Samsung N150 netbook gets reviewed

Samsung's got several new Pinetrail netbooks up on offer, and one of them, the Samsung N150, has just been reviewed by the folks from CNet UK. They've found that the Samsung N150 doesn't really offer any significant performance improvements over older models with Atom N270/N280 processors, but it did prove to be less of a battery hog and showed the ability to draw less power off its standard-sized battery.

They deemed the N150's keyboard "a real disappointment," saying that "Its keys are too small and tightly packed for our liking, so typing without mistakes requires real precision." The value in this netbook then comes, not surprisingly, in its long battery life which it attains with the use of Intel's new low-power N450 Pinetrail Atom processor. With a price of 340 Euros or about $460 USD, the Samsung N150 could be a hard-sell. Still, others may consider it an investment. Read the full review via the link below.

Via CNet UK

A post from the Asus Eee PC blog.

Samsung N150 netbook gets reviewed

CEO Predicts Symbian on Netbooks in 1-2 Years

Lee Williams, CEO of Symbian Foundation, stated in an interview that he believes it is "very likely" that netbooks and tablets will start running Symbian in the next couple of years. Back in April, we blogged about the possibility that the smartphone OS would enter the netbook market. Now that Symbian Foundation has announced that the platform has gone open source, a process that involved the company negotiating with 200 third-party owners, the likelihood of the OS being ported to netbooks and tablet devices has increased even more.

Symbian supports both ARM and Intel x86 processors, and companies are beginning to experiment with the platform any which way they can to run it on a multitude of devices.

The source code is broken down into 108 packages, all of which can be downloaded here.

To read the full interview with Williams, click here.

Via ZDNet, image via GlobalThoughtz.

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Asus Eee PC 1005PE-H comes with Win7 Home Premium, spec bump

French retailer fnac has posted a product page for a new Asus netbook model called the Eee PC 1005PE-H. Basically, the laptop is identical to the Asus Eee PC 1005PE in most respects. It has the same design, keyboard, and processor. But the Eee PC 1005PE-H comes with more RAM and storage space than its cheaper sibling, and ships with Windows 7 Home Premium instead of Windows 7 Starter Edition.

There's no word on whether this model will be available in the US anytime soon. But I'd be surprised if it's only available in France. Typically netbooks that pop up in that country are made available throughout much of Europe.

Here's a rundown of the specs:

• CPU: 1.66GHz Intel Atom N450
• Display: 10.1 inch, 1024 x 600 pixels
• RAM: 2GB
• Storage: 320GB hard drive
• OS: Windows 7 Home Premium
• Connectivity: 802.11b/g/n WiFi, Bluetooth, Ethernet
• I/O: 3x USB, SD card reader, mic, headphone
• Battery: 6 cell, 4400mAh
• Dimensions: 10.3″ x 7″ x 1.4″

Fnac is charging 349 Euros for the Eee PC 1005PE-H, whichi s the equivalent of $476 US, although European prices tend to be higher than prices in the US.

via Blogeee

Post from: Liliputing

Asus Eee PC 1005PE-H comes with Win7 Home Premium, spec bump

Japanese company finds way to prolong Lithium-ion battery life

For some people, the bottleneck in netbooks isn't found in their small screens, weak sound systems, or low-quality graphics. Rather, some people think that the most important aspect of any netbook is its battery life. Without a good quality battery that gives hours upon hours of usage per charge, you won't be able to enjoy whatever fancy feature your netbook offers for long. So, companies like Asus, Acer and Dell have been working hard to find ways to squeeze more battery life out of every charge that their netbook batteries go through. So far, they've all been doing great, as netbooks being released these days typically offer up to at least 6 hours of use per charge (up from the usual 2.5 to 3.5 hours with laptops and from when netbooks first came to existence).

And now, a Japanese company called Eamex claims to have found a way to improve the underlying technology in netbook batteries even further. Their idea is simple: stabilize the electrodes and prevent the deterioration of tin found in Lithium-ion batteries so that they can withstand repeated charges (of up to 10 ,000 times) and last for up to a total of 20 years. If this technology existed 20 years ago, you would still be using the Osborne 1!

