New Nvidia ION products shown off at Computex
June 2, 2009 at 1:48 pm
Nvidia has announced 21 new ION-based products at the Computex Taipei show, including netbooks, nettops, desktop PCs and motherboards. From what we can tell, there seem to be very few netbooks being shown off incorporating the ION platform.
Ion is capable of not only 1080p video but 7.1 surround sound audio, DirectX 10 graphics and video acceleration and transcoding with NVIDIA’s own CUDA technology.
Apart from the previously announced Lenovo Ideapad S12, there is the Telecast TL-1000N and Weibu N10A. The latter two are ODM names that will likely be branded by some more familiar names, if they decide to sell these. However, Fudzilla found the build quality of these netbooks to be of “budget quality” and said they would be surprised if they turned up outside of Asia. You can check out a short video of these ION-powered netbooks after the break. Read more
Pixel Qi’s 3Qi display and Amazon Kindle side-by-side
June 2, 2009 at 11:34 am
Mary Lou Jepsen has been on the road demonstrating the new 3Qi display from Pixel Qi, which combines three types of display in one screen. There is an efficient black-and-white mode, a high resolution colour screen and also an e-paper mode suitable for reading in direct sunlight.
We have already seen some pictures of the display, including the e-paper mode in direct sunlight. But now, Mary Lou has updated her blog with a picture that many want to see, the 3Qi display versus the Amazon Kindle with backlights off. It’s impressive how good the 3Qi display looks and, to my eyes, is more legible than the Kindle. Click through for a larger screengrab of the photo comparison. Read more
Jolicloud Alpha OS Video Demo
June 2, 2009 at 11:20 am
There are a number of Linux-based operating systems that are being tailored for the netbook experience. Ubuntu Netbook Remix 9.04 and Moblin have recently shown off their OS’, and it looks like Jolicloud will be just as impressive, if this video demonstration by NetbookNews is anything to go by. Jolicloud is based on Ubuntu with touted faster boot times and improved internet surfing.
As you can tell by the ‘cloud’ part of the name, Jolicloud has been customised for cloud computing, to get Jolicloud you must register for an account. The bulk of Jolicloud is run from the Internet, rather than being installed locally on your netbook. The creators describe it as a ‘Social OS’. This means that it has support for services like Facebook, Twitter and Skype built-in. Any updates are seen on the front page of the OS screen.
The new Jolicloud website and private Alpha should be launching very soon, so keep your eyes peeled if you want to try it yourself. Check out the video after the jump. Read more
Toshiba NB205 netbook announced for US market
June 2, 2009 at 10:40 am
Following on from the recent Toshiba ‘Dynabook UX’/NB200 launches in Japan and Europe respectively, Toshiba has confirmed that this 10-inch follow-on from the 8.9-inch NB100, will land in the US in the form of the NB205.
The model looks very similar to the NB200, albeit slightly slimmer, and will even come in 2 SKUs, as seen in Europe. The NB205-N310 netbook will be the more expensive version, featuring a metallic textured finish, a chrome hinge, chiclet keyboard and will be available in four different colours (Sable Brown, Frost White, Indigo Blue and Posh Pink). The mini NB205-N210 netbook has a fusion finish in Black Onyx, comes with a flat keyboard rather than chiclet with black matte finish. Read more
Asus 11.6-inch Eee PC 1101HA spotted in the wild
June 2, 2009 at 12:06 am
It looks like those rumours of an 11.6-inch Eee PC were true after all. It has been spotted at Computex, although it is unlikely to be officially announced until tomorrow. The screengrab (larger image after the jump) shows that it will feature an 11.6-inch (1366 x 768) display powered by the Intel Atom Z520 or Z530 CPU. Other features will include 1GB RAM, 160GB HDD, three USB 2.0 ports, card reader, WiFi, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR and there’s a 1.3-megapixel webcam in the bezel.
The image shows a design that seems to be influence by the Seashell line of netbooks (Eee PC 1008HA/1005HA). Battery life is meant to last around 11 hours, although two 6-cell batteries have been spotted (2220mAh and 2800mAh). Hopefully, we’ll have some official details very shortly. Read more
Psion backs down in ‘Netbook’ trademark dispute
June 1, 2009 at 10:53 pm
Psion has announced that it has reached an “amicable agreement” with Intel regarding the trademark dispute surrounding the ‘netbook’ term. What this means is that Psion will now voluntarily withdrawn all of its trademark registrations for ‘Netbook’.
Psion had trademarked the term back in 2003, but no longer made products under the “netbook” name. However, when the mini-notebooks started getting popular Psion made new claims on the name. “Psion has agreed to waive all its rights against third parties in respect of past, current or future use of the ‘Netbook’ term,” read the statement.
The case escalated to the point of Psion claiming $1.2 billion in damages suffered as a result of infringement on its netbook trademark. Psion was one of the first manufacturers to make micro-sized laptops – back in 1999 its Psion 7 used an EPOC operating system, an early version of the Symbian OS found in mobile phones of today.
Asus Snapdragon-powered Eee PC running Android hands-on [Video Round-up]
June 1, 2009 at 2:56 pm
Asus has given hints in the past that it was considering releasing an Eee PC powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon chip (based on ARM). It has now shown off a prototype a day before the Computex show is set to officially start.
This smartbook (note: not netbook) has a fanless design given the very low power consumption. The prototype runs on a 1GHz Snapdragon chip and is capable of HD 720p video. The chip also has embedded 3G and GPS. This allows for an “always connected” experience, very similar to a mobile phone. Read more
Asus considering Nvidia ION for netbooks
June 1, 2009 at 10:09 am
Asustek has recently started to test netbooks and nettops using Nvidia’s ION platform according to Digitimes. Whilst there is no schedule for netbooks right now, it does plan to launch an ION based Eee Boc B1006 during the third quarter of this year.
With Computex just about to start, we are expecting a whole host of announcements from other manufacturers, who are getting ready to announce ION-powered netbooks during the show. We’ll keep you updated throughout this week on further developments.
Computex: Nvidia Tegra netbooks to debut with Windows CE
June 1, 2009 at 12:04 am
Nvidia will be showing off the first netbooks that run on the Tegra platform at the Computex show, which kicks off on Tuesday in Taiwan. The Tegra platform is different to ION in that it pairs an ARM-based processor with an Nvidia GeForce GPU (ION pairs an Intel Atom CPU with the Nvidia 9400M graphics).
The lack of an x86 processor, means that Windows XP/Windows 7 is not an option. Instead, these netbooks will be running the Windows CE operating system. Nvidia says that at some point down the road, it hopes to use Google Android instead. Read more
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