We're used to seeing nettops from the likes of Asus and Acer, but EMTEC's the newcomer in this field and let's see what we're working with. At about one inch thick by TechDigest's estimates, the G Box (working title) certainly compact, and we definitely give points to it running NVIDIA's Ion platform, Windows XP, at least six USB ports, and a 160GB hard drive. Unfortunately, there's no HDMI port -- that's coming in a later model -- and at £179 ($293 US), we'd be hard pressed to pick this over the HDMI-equipped AspireRevo, but we'll await judgment until we can try this thing out for ourselves. In the meantime, hit up the read link for a brief video hands-on.

Up until now, the only way to really get the all-in-one "Allio Experience" was to purchase one of its HDTV / HTPC hybrids. But, let's just say you wanted to have that same experience on your current set. The answer? Silicon Mountain's latest wares: two new media streamer models and five Allio Link HTPCs. The entry-level $299 Allio Link ADTI-194500 gets powered by an Intel Atom N330 CPU and features 1GB of DDR2 RAM, 4GB of flash storage, GMA950 graphics, four USB 2.0 sockets, VGA / S-Video ports, Gigabit Ethernet and Ubuntu 9.04 running the show. If you're interested in an integrated DVD player, you can snag an upgraded model for $399. If those just aren't potent enough for your needs, you can snag one of five Allio Link Media PCs, which range from $659 to $1,199 and feature Windows Vista, 2GB of RAM, the same Atom N330 CPU, a built-in TV tuner and a 250GB HDD. Each of the units are available to order right now, with most shipping out within a week.

Sony's finally throwing US consumers a bone by offering its VAIO P with a faster "1.6GHz Atom" processor we presume to be the Z530. Model VGN-P698E also adds a 128GB SSD to the mix along with a Verizon WWAN module and GPS radio. Problem is, the US Version doesn't have an XP option like the VAIO P in Japan let alone the 1.86GHz Atom Z540 option. That means you'll be stuck watching Vista Home Premium overwhelm that Atom processor and integrated GMA500 graphics when Windows 7 and those new Tegra-based smartbooks (running CE or Android) arrive in October. Come on, don't you want a glorified $1,500 netbook?

You see, there's not much wiggle room when it comes to netbook pricing. By and large, vendors have priced their machines about as low as they can in order to receive but a sliver of a profit, and there's certainly no way they could eat another $20 to $30 on each unit and still feel good about themselves. To that end, we're hearing that many companies may make their Atom N270 and Atom N280-based netbooks ineligible for the Windows 7 upgrade (from the factory, anyway), with those always-mysterious "industry sources" pointing to "increasing costs and low consumer demand." In essence, these guys feel as if consumers will view Windows XP as sufficient for those underpowered machines, while it'll be the Atom N450, Atom D410 and Atom D510 machines that'll be most suited for Win7. 'Course, we suspect you'll be able to pony up for whatever upgrade you'd like once it's in your hands, but we wouldn't anticipate any handouts to suddenly be attached to existing machines.

[Via GadgetMix]

Archos attempt to resurrect the UMPC category of devices got off to a good start yesterday in Paris with the launch of its 16-mm thick Archos 9 pctablet -- a 8.9-inch 1024x600 pixel tablet riding an 800MHz or 1.2GHz Atom Z515 processor, 1GB of memory, up to 120GB disk, webcam, Bluetooth 2.1, 802.11b/g WiFi, and SIM card slot for WWAN connectivity. Archosfans just posted a video of the Archos 9 prototype in action and honestly, that resistive touch-screen looks pretty damn impressive to finger taps. However, since it's running Windows 7, a full-blown desktop OS, you'll still need to pull out the included stylus on occasion to interactive with the Windows 7 UI or applications designed for a mouse and keyboard. Fortunately, the Archos 9 offers an optical mouse on the right-side bezel and left and right mouse keys along the left. Other notable highlights include a removable battery of undetermined capacity, a docking port for added expansion (Ethernet, 2x USB, VGA output), stereo speakers, and an adjustable kickstand for viewing video or working on the Archos 9 with attached USB keyboard and mouse. The Archos rep says it'll be priced between €450 and €500 when it ships around the time Windows 7 launches at the end of October. What we're wondering is how much finger-friendly UI customization will be included by Archos and how they plan to market the device to consumers who already own smartphones, laptops, and even netbooks. Video after the break.

