September 22 - 9:05am EDT   Intel is developing a Celeron M processor with the performance of a regular notebook processor but the extremely low energy use of an Atom, a leak from CHW suggests. The 1.2GHz Celeron M 722 would be one of Intel's first budget notebook processors to be built on a 45 nanometer manufacturing process and would consume just 5.5W of typical power, putting its performance closer to that of the 4W but simpler and slower 1.6GHz Atom N270. [full story]

September 17 - 11:25am EDT   Intel plans to launch its Core i7 architecture on the mainstream desktop this fall with three processors, a leaked roadmap shows when combined with earlier leaks. The 3.2GHz Core i7 Extreme 965 will ship in the fall as the chipmaker's gaming-oriented quad-core processor and should be accompanied by regular 2.66GHz and 2.93GHz versions (Core i7 920 and 940) at the same time. [full story]

September 1 - 10:50am EDT   Chipmaker Intel has quietly released three new desktop processors, according to a Monday report. The new quad-core Q8200 and dual-core E5200 share a more modern 45 nanometer architecture, while the Celeron D 450 is made on the older 65nm topology. The new quad-core chip is meant as a true entry-level quad-core chip and runs at 2.33GHz with a simpler 4MB of L2 cache along with a 1,333MHz front system bus. [full story]

August 27 - 9:45am EDT   Dell this morning gave its Vostro line a refresh made for regions where cost is a concern but still offering features that are rare almost anywhere. The A860 is Dell's first 15.6-inch notebook and uses a 16:9 aspect ratio display in a redesigned, more rounded chassis than normally squared-off Vostro notebooks. It sheds costs both by having the option of budget Celeron M processors as well as by offering the choice of Ubuntu Linux in place of a costlier Windows Vista install. A 14-inch parallel, the A840, uses a slightly more conventional 16:10 ratio display but with similar internals. [full story]

August 22 - 5:25pm EDT   While it's not clear if Taiwan-based manufacturer Albatron means to compete directly with ASUS' Eee PC line, the company today is playing on the same theme with its new Tee PC netbook. The Tee PC is based on a 7-inch LCD touchscreen good for 800x480 resolution but, instead of relying on an Intel Atom or Celeron, powers the system with a cellphone-oriented ARM 926 processor running at just 400MHz. The 128MB flash drive is loaded with Windows CE 6 and uses the lower memory footprint to trim down to 128MB of RAM. [full story]

August 4 - 2:45pm EDT   HP without fanfare today introduced the 550, the newest generation of its entry-level pro notebooks. The refresh is based on Intel's earlier Santa Rosa platform but skews performance higher than often expected in the class, with a 1.73GHz Celeron dual-core available as an option and unusual 1.4GHz and 1.6GHz Core 2 Duo chips sitting at the top end. A 1.73GHz single-core Celeron is still an option for low-demand users. [full story]

July 31 - 4:30pm EDT   ASUS' Eee PC 701SD will not only upgrade the internal specs of the 7-inch notebook but improve on the mini notebook design itself, say a new set of photos and leaked details. The entry-level Eee PC notebook will now resemble a sharper-edged version of the 8.9-inch Eee PC 901 with refined trackpad buttons and the stylized Eee PC logo. At least one version is now known to contain a 30GB hard drive in place of the solid-state flash drive that has been the only option for past 7-inch models. [full story]

July 25 - 11:30am EDT   ASUS is planning to extend the Eee PC's capabilities within the next few months, according to one report. Although the company's Atom-based Eee PC 901 is already estimated to get near eight hours of maximum battery life, a future upgrade due in the last half of 2008 should give it "whole-day" battery life that potentially gives it an edge over challengers. It will also offer an Internet-based storage option similar to those offered by Dell and others and will help compensate for the limited built-in storage. [full story]

July 2 - 7:15am EDT   Gateway's budget label eMachines today served up three new desktops that it says ought to appeal to students heading back to school in two months' time. The W3653 is the most complete system of the group with the company's 17-inch, 1440x900 bundled with the tower; the system also packs a relatively new 1.6GHz Celeron Dual-Core processor, 1GB of memory, and Vista Home Premium stored on a 320GB hard drive. The system sells for $500 at retail shops. [full story]

June 30 - 9:30am EDT   ASUS is developing a new Eee PC that would offer the comfort of its larger 10-inch models at the cost of the 8.9-inch models, according to reports from supply channels. The Eee PC 904 and 905 would have the same 8.9-inch display as the 901 notebook but with the enclosure of the 1001, giving it a larger keyboard without necessarily changing the price. Battery life and storage may also go up with the larger case but are reportedly uncertain. [full story]

May 30 - 2:25pm EDT   Claims that the Eee PC 901 will kill its older counterpart are false, ASUS' Italian manager Luca Rossi tells Notebook Italia. The older, Celeron-based 900 model is still expected by the company to stay on the market as it fulfills a slightly different role than its Atom-using sequel; the 900 weighs less at under 2.2 pounds, while the 901 lasts longer for up to seven hours on battery, Rossi says. [full story]

May 30 - 8:35am EDT   ASUS' Eee lineup will include a second and relatively high-end model when it bows at the Computex show next week, the company says. The Essentio CS5110 will be rebranded as the Eee Station and come in a slightly larger but more powerful form than the EBOX also scheduled to appear at the expo. While starting off with a Celeron and other budget components, the system is the smallest to ship with an dedicated graphics card, ASUS says, and has the option of scaling up to a Core 2 Duo and a Blu-ray drive. [full story]

May 29 - 9:45am EDT   ASUS has already stopped accepting orders from resellers for the Eee PC 900 while it gears up for its Atom-based sequel, industry insiders reportedly say. Although just introduced as recently as mid-May for the US, the 900 is already being phased out in favor of the Eee PC 901 and its anticipated June 3rd launch date. The alleged swap effectively confirms early reports that the 900 is a stopgap model meant to introduce the 8.9-inch notebook's features ahead of rivals while temporarily using the older Celeron M processor. [full story]

May 12 - 12:15pm EDT   As promised, ASUS' Eee PC 900 micro notebook today went on sale in the US. The 8.9-inch computer's specifications remain the same and take the Eee slightly further upscale with a sharper 1024x600 resolution, a basic multi-touch trackpad, and a 1.3-megapixel camera. Versions hold either 12GB of flash storage on Windows XP models or else 20GB on versions with the less expensive Linux operating system, though either can accept SD and SDHC cards. Launch models continue to use a 900MHz Celeron M processor rather than the Intel Atom planned for later editions. [full story]

April 29 - 9:00am EDT   Intel has encountered a supply shortage that will prevent it from fulfilling more than half of the orders for its Atom mobile processors in the next month, according to a report in the Taiwan newspaper Apply Daily. Less than 40 percent of the semiconductor firm's requests are purportedly being met and, as a result, are expected to delay or hurt the rollouts of micro notebooks from a number of new entrants to the field, including from Acer and Dell. [full story]