Snapdragon-powered Wistron PBook netbook spotted at CTIA

A prototype from Wistron dubbed the PBook has been spotted at CTIA. We recently reported on the Wistron ‘FirstBook’ that was spotted at MWC earlier this year. It seems that the device has undergone a name change since then as the PBook looks like exactly the same device. It has a form-factor similar to that of the Sony Vaio P and is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon platform.

This particular unit had a red lid, housing a 12-inch display and a full-sized keyboard. Laptop Mag reports that it was running a 1GHz CPU with battery life lasting between 8 to 10 hours. Interestingly, it also features hardware accelerated 3D graphics from ATi. There is also an optical mouse besides two mouse buttons.

As with most ARM-based processors, the unit is designed for 24/7 wireless connectivity via mobile broadband, WiFi and Bluetooth. Given that ARM-processors cannot use Windows XP/Vista, you are limited to Linux, however the icon-based user interface seemed fairly intuitive. Apparently the PBook will also support Android and Windows Mobile in the future.

Wistron expects that we could see this unique netbook appear on retail shelves by the third quarter this year. In the meantime, we know that a Wistron netbook with Qualcomm Snapdragon CPU is due to appear at Computex Taipei in June, so hopefully there will be further details then. Click though for a full PBook photo gallery. Read more

CTL 2go PC UW1 netbook offers nothing new

The 2go PC UW1 is a new 10-inch netbook released by CTL. I had to double check on that name as it’s not exactly catchy; I wonder where CTL’s marketing team have been hiding! Well, judging by the specifications, the name is probably the most exotic thing about this netbook.

The 2go PC UW1 supports a 10-inch (1024 x 576) display powered by a 1.6GHz N270 Atom CPU and 1GB RAM. It will come with a 160GB hard drive and 6-cell battery (no idea on battery life). The unit weighs 1.2kg (2.6lbs), despite this the pictures suggest that it’s not exactly thin. It will come with an 85 percent size keyboard and it commits the heinous crime of having mouse buttons either side of the touchpad. Given that many netbook vendors are looking to increase keyboard size (like the Samsung N120) it’s a shame that this keyboard is relatively small.

All in all, not too much to get excited about here. Laptop Mag should hopefully be posting a review on this shortly for those that are interested. The 2go PC UW1 will release on May 11 at $399. Click for more pictures after the break. Read more

Ubuntu Netbook Remix 9.04 Beta released

Ubuntu has this morning announced the beta release of Ubuntu Netbook Remix 9.04. This is the first release to be “fully integrated into the Ubuntu family, fully up to date with the latest applications and hardware support”. UNR also sports a new interface that is designed to be used on smaller netbook screens and benefits from a faster boot time.

Netbooks that the new release is known to work well on include the Asus EEE PC 900/1000, Acer Aspire One, Samsung NC10 and the Dell Mini 9. The beta release can be downloaded from the official site here.

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Netbook Review Roundup 02/04/2009

Netbook Choice’s roundup of netbook reviews from around the web on Thursday 2nd April 2009.

Acer Aspire One D150 @ GadgetMix

Asus Eee PC 1000HE @ vnunet.com

Quest For Netbook Nirvana: HP Mini 2140 @ Gizmodo Australia

Lenovo IdeaPad S10e @ What Laptop

Samsung NC20 @ Cnet

A Linux Netbook Done The Right Way: the Sylvania g Netbook Meso @ O’Reilly

Netbooks vs Laptops

For those of you that love the Mac versus PC adverts, this video by SmartMoney will be right up your street. They amusingly try to define the difference between a netbook and laptop. If you’re still confused you can check out this official Intel page which also tries to identify the differences. At the end of the day, these terms will mean different things to different people and I’m sure there will be some element of convergence as technology matures. The main thing that I go on to define the difference between the two is screen size. How do you define it? See the video after the break. Read more

Intel hands over Moblin OS to Linux Foundation

Intel is handing over control of Moblin, the Linux-based operating system developed for Atom CPU-powered netbooks, to the non-profit Linux Foundation. By setting Moblin free, Intel is hoping that the operating system will attract more interest from netbook vendors who are currently steadfastly sticking with Windows XP.

