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New Chromium OS build brings full NVIDIA Ion acceleration, hope for the future
Chrome OS. Man, seems like Google has gotten its hands into quite a few things since we last heard of that, but the underground is keeping things lively with new builds of Chromium OS -- you know, to keep us satisfied while we wait for the real deal. Hexxeh has just unleashed its latest build, dubbed Flow, which makes a few critical improvements, particularly if you're planning to install the system onto an Ion-based rig. Flow includes full NVIDIA Ion acceleration, and it also "improves battery life" while making the automatic update... um, work. Hit that source link to get your download on, and if you've been holding out for fear of trying something new, you've got your whole weekend to fix things should things go terribly awry. [Thanks, Amrita]
NVIDIA Optimus automates graphics switching, promises the best of both worlds
We've always thought switchable graphics made a lot of sense on laptops, and NVIDIA's new Optimus tech looks like it's going to bring it mainstream in a serious way -- there's no more manually toggling between the powerful discrete GPU and the power-saving integrated chip. More than just automatically switching off the discrete GPU when the laptop is unplugged, the idea is that you don't have to think about when you want to use the different graphics options: the software and hardware combo will take care of deciding which graphics processor is best for the application or content. For instance, launch Call of Duty 4 and the discrete GPU will power on, close out and start writing an e-mail and it will switch to the IGP. Sounds pretty simple, but under the hood its much more complicated as NVIDIA has moved to running the drivers for both graphics subsystems concurrently and removed the multiplexers under the hood. For more details on all the technical fixes hit the more coverage link. Unsurprisingly, Intel hasn't been involved in these innovations, but NVIDIA says Optimus will work with Intel's new Core 2010 processors and the Pineview Atom platform, along with NVIDIA's GeForce 200M series, GeForce 300M series, next-gen GeForce M, and next-gen Ion GPUs. Speaking of Ion, NVIDIA wouldn't officially say what the next version will look like, but they confirmed it will be announced in March and use Optimus technology (we're pretty much assuming that it will combine the Pineview platform with a lower-end discrete GPU, like the previously hinted G310). The first Optimus-enabled laptops will hit at the end of this month courtesy of ASUS, and will include the UL50Vf, N61Jv, N71Jv, N82Jv, and U30Jc. We've been playing around with the $849 UL50Vf, so hit the break for some early impressions and video of the new graphics technology. %Gallery-84954%
Great Wall Cross PC U150 Ion-izes the Eee Keyboard
Our interest in the ASUS Eee Keyboard has thoroughly waned as the Atom N270-based internals have aged with time, but the new Cross PC U150 from China's Great Wall puts a little juice back into the remixed C64 form factor with the addition of NVIDIA Ion graphics. Sadly there's no battery or wireless HD out, and it doesn't support dual displays -- the internal 5-inch touchscreen on the right shuts off when an external monitor is connected -- so we're not sold on this guy as a lap-based HTPC, but we're willing to check it out. Anyone got 3888 Yuan ($570) and an extra ticket to China?
ASUS' Congo-based Eee PC 1201T pops up on Amazon's German portal
Tired of waiting for the Eee PC 1201T to ship? Impatient, aren't we? We've been wondering about the status of this here netbook since it came to light last November, and now it looks like the Germans are about to get a real, live taste of AMD's Congo platform. Boasting a 1.6GHz MV40 CPU, the same look and feel that we've grown accustomed to on Eee PC netbooks, 2GB of RAM, a 250GB hard drive, ATI HD3200 GPU and Windows 7 on the OS front, this is certainly one of the more unique machines in the sea of Atomized "me-toos." The pain? €399 ($560), and the first batch is expected to ship out tomorrow. Here's hoping the price dips somewhat when it makes its Stateside debut.
ASUS' Ion 2-based Eee PC to launch in April
Rather than mongering yet another rumor, DigiTimes is apparently reporting as fact that an Ion 2-powered Eee PC will launch in April. It's also expected to host a 12-inch display if we're reading this report correctly. That NVIDIA boost is welcome news since the Pine Trail-only bump given to its Eee PC 1005PE didn't offer much in the way of performance improvements and still can't handle YouTube video in HD. While no direct prices were given, Atom N450-based Eees are expected to drop in price to NT$14,000 (about $439) in Q2 after ASUS depletes its stock of legacy N270- and N280-based Atom netbooks. DigiTimes also notes that its 10-inch Eee PC T101 convertible touchscreen tablet (the T101MT presumably) will launch in late February along with a 12-inch Eee PC built around AMD's Congo.