But seriously, while it looks like Eamex's new technology is only targeted towards electric cars which use Li-ion batteries, it would be great to have it applied to the same type of batteries which are used on netbooks and other portable computing devices. And I think anyone who's ever ran out of batteries on their netbooks while using it on the road would likely agree.

Via Crunchgear

A post from the Asus Eee PC blog.

Japanese company finds way to prolong Lithium-ion battery life

Intel's LGA 775 socket account for 77% sales overall, Atom left with only 5%

During the year 2009, we experienced what some would call the "netbook boom" wherein sales of these small devices which we here at Eee PC blog all know and love have skyrocketed. I personally believe sales of netbooks would only continue to rise as they get even more powerful, more portable, and more enjoyable in the future. But even now, it is obvious to anyone (even those who do not follow the netbook scene) that netbooks are showing up nearly everywhere.

A lot of companies are making big bucks with sales of netbooks. So it wouldn't be far-fetched to think that Intel, the one who supplies the Atom processors being used in most netbooks nowadays, are also seeing sales of this particular processor go through the roof and taking up a huge percentage of their sales.

However, as it turns out, Intel's Atom socket only accounts for 5% of their overall sales, with the recently introduced LGA 1156 socket overtaking it for second place with 18% and LGA 775 still reigning as top dog with 77% of overall sales. Intel's high-end LGA 1136 socket takes up only 1% of sales which me ans that it is behind the Atom socket at least in this respect.

Intel projects that by the end of this year, Atom socket sales would rise to 7%.

Via Fudzilla

A post from the Asus Eee PC blog.

Intel's LGA 775 socket account for 77% sales overall, Atom left with only 5%

Light weight netbooks operating system Leeenux hits version 2.0

Leeenux is a light weight Linux distribution based on Ubuntu Netbook Remix. It takes up just 1.2GB of disk space and has a user interface that's designed for netbooks with screens as small as 7 inches. In other words, it plays well with first generation Asus Eee PC models.

Last time I checked in on Leenux was a few months ago. But the developer just sent me a note to let me know that Leenux has been updated from version 1.3 to version 2.0. The latest update brings a number of new applications including Firefox 3.7 beta, Thunderbird and Lightning for calendar, email, and contact management, and a number of emulators for old school Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis games. Because you know, when you've only got a limited amount of storage space and screen real estate, old school gaming is the way to go. Or something like that.

You can grab Leeenux 2.0 from the project download page.

Post from: Liliputing

Light weight netbooks operating system Leeenux hits version 2.0

Asus aim for 8 million netbook sales in 2010

Asustek are aiming to ship 20 million notebooks throughout 2010, overtaking Toshiba and Lenovo. If they succeed, it will make them the fifth largest vendor worldwide.

From the 20 million, 8 million is expected to come from netbook sales. Asus are also expecting 30% of shipments to be from notebooks supporting USB 3.0. It's unclear whether this is just from notebooks they're aiming for 30% or if they will be adding it to their netbook line and expect 30% of total sales to be accounted to USB 3.0.

via and via

A post from the Asus Eee PC blog.

Asus aim for 8 million netbook sales in 2010

Leeenux Netbook OS Upgrades to Version 2.0

A new version of Leeenux, a Linux distribution for netbooks, has come out. Version 2.0, upgraded from 1.3, includes the Firefox 3.7 beta, Thunderbird for email/calendar management, and multiple emulators for SNES and Sega Genesis. Installation takes up only 1.2 GB, and best of all, you can download it for free. If you are wondering about other reasons why you should install Leeenux for your netbook, take a look at this list taken from the Leeenux website:

Why Leeenux?

Because it's fast.

Stable.

Works Out of the Box.

Free.

Installation takes only 1.2GB.

It is the best linux distribution for Asus eee with 7″ screens.

