Dell’s “mini-Inspiron” Eee PC killer revealed
Thinking of a new Eee PC or maybe Wind laptop? Hold up, Dell’s about to loose this baby on the sub-$500 mini-laptop world. All we’ve got are these pictures for now but the specs can’t be far behind. Even the name “mini-Inspiron” comes from the file name of the Dell-supplied pics. However, if what we’ve already heard holds up, then we’re looking at 8.9-inches dolled up in a sub-$500 price tag with a choice of both Windows XP Home or Ubuntu Linux, 8-in-1 card reader, integrated webcam, direct media playback buttons, and a “host of wireless access options.” Expect more next week as the Computex show kicks off.
from engadget
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First pics of Acer’s Aspire One, the Eee PC’s evil twin?Whoa, big day in the land of low-cost ultra-portables. First Dell, now Acer in what appear to be the first shots of Acer’s first sub-$500 ultra-portable. The images above were dumped into the forum over at UMPC Portal and show what appears to be an “Aspire One” branding to the right of the touchpad and what could certainly pass as the rumored 8.9-inch display. And although that UI is very un-Microsoft, there’s no denying the Microsoft flag waving back from the keyboard. We’ll know for sure if this is Acer’s contestant in the race to the bottom next week at Computex. more info |
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Toyota rolls out Night View-equipped, pedestrian-finding Crown Hybrid
Night view isn’t exactly a new technology, but Toyota’s latest implementation of it in its Crown Hybrid luxury sedan is a bit different than most. Unlike the company’s previous effort, which displayed images straight on the windshield, this one makes use of an LCD in the dashboard, which also does double duty by displaying the speedometer and all the vehicle’s other vitals. What’s more, the system also takes things to Terminator-like levels with a pedestrian recognition system, although that apparently only works at speeds below 60 kilometers per hour (the company says it’s also working on a means of recognizing bicycles and animals). No word on exactly what sort of premium all that will demand, but Toyota admits it’ll be “several times more expensive than the existing meters.”
more info
from engadget |
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Atom-based Eee PC to launch next week for $650Taipei (Taiwan) – TG Daily got its hands on Asus’ latest entry-level notebook, the Intel Atom-based EeePC 901. We were left with mixed feelings after seeing and playing with the device for a while. The processing and graphics capability is entry-level without any doubt, while the Eee PC 901’s price has arrived deep in mainstream territory.
The Eee PC has made quite some waves and some believe that it even resembles what the OLPC XO should have been, at least in terms of its market appeal and success. In Taipei we came across the Intel Atom-based Eee PC 901, which ran on an Atom Z520 processor, clocked at 1.33 GHz and rated at a maximum power consumption of 2 Watts (average power: 220 mWatts).
The unit also included Intel’s 130 nm integrated graphics chipset called SCH (“System Controller Hub”), which, however, left us unimpressed. The device we saw delivered choppy video playback on its 8.9” screen and convinced us that video is something you would not want to run on this device. But then, the Eee PC is really intended a cheap notebook. The power consumption during video playback, by the way, was 10 watts and we saw the power consumption max out at around 12 watts. But wait: Cheap? We heard that the Windows XP version of the device with 20 GB of memory (4+16 GB) will sell for $649, while the Linux versions will come in at $549 or $599. By today’s standard, that is not really cheap anymore, especially, if you can purchase a generally much more capable notebook for the same price at your local electronics store. The Eee PC 901 is scheduled to launch on Monday. At least for now, we are not impressed. By Theo Valich |
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iPhone vs. HTC Touch Diamond vs. Xperia X1… Fight!Would you look at that: a thick slab of iPhone meat in a Sony Ericsson and HTC sandwich. The iPhone’s big screen is nice and all but the device is starting to look a bit portly given that the Xperia X1 sports a QWERTY with chewy HSDPA data, the latter shared with the Raphael Touch Diamond. Tasty, regardless. Update: Er, that’s not the HTC Raphael, it’s their Touch Diamond. [Via WMExperts, thanks Al] |
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VIA OpenBook hands-on
