11/20, 10:50am
Cedar Trail Atom to go 32nm, DX10
Initial information has surfaced of Intel's sequel to its imminent Pine Trail platform for the Atom processor. Appropriately codenamed Cedar Trail, the 2011 update should be the first built on a 32 nanometer process and will take advantage of this through a new integrated graphics core. The new version will support DirectX 10-level 3D as well as HD video decoding. It should additionally bring dual digital outputs that recognize DisplayPort and HDMI as well as older formats.
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11/20, 10:25am
Should restore support for 'hackintosh' netbooks
A workaround has been developed to restore Atom processor support in Mac OS X 10.6.2, a Russian hacker claims. The technique relies on a custom version of the Mach kernel, which must be installed using Terminal because of the need to gain root access. Once active, the kernel should support so-called hackintosh netbooks, most likely to use Atom chips.
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11/19, 1:30pm
HP Mini 110 netbook due at AT&T on Nov. 22nd
AT&T on Thursday announced it will soon add the HP Mini 110 netbook to its range of 3G mobile broadband equipped netbooks. The Windows 7-equipped netbook sports a 10.1-inch LED display, an Intel Atom CPU and 1GB of RAM. There is otherwise a 160GB hard drive, along with a webcam and built-in microphone.
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11/19, 1:00pm
Arcos 9 tablet is delayed until early in 2010
Despite an official promise of launching its 9-inch mobile tablet PC at the end of October, Archos has not delivered and is now saying the device will not see store shelves until early in 2010. The device will ship early in December, but retailers such as Amazon and Walmart will not get the device until the new year. Its specs are expected to carry over, including the inclusion of Windows 7 Starter Edition and the $500 price tag.
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11/19, 8:15am
ASUS' fastest netbook to have $500 price
ASUS' Eee PC 1201N today received more definitive release details for the US. The American version will have both the 1.6GHz dual-core Atom 330 and NVIDIA Ion chipset that should give it both faster overall performance and the option of 1080p video, including in Flash 10.1. The netbook will be one of the first to come with Windows 7 Home Premium and accordingly come with 2GB of RAM and a 250GB hard drive.
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11/17, 4:20pm
Sony intros Signature VAIO W with snowflakes
Sony on Tuesday launched the first VAIO W series netbook for its Signature Collection, with the Holiday Sparkle. The 10.1-inch netbook sports a white exterior peppered with a decorative snowflake pattern that will appear different depending on the angle it's viewed from. Other specs of this special edition netbook remain the same as other W series netbooks, including the 1.66GHz Atom, 1GB of RAM and a 250GB hard drive.
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11/15, 10:30pm
Samsung Go AT&T's next 3G portable
(Updated with pricing) AT&T added to its netbook range with its first Samsung model. The Go is a rebadge of the NC310 that comes with 3G for the carrier's network as well as Windows 7 Starter Edition in place of Windows XP. Samsung promises about four hours of battery life using the stock battery pack.
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11/11, 6:10pm
AMD plans unified CPU/GPU by 2011
AMD in its annual analyst event provided details of some of its future processors and platforms. The highlight for the semiconductor firm is "Bulldozer," a major revision for both desktops and notebooks that should be much more efficient at multithreaded codethan existing designs. It will be particularly optimized for pairing with graphics chipsets and will be supplemented by "Bobcat," a variant of Bulldozer tailored to ultraportables.
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11/10, 11:30am
Intel Reader converts text, aids the blind
Intel today launched a new handheld specifically to help with reading. The simply-titled Reader carries a camera and automatic text conversion to translate printed text into a digital form that can be read either onscreen or spoken aloud. It's billed as useful to archive text but is focused on helping the blind or poor-sighted read without needing to use Braille.
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11/09, 10:30pm
Change poses hurdle for hackintosh configurations
Apple's final Mac OS X 10.6.2 update breaks support for Intel's Atom CPUs, according to an OSNews report. The company's intent was unclear as the software was under development. Early builds dropped compatibility for the components, although subsequent versions seemingly returned the support.
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11/09, 3:50pm
ASUS multi-touch tablet PC now at Amazon
The ASUS Eee PC T91MT convertible netbook is now avaiable at Amazon. The 8.9-inch multi-touch netbook was first mentioned in a roadmap leak for ASUS, and has a 32GB solid state drive but also includes 500GB of online storage from ASUS. It is powered by a 1.33GHz Intel Atom processor, and there is 1GB of RAM, which can be doubled by the owner.