In doing so however, Intel could be taking a big risk. The promotion of the Linux-based OS could see netbook vendors move away from Intel CPUs/chipsets to rivals such as the Nvidia Ion platform or even to ARM-powered CPUs. Read more

Samsung N310 netbook, more hands-on impressions

We’ve posted a number of impressions of the 10-inch Samsung N310 from European sites, however this time round Laptop Mag managed to get hands-on with the Samsung N310 netbook at the CTIA convention in Las Vegas. We already know that whilst the specifications are pretty similar to the Samsung NC10, it is the design that sets it apart. It has a ‘pebble’ design with the Samsung logo embossed onto the lid. It will also have a 92 percent size standard keyboard and will come with a 4-cell battery.

Whilst I’m not too fond of the large logo, they found it to be a nice touch. The overall feel was quite solid and durable. They were also impressed with the ‘chiclet’ keyboard which felt even roomier than the Asus Eee PC 1000HE. Check out our previous post for the full specifications of the N310.

CTIA is the world’s largest event dedicated to wireless gadgets. Interestingly, Samsung had the CTIA showfloor all to itself. Some of the biggest netbook manufacturers like Dell, Lenovo, MSI, Acer, Asus and Hewlett-Packard were all absent from the show. That left Samsung all alone to showcase its wares. A sign of the recessionary times we live in.

Nvidia Tegra-powered HP Mini 1000 netbook

Nvidia has shown off a HP Mini 1000 at CTIA powered by its own Tegra platform. The unit was shown using a Windows CE build. As it uses an ARM CPU, it does not support Windows XP and Vista. The Nvidia Tegra line is a low-power platform aimed at mobile products and can handle 720p HD video.

Nvidia were showcasing the Tegra platform rather than telling the world that it is planning to commercialise a Tegra-powered HP Mini. The prototype demonstrated was about the size of a single DIMM RAM. It shows how scalable the platform is.

Could we see these in MIDs or netbooks soon? The advantage of HDMI, playable 3D graphics and more battery life may be enough to convince users to sacrifice Windows XP/Vista/Windows7. There are no firm Tegra product announcements yet, but as with Ion, it can’t be too long now.

Via Engadget.

Samsung N120 netbook US/UK pre-orders open

The Samsung N120 is almost unique when it comes to netbooks as it will support a full-sized 12-inch keyboard, despite only having a 10.1-inch display. To do this, sacrifices had to be made and what we end up with is a unit with quite a large bezel around the screen, Samsung has used this space to house the speakers on either side of the display (check out some larger pictures of the NC20 in this post).

The other interesting part of the netbook is that it will feature an integrated SRS 2.1 sound system featuring 2 x 1.5 Watt stereo speakers with a dedicated sub-woofer. Credit has to be given for Samsung engineers for making this happen inside such a small chassis, but I can’t help thinking it will still sound ‘tinny’.

The unit is expected to be released in the middle of this April and appropriately some sites in the US and UK have started to take pre-orders. In the US it is showing up at retailers for pre-order between $450 – $475 and one can choose between black & white colours. The cheapest we’ve seen is PC Connection which has it for $442.43. In the UK, it is showing up for pre-order at Laptops Direct for £379.97, but only comes in white.

Samsung has not officially released the spec-sheet for the N120, however all of the sites are listing a 1.6GHz N270 Atom CPU, 1GB RAM and 160GB hard-disk drive. Samsung claims that the N120 will have up to 10.5 hours of battery life with its 6-cell battery and will weigh 1.28kg (2.8lbs).

Nvidia Ion launching this quarter

Nvidia’s Ion platform is expected to appear this quarter (April to June) according to an official press release. Nvidia’s Ion is an Intel Atom system that has been powered-up with a GeForce 9400M in place of the ageing 945 chipset. Though the 9400M is new to the Atom, it’s an established chipset that’s already found in full-spec notebooks such as the Dell Studio XPS 13 and the Apple MacBook.

One of the first Ion-based nettops could be the Acer Hornet, which is believed to be launching in Beijing on April 8th. Intended to fit on the back of a flatscreen monitor, the Hornet offers both media centre functionality and motion-sensitive games, similar to the Nintendo Wii.

Its appearance in netbooks/nettops will mean that these low-power systems should be able to handle modest 3D gaming and decode 1080p video content without breaking a sweat. Personally we can’t wait to see the appearance of Ion in a netbook, but its success will depend on the pricing. However, to try and convince you how big a deal this really is, Nvidia has got some industry bigwigs (Adobe, Google, Microsoft, and Electronic Arts) together to tell you so. Check out the video after the jump. Read more

Samsung N110 does support 2GB RAM, page updated

Last week when the Samsung N110 netbook first appeared on the Samsung US site, it listed that the maximum RAM available for the unit was just 1GB. We thought this was odd at the time as the N110 is a refresh of Samsungs NC10 which supported 2GB RAM.

