Tag: ipad

KOREAN OUTFIT Samsung has unveiled a series of “shark” NF and SF laptops and netbooks.

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-sf-series-laptop

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.

If you’re looking for more functionality than your iPad offers, but more portability than a MacBook provides, Sena Cases’ new Keyboard Folio might be just the middle ground you’re looking for. The slick, book-style leather case with integrated Bluetooth keyboard brings your iPad within a hair’s breadth of netbook status while sparing you the indignity of purchasing a real netbook.

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.

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.

Chrome OS Tablet or Netbook – Analysis
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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.

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 theHTC 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 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.

Buying a netbook has always been a hard decision for many on the grounds that this type of device is still new on the market and has encountered lots of resistance from the skeptics’ side. It is questionable if the pros outweigh the cons in this case as to make buying a netbook a good decision but which are the things one should keep in mind when considering the acquisition of this type of device?

To begin with, the mini laptop has in target mobility. It is made to be small and versatile with components that can give one a fair enough amount of computing power while still having in mind a device that can go 5+ hours without a single charge. Thus, it is normal to score less in benchmarks than laptops but one has to understand that when turning to such a device he/she wants more battery life rather than more performance.

Furthermore, the components that are fitted inside the netbook are usually the same or vary a little depending on manufacturer for over 90% of mini notebooks have the Intel Atom CPU. This processor is clocked at around 1.60GHz, a good frequency to run every-day applications but rather slow in the case of big and demanding software. The new generation of Intel processors has gone a step up with the introduction of multi-cores but with high prices on new hardware it will be some time until many of us can touch those.

The video card is in the best case a NVIDIA ION (or ION 2) that can easily handle HD but is rather slow at intensive gaming, this not to mention the integrated video cards that tend to choke at more than solitaire. The memory is 1GB usually with the possibility of expansion to 2GB, which makes video editing or heavier software slower as it needs to grab RAM out of the HDD to cope with the extra demands.

Today, mobile computing users are looking for two things-portability and connectivity. The netbook phenomenon has proved to the world that size really does matter, where users have bought the device as second to the primary laptop.

According to Gartner, shipments of notebook computers leapt 43% in the first quarter, their highest YoY growth in eight years, driven by consumer demand for netbooks. Average selling prices dropped 16 percent to $732 as many consumers chose inexpensive netbooks-mini-notebooks with pared-down features-over more sophisticated laptop computers. Total notebook sales rose 21 percent to $36.1 billion.

Given that netbooks are all about always-on connectivity, 3G in addition to WiFi is a must for this product category. PCMCIA cards were the initial enablers for WiFi connectivity. But convenience coupled with declines in module costs drove OEMs to deliver laptops with integrated WiFi functionality. The same trend is likely to be repeated with integrated 3G as well. To begin with, USB dongles hanging out of netbooks will look pretty awkward-in addition, embedded antennas down the side of a screen will deliver a better signal that translates into higher speeds. Instant 3G connectivity when the netbook is turned on, similar to WiFi, will also be a key selling point. Finally, mobile operators may end up driving this product category and the OEMs will have little choice other than partnering with the operators.

Netbooks, small in stature and big in portability. These pint-sized PCs are perfect for a checking your email or browsing the web on the go, but a machine for hardcore gaming they certainly are not. Well, that was until gaming PC specialist Alienware turned its attention to the portable powerhouses…

The 11.6in screen drops the M11x into the heart of netbook territory, but at 2kg it’s carrying around about 60 per cent more weight than most mini-laptops, despite the lack of an optical drive. That’s because its well-crafted, intimidating shell houses enough graphics grunt to get through the latest games.

The M11x has two graphics processors under the hood, one for gaming and the other for general use. You can switch between the two without powering off, and get six and a half hours of battery life when you use the conservative chip.

Compared to Atom-powered netbooks, the M11x chews through everyday jobs (from web browsing to video coding) at a far greater pace. Its dual-core system gives it grunt when its needed, and battery life when it doesn’t. The power comes from Intel’s Core i5 and i7 CPUs, while the more conservative chipset is powered by Intel’s CULV.

The screen resolution is sharp enough for the size, but the picture quality is a tad disappointing. It’s faded and unexciting, and there’s not enough dynamic range for picture editing. But once a game is up and running however, you won’t notice. When we docked the baby Alienware with an external monitor (in an attempt to get some serious HD gaming done) frame rates fluctuated quite radically. Still, there’s no other ultralight that handles gaming on the go like this.

As we said, build quality is superb. There’s little to fault, and the M11x is one of the most well-built portables we’ve ever seen. The styling won’t suit everyone though and it’s a hefty beast compared to its rivals. But as with desktop PCs, that’s the price you pag for the latest tech.

The basic M11x sells for around US$1,200, but the configuration we’ve looked at here is a good US$650 more than that. For the same price, you could get yourself four decent netbooks, but you still wouldn’t be able to play StarCraft II. And anyway, who needs four netbooks? Exactly.

Consumer website Which? has found a significant increase in netbook ownership in Britain over the past year. In a survey of more than 10,000 of its online panel members, nearly twice as many respondents own a netbook than did at the same time last year. 12 per cent of the members now own one of the mini laptops, compared with just 7 per cent 12 months before.

Favoured by consumers for their affordability and portability, the Which? survey also revealed that the amount people are spending on netbooks is increasing. The average netbook owner is now spending £294 on their mini notebooks, an increase of £13 on the 2009 survey. The average spend on laptop or desktop computers meanwhile has fallen.

According to the Which? survey, Samsung is the most popular brand, with their netbooks accounting for 28 per cent among those questioned. Acer is not too far behind, however, with a 21 per cent share of the netbooks owned by the online panel members.

Studies continue to point to the ever-increasing popularity of the netbook, undermining predictions that the Apple iPad would spell the end to the rise of the netbook.