Intel Cedar Trail graphics twice as fast as Pine Trail?

Intel’s 2011 Atom chipset platform called Cedar Trail will have twice the graphics performance compared to the upcoming Intel Atom Pine Trail chipset according to Fudzilla. The actual processor part (codenamed Cedarview) will be based on a 32mn fabrication process, compared to the 45nm Intel Pineview CPUs.

Intel Pineview will have a GPU performance that matches what we already have in the market, whilst Cedarview will be twice as good when measured by 3DMark06. Of course, even twice as good is still not good enough. Given that most N270/N280 Atom-based netbooks achieve a 3DMark06 score around 100, twice is that is still useless for most 3D software. However, Cedarview will benefit from the ability to play 1080p video content. Intel Pine Trail is set to launch on January 3rd 2010, with Cedar Trail expected in late 2011.

Acer Aspire 1820PTZ convertible netbook hits UK pre-order

The 11.6-inch Acer Aspire 1820PTZ convertible tablet is finally up for pre-order from a number of UK retailers. There seems to be some discrepancy on release date, but most retailers agree it won’t launch this side of Christmas.

Play.com has the device (1820PTZ – 413G16N) listed for £529.99 and launching on the 25th January 2010. OYYY is a bit more optimistic, listing it for £568.89 albeit with an earlier 11th January release date.

The 1820PTZ seems to be identical to the 1820PT but only sports an ‘Intel Dual Core’ processor as opposed to the ‘Intel Core 2 Duo’ seen on the 1820PT. It comes with a 11.6” multi-touch display and 8-hr battery life. It will be powered by a 1.3GHz SU4100 Intel processor and comes with 3GB RAM, a 160GB HDD and 64-bit Windows 7 Professional.

Harlequin dual-screen ‘Courier’ tablet created from Dell Mini 9

Now this is a mod we’ve not come across before. MyDellMini member pakkei decided to embark on the Harlequin project, which was to create something similar to the Microsoft Courier. For those that don’t know, the fabled Microsoft Courier has dual-screen multi-touch panels and is designed for writing, flicking and drawing with a stylus, in addition to fingers.

The Harlequin is pakkei’s take on the project, where he has modded his Dell Mini 9 netbook to form a slate and then added another 9-inch USB touchscreen. The left panel will be used for reading content and the right panel will be used for taking notes. The orientation of the displays can also be reversed to be used in a more normal netbook form-factor too.

As the device uses Windows 7 it features both handwriting and voice recognition. The Harlequin is mostly working although it does need a dual-hinged chassis. Seems like some good handy work from pakkei.

Via Netbooked.

Acer Ferrari One netbook hits the US

The Acer Ferrari One ultra-portable is now shipping in the United States with prices starting at $599.99. This 11.6-inch netbook is powered by AMD’s new 1.2GHz dual-core Congo processor as well as ATI Radeon 3200 graphics.

The Ferrari influence is felt via the ‘Ferrari-red’ lid and checkered palm rest. There are also tire-shape grips underneath the chassis, racing-inspired wallpaper and calendar, as well as a quick access key to Ferrari.com. Other features include Windows 7 Home Premium, a 250GB hard drive and a built-in optical drive. Check out the full list of specifications after the cut. Read more

Sugar on a Stick Blueberry released [Video]

Sugar Labs has released v2 of its ‘Sugar on a Stick’ OS which it has codenamed Blueberry. This follows the v1 Strawberry release back in June. Improvements for the new version include being able to browse & download the web more comfortably as well as the ability to read e-books.

Sugar on a Stick Blueberry includes the latest 0.86.3 Sugar release and features redesigned toolbars, improved wireless performance, support for tabbed browsing and EPUB file support for e-books. Any 1GB USB drive can be used and the OS is run from that drive, rather than requiring installation. The Blueberry release can be downloaded here.

The Sugar operating system was originally developed for the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) project and was first found on the XO-1 netbook. The operating system was created to engage young children with a simple user interface and to help develop their IT skills. Check out a video demonstration of it in action courtesy of NewGadgets.de. Read more

Lenovo Ideapad S12 ION review roundup

Whilst the 12.1-inch Lenovo Ideapad S12 has been around for many months, the ION version was only recently released. Lenovo waited for the launch of Windows 7 before release, which some feel took some of the steam out of its early momentum. Especially as the S12 was the first announced ION netbook, however in the end the HP Mini 311 and Samsung’s N510 launched ahead of it (at least in Europe).

