The Samsung team has been beavering away on shark-themed designs for its new laptops and ultra-portable netbooks. Both sets of machines have been given a fin effect design.

The Samsung SF Series comes in three flavours with the SF310, SF410, SF510 models on 13.3-inch, 14-inch and 15.6-inch chassis, respectively. All boast a glossy ivory front with a matte black finish on the inside. Samsung claims the new coat is scratch resistant and all models now sport chiclet keyboards.

Samsung has bundled hybrid graphics into all models so punters can switch between the Intel GPU and a Nvidia GPU. It claims the battery life is 7.5 hours and Samsung also reckons they can be juiced back up in two to three hours thanks to its Express Charging Mode.

The NF series also has three models with the NF310, NF210 and NF110 all designed as netbook versions of the SF range. These all use a dual-core Intel Atom N550 chip and DDR3 memory but Samsung didn’t say how much is in each model.

The NF310 has a 1366×768 widescreen display with a 16:9 aspect ratio and Samsung said the NF210 can knock out 14 hours of battery life on a 6-cell battery.

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The HP Mini 210 targets consumers who surf the web, check e-mail, listen to music and need access to friends, family or information while on the go. The netbook includes built-in Wi-Fi, 1.3-megapixel Webcam, microphone and a nearly full-sized island-style keyboard. As mentioned above, the HP Mini 210 also supports the single-core Intel Atom N455 and N475 processors as well as the new dual-core N550 processor, all of which support DDR3 memory.

Less than 1-inch thick and weighing 3.1 pounds, the HP Mini 210 comes standard with an inline six-cell battery that promises up to 10.75 hours of battery life and fits flush, complementing the overall design. The Mini 210 is available in a choice of five HP Imprint finishes: charcoal, crimson red, lavender frost, luminous rose and ocean drive.

An optional 10.1-inch diagonal HD display and optional Broadcom Crystal HD Enhanced Video Accelerator is promised to enable smooth 720p and 1080p HD playback and video streaming from popular Websites. The netbook also offers Dolby Advanced Audio.

The HP Mini 210 comes pre-loaded with HP Media Suite (organize, store and play multimedia content such as music, photos and videos) and Evernote (note-tasking software that allows users to quickly capture and search for notes).

Additionally, courtesy of HP QuickSync the HP Mini 210 automatically synchronizes files with a home PC over a wireless connection. HP QuickWeb allows users to access the Web in seconds without booting up the netbook. HP Navigator, included with the optional GPS, provides general mapping, route planning, points of interest and voice-guided navigation.

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The Keyboard Folio is made of European leather and features a side -olding design with cutouts that let you to access your iPad’s ports while its in the case, and an integrated collapsible back stand that positions your iPad at a comfortable viewing angle while you type.

The case features a soft velvet protective lining to keep your iPad scratch-free, and also provides multiple pockets for cards, IDs, or checkbooks. When closed, the case secures with a strap and snap closure, giving you complete front and back protection of your iPad when it’s not in use.

The case’s built-in Bluetooth keyboard features function and sound/music control buttons and the company says its ithium battery should provide 45 hours of use, or 55 hours of standby time, before needing to be replaced.

The Folio Keyboard case, which begins shipping on October 7, is listed at $150, but is available for pre-order now for $130.

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Asus has released a new Eee PC netbook that is designed for children 12 years or younger, and retails for AED 1,270 across the Middle East.

“Children today get acquainted with technology at a fairly early age with a good portion of their school curriculum being computer aided,” said Ericson Correa, business development manager, ASUS Middle East.

The company adds the Asus Eee PC 1001PQ’s Inspirus Desktop “comes across as a simplified operating system with applications that have been designed to keep impressionable young minds away from objectionable material on the net”.

Eee PC 1001PQ also comes with parental controls that specify with websites children can visit, including restricting e-mail contacts and programs they can access. The restrictions can be set to a timetable, so parents can easily keep track of their child’s online activities.