We got to spend a little bit of time with a prototype of VIA’s new OpenBook reference design, and while it’s not going to revolutionize anything, VIA does seem to have a pretty good grasp on the balance of value, size and power necessary to compete in the subnotebook game. They were showing it off with Vista (though it will be available in XP and Linux versions as well), with an interface that was plenty responsive, and while the video we saw wasn’t an incredible display of multimedia showmanship, it was neat to see on the C7-M all the same. Our two main gripes are the seeming thickness of the device — 1.4-inches might be par for the course, but with this small of a laptop it seems awkwardly thick — and the itty-bitty, cheap-looking keyboard that doesn’t utilize the whole width of the laptop. The hope with a reference design is that some manufacturer might even be able to improve on VIA’s version, and we’d say the first problem point to address is the keyboard. That said, we’re quite impressed that VIA’s crammed as much inside the OpenBook as it has, and perks like 3G / 4G connectivity, a trio of USB ports and a media card reader are making that MacBook Air look positively last century. Now the waiting game for one of the dozens of OEM types to start pumping these out of factories and into the arms of cherub-faced mini-note fans the world over. From engadget |
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VIA unveils OpenBook subnotebook reference design
VIA’s trying its hand once again at the “mini-note” form factor, with a new OpenBook reference design. Its first go round, the NanoBook, was generally panned in light of the ultra-successful Eee PC, but certainly wasn’t ignored. The new design is right in line with the new wave of subnotebooks, with an 8.9-inch 1024 x 600 screen, connection options including WiMAX, HSDPA and EV-DA, three USB 2.0 ports, VGA out, a 4-in-1 card reader and front and back 2 megapixel webcams. There’s also room for 2GB of RAM and a 2.5-inch HDD, and you can run Vista, XP or your Linux flavor of choice. It’s all based around a new VIA VX800 chipset running that trusty ol’ C7-M ULV processor, with some video acceleration tweaks to make multimedia possible. You’ll be able to get about 3 hours of juice out of a 4-cell battery. The entire design is being distributed as a CAD file under the Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike 3.0 license, which means OEMs can take these designs and run with them — and also means that we’ll be seeing plenty of versions without all the trimmings mentioned here. The real test of this new unit might come down to price, and since that’s up to manufacturers VIA isn’t saying where it’ll land just yet, but it’ll probably be closer to $600 than the $300-ish price points of the last gen. Gallery: VIA unveils OpenBook subnotebook reference designFrom engadget |
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SATA HDD dockWe’re big fans of SATA HDD docks that let you quickly access whole drives like noisy, overgrown memory sticks. An earlier unit offered just USB connectivity to your Mac or PC, later adding eSATA before rounding out its options with FireWire. Now we have a new model that still accepts bare 2.5- and 3.5-inch disks on top, but ditches the FireWire connectivity on the back in exchange for a card reader and two-port USB hub on the front — perfect for plugging in storage of the smaller and quieter variety.
more info
from engadget ![]() |
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Willcom shows off 1seg-equipped Willcom 03 smartphoneIt looks like those wanting something a bit more capable but just as brightly-colored as Willcom’s most recent candybar phones could soon be getting their fix, as the company has just announced its new Willcom 03 smartphone, which packs a bundle of features into an eye-catching package. Up front and center on this one is a 3-inch 800 x 480 touchscreen display, which should complement the built-in 1seg mobile TV tuner quite nicely. Otherwise, you can expect built-in WiFi and Bluetooth, along with 256MB of flash memory, a microSD card slot for expansion, a 2 megapixel camera, and Windows Mobile 6.1 for an OS, to name but a few features. Look for this one to hit Japan by the end of June.
[Via Engadget Japanese] |
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Samsung announces crazy fast 256GB SSD
Uh oh, Samsung’s just announced their first 256GB SSD. Not that you needed to know anything more than that to trigger salivation, but the MLC-flash SATA II drive has speeds of 200MBps read and 160MBps sequential write. Not like we’ll be able to afford it or anything, but they’ll be available come September, with a 1.8-inch version due in Q4.
From engadget
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Eye-Fi launches Eye-Fi Home, Share, and geotagging Explore
From engadget Gallery: Eye-Fi launches Eye-Fi Home, Share, and geotagging Explore |
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HP 2133 XP configurations get pricedHP’s Mini-Note 2133 is due to get all-new Windows XP configurations this month, and it looks like early pricing details are starting to leak out. If the numbers are accurate, a base 1.2GHz rig with 1GB of RAM and a 120GB disk will run you $729, and bumping things up to 1.6GHz, 2GB of RAM and a 160GB disk will set you back $819. That’s pretty steep — but remember, early pricing info on the currently-available models was a tiny bit off, so these numbers could change when these hit sometime next week. more info |
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MSI Wind gets a price: $610
[Via UMPC Portal] |
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Current crop of graphics cards compared, ranked by price
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BUILT’s Laptop Backpack keeps your files close, peripherals closer
[Via BeSportier] |
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