P.S. While Archosfans claims the Archos 9 is multi-touch, nothing that we've found supports that claim on the Archos site or in the video demonstrations. Nevertheless, multi-touch resistive touchscreen technology does exist as demonstrated to us by Stantum back in February. In fact, the ASUS Eee PC T91 also features an 8.9-inch resistive display that does support mult-touch.

Tough luck, Fujitsu -- seems your entry into the entirely oversaturated netbook market is just "too little, too late." That's the conclusion drawn by critics over at Laptop, who found the M2010 to be a solid performer, but one with a cramped keyboard and a battery life of under two hours. No doubt, a longevity mark such as that has no place in a netbook, and the surprisingly high $449 price tag certainly didn't do it any favors. Reviewers pointed out that for $10 less, you could snap up the Samsung N110, which offers up four times the battery life and a more comfortable keyboard. Heck, the $379 Eee PC 1000HE goes for six hours strong and seems to be just as potent. Of course, this one's definitely doused in red, so if that's your shade, good luck thinking logically about this.

This, folks, is the definition of oxymoron. Intel's Atom processors are just barely quick enough to serve our lowly needs; would anything other than a Core i7 975 Extreme Edition really be fitting here? Ah well, at least it's not playing back copies of pirated material while out on the show floor.

This is really more of what we'd expect out of some slightly deranged basement hacker, not a company like ECS at a major tradeshow, but we'll take any entrants in the burgeoning "nettop in a vase" space we can get. To be serious for a moment, this is actually a pretty interesting illustration of the future afforded by small, low-power components: ECS has stuffed a full Intel Atom 230 system, including NVIDA ION graphics, 1GB of RAM, a 2.5-inch HDD and a Blu-ray drive into what looks like a family heirloom. There's even room for a couple USB ports, Ethernet and HDMI plugs on the bottom, which keeps the main body uninterrupted other than the tray-loading drive. Basically, we're floored.

Acer's been straightforward with the fact that it's been dabbling with Android on netbooks. In fact, the entire industry seems to be. Now we've got word that Acer will in fact launch an Android-based netbook in the 3rd quarter of 2009. The move was announced by Acer's global president for IT products, Jim Wong. The Android netbooks will run Atom (sorry Tegra hopefuls) and presumably cost less than Windows XP-based netbooks that require an estimated $25 tithe to Microsoft. Acer will continue to offer Windows-based netbooks along side the Android builds. Whether Android, an OS designed for smartphones, will succeed in gaining back market share lost to Microsoft remains to be seen. But if Microsoft's boasting about consumers wanting netbooks offering the same OS experience they're used to is true, well, how can Android succeed where those early Linux distros failed?

Oh look, it's nearly time for Computex, which means it's finally time for ECS to come out to play again. For whatever reason, it seems the aforesaid PC maker only pulls out the stakes for Taiwan's biggest consumer electronics show, and with the doors opening early next week, we're getting a sneak peek at what it'll be bringing to the mix. Not surprisingly, three of the five new machines are said to be of the netbook variety, with the other two being all-in-one desktops. 'Course, the whole lot will be humming along on Intel's all-too-modest Atom, though we are led to believe that at least one rig will get equipped with NVIDIA's promising Ion technology. The T10IL (shown left) is apt to steal most of the attention, boasting a thin-and-light frame that'll look awfully similar to ASUS' Eee PC 1008HA. The V10IL (shown right) is expected to be more of a vanilla type machine in terms of both design and specification, and the other guys are slated to be revealed at the show. You're tense with anticipation, aren't you?

Not to be mistaken with the Vmedia-equipped Aspire One 571, Acer's Aspire One 751h has just been handled over at GadgetMix. The machine, which rocks a pretty unorthodox setup for a netbook, was said to sport one of the best displays ever put on a netbook, but that lethargic Atom Z520 CPU made the standard fare N270 feel like a real speed demon. Of course, such a sleepy processor allowed for nearly 5.5 hours of real-world battery life, and the multi-touch trackpad definitely sweetened the deal. Have a look past the break for a bootup video, and tap the read link for the full rundown of pics and impressions.

Without question, the hottest product in Lenovo's lineup right now is the recently unveiled IdeaPad S12, but if you're not up for waiting (or if you just prefer the 10-inch form factor), you can wiggle your cursor over to the outfit's S10-2 portal. Starting today, the refreshed S10-2 is up for order, with current shipping estimates pegged at "within 16 business days." The unit is available in black, grey, white and pink starting at $439, but as always, it'll be tough to skip over all those customizations on the way to checkout.

[Via PortableMonkey]