ASUS EeeTop ET2010PNT hints that NVIDIA Ion 2 is GeForce G310
We were a little disheartened last week when we didn't hear a peep out of NVIDIA about Ion 2, but Pierre of Blogee has dug up some dirt on the next-generation graphics. The ASUS Eee PC ET2010PNT's got a pretty nice looking 20-inch HD multitouch display, but it's also powered by the new Intel Pine Trail D510 processor and NVIDIA GeForce G310 graphics -- which according to the document is being dubbed as Ion 2. Sure, we already knew that the next version of Ion would be compatible with Intel new Atom platform, but we didn't know that they'd be tossing aside the GeForce 9400M for its G310 graphics card (which is apparently just a rebranded G210). As we thought, it looks like this will be a discrete solution, and it appears (if the benchmarks are accurate) that the G310 will be considerably faster than the current Ion platform. We're just hoping the 589MHz 16-core CUDA chip has been tweaked for better power efficiency when it comes to cramming it into netbooks. No word on when the ET2010PNT will be available, but given the initial hold up we saw with Ion 1 we aren't overly optimistic that it will be any time soon.
ASUS' Ion-powered EeeBox EB1012 resurfaces on Amazon in sub-$400 range
Well, would you look at that? Materializing after the fog of CES, ASUS' Eee Box EB1012-B0257 nettop, known colloquially as "the low-cost home theater PC we've been longing for," has popped up on Amazon. In case you forgot, this little guy's packing Intel's 1.6GHz Dual Core N330 Atom processor, NVIDIA Ion, 2GB RAM, 160GB HDD, Windows 7, HDMI out, 802.11b/g/n, and a sextet of USB 2.0 ports. Still no release date but at least we have a better idea as to its cost of entry: $399, with a 3 percent / $12 discount care of the online retailer. Only color being shown right now is a sleek black, but as we saw last time, there should be a white model in the pipeline for some point in the indeterminable future. [Thanks, Joel]
ION iType brings a full-size keyboard to the iPhone
So far, only the jailbreakers have been able to pair up a Bluetooth keyboard with their iPhone, but ION is working on a hardware solution -- they're showing off what's basically a dock at CES that has a full-size keyboard connected to it. Very interesting. Of course, it makes the iPhone a lot bigger (though their marketing says it's for travelers who want a little something less than a full laptop computer -- if only there was a device released to fill that need), but it's also battery-charged, so it'll recharge your handheld while allowing you to type out emails and messages on a full keyboard. The price is supposed to be "slightly more than $100," and a release is set for the second quarter of 2010. If you've wanted to use a full-size keyboard with the iPhone but haven't gone for the jailbreak, we'll keep an eye on the release for you.
iType keyboard brings a physical keyboard to the iPhone, but there's a catch
Attention iPhone owners that have been praying for a physical keyboard forever: your prayers have been answered... kind of. Ion Audio has debuted its iType iPhone keyboard at CES, and we can confirm that it does indeed work as advertised. Once you pop your iPhone or iPod touch into the dock at the top of the board, you're free to type away to your heart's content -- if you're in the iType app, of course. Unfortunately, because of the closed nature of most of the iPhone platform, you can't just start typing in any iPhone app; you have to type in the iType app and then copy and paste to the app you want. It's surely an annoyance, but if you're sick of the soft keyboard and need some relief, it's your best option for now. %Gallery-82292%
Ion netbooks head-to-head: Atom, overcharged?
It's been more than a year since NVIDIA announced its Ion platform, promising to bring HD video and gaming to the underpowered Atom CPU. After all the hold ups, we started to wonder if we'd ever see the platform packed inside a netbook, so imagine our surprise when no less than four Ion-based machines launched in the past few months. With bigger screens, better specs, more graphics muscle and, of course, the resulting higher price tag, each of these Ion machines promises quite a bit, but which one lives up to the hype? We got them all together and spent the past few weeks testing the ASUS Eee PC 1201N, Lenovo IdeaPad S12, HP Mini 311 and the Samsung N510 -- follow on past the break for our complete faceoff. %Gallery-81099%
MSI Wind Top AE2220 unboxing and impressions
In the land of netbooks and nettops, the tried-and-true all-in-one PC still has a place in this world yet. MSI is living proof of that, with its 21.5-inch Wind Top AE2220 bringing Windows 7, multitouch and an eye-pleasing design to the collective masses. Said machine just started shipping to consumers at the tail end of last month, and we've been fortunate enough to spend a few weeks tinkering with one of the most cost effective AIO options on the market right now. Thankfully for those who enjoy doing anything with relative speed, MSI overlooked the Atom range and went straight for the Core 2 Duo lineup, and for those with a bit of extra coin to spend, there's even an optional TV tuner and Blu-ray drive. Care to see how we felt about this touch-friendly rig after some extended play time? Read on to find out. %Gallery-81063%
Viewsonic VOT132 nettop review
You don't need booming sales figures to tell you that netbooks have taken over the world -- the mobile computing world, at least. Their screenless and battery-free brethren, however, have yet to find quite the same success. Nettops are great tiny little machines but in general they've been under-powered and, while people love eking out another hour or two of battery life on the road, few sadly care whether their desktop computers pull down 17 or 71 watts of juice. Still, it's hard to deny the appeal of a fully-functional computer that's half the size of a Wii -- especially when it can manage 1080p output over HDMI. Viewsonic's VOT132, with its Ion graphics and trick magnetic DVD drive, is tiny, efficient, and powerful. The perfect media PC? Read on to find out. %Gallery-80890%
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.
