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Details of Samsung's 'Alex' Chrome OS netbook leaked, Atom N550 in tow
As we approach the expected mid-2011 launch for a few Chrome OS devices, it seems inevitable that some details are bound to slip out ahead of time -- here's looking at you, Acer ZGB and Seaboard. The latest victim outed by a Chromium bug report is the Samsung "Alex," which sports a 1280 x 800 display (probably at 10 inches as previously rumored; like the mockup above), 1.5GHz dual-core Atom N550, SanDisk SSD P4 of unknown capacity, and 2GB RAM. Also listed are a Qualcomm Gobi 2000 3G card, Bluetooth, WiFi, webcam, and a Synaptics touchpad. Well, not long to go now -- perhaps the Alex might even make a cheeky appearance at Google I/O in two weeks' time? Screenshot of the bug report after the break. [Thanks, Marco]
Intel Classmate PC becomes Toshiba CM1 in Japan
Toshiba and Intel have announced that they're partnering up to deliver Chipzilla's convertible Classmate PC to Japanese youths -- just in time for the new school year. Sporting a 1.66GHz Atom N450 and an overhauled design, this latest iteration of the educational use netbook will start filtering through Nipponese school corridors this August. It packs 160GB of storage room and 2GB of RAM under a nice 1,366 x 768 10.1-inch touchscreen. The latter flips around to facilitate pen input with an included stylus, while the whole package is protected by a well rubberized and ruggedized case. Now if only it could get some multitouch and one of those crazy 15-hour batteries, we might consider going back to school and using it to finish our floristry studies. Full PR after the break. Update: The Japanese school year starts in April, so technically the CM1 is just in time for the second semester. So long as it's on time, we don't think anyone will mind much.
Intel to announce dedicated tablet silicon at Computex
During this morning's press conference on the new Core i3, i5 and i7 ULV processors, Intel PC Client Group Vice President Mooly Eden revealed that Chipzilla will launch that special "tablet solution" we had heard about at Computex next week. No details were given on this "dedicated silicon for the tablet space," but we can assume that it's going to fall into the Atom line up. Whether it will be an extension of the Moorestown family or just be an outgrowth of the Pineview platform found in netbooks and nettops remains to be seen, but you can bet on us listening up for more info when we're live from Taipei next week. Hit the link below if you want to hear this guy spill the beans.
ASUS makes EeePC 1015P and 1015PE official, endows them with 13.5 hours of battery life
It's hard to differentiate yourself in the netbook world nowadays -- pretty much every manufacturer is trudging along the same Pine Trail, with the same one, maybe two, gigabytes of RAM and 160GB to 320GB in storage. So ASUS, the original gangster of this sector, is aiming to wow consumers with a scintillating 13.5 hours of autonomous use courtesy of its 6-cell 63Wh battery pack. The EeePC 1015P and 1015PE differ only in aesthetics, with both sporting 10.1-inch 1024 x 600 screens and Atom N450 processors. No, that's not going to break any performance records, but if that longevity number proves true, we suspect there'll be plenty of eager buyers out there. Price and availability haven't yet been revealed, but ASUS doesn't usually keep us waiting so look out for these in the very near future.
Sony VAIO M netbook officially unveiled, attempts to befriend your wallet
It's still mildly hard to believe that the Sony VAIO M is for real, given its lack of VAIO's iconic chiclet keys plus the pretty convincing VAIO W fake that we've stumbled upon. Nevertheless, kudos to Sony for reaching out to a more affordable market with its new 3.1-pound netbook. The specs are the identical with the ones we saw yesterday and earlier this month, but hey, there's no harm in having another party to welcome this fella, right? You can grab one now -- in black or white -- for £300 ($456) in the UK.%Gallery-88348%
Sony VAIO M and its Atom N450 heart get unboxed
Sony's successor to the VAIO W netbook made its debut a little prematurely earlier this month, which has now been followed by its first unboxing and preview. Encased in an appealing matte black plastic, the VAIO M is set for an April launch in the UK at the very reasonable £300 ($456) price point. Unfortunately, the drop in price also means a lower-res 1024 x 600 display, while the W's chiclet keyboard has also been replaced with a more conventional typing surface. With 1GB of DDR2 RAM and a 250GB storage drive, Sony seems to be giving us the bare minimum here, but that's alright with us -- let's just make sure this thing actually has a battery that lasts, shall we Sony?
