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Acer goes pastel with 10.1-inch Aspire One Happy dual-booting netbook
Cherry Red and Midnight Black too harsh for your innocent eyes? How's about a gaggle of pastel options to take the edge off? Acer has just issued a new line of netbooks catering to those still stuck in the 70s, with the flower-powered Aspire One Happy range offering the most delightful lids of any netbook, ever. This 10.1-inch machine packs a WSVGA panel, six-cell battery (up to eight hours of battery life), Atom N450 CPU, GMA 3150 GPU, 250GB hard drive, WiFi, 2GB of memory and inbuilt Bluetooth. It also supports dual booting (Windows 7 and Android 2.1), but the highlight of the show is the abundance of color options: Candy Pink, Lavender Purple, Lime Green and Hawaii Blue. All four hues are available now across the pond for £249.99 ($397), but mum's the word on a stateside release. But don't worry... be happy.
HP Compaq Airlife 100 review roundup: a little too dumb for a smartbook
As of last month, there were still no solid plans to ever bring HP Compaq's Airlife 100 smartbook to US soil, and judging by the first reviews surfacing across the pond, the company should probably consider keeping it that way. In a land already saturated with increasingly powerful netbooks, highly capable smartphones and a blossoming selection of tablets, the actual need for a so-called smartbook is questionable at best. For those still interested in paying near-netbook prices for this (on contract with a carrier, no less), you should probably first take a gander at the reviews linked below. Put simply, the Airlife 100 just wasn't a contender, and it had issues handling basic tasks like playing back HD videos and loading the full Gmail experience. 'Course, Android 1.6 is looking severely dated right about now, so we can't say we're shocked to hear so much negativity. The design itself was universally praised, but when you can snag a Crystal HD-equipped netbook (sans a data plan agreement, to boot) for just a few Euros more, it's hard to justify locking yourself into something far less intelligent.
Mobinnova Beam netbook spotted running Android, sporting other improvements
Mobinnova had already mentioned that it planned to ditch Windows CE in favor of Android for its Beam netbook before the device was actually released, and it looks like it's now finally made the jump, as evidenced by Laptop Magazine's recent hands-on with the netbook. Whats' more, the 8.9-inch device was also seen sporting a few other minor improvements, including some new media playback keys on the keyboard, and CinemaNow pre-installed on the system for downloading movies. Expectedly, you won't have access to Android Market, btu Mobinnova says it will include some games that "leverage the Tegra chip's multimedia prowess," and that it's even working on its own app store for the device.
Alpha 680 Android netbook spotted, still unavailable
While all the other kids on the block are letting themselves become duly distracted by Google Chrome OS, at least Skytone is still out there in the trenches, fighting to get its Android-powered Alpha 680 netbook to market. Initially it looked like this one would be making the scene sometime this summer, and although this has not come to pass, the OEM (Airis) is still strutting it in front of vendors and threatening us with an eventual release. According to Le Journal du Geek, who managed to get its hands on one and snap plenty of pics, the device is still "not really stable." (Take your time, guys...) Hit that read link for plenty of glamor shots of the this stark white, 7-inch resistive touchscreen wonder -- you'll be glad you did.
Acer reaffirms that Android-based netbook still coming in Q3
In an effort to quell all sorts of kicking and screaming that resulted from an evidently erroneous report earlier in the week, an Acer representative has reportedly reaffirmed that an Android-based Aspire One is still on schedule for a Q3 release. If you'll recall, we first heard of Acer's intentions to dole out an Android-laden netbook during Computex, and now it seems as if those very plans are still perfectly on track. So there you have it, folks -- no need to keep pounding those heart medications.
Android-based Alpha 680 netbook spotted in the wild
Still think an Android-based netbook is in your future? If the abysmal performance on video hasn't turned you off yet, maybe the fire-engine red paint job coupled with 90s-era carbon fiber accents will. What you see above is the first legitimate in the wild shot of Skytone's Alpha 680, and at a glance, we're marginally excited about the sizable trackpad and roomy keyboard. Oh, and the swiveling screen is a plus, too. Check the read link for a few more looks.[Thanks, Neerhaj]
Is Dell cooking up an Android-powered netbook?
Um, okay? Straight out of the left-most corner of left field, software provider Bsquare has just outed Dell's newest netbook -- or so it seems. The same company that recently announced that it was bringing Adobe Flash to Android has just revealed that it'll be doing likewise for "Dell netbooks running Google's Android platform." Specifically, it'll be Flash Lite 3.17 making the leap onto these heretofore elusive machines (casually referred to as the Mini Inspiron 910, or Mini 9, in the release), but details outside of that are mum. Consider our interest piqued. Full release is after the break.Update: Dell just pinged us with an adorably terse response: "The Bsquared news release erroneously mentioned Dell and is being recalled. Dell does not offer an Android based netbook." Well then.
Skytone's Android-powered netbook to cost around $250
Guangzhou Skytone Transmission Technologies Company, which we will absolutely never call by its full name again, has just dropped a juicy nugget about its forthcoming netbook. If you'll recall, we recently caught wind of the ARM-based, Android-powered rig (the Alpha 680), which is expected to be a stripped down portable useful for web surfing and light duty Office use. Nixon Wu, Skytone's co-founder, recently confessed that it's aiming to sell the machine for around $250, and if all goes well, it should have prototypes ready by June and final products ready for consumption a month or two after that. Call us crazy (or just greedy, really), but we were totally hoping for this to ring up at $199 or less.
Skytone debuts ARM-based, Android-powered netbook / tablet
Well, after months of nothing but hacks and proof of concepts, we now have not one but two Android-powered netbooks -- neither of which are actually available just yet, of course. This latest one comes from Chinese firm Skytone and, unlike the I-Buddie, boasts a slightly more unique convertible tablet design, which the company was apparently able to make happen by cutting corners in every other area. That includes a slightly underwhelming 533MHz ARM processor, a 7-inch 800 x 480 touchscreen, a mere 128MB of RAM, 1GB of storage, an SD card slot for expansion, and even optional 3G (although that could just be a dongle). What's more, it looks like Skytone is saying that the netbook, dubbed the Alpha-680, could sell for as little as $100 if and when it's actually released -- which, as far as we can tell, could happen next week or never.[Via The Inquirer]
