Asus Eee PC 1201N hits Amazon US pre-order

Asus’ dual-core ION-wielding Eee PC 1201N netbook has hit pre-order on Amazon.com for $499.99. It is available in both black (1201N-PU17-BK) and silver (1201N-PU17-SL) colours and has a release date penned in for 15th January 2010. This is a month later than was expected in the US.

No UK pre-orders have popped up so far, but that US launch date is in line with what Asus has previously told us was penned in for the UK market. Hopefully, not too long to wait for a belated Christmas present to yourself. Click here for the lowdown on specs.

Via Engadget.

Intel Pineview netbooks to launch on 11th January 2010?

Netbooks launching with the next-generation Atom Pineview processors are set to launch on 11th January 2010 according to Digitimes. Manufacturers such as Acer, Asus, Lenovo and MSI are complying with Intel’s embargo, prohibiting any release until after 10th January.

The initial netbooks using the Pine Trail platform will launch using the 1.66Ghz N450 Atom Pineview processor, whilst the 1.83GHz N470 processor is set to hit the market in March. Pineview netbooks are expected to run on three main platforms: Windows 7 Starter , Moblin and Windows XP with Windows 7 expected to the most popular but also most costly.

Manufacturers are cautious on the launch of these new netbooks, worrying that they may not take off as expected. This could end up leaving an inventory stockpile as was seen in early 2009.

Samsung N130 reviewed – poor sibling

Laptop Mag has followed yesterday’s Samsung N140 netbook review with a look at its budget brother, the Samsung N130. The Samsung N130 has an official price point of $349, but can be found cheaper and offers the same keyboard, touchpad and matte display as the N140.

However, that’s where the positive comparisons end. The N130 comes with the weaker 1.6GHz N270 Atom CPU and 4000 mAh 6-cell battery. The N140 came with a 1.66GHz N28 Atom and 5200mAh capacity battery. It is also only equipped with a mono speaker to further differentiate it from the N140 that comes with stereo SRS audio.

The Samsung N130 lasted for four hours and forty-four minutes, this is nearly two hours less than the N140, a significant difference. Laptop Mag suggests spending a bit extra and going for something with a bit more oomph. You can read their full review here.

YouTube “Feather”: Ultra-light version for netbooks

YouTube has introduced the “Feather” Beta, which is a trimmed down version of YouTube designed to run on netbooks/low-powered PCs running on low-bandwidth connections. It is designed to watch videos with the lowest latency possible by limiting the features available to viewers and reducing the amount of bytes downloaded by the browser.

The changes include the player defaulting to standard quality, reducing comments displayed to 10 and removing sharing and embedding options. The auto-suggest search bar and related videos have also been removed. With the advent of Adobe Flash Player 10.1 and GPU-accelerated playback, YouTube playback is unlikely to trouble ION-powered netbooks. However, for everyone else, this new version is probably worth a try, especially if you don’t use the removed features much anyway.

You can check out the YouTube “Feather” opt-in beta here. Just click on the “Join the ‘Feather’ Beta” link. Remember this is currently work in progress so not all videos will work right now.

Dell demos Chromium OS on the Mini 9, Mini 10v & Latitude 2100 netbooks [Video]

Dell’s Doug Anson has given his impressions of Google’s Chromium OS as well as demonstrating it in action on a number of Dell netbooks including the Mini 9, Mini 10v and Latitude 2100. With the latter, he even times how long it takes to boot to the login screen (15 seconds). It looks very quick and that’s just using a standard 250GB hard-disk drive rather than SSD.

His impressions so far are mixed. On the one hand it feels nimble and fast and uses new web technologies, but on the other hand, it is only really useful when connected to a strong fast network. Without a continuous network connection it’s pretty redundant.

If you want to try it out for yourself, the image has been recut and now comes in a 302MB download (rather than several GB). You can download it here, where you’ll find both the image and ReadMe text instruction files. I have also included Doug’s installation instructions after the break along with the video. Read more

Fujitsu LifeBook UH900: 5.6” multi-touch handheld PC

Fujitsu has announced the Lifebook UH900, a 5.6-inch UMPC that sports a multi-touch display and Windows 7 compatibility. It is powered by a 1.6GHz Z530 Atom processor and includes features such as a webcam and stereo mic. It comes with the full range of wireless connectivity (Wi-Fi, Bluetooth) including 3.5G.