Zotac's ZBOX HD-ID11 has NVIDIA Ion 2 and Atom D510 to thank for excellent media playback (updated)
Like gaming? Move right along to the iBuyPower booth, please. Want an unobtrusive PC that will feed your Hulu and YouTube HD streaming addiction? Say hello to the ZBOX HD-ID11. It's basically a desktop version of the same Ion 2 setups you saw announced on the mobile front yesterday, and as such should provide flawless Flash 10.1 playback while occupying an extremely lean footprint on your desktop. Zotac has matched MSI's Wind Box DE220 with its inclusion of a dual-core 1.66GHz Atom D510 CPU, though it obviously differs with its NVIDIA Ion 2 graphics subsystem that includes 512MB of dedicated DDR3 memory. HDMI 1.3a and standard VESA wall-mounting are expected extras, with six USB ports, integrated 802.11n WiFi, dual-link DVI, and a 6-in-1 media card reader covering the rest of your bases. Check out some 1080p playback on a similarly specced system right here while you wait for pricing and availability to be revealed. Update: We've heard directly from Zotac on the matter of pricing and we're told that the American MSRP will be $209.99 ($239) for the barebones edition, which will require you to add your own hard drive, memory and OS. Update 2: Zotac seem to have been a little too ambitious with the initial price they quoted and have asked us to correct that number upwards by 30 bucks -- MSRP is now expected to land at $239.
ASUS Eee Top ET1610PT with Atom D410 shows up in online support pages
While it doesn't seem to be available to order yet, ASUS' first Pine Trail-equipped nettop is close enough to release that the Taiwanese manufacturer has let some of its specs loose already. What we know so far is that it'll come with Intel's Atom D410 CPU, 802.11b/g/n wireless, six USB ports, a 5-in-1 card reader, and a webcam -- all while keeping Windows XP's dreams of immortality alive. The 1610 will be a 15.6-inch all-in-one, like its predecessor, with the T model offering optional touchscreen functionality. It's hard to argue that the new Atoms offer any great performance gains, but then ASUS is not expected to charge any premium relative to its older models, making this a desirable, albeit incremental, upgrade. [Thanks, Sal]
MSI Wind Box DE220 displayed and detailed
In all the CES madness, we somehow missed MSI's previously-teased Wind Box DE220. Fortunately, Liliputing didn't; the site's just now putting up impressions and along with it some specs of the novel-sized nettop. It's packing Pinetrail for starters, in the form of a single-core Atom D410 or dual-core D510. Also included are an ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4330, up to 1TB HDD / 4GB memory, 802.11b/g/n, and Windows 7 home premium. Mum's the word on price or release date, but from what we've seen, you can at least start decorating around its known color options: blue, red, and black.
Lenovo IdeaPad S10-3t multitouch tablet up for order with Atom N470
If you have yet to join the Pine Trail party, how about this multitouch tablet netbook from Lenovo? Word has it that you can now order the IdeaPad S10-3t with Atom N470 processor (along with 250GB HDD, 2GB RAM and Windows 7 Home Premium 32-bit) billed at $649 -- $100 more than its N450-equipped sibling (160GB HDD, 1GB RAM and Windows 7 Starter). Mind you, the page does say that it won't be shipped for at least four more weeks, and this spec isn't even listed on the main product page yet, but the source link's there for you reckless venturers. [Thanks, OneLove]
Dell Mini 10 with Broadcom Crystal HD Accelerator review
Michael Dell may not be a fan of netbooks, but you wouldn't know that from the newest Mini 10. Joining the current Mini 10v, Dell's completely overhauled the chassis and added Intel's new Pine Trail processor. But that's not all: come February the little laptop will be available with Broadcom's Crystal HD accelerator, which promises full HD playback on a high-res 1366 x 768 display. But does the $425 package rid us of our tireless complaints that Atom can't handle HD, and does it rival netbooks based on NVIDIA's Ion platform? And perhaps more importantly, can we count on the Mini 10 to be a valuable member of the growing Pine Trail netbook fraternity when it comes to battery life and ergonomics? Read on to find out! Editor's Note: This review has been updated since Flash 10.1 Beta 3 was released. %Gallery-83721%
Intel Classmate PC is not forgotten, gets Pine Trail and WiMAX overhaul
We probably pour far too much time into dissecting the latest ThinkPad model or superphone, so to balance things out here's some positive news coming out of Intel regarding its laptop distribution programme for the developing world. Still a for-profit venture, the Classmate PC project seems to have been developing rather well, which has led the chipmaker to announce it'll be overhauling the case designs and internals of the machines it has on offer. Coming later this year, the new netbook models will offer Atom N450 and N470 Pineview CPUs as well as integrated 3G and WiMAX connectivity. Yeah, that's pretty decent gear by anyone's standards, so it's no surprise that Argentina, Brazil and Turkey have signed up for a total of 426,000 units between them, adding to the two million devices already shipped globally. Maybe someone should tell the UK government about this netbook craze before it's too late.
