Acer to unleash horde of MIDs this may

Acer (and just about everyone else in the sector) isn't just busy churning out new netbook models. The tech giant has also been working tirelessly on a new range of MIDs — and it sounds like the new models are nearly ready to hit the street.

According to PC World, the Acer MIDs are set to arrive before the end of May and will sport version 4.0 of the company's…er…interesting Shell interface. I'm hoping that the "virtual office" thing has gone away for good.

Shell 4.0's foundations remain a mystery — will it be WinMo or Android? We'll find out soon.

via PC World

Post from: Liliputing

Acer to unleash horde of MIDs this may

Asus Goes Official with the Eee PC 900AX

Following our report that the Asus Eee PC 900AX has passed through the FCC, Asus has just made this new 9-inch netbook official via its own official product page. Unfortunately, our guess that this might be a tablet netbook was wrong. In fact, it looks like the Eee PC 900AX is just your usual 9-inch Eee PC.

The rest of the Eee PC 900AX's specs include:

• Processor: Intel Atom N270
• Memory: 1GB DDR2 SO-DIMM
• Screen: 8.9 "LED Backlight WXGA (1024×600)
• Networking: WLAN 802.11b / g
• Hard Drive: 160GB 2.5 "
• Audio: Integrated speaker, microphone
• Ports: 1 x VGA, 2 x USB 2.0, 1 x RJ-45 LAN, 1 x Audio Jack
• Expansion: Memory Card Reader MMC / SD (SDHC)
• Battery: 4 cell Li-ion
• Dimensions: 170mm (W) x 225mm (W) x 34mm (H)
• Weight: 1.127Kg

Notice anything different with the Eee PC 900AX?

via Eeepc.it

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Link to post: Asus Goes Official with the Eee PC 900AX - from: Eee PC - Blog | One comment | © Admarket, 2010.

HP kills the Slate - is this the clincher for a WebOS tablet?

Wait, wait…First Microsoft kills the courier, now one of their closest partners shutters a similar device? According to TechCrunch, HP has decided to put an end to the Slate. We're still waiting for confirmation, but that's probably a good thing. Initial reactions to the device were lukewarm, and with the iPad already established as the device to beat HP needed to take a good, hard look at things before rushing a less-than-impressive product to market.

That said, there's every possibility that HP has a solid back-up plan now that they've acquired Palm.

Let's see…They've got a hardware foundation that needs a little bit of a price reduction to be competitive. They've got a mobile operating system (WebOS) which won't cost them anything to install on said hardware. By stripping away Windows 7 and replacing the Intel guts with an ARM configuration, HP could easily remix the Slate into a larger version of the Palm Pre…Kind of like what Apple did with the iPad.

If they can beat the iPad on price and offer a slick software experience courtesy WebOS, HP could very well have a hit on their hands.

Obviously, it's going to be an uphill climb. It's not like the new Palm handsets and WebOS have been terribly successful thus far, after all. Still, HP now has the ingredients — let's see if they can find the right mix.

Update: We just heard back from a source at HP who simply says that the company "does not comment on rumors or speculation," but Sascha at NetbookNews.de got a stronger reaction from his source — who says that the cancellation of the HP Slate is "very improbable, if not even impossible."

Post from: Liliputing

HP kills the Slate — is this the clincher for a WebOS tablet?

Adobe To Give Employees Free Android Phones

In a move that is not surprising considering the animosity between Adobe and Apple, Adobe is planning to give away free Android-based phones to its employees, according to three sources familiar with the company. Adobe has also said that it plans to develop a version of Flash for the Android platform and show it off at the Google I/O conference.

No one is sure which phone Adobe employees will receive—there has been speculation that it will be a Nexus One or an HTC phone. The shift will not be mandatory, but it's clear that Adobe and Google want to encourage Adobe employees to use Android and Flash Player as often as possible.

Google is known for giving away Android phones very generously. It is planning to give all Google I/O attendees a Motorola Droid or a Nexus One. Earlier this month, it gave audience members at a Google Apps event Nexus Ones.

It is also unclear whether just developers or all employees will get the free phones at Adobe.

Via CNET, image via CNET.

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Two More 12-Inc Eee PCs Are Coming Up

Asus seems to be prepping some more 12-inch netbook goodies to give us all. Let's see, how many Eee PCs in the 1200 series do we know so far? – 1201N and 1201NL with first-generation Nvidia Ion, 1201PN with Atom Pine Trail and 2nd generation Nvidia Ion, , 1201HA with first-gen Intel Atom CPU, and 1201T with AMD-based platform.

Now, it looks like Asus is on to two more 12-inch Eee PCs bearing the series number Eee PC 1201K and Eee PC 1201X. Netbook Italia managed to obtain some details of these two new Eee PCs.

The Eee PC 1201X will have the same chassis as the Eee PC 1201T and will most probably not have an HDMI port. While the Eee PC 1201K will have no USB ports on the right side, no panels on the bottom of the computer and could probably have a VIA nano CPU.

Since, the details are still vague right now, the best thing for all of us to do then is to wait for Asus' official announcements.

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Link to post: Two More 12-Inc Eee PCs Are Coming Up - from: Eee PC - Blog | No comments | © Admarket, 2010.

