HP Slate to undercut Apple iPad on price; MS working on Courier

Hewlett Packard has released little detail on its Slate tablet device. Apparently this is for good reason. According to the WSJ, HP was waiting to see what Apple had in store with the iPad, before tweaking features and price-points. Its sources suggest that HP executives will be meeting in the US and Taiwan over the next few weeks to discuss these exact issues.

It sounds like 3G will be one of the Slate’s features as the company is considering selling a version of the Slate that has a similar display size and features as the iPad (including a 3G connection) for a price less than Apple is charging ($629). Read more

Asus Eee PC 1001P reviewed – a fine budget netbook

The Asus Eee PC 1001P is the company’s budget-targeted Pine Trail netbook. This $299 model follows in the Seashell design of previous Eee PC netbooks and looks similar to the Eee PC 1005PE-P. The 10.1-inch (1024 x 600) netbook is powered by a 1.66GHz N450 Pineview processor, 1GB RAM, 160GB HDD and comes with Windows 7 Starter.

Laptop Mag put the 1001P through its paces and liked what they saw. Some of the highlights include a textured matte lid that avoids any fingerprint mess, a comfortable keyboard, long battery life (over 8 hours) and a bargain price. The find little not to like at this price point but picked on its single touchpad mouse button and smaller hard drive (although 160GB was the norm before Pine Trail came along!) You can check out the full review here.

Intel and Nokia collaborating on new mobile Atom chip?

Intel and Nokia seem to be best of buddies at the moment. Not only have they stuck both their respective mobile Linux platforms into one melting pot to create Meego, rumours are surfacing of a hardware collaboration too. Apparently both companies are working together to create a new Atom-based SoC (system on chip) called Penwell for netbooks and mobile phones.

Any such partnership would make sense strategically. Intel is looking to crack the mobile/smartphone market that is heavily dominated by ARM and Nokia wants to grow its mobile market share in the US as well as developing its netbooks. Sounds like an exciting venture if true and would fit very well with their MeeGo mobile operating system.

Via SemiAccurate [via Ars Technica].

Intel “Oak Trail” set to replace Atom Z series?

Intel may be set to launch a replacement of the Atom Z series of processors according to PC Watch. The Atom Z CPUs are found on a number of netbooks including the Sony Vaio P, MSI Wind U115 and Asus Eee PC T91MT. Intel had already announced Moorestown, the successor to Menlow that includes the Atom Z series, as part of its MID/smartphone platform.

Rumours suggest that Intel may be launching a new version of Menlow called “Menlow Plus” or “Menlow Refresh” with clock speeds faster than 2GHz. However, another rumour suggests that Intel is working on a Moorestown version for PCs dubbed Oak Trail. It’s all rumours for now but we’ll keep you posted with any developments.

Via NetbookNews.de.

Acer’s TouchPortal UI demoed on the Aspire 1820P convertible netbook

Acer’s much anticipated 11.6-inch Aspire 1820P convertible tablet is due to hit the market next month. It will be powered by a 1.2GHZ dualSU7300 Core 2 Duo processor, 2GB of RAM (max 8GB), either 250GB or 320GB HDD. Other features include Wi-Fi (b/g), Bluetooth 2.1, HDMI, three USB ports, card reader and a 0.3MP webcam. The company is also boasting an 8-hour battery life.

Notebook Italia managed to get some hands-on time with the Aspire 1820P whilst at MWC in Barcelona. In particular, they enjoyed playing around with Acer’s multimedia TouchPortal user interface. You can use this to flick through photos, browse your music collection or play videos. It even allows you to print photos just by dragging them over to a print icon. Check out a video of this UI in action after the jump. Read more

Acer 1410 gets ‘Magnetic Power Adaptor’ mod

Those of you with Apple laptops will be familiar with the magnetic power adaptors (MagSafe) the company uses. The idea is that the power connector is held magnetically so that if it is tugged accidentally it comes out of the socket safely without damaging the device. Even under normal use, as the power connector is attached to the motherboard, constant strain can make the connection become loose.

One intrepid modder looked to create something similar for his Acer Aspire 1410 ultrathin. He claims that it is easy to build with common materials and holds together without detaching unless it’s meant to. It all looks a bit complicated to me, but he says it is completely reversible. You can check out the guide here.

Via Blogeee.

MSI Wind U160 caught running Moblin [Video]

Back at CES in January, both MSI and Samsung announced that it was planning to release netbooks with the Moblin operating system installed. MSI were planning a Moblin Wind U135, whilst Samsung was prepping the N127 netbook that will primarily go on sale in India and Russia.

Now the MSI Wind U160 has been spotted running Moblin at MWC in Barcelona. The hardware remains the same: 10.1-inch (1024 x 600) display, N450 Atom processor, 1GB RAM, 250GB HDD and a 15 hour battery life. We don’t know whether this was just a demonstration or whether MSI plans on making this a commercial reality. However, you can check out a video of the Moblin Wind U160 after the break. Read more

PriceGrabber survey reveals interesting netbook trends

PriceGrabber has released a survey of netbook trends across 2009 that shows netbook ownership has increased from 10 percent to 15 percent. There seems to be an age shift in people who are buying netbooks, the most predominant age category of netbook owners were aged 45 – 64 years, comparing to 35-54 years last year. This seems a bit baffling to me, especially considering their smaller screens.

