice, if it’s true. Unfortunately Asus have decided to continue shipping their netbooks with 0.3 Mpxs camera!
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Monday, October 20th, 2008
Market research company IDC have produced sales figures showing over two million netbooks have sold in the EMEA region for Q3 2008. Pretty impressive to say the least. For fans of netbooks/sub notebooks this leap in popularity will come as no surprise. The question is; how will full sized laptops fare in future? Some commentators are suggesting the notebook will all but disappear - undermined but the low cost, highly portable netbooks that are coming to market. Add in the recent Intel announcement that the dual core Atom is ready and you’d be forgiven for predicting the demise of the trusty laptop.
But don’t be too quick to judge. Sure, netbooks are pretty hard to beat for users on the go especially when you consider the current low cost devices on the market. Personally, I love my HP 2133. The keyboard is almost perfect and the monitor is fine for general usage - up to a point. I have to admit that after an hour of staring at the 8.9″ screen I’m ready for the comfort of my 17″ laptop. Portability and low cost has attracted significant interest from both business and home users alike but don’t expect the netbook craze to completely replace standard laptops. Even 10″ screens on the like of the new Asus Eee PC S101 can be hard on your eyes with continued usage. Let’s face it, which do you prefer - an 8.9″ or 15″ monitor?
Another point to remember here is that this may just be a fad, albeit a rather profitable fad for the manufacturers, which could end rather rapidly. The low cost of the netbooks will definitely attract many users but this low pricing won’t last forever. As manufacturers push the specs ever upwards expect to see prices rise inline.
I’m not knocking netbooks in any way, simply questioning some of the views that the form will kill off laptops.
On a final note, IDC are predicting that the netbook sales figures will jump to over 4 million sales by the end of this year.
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Thursday, October 16th, 2008
It looks like the WiMax enabled Nokia N810 internet tablet has finally been launched. This latest version of the popular, Linux based, internet tablet can be purchased direct from Nokia for $443. For your hard earned cash you’ll get a WiMax N810 that looks pretty much the same as the original, except the casing is black and it has WiMax. This version of the N810 has been delayed by quite some time although this may well have something to do with the rollout of the WiMax network which only really came to life in the past few weeks.
Reports seem to suggest that the intial WiMax deployment is going well in the US - good news for Nokia. By being first to market with a WiMax device, Nokia should be in a good position to capture a significant chunk of early adopters who’ll be keen to test the waters.
One point to note here - Nokia have played a smart move by launching the WiMax N810 at the same price as the last version - no lengthy discussions with yourself when you come to your next purchase decision!
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Tuesday, October 14th, 2008
There seem to be a number of reports about an $800 MacBook circulating on the web. Apple fans were getting flustered over the thought of being able to buy would could be a low end MacBook or even a netbook type device. It seems like macrumors have found some info that kills off the entry level MacBook myth.
Based on information that macrumors have gathered, it would appear that the $899 product (K29, MB382LL/A) on Apple’s product lists is likely to be LED Apple Cinema Display.
AppleInsider also thinks the $899 ‘thing’ could be a 24″ Cinema Display. This analysis casts a bit of shadow over some of the other predictions that are being thrown around by pundits. As yet, there’s still no word on entry level MacBook pricing - I’ll guess we’ll just have to wait for the big announcement.
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Monday, October 13th, 2008
The Lenovo X300 was released earlier this and received rave reviews from users in the notebook community. Lenovo have now up the ante by making audio quality a key area of the X300’s performance. It has to be said, that, over the years many manufacturers have pretty much disregarded this area. By incorporating ARC Sonic Focus™ software Lenovo is seeking to appeal to mobile users with a taste for high quality audio. Sonic Focus has been designed to roll back the years of abuse that movies and music have suffered through the digitisation process. Ultra portable with high quality audio - I’m up for that.
