Toshiba have made slight tweaks to Android 2.1 to make it more suited as a netbook. You’ll get the usual homescreens that can be pre-configured and a number of apps will be pre-installed including Documents to Go for viewing and editing Microsoft Office files, a POP3 email client and a Toshiba Media Player.

It will come with a non-touchscreen 10.1-inch display with 1024 x 600 resolution display. Other features include a 1.3MP webcam, Wi-Fi (b/g/n), Bluetooth 2.1, GPS, an optional 3G module, an integrated SD memory card slot, a USB port, a mini-USB port and HDMI-out. The Toshiba AC100 will be available from August 2010 although pricing remains a mystery for now.

Slashgear, Crave and PC Pro managed some hands-on time with a prototype device and found that whilst the AC100 was indeed lightweight there was an element of flex in the chassis and keyboard. The software seemed to freeze and there is no Flash support right now, although an update to Android 2.2 (complete with Flash 10.1 support) is pencilled in over the next few months.

Of more concern, however, was the limited peripheral support given the Android OS. Printers and cameras are the main offenders whilst mice and external keyboards should be okay. Also, the fact that the display was not touchscreen meant that the Android UI was a bit unintuitive over a mouse. Check out some videos below.

There is currently no idea when they will hit the market again and we don’t know if we’ll see them in their current forms again. Lenovo released a statement highlighting that it had shelved “plans to release the initial version of the Skylight smartbook.” This could mean it will come back to the market in another guise. There are also rumours that Lenovo are expected to launch other Android devices by the end of the year, although what form these will take is unknown.

Carrypad has just published the first review I’ve seen of this device. They loved some of the headline features of smartbooks generally including the always on 3G experience and long battery life (18 hours from mixed use). However, internet connectivity was patchy and there is no included Android Market that mars the experience. Software is one of the main negatives with the feeling that Android is too “immature in large-screen” scenarios. Click here for the full review.

The 10.1-inch Airlife 100 comes with the Android operating system, 512MB RAM and a 16GB flash drive. The touchscreen display is resistive rather than capacitive but comes with a matte finish. The OS has been tweaked to easily work with the touchpad as well as touchscreen. You can check out the unboxing video after the jump.

Via Carrypad.

Acer may not have the Chrome OS limelight to itself though. Samsung has also talked of developing ARM-based smartbooks powered by the Nvidia Tegra 2 chipset. Google is expected to release Chrome OS during the second half of the year. Techcrunch says that Chrome OS is coming along quickly but isn’t ready as things stand, they’ve also got some images of what the OS is likely to look like.

Update: Acer has confirmed that it will not be showcasing Chrome OS netbooks at Computex.

“We thought [smartbooks] would be launched by now, but they’re not. We’ve seen things like Adobe slip — we’d originally scheduled for something like 2009,” said Drew. “Our target is mostly internet machines — it becomes sort of a requirement that they run the internet. [The delay in optimising] Flash has stalled it”.

It seems that manufacturers are also cautious on smartbooks given the low-take-up of Linux-based netbooks and the current fever-pitch around tablet devices. Some manufacturers who were planning smartbook devices are now looking at tablets instead.

Arm chips cannot support x86 applications (like Windows), therefore some are concerned on how well smartbooks would be received. “Some of it is also related to there not being many Linux [netbooks] out there either. We’ve only got Linux. If you look at forecasts for Linux netbook sales last year, not as many were sold,” said Drew.

Drew remains optimistic on the smartbook category and believes that they are now in a stronger position than they were two years ago. “I am disappointed that you can’t go down to PC World and buy a smartbook at the moment, but I’m convinced something will happen,” Drew said.

Via ZDNet.

The Dell Athens netbook is more typical in its form-factor and will sport a similar sized display and ARM processor. It will have a thin chassis and weigh less than 900g (1.98lbs). These models are expected to launch during the Autumn. Check out a large screencap of this Dell roadmap after the break.

The Airlife 100 also sports a 16GB SSD, 512MB RAM, 512MB ROM and a 28Whr battery that should last for over 12 hours. It also comes with a 10.1-inch (1024 x 600) resistive screen. Click though for the full specs.

Compaq AirLife 100

* 10.1” 1024 x 600 display
* Resistive touch screen
* Qualcomm Snapdragon QSD8250 processor (1 GHz)
* 512MB RAM
* 512MB Flash memory
* 16GB internal storage (1GB reserved)
* 1x micro USB, audio jack, SD card slot
* 802.11b/g Wi-Fi, 3G
* Bluetooth 2.0+EDR
* 28Wh li-poly battery (removable, 12 hours)
* 0.3MP webcam, microphone
* Android OS
* 264 x 166.5 x 23.8mm / 10.39 x 6.56 x 0.94 inches
* 1.0 kg / 2.2 pounds (starting from)

Via MyHPMini.

The delay has been caused by the need for further tweaking. Here’s what Lenovo sources told LaptopMag: “With any new product that we introduce, we owe it to our customers to get it right and we would rather take the little extra time that sometimes takes to finalize a product.”

Lenovo confirmed that its interesting tablet/ultrathin, the U1 Hybrid, is still on track. Despite the delay, the Skylight is still set to launch in China in May and will show up in other markets in June.

Update: Digitimes reports that the Skylight’s UI and browsing is not as smooth as the Apple iPad, hence why Lenovo has pushed back the release.

Darryl Kang from DK.sg has had a few days of playtime with a pre-production Skylight. He was impressed that the keyboard and touchpad had not been compromised in terms of size, with the keyboard proving comfortable to type on. The touchpad has integrated left/right buttons that don’t appear to everyone’s taste.

The Skylight runs on a custom Linux kernel and Kang noticed that the device lagged when having more than 9 apps open in the background. Playing back YouTube wasn’t smooth either, despite having the ability to play Flash, this is likely to be fixed before launch. The built-in 3G sim card slot is welcome along with the HDMI port.

Via EeePC.net