The survey also reveals that 11 percent of consumers plan to purchase a netbook this year and that most people do not see netbooks as a laptop replacement but more of a secondary computer. The introduction of netbooks has also seen people less willing to pay high prices. Around 65 percent of consumers said that the maximum amount they plan to spend on their next computing device is $750, even though over half spent more than $750 on their last device. Click here to read the full PDF report, including loads of charts.

Windows 7 polled as the best netbook OS

There are so many operating system choices when you’ve bought your new netbook. You have the usual desktop stalwarts such as Windows, OS X and Ubuntu, but there is a growing number of Linux alternatives catered to the netbook experience such as Jolicloud, Moblin and the upcoming Chrome OS.

Lifehacker has been conducting a poll over the last week, asking its readers what is the best netbook operating system. First of all they asked their readers to flag their favourite, they then rounded up the five most popular OSes and conducted a poll to find a winner. Read more

MSI Wind U160 netbook pre-orders hit the US

The sexy MSI Wind U160 netbook is now available to pre-order in the US. Amazon.com has both colours (black & gold) up for pre-order for $379.99. No release date is listed, but hopefully it’s not in the too distant future. The U160 is expected to launch in the UK for £329 during March.

The Wind U160 comes with a 10.1-inch (1024 x 600) display, chiclet keyboard and is powered by a 1.66GHz N450 Atom processor. The company is claiming a 15-hour battery life from a chassis measuring 1-inch in thickness and weighing less than 1kg. For the full specs click here.

Via Netbooked.

OpenPeak intros 7-inch Moorestown-powered OpenTablet 7

Anyone getting sick of the number of tablets hitting the scene? No? Good, us neither. This time round we have OpenPeak who have debuted their OpenTablet 7 at MWC in Barcelona. This is a 7-inch multitouch tablet that is powered by Intel’s Moorestown platform.

It features dual cameras for HD video recording, HDMI port, USB and a microSD card. It will also support Wi-Fi (b/g/n), Bluetooth 2.1 and 3G. The latter of which can enable the OpenTablet7 to be used as a phone as it has both a mic and speakers. Read more

Early impressions of the Lenovo Ideapad S10-3t filter through

The 10-inch Lenovo Ideapad S10-3t convertible netbook is starting filter through into consumer’s hands. Early impressions cite good build quality, a strong swivel, a comfortable keyboard and nice aesthetics overall. Some of the negative points include touchscreen lag when navigating Windows 7, an 8-cell battery that juts out of the back and a small palm rest area.

Upgrading components should be easy as the bottom panel can be removed by taking out just a few screws. Once opened, you have access to the hard-disk drive, two RAM module slots, a SIM card slot as well as a free mini PCI-E slot. Battery life is also reasonable, with 7 hours of usage in the ‘Balanced’ mode including Wi-Fi and Bluetooth turned on. All in all sounds like a good model, although I’m still not too keen on that large protruding battery.

Via EeePC.net and HGGadgets (via Netbooked).

HP Compaq Airlife 100 smartbook video hands-on roundup

HP is showing off its 10.1-inch Compaq Airlife 100 smartbook at the Mobile World Congress tradeshow in Barcelona. The Airlife 100 looks very much like a typical netbook, although it features a touchscreen resistive display and is powered by a 1GHz Snapdragon chipset and Android 1.6 combo.

The touchpad has a few shortcut buttons adjacent to it with key controls for the Android interface, such as the Menu, Home and Back keys. Other features include a 16GB SSD, Wi-Fi, 3G connectivity and a 12-hour battery life. The Airlife 100 smartbook will initially be offered by Telefonica through subsidized contracts. Read more

MeeGo the new OS created by Maemo + Moblin merger

Intel and Nokia have merged their respective Moblin and Maemo mobile Linux operating systems to form MeeGo. This is huge news. MeeGo will be backed by two of the largest technology companies in the world and should create a mobile OS that will suit a wide range of devices from netbooks to smartphones.

Nokia recently delivered its first Maemo device the Nokia N900 smartphone and Intel’s Moblin is a credible open-source software platform for netbooks as well as MIDs. The MeeGo project will be hosted by the Linux Foundation. There will be access to both the Nokia Ovi Store and the recently announced Intel AppUp Centre. Read more

Acer Aspire One 532G Nvidia ION 2 netbook; first pics & specs

The Acer Aspire One 532G will be the first Pine Trail netbook to sport Nvidia ION 2 graphics along with Nvidia’s Optimus power-saving technology. Details on the ION 2 implementation are still scant however we have been told it is a GeForce G218 part with dedicated 512MB memory.

The Aspire One 532G will be powered by a 1.66GHz N450 Atom processor, 2GB RAM, a 320GB HDD and a 10-inch high-resolution display. As you would expect it also comes with a HDMI out and optional 3G. Acer says that the netbook will have a 10-hour battery life, this falls to five hours if using ION 2 graphics constantly. Read more

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