Rumor: Apple May Offer Cloud Music Service

Apple has just announced that it is shutting down Lala, the streaming music service it bought last December. This comes a little over a month before the developers conference in San Francisco at which Apple often announces major news. There is a lot of speculation among analysts that Apple may intend to offer a cloud-based music service soon.

Currently, iTunes users pay to download songs to their computers, then sync these new songs to mobile devices. But an Internet-based service would eliminate both the need to download songs and the need to have them on a computer first—users could stream them directly to their phones.

Some people believe that a cloud-based music service offered by Apple is nothing more than a rumor because Apple has not spoken with music executives about its plan, and a streaming service would require new licenses to be set up.

If Apple does eventually offer a streaming music service, it could have huge implications for the industry. Users would not need to download songs anymore, which could spell the end of the MP3. Storage space would no longer be an issue either, since the songs would be stored on a remote server. Though I would be willing to try out a streaming music service, I would like to have the option of downloading MP3 files of songs that I really like.

Via The Associated Press, image via Apple.

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Apple Lawsuit Did Not Impact HTC Sales

Remember that lawsuit Apple filed against HTC? Luckily for HTC, it does not seem to have harmed the company's sales. HTC did better in the first quarter than expected and has predicted a record-breaking second quarter.

The patent lawsuit filed by Apple alleges that HTC is infringing on 20 Apple patents relating to the iPhone. After the lawsuit was filed, there were fears that customers would turn to other phone vendors because of a potential import ban on HTC's phones.

HTC has defended itself by demonstrating its own work in the smartphone industry, as well as its own patents. Some analysts speculated that the lawsuit was an attempt by Apple to slow down the sales of Android cell phones. If this is true, Apple appears to have failed because HTC noted that its Android phones have sold particularly well during the first quarter.

Via BusinessWeek.

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Asus Eee PC 1201K, 1201X details start to emerge

The pieces of the Eee PC 1201-series notebook puzzle are starting to fall together — but just starting. The company already offers (or has in the works) the following models:

• Eee PC 1201N with a dual core Atom 330 processor and NVIDIA ION graphics
• Eee PC 1201PN (not yet released) with Atom N450 and next-gen ION graphics
• Eee PC 1201NL with an Atom N270 chip and ION graphics
• Eee PC 1201HA with an Atom Z520 processor and interated graphics
• Eee PC 1201T with an AMD processor and ATI graphics

A few weeks ago, several new model numbers were uncovered, but there were few details available about the Eee PC 1201K and Eee PC 1201X. Today there are still few details, but the folks at Netbook Italia managed to grab an updated product manual for the series, and it shows what the cases will look like for each computer.

The Eee PC 1201X appears to have the same case design as the Eee PC 1201T. It's not entirely clear if this means it will also have an AMD chipset, but it does tell us that there's no HDMI port on this model.

The Eee PC 1201K is a bit more of a head-scratcher. This model appears to have no USB ports on the right side (I assume there may be 2 on the left side, but there's no picture to go by at the moment. There are also no access panels on the bottom of the computer, which could make upgrading RAM a headache. Netbook Italia guesses that this model might have a VIA Nano processor, but we won't know for certain until Asus releases more details.

via Netbooked

Post from: Liliputing

Asus Eee PC 1201K, 1201X details start to emerge

HP Nixes Slate

HP has decided to nix its Slate tablet before even releasing it, according to reports today. HP's reason for killing off its iPad competitor? Windows 7 does not measure up as a tablet operating system. HP will probably be searching for a new operating system, such as Google's Android OS, or it could be planning to convert Palm's webOS to work on tablets. Adapting webOS for tablets would make sense in light of HP's recent acquisition of Palm.

The demise of the Slate may also have to do with its battery life. Analysts have speculated that with Windows 7 and Intel's Atom processor, it probably was not getting even close to the battery life of an iPad, which is supposed to be ten hours.

Though Windows 7 has multi-touch support, it is unlikely that it is the best solution for a tablet, even with HP's TouchSmart software. By abandoning Windows 7, HP has the opportunity to make a better product.

Via the San Francisco Chronicle.

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No optical drive? No problem! HP launches download store for netbook owners

One thing I still have difficulty making customers at my day job understand about netbooks is that they don't have an optical drive. Ok, some thin and lights like the Gateway EC14 do, but they're not that plentiful on Liliputers. "Then how do I get my Norton CD  installed?" they ask. It's frustrating for customers, and it's more work for me.

HP's help desk analysts have probably gotten numerous phone calls about the same issue. Now they've got an alternative solution: send netbook owners over to the newly-opened HP Download Store!

But wait, aren't there already a ton of places where you can buy downloadable software online? Sure, but HP sells a ton of netbooks — and that ton of netbooks will no doubt start shipping with a nice, obvious "click here to buy software and games for your HP Mini!" icon somewhere on their desktop. Customers love simplicity, and not having to hunt around on the 'net will be probably be enough enticement to drive sales.

The store  is currently considered beta, but it's open for business should you be inclined to make a purchase. It's worth noting that notebooks.com did some price checking and HP seems to be a bit high on most items — MS Office Home and Student lists for double what you'll find it for at some other resellers.

via notebooks.com

Post from: Liliputing

No optical drive? No problem! HP launches download store for netbook owners