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Litl Webbook plummets from $699 to $399, still can't catch an eye
It's tough out there playing second (or third... or tenth) fiddle. Just ask Fusion Garage. Similar to the path we saw Celio's REDFLY take, Litl's Webbook is slowly (but surely, we're afraid) creeping towards complete and utter irrelevance, boasting a design that's too niche to gain traction in the mainstream, a hardware lineup that's too last year and a price that's still far higher than some of the more reputable netbooks on the market today. After just six short months on the market, the company's easel-styled laptop has fallen from $699 to $399, but during that same window of time, Intel has launched all new Atoms, tablet PCs have begun their assimilation on Planet Earth and HP has purchased Palm. Yeah, that last tidbit has precisely zero pertinence to the discussion at hand, but we bet even the engineers at Litl would've laughed you out of town had you told 'em that would happen back in November of '09.
Litl working on a settop box with smartphone-like remote, not scared of Google
You've got to hand it to Litl -- even after the Webbook failed to impress, the startup is still trudging though the gadget trenches. And there's no doubt that the new settop box it's tinkering with sounds interesting: like the Webbook, it will run Litl's very own Linux OS, and will be based on a browser and web apps -- in fact, the company is launching an SDK for the Flash-based HTPC tomorrow at the Flash and the City conference. The most interesting thing to us is the cute little touchscreen remote, which will apparently let you control the UI from the couch with multitouch gestures. Sounds pretty snazzy to us, but you'll have to wait until early 2011 to get one of these in your living room. Litl's CEO John Chuang wouldn't share much on the hardware front, but we know it's powered by some sort of x86 processor, and will have HDMI and composite-out to connect to your HDTV, as well as Ethernet / WiFi connection options. We're hoping by then that there will be some Android-based settop boxes on the market, but that doesn't worry Litl -- Chuang claims it'll be a dead-simple consumer product. No word on the name of this thing, but there's obviously time to decide on that. Hit the break for the press release, and the gallery below for some early designs of the device. %Gallery-92983%
Litl Webbook video hands-on
After seeing the Litl Webbook teased along with its not-so-teasing $699 pricetag, there's no way we could let CES slip by without checking out the easel-like device. And that really is the coolest thing about the Webbook: its 12.1-inch screen flips around to take it from regular laptop into a tent-like, digital photo frame of sorts. Jump past the break for our hands-on impressions and some video. %Gallery-82020%
Litl Easel Webbook gets the extensive hands-on treatment (video)
Wait a minute -- you say you've been longing to get your hands on an overpriced netbook that you can use upside-down? Well, kids, the time is drawing nigh. Mere days after the Litl Easel Webbook went official we've become privy to a lengthy video of the bad boy in action. Indeed, things are as you expected: a 1.6GHz Atom-based machine running a proprietary web-optimized OS, this guy has been specially designed, in the words of the company's CEO, to do away with "the computery stuff." To that end, users will see no icons or folders in the desktop. Such tried-and-true stalwarts of computer interface design have been eschewed for "web cards." Indeed, you won't be able to overlap or resize windows at all, at all: unless you're in easel mode, in which case you scroll through cards one at a time with a wheel. But there's more! Users may "liberate the photo" in a manner not unlike a digiframe the fraction of the cost, thanks to the device's integration with several photo-sharing services (including Shutterfly and Flickr). Still curious? I bet you are. Hit up the video after the break and prepare to have all of your dreams fulfilled (well, maybe not).
Litl Easel Webbook now official, unbelievably overpriced
How much would you pay for a netbook? $200 on contract? Maybe as much as $599 for a so-called premium model? How about $699 -- a price that doesn't even include the $19 remote control? Well, what if we told you that the Litl Webbook, a 1.6GHz Atom-based machine running a proprietary web-optimized OS that pumps accelerated H.264 content at 720p over HDMI-out, has a unique hinge that allows it to bend backwards and stand upright like an easel? Sorry, no touchscreen... but that display is 12.1-inches and you get Flickr and Facebook content as well as custom "channels" like The Weather Channel displayed in a "fun" and "engaging" way. You can even scroll between content via that baby-blue scrollwheel on the hinge. Not enough? What about the 2GB of storage, 1GB of memory, 802.11b/g WiFi, headphone and USB 2.0 jacks? Still not sold? Us neither. %Gallery-77267%
Litl Easel 'web computer' is cute as a baby-blue button
Sorry Litl, but the FCC just spoiled your surprise party. Described as "a web computer" running Litl OS (sorry Microsoft), the 3.38-pound Litl Easel (built by FIC) packs a 1.86GHz Atom Z540 processor beneath that 12.1-inch 1280x800 pixel display, a meager 2GB of storage, 1GB of DDR2 memory, 802.11b/g WiFi, and webcam all powered by a 2600MAh battery. There's also HDMI, a single USB jack, and an IR receiver for a Litl remote. A dedicated baby-blue "Litl" key on the keyboard would appear to act like a home key that takes you back to the "Card View" home page. Based on the description from the manual, the Litl OS will present information in stacks of cards: blue cards are "permanent" cards for the card catalog, family and friends, and settings; white cards are web cards displayed in a Mozilla browser; and black "channel" cards (known as widgets everywhere else) feature a Litl alarm clock, New York Times headline ticker, and weather channel. And if the cutsie-wutsie factor of the Litl Easel is lost on you then perhaps the "best results if plugged in" label on the power brick will help drive the message home. Litl already has a teaser page up so we expect this to launch Stateside sometime before the holidays. %Gallery-76662% Read -- FCC document Read -- Litl teaser