Artopz Minitopz Ion-based nettop lamp rains down confusion, wonder
We don't get it. At all. That said, we're totally enamored with this Artopz Minitopz, which manages to both be an impressively-specced Atom and Ion-based nettop, and simultaneously a completely confounding piece of "art." Apparently it's supposed to be perceived as a lamp, but we'd say that stretches the limits of imagination. But it stretches them in a good way, that's all we're saying. Oh, and the Minitopz costs $2,250, just in case you thought you'd penetrated this fog of luxurious gadget oddity to the point of pulling out a wallet. Maybe the video after the break will help clear some things up? Nope, not really.
ASUS Eee PC 1201N review
Six months ago netbooks all had 10-inch displays, fairly cramped keyboards, and couldn't manage to play a 1080p video even if they trained with the best of marathoners. The world's a lot different now: the King of Pop has passed away, the unemployment rate has dropped, and netbook manufacturers have realized 11- and 12-inch displays provide a more comfortable experience -- especially when paired with more powerful hardware that adds multimedia prowess. We'll stop there with the Netbook 101, but looking at the past is necessary in realizing what a game-changer the ASUS Eee PC 1201N really is. The 1201N's dual-core Intel Atom processor, NVIDIA Ion graphics, Windows 7 Home Premium, and 2GB of RAM make it the most powerful netbook to ever grace the purchase pages of Amazon. But does the $500 machine fix all the issues and frustrations we've ever had with netbooks when put to the test? Can it make us forget about cramped keyboards, strained eyes and sluggish video performance? Find out in our full review. %Gallery-80538%
ASUS Eee PC 1201N debuts early at Newegg
OK, kids, here you have it: the Asus Eee PC 1201N has arrived a little earlier than expected. At least we think that's what Newegg is trying to tell us. If you hop on over to the site RIGHT THIS MINUTE you can see that the thing is available for ordering, in black, with a limit of one per customer. It's better than waiting until sometime next month, eh? There's no telling if this is a snafu on the e-tailer's part -- everyone else in the western world has it available for pre-order, with a ship date of January 15 -- but if you feel like taking a gamble there is only one thing left to do: hit the source link. [Thanks, Yoav E]
ASUS Eee Box EB1501 primed for $479 Amazon pre-order
We'd been wondering when ASUS' NVIDIA Ion and optical drive packing Eee Box EB1501 would touch down on US soil, and lo and behold today it's showing face for all those eager enough to pre-order. The device is available at Amazon for not a dollar less than $479 (though it does have free shipping), and if you'll recall, the box is boasting a 1.6GHz Intel Atom dual core N330, NVIDIA Ion graphics, 2GB of RAM, a 250GB hard drive. All that and you get Windows 7 Home Premium rather than the ever-graying Windows XP. Of course, if you're looking for all that in a mobile form factor you can always wait on the $499 ASUS Eee PC 1201N, but for set-top duty, feel free to unleash the credit card right now.
ASUS Eee PC 1201N dons burgundy garb, you still can't have one
Say hello to the little friend you already know and want, this time dressed in a more extrovert red attire. We don't yet know whether this 1201N variant will be finding retail shelves or if it's just a pretty prototype, but that doesn't make too much difference at this point. With the classical black model still only available on a pre-order basis (with a mid-January landing date) the closest you'll be getting to ASUS' Ion-powered 12-incher is glamor shots like these. Well, either that or a forthcoming Engadget review, both are good. See one more snap of the burgundy bruiser after the break.
ASRock ION 330HT-BD nettop goes on sale for $589
If you're scouting a nettop that'll hit your doorstep prior to those Christmas bells ringing, you'll want to look elsewhere. That said, those with plenty of time to spare may want to consider ASRock's ION 330HT-BD, particularly if you just can't seem to stop renting Blu-ray Discs from Netflix. The box has just landed on Amazon with a $588.99 price tag and an admittedly frightening "usually ships within 1 to 4 months" warning, and if you're no fan of BD (liar!), the standard 330HT is in the same boat for $458.99.
NVIDIA Ion 2 already ordered up by Acer?
If you need yet more reason to delay purchasing a current generation netbook, we're hearing that Acer has eagerly scooped up an order for NVIDIA's Ion 2 chips, which will eventually be found partnering Intel's forthcoming Pineview hardware in machines of the future. With Intel now integrating graphics processing and the memory controller into the CPU packaging, the Ion 2 is expected to serve much more like a discrete GPU than the Ion chipset of today. Plans to support VIA processors are also still firmly in place, should you wish to experience the improved graphics performance outside of the realm of Lord Intel.