A couple of sites have reviewed the Lenovo S12 ION. Laptop Mag found the graphics performance to be good and the S12 offered a spacious keyboard, bright colourful display and loud speakers. However, it was let down by poor battery life and felt that the HP Mini 311 offered better value for money, as it is both cheaper and lasts for two hours longer. The S12 ION lasted for three hours and forty-five minutes in terms of battery. Read more

New Samsung netbook line-up to launch in January 2010

The Netbook World Summit was being held today in Paris and some interesting tidbits of information have been gleaned from Samsung Notebook Product Manager, Jaewoo Seo. He says that a completely new range of Samsung netbooks will be revealed in January 2010 based on the Intel Pine Trail platform.

This is hardly surprising news as we already know that most of the big manufacturers are planning on showcasing their Pineview-powered netbooks at CES 2010 in early January. However, we did learn that these models are expected to incorporate a much thinner design whilst having even longer battery lives. Samsung already delivers some of the longest netbook battery lives so this is great news. Also, at least one netbook with a touchscreen display is expected. Read more

JooJoo tablet hands-on video roundup

The JooJoo web tablet (formerly known as the CrunchPad) was christened its new name just yesterday, but with no accompanying media. However, it looks like Fusion Garage’s Chandra Rathakrishnan has been doing the rounds, as video hands-on impressions from both Cnet and Engadget have surfaced.

The JooJoo uses a number of multi-touch gestures including two finger swipes to move backwards/forwards. Cnet feels that the virtual keyboard is “poorly positioned”, although you can always use a Bluetooth/USB keyboard (kind of defeats the purpose though). Cnet were impressed with the 12.1-inch (1366 x 768) capacitive display, describing it as “pleasing to hold” and “gorgeous”. However, the $499 price point is likely to be a sticking point for many saying that it’s great “if you have money to burn.”

The hardware has a dedicated GPU powerful enough to run 1080p YouTube content. Engadget managed to experience this first-hand, describing the 1080p Avatar trailer as “crisp and lag-free.” Performance will be dependent on wireless bandwidth though. Engadget’s main gripe was that the “touch sensitivity is pretty bad” with the keyboard being “painful” to use. A pretty big problem for a tablet. Check out both hands-on videos below.

Update: Gizmodo and Wired have also posted their hands-on impressions. Read more

Lenovo prepping Thinkpad Mini 10 & Mini 11 netbooks?

Okay, there’s not much to go on here, but a recent FCC filing from Realtek Semiconductor has mentioned two unheard of devices when conducting wireless SAR (specific absorption rate) testing. The Thinkpad Mini 10 and Thinkpad Mini 11 are cited as ‘host’ devices along with the already outed Thinkpad X100e.

The Thinkpad X100e is an AMD-powered 11.6-inch ultra-thin. Could the Thinkpad Mini 10 and Mini 11 be Lenovo’s Atom-based Thinkpad solution? I would imagine that the former would come with a 10.1” display and the latter with an 11.6” screen, but there’s limited information here. They may not be netbooks at all but codenames for wirelesss adaptors as suggested by Wireless Goodness. Either way, if anything more tangible comes from this we’ll keep you posted. Click through for a screengrab of the evidence. Read more

Gateway EC1805U: CULV-powered 11.6-inch ultra-thin

The 11.6-inch Gateway EC1805U ultra-thin looks very similar in specs to the Acer Aspire 1410, this wouldn’t exactly be a surprise given that Gateway is a subsidiary of Acer. It comes with a 1.4GHz Intel Core2 Solo SU3500 processor, 2GB DDR2 RAM, a 250GB HDD and Windows Vista Home Premium.

Other features include a webcam, card reader, Dolby Sound, Wi-Fi, three USB ports, HDMI-out, a multi-gesture touchpad and 6-cell battery with 7 hours of reported battery life. The EC1805U is selling for $449 on Amazon.com and starts shipping on December 9th.