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11/09, 12:35pm
Intel may detail Pine Trail December 21
Intel is planning to almost completely overhaul its Atom processors with an early Pine Trail unveiling and a near complete replacement of its most important models, a leak suggests. The company reportedly plans to introduce its next-generation designs on December 21st and have PC makers shipping finished products by January 4th, when many had expected the initial unveiling. On that day, Intel is reported by Xbit-Labs as planning to scrap its long-serving 1.6GHz Atom N270 and 1.86GHz N280 chips almost immediately.
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11/09, 11:10am
Netbooks, Intel winners in Q3 share
Notebooks rode a massive wave of demand in summer, according to new IDC data. Shipments of mobile processors attached to the systems jumped 35.7 percent compared to the spring and grew more than three times faster than for desktop processors, which advanced 11.4 percent at the same time. Server processors like Intel's Xeon and AMD's Opteron saw their sales grow by 12.2 percent over the period.
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11/06, 3:50pm
Lenovo ThinkPad X100e may reach CES
Lenovo's rumored ThinkPad netbook will launch at the start of the next year, a leak today says. It's now purportedly named the ThinkPad X100e and may ship on January 5th, just ahead of CES. System specs are only guessed at but may not necessarily cling to the Atoms found in the IdeaPads; instead, it's speculated that Lenovo may use either Intel's CULV processors or an AMD Athlon Neo.
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11/06, 8:10am
Vista PC users in no rush to replace
Windows 7 isn't having as large an impact on PC sales as initially thought, sources from manufacturers said on Friday. Although US retail sales were up 49 percent, those speaking to DigiTimes say they didn't see a major spike in late October and don't expect one for the rest of 2009. The turnout has been soft enough that some notebook producers are actually facing overstock as they ordered more portables than demand required.
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11/05, 1:40pm
Myka ION a home theater PC for the living room
Myka has moved on from producing media hubs by releasing its Myka ION nettop as a full-fledged home theater PC. As the name implies, the PC packs a 1.6GHz Intel Atom processor and 2GB of RAM, along with an NVIDIA Ion graphics platform to supply HD (non-Flash) video. It runs on Ubuntu Linux and includes Boxee and XBMC media center software as well as support for standard-definition Adobe Flash and Hulu's online streaming service.
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11/04, 6:05pm
Sony VAIO P gets US upgrade
Sony tonight upgraded its extra-small VAIO P netbook in the US to keep in sync with Windows 7. The new models now all run Windows 7 Home Premium or Professional and with this change alone should run much faster than the older models bogged down by Vista's steep requirements. They likewise have been brought into step with Japanese updates and have the option of up to a 2GHz Atom, a 256GB solid-state drive and a champagne-colored shell.
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11/04, 4:25pm
Crippled Atom in Snow Leopard was temporary
Word that Apple had disabled Atom support in a Mac OS X 10.6.2 beta seed may have been premature, an update from the same discoverer says. A newer build, 10C535, now appears to have brought the feature back and hints that the lack of Atom support may have been a bug or an otherwise temporary action. Apple's code doesn't have any immediate clues as to whether or not the move was intentional.
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11/04, 9:25am
Litl Webbook launches with custom OS
Litl has quickly acted on rumors by launching its first computer, the Webbook. The PC breaks away from the usual netbook market through a unique 12-inch LCD that bends almost completely backwards and turns the system into an easel-like display; the mode is considered ideal for video watching or for sharing content with someone else. To match, the screen uses a high-quality LCD with a 178-degree viewing angle and better colors, and unlike most netbooks carries a dedicated (but unnamed) GPU that can decode H.264 video at up to 720p.
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11/02, 9:50am
Sprint's Dell Mini 10 with 3G
Sprint today confirmed a late rumor by launching a subsidized version of the Dell Mini 10. Its version has an internal EVDO Revision A modem for 3G access and should usually pull between 600Kbps and 1.4Mbps downloads in real-world conditions. It also appears to be the original Mini 10 reviewed here with a 1.33GHz Atom, 1GB of RAM, a 160GB hard drive and Windows XP Home.
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11/02, 8:20am
Hacked netbooks out of Snow Leopard beta
Apple may have taken out support for Atom processors in its latest beta seed of Mac OS X 10.6.2, one user says. Those testing it claim Apple has changed support in a way that breaks compatibility with the small Intel chips, including their ability to enter sleep mode through an unofficial extension. If it reaches the final build, the move leaves those making "Hackintosh" systems with little choice either to stay with 10.6.1 or else to wait for an unofficial fix.