Complete with an Intel Atom N450 processor, the Eee PC 1001PQ runs the Microsoft Windows 7 operating system, features a 10.1″ display, along with Wi-Fi and a built-in 0.3 megapixel camera.

It is available in Flame Purple or Vibrant Gold color schemes and comes with stickers for added customisation.

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There have long been rumours regarding the possibility of Google releasing a Chrome OS powered tablet device. These rumours have arguably been spurred on by leaked tablet mock-ups and more so, wishful thinking; buoyed by an emerging tablet craze.

It is easy to understand why the market craves a Chrome OS powered tablet. After all Apple has sold millions of Ipads unabated for the last few months. Hence it is more than natural for consumers to dream of viable and cheaper alternatives to the Ipad.

Benefits of introducing a Chrome OS powered tablet

The benefits of introducing a Chrome OS tablet to the market are foreseeable. Due to the explosive growth of this market it is feasible that Google could get an early foothold. This can then enable exponential growth in the usage of it’s upcoming operating system.

It may also be in Google’s interest to not only piggy back on the growth of the tablet market but ‘ride the crest of the wave’ as they are doing with Android OS in smart phones until the eventual maturity of this market.

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Is the netbook market players at their wits’ end that they have to resort to luxury models in order to sell more units? Perhaps, as Asus and Acer are slated to roll out luxury netbooks sometime in the fourth quarter of the year, with the former prepping a 12.1-inch Lamborghini netbook known as the Eee PC VX6 (with a recently leaked manual), while the latter will take the prancing horse route with an 11.6-inch Ferrari model. Interestingly enough, both models will feature processors from opposing camps – the Eee PC VX6 will be powered by an Intel dual-core Atom CPU, while the Acer Ferrari netbook will run on an AMD Fusion processor.

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Toshiba is putting the finishing touches to the UK launch of the Toshiba AC100 netbook. Toshiba UK made the announcement via its Twitter link. Could this be the start of a whole new wave of interest for the netbook? Read on to find out about the Toshiba AC100 Android netbook and what it has to offer…

The Toshiba AC100 is an ultra-thin mobile computing device that runs the Android operating system. Although more usually found on mobile phones like the HTC Desire and Samsung Galaxy S, Android is a flexible operating system that is more than capable of running on a netbook.

The AC100 weighs just 899g and is just 14mm thick. It has a 10.1 inch TruBrite display with graphics courtesy of an nVidia Tegra 250 processor. As befits a mobile device, the AC100 comes with 3G networking built in as well as WiFi so you can be up and surfing anywhere.

The standout feature of the AC100 is the battery life, however. Toshiba are claiming an amazing 180 hours of standby time and 8 hours of constant use making this a real contender if you need to take a lightweight web device on holiday or for long business trips.

Google Chrome OS tablet concept

Google is expected to launch its Chrome Operating System for netbooks and other mobile devices later this year. Chrome OS is based on the Google Chrome web browser, and it’s designed to blur the lines between a desktop operating system and web-based apps. Want to write a document, watch a movie, chat with friends, or do just about anything else? There’s a web app for that.

While Google initially pitched Chrome OS as a netbook operating system, a lot of things have changed since the OS was first announced last year. The biggest change is that while in 2009 netbooks were still the hottest thing in affordable portable computing, tablets are all the rage this year — even if Apple is still the only company with a runaway success story in the tablet space.

So maybe it’s not that surprising that Google is optimizing Chrome OS to run on tablets as well as netbooks. And Download Squad received a tip from a reliable source suggesting that Google is going to kick things off by launching a Google-branded tablet on November 26th.

The tablet will be built by HTC (much like the Google Nexus One Android Smartphone), and it will be sold through Verizon, with the wireless carrier offering the tablet for a subsidized price to customers that sign up for long term service contracts.

There’s no official word on what the tablet will look like or what specs it will have, but a multitouch display is pretty much a given, with Download Squad’s Lee Mathews guessing it will also have a 1280 x 720 pixel or higher resolution screen.

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