Uses Ubuntu Netbook Remix menu, adjusted for netbooks with small screens.

Battery life is much longer with eee-control.

Honestly, I'm just excited about the SNES emulator!

Get your free version of Leeenux here.

Via Liliputing

Ubuntu Netbook Edition gets slimmer

Ubuntu Netbook Remix will soon be going by the new name of Ubuntu Netbook Edition and with that change comes some dieting to make the popular Linux distribution lighter. This would make it perfect for those ARM-based tablets and netbooks with little disk space to spare and are delegated to running Windows CE.

This version of Ubuntu has a cleaner icon format and is optimized for small screen and low-powered processors. It did come with a lot of apps built-in which although helpful was a bit cluttered and eats up precious disk space. The team behind the project removed Brasero (CD burner), Dictionary, Tomboy (note-taking), PalmOS Pilot, graphics applications and OpenOffice. Yes, they removed the popular open-source office suite and put Google Docs in its place.

While people had differing views on its removal, net access is becoming more ubiquitous and a few lighter spec'd devices would do well just to leave some apps to work in the cloud. This would free up space in the device for personal media like pictures, video and music.

source OMG Ubuntu

A post from the Asus Eee PC blog.

Ubu ntu Netbook Edition gets slimmer

Ubuntu Netbook Edition app list undergoes revision

Ubuntu Netbook Edition is a light weight version of Ubuntu Linux optimized for netbooks. It used to be called Ubuntu Netbook Remix, but this spring it will  graduate from "remix" to "edition" status. The operating system is designed to play well with low resolution displays, limited storage capacity, slow processors, and it's specifically optimized for machines with Intel Atom CPUs. But one thing that's always puzzled me about Ubuntu Netbook Remix is that some of the applications that come preloaded by default just don't make that much sense on a netbook.

For instance, why do you need the Brasero disc burning software on a device with no optical disc drive? It's not like Brasero takes up all that much space, but some netbooks don't have much disk space to start with, so every megabyte counts.

Now it looks like the Ubuntu team is stripping Brasero and a number of other programs from the list of applications to come preloaded with the next version of Ubuntu Linux. Also missing from the latest nightly builds are the PalmOS Pilot software, and Openoffice.org.

OpenOffice.org is an open source alternative to Microsoft Office, and it comes with a word processor, spreadsheet app, database builder, and presentation application. I wouldn't say you don't need these things on a netbook. But some people will prefer to use web-based solutions such as Zoho or Google Docs. And others might simply not use a netbook for editing office docs at all. So I can't say I blame the Ubuntu Netbook Edition team for stripping a OpenOffice.org from the default installation. It does take up a couple hundred megabytes of disk space, and if you really want it you can always download and install it yourself.

What else would you like to see added or removed from Ubuntu Netbook Edition?

via OMG Ubuntu

Post from: Liliputing

Ubuntu Netbook Edition app list undergoes revision

Leeenux is Linux for Eee, looks awfully familar

If you've been around the operating system block a few times, you'll notice the above picture would be very familiar. It's from Leeenux, a netbook Linux distribution based on the Ubuntu Netbook Remix. Jolicloud also sported the same format prior to the redesign of its user interface.

The operating system will only take up 1.2GB of disk space but will be packed with all the stuff you need in your netbook including office apps, media players and games. What's more is that it's friendly with smaller form factor devices like the 7" Eee PC.

The new update brings up the version to 2.0 and bundles in the new Firefox 3.7 beta, Thunderbird and SNES and Sega Genesis emulators. If you want to try it out, go to the Leeenux home page below.

source Leeenux via liliputing

A post from the Asus Eee PC blog.

Leeenux is Linux for Eee, looks awfully familar

Netbook Sales Increase 79% in 2009

Netbooks are more popular than ever before. Approximately 30.2 million units were sold last year, and the numbers are only getting higher. Research firm Strategy Analytics said North America is largely responsible for this growth, as many U.S. companies such as AT&T, Verizon, and Sprint have offered cheap prices for netbooks with a purchase of a two-year contract.  Hardware developers such as Intel and Nvidia are motivated to improve and reduce costs of processors in order to get their products into netbooks, and software developers, including those at Google and Microsoft, are working hard to make sure their operating system will be dominant in the netbook scene.

