Rumor: Intel Concerned with Atom’s Growth in China
May 7th, 2009
Not even Intel could have predicted how wildly popular its Atom processor would be, because if it did, it might have scaled back production from the get-go. Instead, the No. 1 chip maker is reportedly keeping its eye on the Chinese market to make sure it doesn’t sell too many Atoms, going so far as to reject orders from some China-based white-box vendors, says DigiTimes.
Intel did offer up a response, calling the story unfounded and saying it doesn’t comment on industry rumors, but DigiTimes’ un-cited sources insist that they’re being watched very closely to prevent a surge of Atom chips in China. The sources added that Taiwan-based Intel CPU distributors have had to stop accepting orders from China-based white-box makers.
It might seem strange that Intel would look to sell less product, however fierce competition in China among white-box players has started to cut into traditional notebook sales where there exists a greater profit margin. It’s easy to see why, at least in this case, Intel would want to scale back Atom sales, if in fact the chip maker is doing that.
Taiwan IC distributors expect that the supply of Atom processors will fall short of demand by 500,000 units this month in China.
Asus Releasing 11.6-Inch Eee PC this Month, Ultra-Thins in July
May 7th, 2009
Asus president Jerry Shen said Asus will launch an 11.6-inch Eee PC later this month and expects it to account for nearly a third of netbook shipments in 2009. He added that the 10-inch form factor will still be considered the mainstream specification and expects it to account for half of all shipments.
Shen also revealed plans to launch a 15.6-inch ultra-thin notebook, the XS15, which will first be made available in Europe priced from €799-999, or about $1070 to $1330, and a smaller 13.3-inch model priced at €599-699, or $790 to $925. Both notebooks will start shipping in July.
And finally, Shen commented on the recent panel shortages, saying it could have an effect on May and June shipments.
Image Credit: Asus
Century Announces Netbook Stand with Built-in DVD Drive
May 7th, 2009
Last month, Asus shipped its first ever Eee PC netbook to integrate a Super-Multi optical disc drive, a trend which still hasn’t caught on full-force. The Eee PC notwithstanding, if you must have a DVD drive with your optical-less netbook, one solution is to buy an external drive, but Century may have a better idea. The company plans to release a netbook stand with a built-in Panasonic DVD drive.
The stand/DVD drive measures 260 x 190 x 19mm and weighs 52g. It supports DVD±R/+RW (8x), DVD±R DL/-RW (6x), DVD-RAM (5x) and CD-R/-RW (24x), and comes with two USB 2.0 ports for good measure. Also included is a small 4cm cooling fan. And according to a rough translation of Century’s product page, the stand also looks to incorporate a 2.5-inch bay for a SATA-based HDD or SDD.
Century’s multi-functional stand will be available in Japan starting this Friday for $100, CrunchGear reports.
Image Credit: Century
Toshiba Announces Mini NB200 Netbook with 9-Cell Battery
May 7th, 2009
Looking to raise the stakes in the netbook market, Toshiba’s latest ultraportable PC packs a 9-cell battery the company says will provide up to 9 hours of run time. Remarkably, Toshiba also managed to keep the weight down to under 2.5-pounds despite the larger battery, giving the Mini NB200, as it’s been dubbed, a leg up on the competition when it comes to battery life and portability.
Other features include a choice between Intel’s Atom N270 (1.6GHz) or N280 (1.66GHz) processor, a 160GB had drive, WiFi, Bluetooth, 0.3MP webcam, and Windows XP. The Mini NB200 can also withstand a bit of abuse thanks to its 3D-accelerometer monitoring system. A small chip on the motherboard detects acceleration from all directions and will remove the HHD head from between the HDD platters when the netbook goes into a freefall.
UK residents will get first crack at the NB200 this May starting at £319 ($464USD) and offered in pink, brown, black, or white trim. No word yet on U.S. availability.
Image Credit: Toshiba via Ubergizmo
MSI Announces Another Incremental Wind Update
May 7th, 2009
It looks like MSI has created yet another version of their Wind netbook, this time with the slightly upgraded Wind U100 PLUS.
The U100 PLUS comes with a 1.66GHz Atom N280 processor, an 945GMS chipset, Intel’s GMA950 graphics, up to 2GB of DDR2 RAM, a 1,204 x 600 10-inch LCD, 160GB HDD, 4-in-1 card reader, VGA output, three USB ports, a standard 3-cell battery with the option of upgrading to 6-cell, WiFi, Bluetooth, and a 1.3 megapixel webcam.
No word yet on pricing or availability.
Image Credit: MSI
Potential First Retail Android Netbook is a Cheap-o Tablet
May 7th, 2009
Earlier this month, a pair of bigwigs over at Acer said during a press event that the company plans on using Google’s open-source Android OS in its upcoming smartphones, but doesn’t feel the OS is ready for netbooks. Just don’t tell that latter part to Chinese company SkyTone, the first company (we’re aware of) to release an Android netbook.