Via NetbookTech [via Liliputing].

CrunchPad tablet morphs into the $499 JooJoo

Following on from the very public falling out between TechCrunch founder Michael Arrington and hardware partners Fusion Garage, the CrunchPad now has a new name. The 12.1-inch tablet will now be known as the JooJoo. Fusion Garage’s founder, Chandra Rathakrishnan, also went on the record to say that the device was already being worked on before Arrington approached them. He also claims that there was no contract between them.

The specs are mostly what we already know, it has a 12.1” capacitive touchscreen display and includes a 4GB SSD. It boots straight into the browser and runs a UNIX-based operating system. It includes Wi-Fi but no sim-slot for 3G. Battery life is quoted to last for around 5 hours. Pre-orders start from December 11th and will cost $499. Initial deliveries will begin in 8-10 weeks. Demos of the JooJoo are expected later this week.

Competition: Win an Ultimate Netbook Messenger Bag & Netbook Car Mount

The kind folks over at Ultimate-Netbook have provided not one but two prizes for a lucky winner in this week’s competition. We have up for grabs an UltimateAddons Netbook Messenger Bag as well as the Universal 7″ to 13″ Netbook Car Mount. If you’re interested to know a bit more about the prizes, you can check out our review of the messenger bag here and the car mount here.

As before, to enter the competition all you have to do is leave a comment below. We will pick a winner randomly when the competition closes at midnight (GMT) on Monday 14th December. Good luck!

Rules: 1) Please leave a valid email address as we will be using this to contact you, 2) once contacted, if we do not hear from you within 24 hours we will draw another winner, 3) only one entry per household (remember we can see your IP address), 4) this competition is open to our readers in the United Kingdom only.

Update: The lucky winner is Ray!

First Pixel Qi displays target multi-touch tablets; DIY kits promised

The production of Pixel Qi’s 3Qi Hybrid Display is starting shortly and will ramp up over the first quarter of 2010. The company also confirmed that the first displays will hit “specialized tablet devices with multi-touch.”

The driving force behind the project, Mary Lou Jepsen, did not give any hints as to which manufacturers she is working with but expects further announcements at CES 2010 in early January. Interestingly, for those budding modders out there, Pixel Qi also confirmed that it plans to make its displays available through a DIY kit.

The 3-in-1 display can not only switch between an efficient black-and-white mode and a high resolution colour screen, but also to an e-paper mode suitable for reading in direct sunlight.

Acer planning Nvidia ION 2 netbooks?

Acer is one of the few netbook manufacturers that currently does not have an Nvidia ION-powered netbook on the market. All the other big names in the market (Asus, HP, Lenovo, Samsung) have released models or are about to. Whilst, Acer has several ION-powered nettops it seems to have ignored the netbook market for one reason or another.

However, Acer could be waiting for the next-generation ION 2 chipset to appear before sticking it in Acer netbooks. Digitimes is reporting that Acer has placed orders for the ION 2 chipset, which is designed to support Intel’s upcoming Pineview processors. Read more

PsiXpda Pocket PC unveiled with 5-inch touchscreen & 3G

New startup PsiXpda has launched a new pocket computer/UMPC device that harks back to the old PDAs of yesteryear. However, this is a refresh bought up to date with today’s technologies and comes with a feature-rich spec sheet.

It comes with a 5-inch (800 x 480) touchscreen display and powered by a 1.1GHz Z510 Intel Atom processor. You’ll also get 1GB RAM, a high-speed 16GB SSD and Windows XP. This is a miniature netbook if ever there was one.

It comes with a wide array of connectivity options including Bluetooth, Wi-Fi (b/g) and even an unlocked 3G modem pre-installed. You’ll also find a 64-key backlit keyboard and the display’s bezel houses the mouse buttons. The PsiXpda also includes a full-sized USB and mini USB port for wide peripheral support as well as a webcam.

The user replaceable 1850mAh battery should last between two to four hours depending on usage. The only realy blemish is an included 2.5mm socket, rather than a more standard 3.5mm one. It is set to launch in the UK for around the £500 mark, not a bad price given that 3G is included. Click through for the full specifications. Read more

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