Apple has less obviously invested in the netbook market with its newly released iPad. Companies are becoming more motivated to boost their netbook sales, and new developments in netbook hardware and software are only going to make the devices more powerful and reduce costs. Rest assured, the netbook fad is only just getting started.

The top netbook sellers in 2009 were, according to Strategy Analytics, Acer, Asus, HP, and Dell.

If you're curious – and we know you are – read more about the netbook market here.

Via Fiercewireless, image via GottabeMobile

Leeenux is Linux for Eee, looks awfully familar

If you've been around the operating system block a few times, you'll notice the above picture would be very familiar. It's from Leeenux, a netbook Linux distribution based on the Ubuntu Netbook Remix. Jolicloud also sported the same format prior to the redesign of its user interface.

The operating system will only take up 1.2GB of disk space but will be packed with all the stuff you need in your netbook including office apps, media players and games. What's more is that it's friendly with smaller form factor devices like the 7" Eee PC.

The new update brings up the version to 2.0 and bundles in the new Firefox 3.7 beta, Thunderbird and SNES and Sega Genesis emulators. If you want to try it out, go to the Leeenux home page below.

source Leeenux via liliputing

A post from the Asus Eee PC blog.

Leeenux is Linux for Eee, looks awfully familar

Netbook Sales Increase 79% in 2009

Netbooks are more popular than ever before. Approximately 30.2 million units were sold last year, and the numbers are only getting higher. Research firm Strategy Analytics said North America is largely responsible for this growth, as many U.S. companies such as AT&T, Verizon, and Sprint have offered cheap prices for netbooks with a purchase of a two-year contract.  Hardware developers such as Intel and Nvidia are motivated to improve and reduce costs of processors in order to get their products into netbooks, and software developers, including those at Google and Microsoft, are working hard to make sure their operating system will be dominant in the netbook scene.

Apple has less obviously invested in the netbook market with its newly released iPad. Companies are becoming more motivated to boost their netbook sales, and new developments in netbook hardware and software are only going to make the devices more powerful and reduce costs. Rest assured, the netbook fad is only just getting started.

The top netbook sellers in 2009 were, according to Strategy Analytics, Acer, Asus, HP, and Dell.

If you're curious – and we know you are – read more about the netbook market here.

Via Fiercewireless, image via GottabeMobile

MSI Wind U160 unboxed - Video

MSI announced a handful of new 10 inch netbooks with Intel Atom N450 processors in January. The MSI Wind U160 is probably the most attractive of the bunch. I got a chance to play with one for a few minutes at CES, but Johannes at NewGadgets.de did me one better and he got MSI to send him a pre-production model. You can check out his unboxing video (in English) after the break.

The laptop has a glossy lid, a chiclet-style keyboard, and a textured touchpad with a single mouse button that makes the Wind U150 look an awful lot like the Asus Eee PC 1005PE.

The computer ships with Windows 7 Starter Edition, a 1.66GHz Intel Atom N450 processor, 1GB of RAM, GMA 3150 graphics, and a choice of a 3 or 6 cell battery. There's also a SIM card slot, indicating that the Wind U160 may be available with a 3G modem.

The 6 cell battery does stick out like a sore thumb at the back of the netbook. One thing that sets the Wind U160 apart from other MSI netbooks is that it has a two-tone color scheme. The lid, keyboard, and base of this particular unit, for instance, are black. But the battery and the area where the keyboard meets the lid are a metallic gray color. I'm not really sure how I feel about this particular color combo, but the models I saw at CES had more of a gold and chrome color combo, which looked a bit better.

You can check out Johannes's unboxing video and a few hands-on photos I shot at CES after the break.