SkyTone, who’s best known for its Skype headsets and kiddie PCs, lists on their website the Alpha-680 Google Android netbook. Available in pink, red, yellow, white, or black, the low cost netbook comes equipped with a 7-inch LCD screen, ARM11 533MHz processor, 128MB of DDR2 (upgradeable to 256MB), a 1GB SSD (upgradeable to 4GB), WiFi, memory card slot, two USB 2.0 ports, and of course Google’s Android OS.
ComputerWorld describes the rig as a "glorified cellphone…without the glory," and we’d have to agree. It’s unclear when it will be available for purchase and for how much, but even if it checks in somewhere between $100 and $200, Dell’s $199 Vostro A90 would make the Alpha-680 a tough buy.
Looks like Acer might have been right.
Dell to Release an Android Netbook
May 7th, 2009
While no word had been shared about the potential of an Android netbook from Dell, a hastily released press release from a company called Bsquare has gone ahead and confirmed it (presumably, without Dell’s permission).
The press release (which is posted after the break) states “Bsquare Corporation (BSQR - News), the leading software solutions provider to the global embedded device community, today announced it is porting Adobe’s Flash Lite 3.17 technology onto Dell Netbooks running Google’s Android platform.”
Bsquare had attempted to remove the information hoping that no one would be the wiser, but the quick eyes of the Internet don’t miss a thing – including rogue press releases.
While the existence of an Android based netbook has been confirmed, no additional details have been released.
BELLEVUE, WA–(MARKET WIRE)–May 6, 2009 — Bsquare Corporation (BSQR - News), the leading software solutions provider to the global embedded device community, today announced it is porting Adobe’s Flash Lite 3.17 technology onto Dell Netbooks running Google’s Android platform.
Adobe is a leader in rich internet and user interface technology for mobile devices. Flash technology ships on over 800 million devices worldwide with more than one million designers and developers using Adobe Flash to build video and rich media applications.
Netbook and Nettop computers offer the functionality and efficiency of traditional laptops, but with lighter weight and better portability. Research firm Gartner estimates that worldwide shipments of netbooks will increase by 50 percent to 7.8 million units in 2009, while overall computer sales are expected to decline. Industry analysts also predict that Android will gain traction on smart devices, such as the ultra-portable Dell Mini Inspiron 910, which are used in a range of industries.
“Integrating Adobe Flash technology with the functionality of Google’s Android platform on the full range of Netbook devices will allow our OEM customers to meet the high expectations their customers have of this new industry segment,” said Bsquare’s CEO Brian Crowley. “As the Netbook and Nettop market segments expand, our Adobe Flash Lite port to Android is just one of the software products we will offer our OEM and ODM customers.”
In the last 12 months since its acquisition of NEC America’s Adobe Flash Technology Consulting and Distribution business, Bsquare has worked on over 40 different customer devices including handsets, set top boxes, digital signage, consumer devices and netbooks. Bsquare has built an Android competency in its professional engineering services group through customer engagements and by hiring top talent in the field.
About Bsquare
Bsquare is an industry leader with a proven track record in providing engineering services and production-ready software products for the smart device market. Since 1994, Bsquare has provided device manufacturers with software solutions for personal navigation devices, point-of-sale terminals, handheld data terminals, smart phones and many other device categories allowing them to get to market more quickly and cost effectively. Bsquare acquired the TestQuest testing automation tools in November 2008. The combination of TestQuest’s testing automation products and Bsquare’s industry leading software and hardware products and services offer the best of class device development solutions to the embedded and mobile device development community. Now device developers building consumer mobile or vertically targeted embedded devices can rely on the highest quality development expertise from Bsquare, plus the most feature rich testing automation tools from TestQuest, to accelerate their devices to market while minimizing development costs and errors. For more information, visit www.bsquare.com.
Image Credit: Google/Dell
Dell Catalog Shows Mini 10 Evolution Shipping this Month
May 7th, 2009
Billed as the "affordable, portable, internet companion," Dell appears to be readying its Mini 10v netbook for a retail release later this month. You may be more familiar with the Mini 10v as ‘Bear,’ or model 1011, both of which have appeared in previous roadmaps.
No matter what you call it, the new Mini looks to be another run-of-the-mill netbook. Gone is the Z-series Atom, to be replaced by the much more prominent Atom N270 (1.6GHz, 512KB L2 cache 533MHz frontside bus). Other standard-fare specs include a 120GB hard drive, 1GB of memory, a 1.3MP webcam, and Windows XP.
According to Dell’s latest catalog (PDF), the Mini 10v should be available by mid-May starting at $299.
Image Credit: Dell
Asus Eee PC 1002HAE intros in Japan
May 7th, 2009
And then I thought that this new model is totally cooler. Covered in aluminum skin, this dude could probably look more handsome than the HP Mini 2140. This new version of Eee PC 1002HA is technically…
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$33 Netbook Docking Station (Brando)
May 6th, 2009
One of the newest products from Brando is the $33 Netbook Docking Station which is basically compatible for all the netbooks and ultraportables. It is powered by the plug n play usb, no installation…
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