ASUS Eee PC 1001P brings its seashell design, Atom N450 to Amazon's US listings
First Germany, and now the States. ASUS's 10.1-inch, Pine Trail-equipped Eee PC Seashell 1001P has popped up on Amazon's US retail listings. Same Intel Atom N450 processor we saw before. $300 gets you Windows XP and a 160GB HDD, while $350 nets Windows 7 and 250GB of storage. Color options are black, pink, blue, and white, and as for release date? Still M.I.A., but we're hopeful this week offers a few tech news goodies.
QNAP gets serious with Turbo NAS line, packing Pineview, iSCSI, and VMWare certification
QNAP is generally known around these parts for its ever shrinking line of NAS devices that pack plenty of goods in a small space. The company's latest series sets a new bar for functionality, but does so in a device you probably won't be wedging in on a bookshelf between your well-worn (but never finished) copy of Ulysses and your leaning tower of software boxes. The latest Turbo NAS series is intended for small businesses, available in sizes ranging from one to the eight bay monster you see above, each packing an Intel D510 processor with enough oomph to fuel virtualized environments, so VMware vSphere4 certification and Windows Server 2008's Hyper-V are on-tap. iSCSI is also supported, as is IPv6 and, in one small nod toward consumers, Apple Time Machine backups have been enabled. We're expecting to see the full suite of devices at CES just a few days hence, while they're all slated for retail release in the coming weeks at prices ranging from $599 for the two-bay TS-259 Pro all the way up to $1,499 for that eight-bay TS-859 Pro flavor. You didn't think all this professionalism would come cheap, did you?
Samsung hops on Atom N450 bandwagon with N210, N220, N150 and NB30 netbooks
Keeping the news flowing fast and furious, Samsung has come out with a quartet of new netbooks, distinguishable primarily by their battery life. The N210 and 220 take the lead with a purported 12 hours of "connected mobility," while the NB30 (11 hours) and N150 (8.5 hours) are none too shabby either. The N150 differentiates itself with an "integrated hinge," while the NB30 focuses on durability with a HDD protection sensor and a water-tight seal that protects the netbook from up to 50cc of water. Still, the machines do share a lot, including an Atom N450 at their heart, and a 10.1-inch anti-reflective screen, plus -- you'd be better sit down for this -- mark- and scratch-resistant casing. Does this mean the end of the fingerprint-loving netbook? We can only hope so. Full PR blurb after the break.