The Lifebook UH900 has a small form-factor, measuring 20.4cm x 10.65cm x 2.38cm and weighs a super-light 500g. Just how legible that tiny 5.6-inch display is likely to be key. The display has WXGA resolution and goes up to 300nits brightness. The company claims that the UH900 supports flash animation and full-width web pages. As well as two finger touch output the LifeBook UH900 also comes bundled with a pen. Read more

Samsung N140 reviewed – battery life not class leading

The 10-inch Samsung N140 netbook is the latest incarnation of the best-selling NC10 model. Laptop Mag has published its review of the N140 and it seems to have done the NC10 proud in most respects. However, it is let down by battery life, at least when compared to the competition.

The Samsung N140 lasted for six hours and thirty-two minutes on its 6-cell 5200mAh battery, higher than the average of 5h:21m. Whilst this is certainly respectable, competing models are now starting to deliver significantly higher battery lives. Even the company’s older N110 netbook offered an extra hour of battery life, although it is using a higher capacity 5900mAh battery.

Other (minor) negative points include a glossy lid that is a fingerprint magnet, the touchpad buttons are narrow in use and SD cards stick out from the slot. Apart from that however, the Samsung N140 wins points for its class-leading keyboard, bright matte display, large touchpad, SRS audio, Windows 7, fast CPU and value price point at $399. Click here to check out the full review.

Intel Atom Developer SDK Beta opens for netbook app creation

Intel has released a developer kit for creating netbook applications based on the Atom processor. The beta version of its SDK (software development kit) is now available to download for both Windows and Moblin operating systems. This SDK allows keen devs to design and submit their applications for Intel-based netbooks that will be sold next year. The kits can be downloaded here.

“Consumer adoption of mobile computing and Atom-based netbooks is growing rapidly, and there is an immediate opportunity for developers to capitalize on the popularity of these small form-factor, on-the-go devices,” said Renee James, corporate VP of Intel’s Software and Services Group. “We are excited about the innovation and energy from developers around creating applications and unlocking new uses for Atom platforms.”

Via Slashgear.

Asus Eee PC 1005HR netbook with HD display tested

The Asus Eee PC 1005HR is pretty much identical to the Eee PC 1005HA apart from the fact that it sports a high-resolution (1366 x 768) display. Peter from Netbooked has his review up of the device and whilst it took time to adjust to the small font-size, Windows can be adjusted to make for a more comfortable experience.

The 1005HR is also quieter over the 1005HA according to Peter. Combine this with a 7-hour battery life, excellent keyboard and multi-gesture touchpad and you have a very capable machine. It’s just a shame it’s only being sold in Japan right now. Click through for the video review. Read more

Acer aims for first to market with Chrome OS netbook

Acer is looking to be the first manufacturer to launch a Chrome OS netbook in the second half of 2010. The netbook has been in development since the middle of this year according to Digitimes. No specifications were given but we would expect the device to have flash storage and run either an x86 or ARM processor.

Acer was also first to market with the dual-booting Aspire One D250 Android netbook and apparently sales were not as strong as expected. This is perhaps not a surprise given the little optimization that the Android OS has seen in the move from smartphone to netbook. However, as Chrome OS is being developed for netbooks from the ground up, momentum behind Chrome OS netbooks should be higher.

Asus Eee PC 1201N netbook unboxed

Whilst we are waiting for the 12.1-inch ION-breathing Asus Eee PC 1201N to hit UK shores in mid-January, the guys over at ElectricPig have already managed to unbox a unit. As part of the Seashell range, it’s no surprise that it looks very similar to the 11.6” 1101HA and 10.1” 1005HA netbooks.

This includes a dimpled touchpad and clam shell design. This particular model comes with a chiclet keyboard though, rather than the flat keys seen in the rest of the Seashell range. The model is due to retail for £399 and will come with a dual-core 1.6GHz Atom 330 processor along with the Nvidia ION chipset.

Asus Eee PC 1008P-KR Pineview netbook in pictures

We already know that Asus is set to launch Intel Pineview-powered netbooks under the Eee PC 1008P and 1005P model names. From what we understand, these are just the Pineview (hence the ‘P’ in the model name) Atom versions of the 1008HA and 1005HA netbooks respectively. We now have pictures of one of the 1008P versions due to hit the market called the ASUS Eee PC Seashell 2 1008P-KR netbook.

The ‘KR’ part stands for renowned designer Karim Rashid, who has created this designer netbook. Judging by the pictures, it has been designed to resemble a clutch bag with its rippled exterior. Apart from the shell, the 1008P-KR appears to be very similar to its predecessor. It has the same ‘seashell’ shape and comes with flaps that cover its ports. Read more

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