Now potential N110 buyers can rest with ease. The product page has been updated and the N110 does indeed support 2GB RAM. The Samsung N110 is available to pre-order from a number of US retailers, however still no word on a UK release.

Intel Atom bombs the competition

Intel gained market share during every quarter of 2008, mainly due the success of its Atom CPU in the netbook segment according to iSuppli. Showing just how dominant is in the CPU space, it held a market share of 81.8 percent in the final quarter of 2008. Intels share had grown 3.4 percentage points from the year before (78.4 percent in Q4 2007).

“Intel’s Atom offering for the netbook segment has helped, although the major contribution to the company’s share gains has undoubtedly come from the continued strength of the company’s microprocessor brands and products in the desktop, notebook and server segments,” said Matthew Wilkins, principal analyst, computer platforms research, for iSuppli

Intels super performance came at the expense of AMD who lost market share both year-on-year and sequentially in Q4 2008. AMD accounted for 10.6 percent of worldwide microprocessor revenue, a decrease of 3.5 percent from the 14.1 percent it held in the fourth quarter of 2007.

Earlier this year, Intel said it expects to sell at least 50 percent more Atom chips for netbooks and other mobile Internet devices this year than last. “Clearly things are getting tougher if you’re a microprocessor supplier and your name is not Intel or AMD,” Wilkins added.

MSI Wind U115 Hybrid netbook gets official UK pricing

The MSI U115 Hybrid netbook has been officially announced for the UK market. It is expected to arrive in May at a price point of £499. This certainly is quite pricey for a 10-inch netbook, especially compared to the competition. However, this price accounts for a Hybrid (HDD/SDD) storage solution and Intel’s latest Poulsbo chipset.

We have certainly been impressed by the technology behind the U115 Hybrid. The UK SKU will come with a 160GB hard-disk drive and 8GB solid-state drive. The HDD can be disabled to preserve power, which some users have managed to get 13 hours of battery life of use out of it. The official announcement refers to a 12 hour battery time on its 6-cell battery. This figure is based on the SSD and LCD enabled and the HDD, WiFi, Bluetooth and webcam disabled and speakers muted.

The 10-inch (1024 x 600) LED-backlit display is powered by a low-power 1.6GHz Z530 Atom CPU and US15W (Poulsbo) chipset. This chipset provides full hardware acceleration of HD files (including H.264, MPEG2 and VC1) helping to reduce the total power consumption. It will come with 1GB RAM and a 4-in-1 card reader. Other features include WiFi (including draft n), Bluetooth, a 1.3MP webcam and three USB ports.

Despite this impressive technology, MSI may have a challenge on its hands. Whilst it has to be commended for introducing new hybrid storage technology and the impressive battery life, one is able to buy the Samsung NC10 or Asus Eee 1000HE and extra battery for less money than the MSI U115. Click through for the full U115 Hybrid specifications. Read more

Strong netbook growth squeezing notebook demand

Amidst the global recession, many people are trading down on discretionary spend to save money where they can. Whether this involves people eating in McDonald’s rather than the fancy restaurant in town, the trends are plain to see. One of the big beneficiaries of this trend in the technology world is the netbook, which has seen stellar growth since its introduction in 2007.

It doesn’t take a genius to work out, that notebook growth has waned since its introduction. Now Displaysearch has a report out which puts some numbers on where these trends are expected to be 2009. The difference is quite stark, netbooks are expected to grow by 66-percent in 2009 compared to just 3-percent for notebooks. It is worth mentioning though that the expected 2009 netbook shipments of 27 million units still dwarf that expected for notebooks at 133 million units.

“With the lone exception of Apple, all of the top 15 PC brands have entered the mini-note market, initially as a response to competitive threats posed by Acer and Asus, but also to satisfy demand for low-priced, entry-level PCs,” said John F. Jacobs, Director of Notebook Market Research.

Netbooks sales are seeing their strongest growth in China and the Pacific Rim states, with the exception of Japan, where demand is very low. North America is also expected to be a low growth area. Netbooks won’t have its own way forever though as DisplaySearch expects consumers to return to more higher-priced notebooks when the economic crisis is over. Personally, I think there is an element of cannibalisation that will continue to exist even once the global recession is over. Click through for a table on growth forecast by region between 2008-2012. Read more

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