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10/30, 4:35pm
Soyea Z5 combines 3G and Wi-Fi communications
China's Soyea has recently released a new Mobile Internet Device (MID), the Z5, which sports a 5-inch touchscreen with 800x480 resolution. Processing power comes courtesy of a 1.2GHz Intel Atom processor, and there is 1GB of RAM onboard. Internet access comes from either a Wi-Fi connection or 3G module with access from China Telecom. Bluetooth 2.0 with EDR is also present.
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10/30, 8:40am
ASUS chief confirms sub-$200 Android PC
ASUS chief Jerry Shen at an investor conference late yesterday said his company should have an Android-based smartbook on shelves by early 2010. Reversing earlier doubts about a market for such a system, Shen says a portable based on Qualcomm's Snapdragon chip and the Google mobile OS should be the first "secret weapon" for the company and will likely cost just $185. The price is roughly half what most builders charge for an Atom-running netbook.
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10/28, 11:30am
Apple may see future Atom as too hungry
Apple has flatly rejected Intel's Moorestown Atom platform for being too power-hungry, a rumor claims today. Unnamed industry contacts say Intel reportedly approached Apple on its own to suggest the ultra-mobile platform but that the Mac creator rejected it outright due to power concerns. According to the Fudzilla source, Apple needed idle power consumption about ten times lower than what Moorestown can manage.
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10/28, 9:05am
Lenovo S12 Ion upgrade on sale
After a significant delay past its original summer goal, Lenovo on Wednesday began selling a version of its IdeaPad S12 netbook with NVIDIA's Ion graphics onboard. The upgrade comes in tandem with Windows 7 Home Premium and gives it enough visual power to support the full Aero Glass interface as well as to decode 1080p video and handle some more recent 3D. Lenovo also adds Bluetooth 2.1 for wireless peripherals.
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10/28, 7:50am
litl Easel netbook due soon
A new PC startup, litl, is known today to be readying an unusual netbook design with a rare customized operating system. An FCC filing for the Easel reveals a 12-inch system whose display can bend past 180 degrees and with a deliberately rounded, child-friendly look. However, it should also run a custom version of Linux with a "card" interface that lets users pick from blue cards for core apps and settings, black channel cards for news, weather and other widgets, and white cards for Firefox pages.
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10/27, 4:10pm
Intel Pine Trail to double RAM, drop prices
Some of Intel's Pine Trail Atoms will finally escape Intel's 1GB RAM cap for netbooks even as they drop prices, a series of leaks have indicated in the past day. While the chip maker will still officially limit certain Atoms to 1GB of memory, the 1.83GHz Atom N470 will reportedly allow running 2GB of RAM. The limit should provide a large jump in performance for small systems, particularly those with more demanding operating systems like Windows 7.
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10/26, 9:30am
Strong Booklet 3G demand nets 2nd model
Demand has been high enough for Nokia's Booklet 3G netbook that the company is moving ahead with a second model next year, a leak to Taiwan's Economic Daily News newspaper claims. Nokia's contractor in the area, Compal, is reportedly working "overtime" to meet demand for the Atom-based portable and that it's likely to receive orders for a 2010 model as well. Details of the system are unknown, including whether or not it's an upgrade to the existing system or an entirely new configuration.
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10/22, 4:55pm
Verizon outs subsidized HP netbooks
To coincide with the release of Windows 7 on Thursday, Verizon has officially released the earlier rumored HP netbooks with a connection to its wireless data network. Only the 11.6-inch HP Mini 311-1037NR sports Windows 7 Home Premium, however, as the 10.1-inch HP Mini 110-1046NR includes Windows XP Home. Full specs of the devices are available, with the HP Mini 311 getting the NVIDIA Ion graphics platform along with a 1.6GHz Intel Atom CPU and 2GB of RAM.
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10/21, 8:30am
Dell Streak MID will support multi-touch
Dell's rumored media tablet has been confirmed today by a leak from Vietnamese source Tinhte. To be called the Streak, the device will be almost exclusively controlled by a 5-inch, 800x480 capacitive touchscreen and should not only use Android 2.0 but support multi-touch gestures, including pinch to zoom. It should have 3G onboard and will even support calls, though the size means this will be a secondary role.
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10/19, 10:00pm
Atom-based device runs Windows 7
The Hong Kong-based computer maker ii-View has introduced its latest device, the A2 netbook. Like many similar devices, the A2 is based on Intel's 945 chipset and 1.6GHz Atom CPU. The basic configuration integrates a 320GB hard drive and 2GB of RAM, along with components for 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi.