Post from: Liliputing

MSI Wind U160 unboxed – Video

Intel Atom Netbook CPUs To Get DDR3 Compatibility

The quintessential netbook processor, Intel's Atom, is due for a real upgrade. For now, rather than clean the slate completely, Intel seems to be taking another slow step forward by announcing two DDR3 compatible CPUs with the same power rating.

The two new processors are going to be the N475, clocked at the reasonably fast (at least for a netbook) 1.83 GHz, and the N455 with the standard 1.6 GHz. Both chips plan on maintaining their thermal design power (TDP/fancy talk for heat) ratings and are scheduled for a Q3 launch.

The only thing these chips will bring is DDR3 to netbooks, so don't plan on that alone really changing performance.  Still, it is a sign at least that the netbook market is moving away from the older DDR2 RAM to DDR3, which all parties will undoubtedly welcome. Perhaps this also heralds the last iteration of the current generation of netbook processors, so it may be time to look forward to real innovation after this.

Via Engadget

Q3 Atom Chip update to bring DDR3 support

It's no surprise that Intel will be releasing Atom chips with DDR3 support sooner or later. What's odd is that they didn't bake it in when they release Pine Trail, most likely to differentiate it from the current CULV processors which have DDR3 support.

Two new CPUs will be outed later this year, the 1.83GHz N475 and 1.60GHz N455. Power consumption will remain the same for both processor models, possibly coming with newer netbooks coming in the third quarter of this year.

One of the main features of DDR3 RAM vs the previous DDR2 standard is better performance in low power so it gives more battery life. DDR3 is already being used in many of the newer model notebooks from HP, Asus and Apple. I just hope it gets cheaper soon since DDR3 is still a bit more expensive than DDR2.

source Fudzilla

A post from the Asus Eee PC blog.

Q3 Atom Chip update to bring DDR3 support

Google Chrome netbook OS could make its way to tablets

While Google's Android operating system was designed for smartphones, it seems to be a fairly popular OS choice among tablet makers. A fair number of prototypes I saw at CES this year were running Android, and you can already pick up an Archos 5 Internet Tablet running the mobile operating system. But it looks like Android isn't the only tablet-friendly OS Google is working on.

Google Chrome OS is designed primarily for netbooks and laptops with full keyboards. While Android is a light weight OS designed for a mobile computing experience, Chrome is basically an OS designed around a web browser. The idea is that most of the apps you run will be web apps, and that the hardware and software should really just be a conduit for getting online. And you know what? That doesn't necessarily require a physical keyboard.

There's a page on the Chrome OS developer site showing a series of concept drawings for how Chrome could work with a tablet. The mockups include several images of an on-screen keyboard which can be repositioned or reconfigured. For instance, you could type with all ten fingers on a full sized on-screen keyboard much like the Apple iPad on-screen keyboard. Or you can split the keyboard so that some letters show up on the left side of the screen and others are on the right. This would make it easier to hold the tablet in your hands and type with your thumbs.

Right now, the Chrome tablet UI is just a concept. There's no confirmation that Google or anyone else is working on the hardware for this device, or that PC makers are planning to install Chrome on tablets. But it certainly looks like Google is at least thinking about the possibility.

You can check out a concept video after the break.

via TechCrunch and Download Squad

Post from: Liliputing

Google Chrome netbook OS could make its way to tablets

Samsung successfully develops world's first DDR3 DRAM with 30nm process technology

Samsung has just announced its successful completion of customer evaluations for 2GB DDR3 DRAM using 30nm process technology. Being the first one in the industry to produce 30nm-class DRAM that's billed as the "most advanced low-power DDR3 available", Samsung is rightly proud. Samsung's president of the Memory Division, Soo-In Cho, was quoted as saying, "Our accelerated development of next generation 30nm-class DRAM should keep us in the most competitive position in the memory market." And I'm sure the likes of Kingston and Corsair are watching closely.