Dell, Toshiba and Gateway Core i3 laptops get revealed early, joined by Pine Trail netbooks
And just like that, the CES 2010 on-switch has been well and truly pressed. After HP, Sony and Lenovo all exposed their hardware to the world prematurely, it was inevitable that other companies would "accidentally" follow suit. Thanks to CNET's snooping, we're now staring at a trio of new Core i3 models from Dell, Toshiba and Gateway -- highlighted by an unannounced ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5470 powering a 1600 x 900 15-inch display on the Gateway, which also squeezes 500GB of storage under a shockingly low $692 price tag. On the Atom front, the Mini 210 is joined by a Toshiba NB305 -- sporting the N450, 250GB HDD, up to 11 hours' claimed battery life, and a $438 sticker -- as well as Gateway's effort with a smaller 160GB HDD but also suitably reduced $285 asking price. Hit the links below to get freshened up on all the juicy details. Read - FutureShop.ca (Gateway NV5905H) Read - FutureShop.ca (Toshiba Satellite L500-00F) Read - Costco (Dell Inspiron 15) Read - FutureShop.ca (Gateway LT2102H) Read - FutureShop.ca (Toshiba NB305-00F)
Acer Aspire One AO532h joins the Pine Trail party with a $299 pricetag
It's about time that the number one netbook manufacturer officially release details on its Pine Trail packing netbooks. The 10-inch Acer Aspire One A0535h seems to look slightly different than its predecessors, but its brand new Intel Atom N450 CPU, GMA 1350 graphics and promised 10 hours of battery life should give it bragging rights at the family dinner table. The rest of the specs are standard fare – Windows 7 Starter, 1GB of RAM, 160GB hard drive, and a 4,400 mAh six-cell battery. We're impressed that Acer has seemed to finagle a $299 price tag, undercutting most of the competition -- including the $380 Pine Trail Eee PC 1005PE -- by at least $50. It should be available in the coming weeks, but in the meantime you can check the full PR after the break or start searching for that Amazon pre-order page.
ASUS Eee PC 1001P with Atom N450 appears on Amazon.de
With Christmas out of the way and CES just around the corner we're starting to see significant momentum in the Pineview department (which is between HR and the Engadget Bouncy Moon Castle). Currently listed on Amazon.de as a pre-order item for €249 (roughly $360), the Asus Eee PC 1001P is a 10.1-inch clamshell PC featuring an Intel Atom N450 at 1.6GHz, 1GB RAM a 160GB HDD and Windows XP. Between this bad boy and that 1005P/PE we first set eyes on earlier this month, it sure looks like the next-gen processor will be available sooner rather than later. Wouldn't that be... magical?
NVIDIA Ion 2 coming in early 2010, compatible with Pine Trail
Well, here we go: NVIDIA just gave us the heads-up that the next generation of Ion chips (which we'll be calling Ion 2 until it gets a proper name) will be compatible with Intel's new Pine Trail platform and arriving in Q1 of 2010. That's good news, seeing as the Pine Trail-based Eee PC 1005PE we just reviewed didn't offer much of a performance benefit over the older Diamondville chips and definitely couldn't bust through the first few seconds of a YouTube HD clip. Though we got NVIDIA to confirm that it'll improve some of the battery life concerns we've had, we couldn't get much out of them in terms of how Ion 2 will play with the Intel GMA 3150 GPU that's now integrated into the Atom N450 die. NVIDIA also didn't hold back when it came to Intel's reliance on third-party HD accelerator chips for video duties -- they think customers want richer gaming and multimedia experiences on netbooks than Atom alone can offer, and they don't seem to care that Intel keeps calling Ion "overkill." All drama aside we're looking forward to just getting some YouTube and Hulu HD playback on our netbooks -- we'll see what NVIDIA has to show off at CES.
Samsung N150 brings 3G and GPS to Pine Trail party, spotted at FCC and retail sites
"The Atom is dead, long live the Atom." The long awaited upgrade of Intel's netbook platform is gathering pace, and latest to join the ranks is Samsung with its 3G and GPS-equipped N150. Powered by Qualcomm's Gobi 2000 chip, the connectivity on this lite laptop will not go lacking, though Sammy disappoints with the rest of its specs. According to a very early listing on Neobits, the 10.1-inch screen sticks with a now barely acceptable 1,024 x 600 resolution, while RAM and storage are limited to the eons old 1GB and 160GB, respectively. Windows 7 Starter Edition, a 4,400mAh battery, and the typical 3 USB ports, 802.11b/g/n wireless and a 3-in-1 card reader fill out the rest of the unremarkable data sheet. Still, the presently listed price is under $374, which is right on par with the N140, meaning complaints are allowed (but should be kept to a low hush of disgruntlement, ya dig?).