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10/19, 11:40am
Verizon to get Ion-based netbook
Verizon is poised to kick off the launch of Windows 7 this week with two netbooks as a leaked document has shown its plans. Both the HP Mini 311 and the Mini 110 are due to reach the provider along with Windows 7 on Thursday and will be partly subsidized, with Engadget showing the higher-end Mini 311 dropping to $250 after agreeing to a contract and a $100 mail-in rebate while the Mini 110 will cost $200 on similar terms.
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10/16, 4:30pm
Intel Atom 400, 500 series pushed to 2010
In spite of claims of an on time release, Intel's Atom processors using its Pine Trail architecture now won't show until the very start of 2010, a string of leaks have shown Thursday. The 1.66GHz N450 and 1.86GHz N470 are said by Fudzilla to ship on January 3rd and won't necessarily save battery life. Instead, the primary gain will come from moving graphics to the main processor core, reducing the number of chips from three to two and creating more space.
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10/16, 9:20am
AspireRevo with Ion, Windows 7 now in the US
Acer on Friday announced it will soon offer the small form factor AspireRevo R3610-U9012 nettop PC in the US. First introduced in the summer, the PC is one of the first nettops to feature NVIDIA's Ion platform, which supports NVIDIA's CUDA general purpose computing and can also play back 1080p movies even on an Atom-based system.
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10/15, 11:45am
Aspire One D250 runs Android, Windows
Acer made a partial return to Linux for netbooks on Thursday by confirming a version of the Aspire One D250 with Android. The 10-inch netbook can use Google's OS to start up almost immediately and browse the web, check e-mail or perform other common tasks much faster than would be possible with Windows XP. It also gives access to many apps on Android Market that would be off-limits to PCs.
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10/13, 6:10pm
Intel marks best sequential growth ever
Intel today says it recorded one of the best fiscal quarters in its history and owed it almost exclusively to notebooks. The chip maker generated $9.4 billion in revenue during the summer, an eight percent drop from a year earlier but a sharp 17.5 percent jump from this spring. The surge is the best the company has seen in the past 30 years, Intel says.
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10/13, 11:35am
Nokia's 12-hour netbook ships to US
AT&T today said it would bring the Nokia Booklet 3G to the US as its most advanced netbook. The US version of the portable will ship preloaded with Windows 7 and arrive on the same day as the OS, October 22nd, as a Best Buy exclusive. It will sell for $299 when attached to a two-year, $60 monthly data contract but should still be less expensive at full price than the European version and will cost just $599 by itself.
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10/12, 10:45am
ASUS Eee PC 1201 models get details
Detailed specs of not one but two 12-inch Eee PC notebooks have been revealed recently. One of the new Eee PCs, the 1201N, was first spotted in Asia last month. Now, the unofficial specs for the 1201N and 1201HA are known and they include a 12.1-inch, 1366x768 resolution display. The specs reportedly come from leaked ASUS documents.
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10/12, 9:40am
Eee Keyboard specs revealed at FCC tests
ASUS' Eee Keyboard is nearing production status, as it has been spotted in an FCC filing recently. The Eee PC is a fully functional PC into the form factor of a large wireless keyboard and integrates a 5-inch, 800x480 resolution touchscreen. The PC has already been slated for an October release date as of this summer.
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10/12, 9:20am
Intel's MID platform dwarfed by 2012
Intel's mobile Internet device (MID) platform is unlikely to get any significant traction versus smartphones even years into its life, a study from the Information Network says on Monday. Although Intel has very frequently pushed the category, which usually has a screen between five and eight inches and focuses on basic Internet access, it's only expected to sell a fraction of what smartphones will manage. MID numbers should swell from just over 3.1 million shipped to 37.5 million in 2012 but will be easily eclipsed by their phone rivals, which will jump from 185.3 million units to 365 million over the same period, or nearly ten times more units than MIDs.
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10/09, 9:10am
Ion 2 to run twice as fast, support CULV
NVIDIA's Ion 2 chipset is still due to ship before the end of year and could provide a significant boost not just to netbooks but to notebooks using Intel's CULV (Consumer Ultra Low Voltage) processors as well, an update from the company has shown. In addition to supporting the timeframe, an executive heading chipset development has reportedly confirmed rumors that the next-generation Ion will support processors other than the Atom, including the Celeron, Core 2 and Pentium processors that make up CULV as well as VIA's competing Nano design.