According to Samsung, their 30nm-class DDR3 DRAM reduces power consumption by up to 30 percent over 50nm-class DRAM, and a 4GB module used in a new-generation notebook will consume only three watts per hour, which is just three percent of the total power usage of a notebook. As such, this is the perfect companion to Intel's new low-power Atom processors, so expect these to find their way in new netbooks some time in the near future. That would be around the second half of 2010, when Samsung starts 30nm DDR3 mass production.

A post from the Asus Eee PC blog.

Samsung successfully develops world's first DDR3 DRAM with 30nm process technology

Hands-On: EROS, a slate tablet you can love

We previously saw the ExoPC which might have been either inspired by the iPhone or inspired the design of the new iPad. Here's another tablet that does that one better, and it even has a home button! The EROS tablet has its power button were the iPad's home button is located and has the same black bezel surrounding the screen plus a fron-facing camera and some activity lights. EROS

• 10.1" 1366 x 768 touchscreen
• 1.6oGHz Intel Atom N270
• 1GB or 2GB RAM
• 160GB or 320GB HDD
• Windows 7 or XP
• SIM slot
• 2 x USB, SD card reader, CF card reader
• 2.5 hour battery on XP, 1.5 hour battery on Win7

The CF card reader is something not even netbooks often have but is a nice edition and should please photogs out there. The downer is the battery life and everyone knows that a tethered tablet is not very nice to use. It goes for 2999RMB or US$441. Hit the link for a hands on video.

source Cloned in China

A post from the Asus Eee PC blog.

Hands-On: EROS, a slate tablet you can love

Asus Eee PC 1001P taken apart

It's a busy week for the guys over at NDevil. First they unbox the Samsung N220 twice, once in German then in English. They then take the netbook apart. This time round, they've taken apart the Pine Trail version of the Asus EeePC 1001P. The inside is pretty much the same as the 1005PE and 1008P Karim Rashid Edition except there's no Bluetooth or 802.11n support. The battery is also of a lower capacity than it's more expensive counterparts. That's not always a bad thing though, as the 1001P is the cheapest of the Asus Pine Trail netbooks, available for just $299.

On the bottom of the netbook, there's a panel which is removed by removing one screw. From there you can replace or upgrade the RAM. Anything else however, such as upgrading the hard drive, requires all of the screws on the bottom of the netbook to be removed, along with the keyboard. Below are the photos NDevil took of the inside of the 1001P.

A post from the Asus Eee PC blog.

Asus Eee PC 1001P taken apart

MSI Wind mod to mimic Vaio UX slider

We have to give c0ff33 from Insanely Wind, the unofficial MSI netbook forums, some amazing cred. He's in the process of turning a MSI U100 rebrand (actually an Advent 4211c) into a sliding display like those you see in the Vaio UX. The build also support a dual boot of Windows 7 and Mac OS X Snow Leopard. It's not yet done but it's getting there and a sliding mod is something different to watch out for.

source InsanelyWind via netbooked

A post from the Asus Eee PC blog.

MSI Wind mod to mimic Vaio UX slider

Spotted: Gateway EC14D in Italy

One thing I like about netbooks is that is doesn't have a DVD drive, something I don't actually use that often in my main computer as well. It lets manufacturers create a sleeker design for this portable device and also makes it so much lighter to carry around.

Gateway, a subsidiary brand of Acer, went the other direction though and crammed in a DVD burner in its new EC14D notebook. By all the common standards, this isn't a netbook but it's an interesting play to grab those users who still need to create and use DVDs.

Gateway EC14D

• 11.6" 1366 x 768 LCD screen
• 1.3GHz Intel Pentium SU4100 CULV with Intel GS45 chipset, GMA 4500MHD
• 4GB DDR2 RAM
• 320GB HDD
• 8x DVD burner
• Windows 7 Home Premium
• 802.11b/g/n WiFi, LAN
• 3 x USB, HDMI out, card reader, webcam
• 6-cell 5600mAh battery
• weight: 1.61kg

More pics in the link to Notebook Italia below.

source Notebook Italia via Engadget

A post from the Asus Eee PC blog.

Spotted: Gateway EC14D in Italy