The X300, which was launched under the banner of an ‘Ultraportable Notebook PC’ - think ‘fat netbook’ represented Lenovo’s entry into the netbook market. The sights have been set firmly on the MacBook Air and Toshiba’s Protege R500. If you haven’t seen the Lenovo’s specs, here you go:
- Processor-1.2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo SL7100
- Memory-2GB of 667MHz
- 64GB solid-state hard drive
- Graphics-Intel GMA X3100 (integrated)
- Windows Vista - you’re going to need all of the memory!
- Dimensions (WDH)-12.5 x 9.1 x 0.73 inches
- 13.3″ screen
- weight 3.4 pounds
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Friday, October 10th, 2008
Mozilla Labs is offering a “Milestone 8″ Linux release of and it’s primarily aimed at the Nokia N800. The final release of the mobile browser, named “Fennec”, should in the next few weeks.
Let’s take a look at some of the goodies on offer:
- iPhone-like “kinetic” scrolling
- Mac-like “expose” tabs feature
- optional geolocation (geode)
The Fennec browser, in developmnet since last, has been designed to bring “bringing a true web experience to mobile phones and other non-PC devices,” - with the inclusion of up to date security and asthetics. According to Mozilla, Fennec utilises the core Gecko engine that is currently used in Firefox which means there will be full compatability when it comes to migrating all your settings from your desktop to your mobile device. This also means that, in theory, FireFox extensions should work on Fennec without any problems. Like I said, in theory.
More interestinlgy, the work on Fennec seems to be in response to Microsoft’s work on Windows Mobile - Mozilla developer Mark Finkle wrot on in his blog, “Work on Windows Mobile has heated up quite a bit. We should be getting some Fennec builds for Windows Mobile soon.” Usually, it’s a case of Microsoft following the lead.
Geode, the geolocation API, has been included in Fennec allowing a website to request a user’s location. A popup bar will ask how much information you want to give away to site you’re visiting i.e. your location, neighborhood, city or nothing at all. In addition, Geode can use WiFi geolocation to give your position to within 10 - 20 metres. I’ve yet to see this working. My own experiences with WiFi geolocation have shown it to be pretty crappy - in one instance I was given my location “…to within 1800m”!! But, with accuracy claims like those above, I’ll be keeping my eye on this.
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Wednesday, October 8th, 2008
The Wind hasn’t been around for that long but the latest news shows that MSI are keen to dig even deeper into the lucrative netbook market. The folks over at EnGadget have posted an article which suggests that the Wind U120 will be arriving in November. On top of that, the U100 will soon be available from a “large national retailer,” - no specifics here as yet. And, as you’d expect, the Wind U120 (Wind 2 as it’s been called) will hit the US first - you’d never believe they used to be one of OUR colonies ;).
Director of US sales for MSI has stated that the Wind 2 will feature “a whole new look,”. Some of the specs already in the wild include new HDD / SSD options and inbuilt 3.5G WWAN connectivity for under $600. There’s no news on a UK price yet but I reckon it’ll come in at around £450 (based on the specs we already know).
Yesterday we posted an article regarding the forthcoming Eee PC S101 which should make a formidable sparring partner for MSI.
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Tuesday, October 7th, 2008
The PC manufacturer Asus have decided it’s time to take on Apple in the super-slim computer market. The new Eee PC S101 is said to be a much cheaper alternative to the hugely popular MacBook Air and, according to Asus has a better spec.
Here’s what’s on offer:
- Intel Atom processor
- Intel 945 Express (GMA 950) graphics
- 10.2-inch screen (1,024 x 768)
- 3 x USB ports
- built-in 4-in-1 card reader
- Ethernet port
- Wi-Fi
- Bluetooth
- Battery life of about five hours
- weight - under a kilo
- 18-25mm thick plus multitouch trackpad.
The S101 will come in two flavours - crappy old Windows XP Home versions (16GB SSD), with two Linux versions featuring 32GB or 64GB of SSD. Following in the Asus tradition of not quite giving the users all they want you’ll find the S101 fitted with a 0.3-megapixel webcam!
The S101 will be available in a range of colours to suit all, well, just about all. The latest Eee PC should be with us in November with a rumoured price tag of about £449. Not as cheap as my Akoya mini, which I really like. We’ll test run it when we get hold of the S101.
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