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10/08, 5:10pm
Netbooks forcing notebook revenue down
The rise of netbooks is having a corrosive effect on the financial health of the rest of the notebook business, a DisplaySearch study asserted on Thursday. The mini PCs represent 22.2 percent of all notebooks shipped but only account for 11.7 percent of revenue and are thought to ultimately be dragging revenue downwards for other categories as buyers skip more expensive systems they would have bought otherwise. Where netbook revenue has shot up from $845 million in spring 2008 to $3.07 billion in spring 2009, the rest of the notebook industry actually lost $3.74 billion of revenue in the same period, revealing that netbooks have actually cost the industry money.
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10/07, 8:05pm
Sony launches VAIO X netbook
Sony's unveilings tonight were highlighted by the VAIO X. The 11-inch netbook crossover is billed as the lightest ever notebook and uses a carbon fiber shell to reach a weight of just 1.6 pounds. As it's based on a smaller and cooler running Intel Atom chip, the system can also afford to be extremely thin and measures 0.55 inches thick across its whole length.
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10/07, 5:55pm
Sony gives VAIO P netbook new OS, CPUs
Sony provided a glimpse of updates to come to the US on Wednesday with a British update to the VAIO P. The 8-inch netbook has primarily updated to add Windows 7 and should run faster on similar hardware as a result thanks to better performance on low-end hardware. At the same time, Sony has upgraded the processors themselves. Two P31 variants have the 1.86GHz Atom Z540 (versus 1.33GHz or 1.6GHz most older models) while the P39 runs on a 2GHz Atom Z550.
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10/07, 2:35pm
Ultraportable VAIO X to carry high price
Sony's VAIO X will ultimately be a larger but lighter version of the VAIO P if a pair of leaks (one, two) prove accurate. Although undecided on the choice of processor when it first teased the system, Sony is reported by Engadged as using a 2GHz Atom processor to help achieve its 1.5-pound claimed weight and slim profile in spite of the 11-inch frame. It would also have a solid-state drive of an unknown capacity.
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10/06, 10:05am
NPD positive on back-to-school PC sales
Back-to-school notebook sales were as strong as ever this year but skewed in favor of cheaper systems, the NPD Group said today in a new study. About $1.6 billion of the $7.6 billion spent between late July and mid-September went directly to notebooks, or about as much as was spent last year despite ongoing economic problems and rendering them "recession-proof." However, the revenue came at the expense of system prices: while more systems were sold, the average price of a school notebook fell from $804 last year to $624 this year.
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10/05, 3:15pm
Dell ZinoHD will be labeled Inspiron, specs leak
Some specs and details of the upcoming Dell Zino HD series of nettops were revealed, thanks to a recent DellZinoHD search. Two models in the Zino HD series will be offered, including the Inspiron 300 and Inspiron 400. Both have potentially been readied for Windows XP, Windows Vista or the upcoming Windows 7, with the support page also including a manual for Ubuntu.
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10/02, 8:35am
ASUS EB1501 gets DVD, Ion and Win 7
ASUS has quietly launched a major redesign of the Eee Box. The EB1501 has a much sleeker, rounded look but also gives it numerous features that improve its usefulness as a full-time PC: it uses NVIDIA's Ion chipset and can smoothly decode 1080p video in hardware as well as drive most visually intensive tasks. To help, ASUS gives it Windows 7 Home Premium and improves the performance of the system on its dual-core 1.6GHz Atom processor.
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10/01, 11:25am
Verizon adds Gateway LT2016u with 3G
Verizon this morning topped off its device launches with its second netbook to have built-in 3G. A special version of the Gateway LT2016u will support Verizon's EVDO network out of the box and will be subsidized to a lower $150 price in return for a two-year data plan and a $100 rebate. The same broadband plans apply and will give either a modest 250MB for $40 per month or 5GB for $60 per month.
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09/28, 5:55pm
Intel plans more frequent Atom updates
Intel will more aggressively update the Atom processor than it has in the past, executive VP Sean Maloney said in an interview published today. The company waited roughly a year between the original Atom launch and its Z500 upgrade but now plans to put it more closely on the faster "tick tock" pattern it uses for regular processors, where it first shrinks the manufacturing process for an existing design and later ships a new architecture built on that process. Such upgrades will start in earnest with Pine Trail this fall, which technically achieves both by moving to a smaller 45 nanometer design and moving the graphics core to within the processor.
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