Netbooks Heaven

Apple wants to release 5 million iPads

Karen — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 15:46:14 +0000

Word around is that Apple plans to release 5 million iPads and that too, in the first half of 2010, this year. Apple has ordered its Taiwanese manufacturing factory to produce approximately five million iPads by June this year. An unnamed source in Apple said that initially the company planned on manufacturing about 4 to 5 million iPads but guess, now the demand is higher.

Craig Berger who’s FBR Capital Markets analyst quoted “”We believe various news articles and competitor notes calling for a build delay were just false alarms and note Apple has already announced that Wi-Fi iPad models will be available in the U.S. on April 3 and models with Wi-Fi and 3G will be available in late April,”. He also went on to say, “While we do not yet have visibility into the specific chip suppliers, we think that many of the iPhone chip suppliers will also sell into the [iPad].”

Other reports also show that Apple has ordered more iPods and Macs for this year and at the same time, they have decided to slow down a bit on the iPhone’s production. This shows good sign for the industry as this proves that Apple is expecting big rise in their devices this year, at least that’s what they think.

New iPhone OS SDK 3.2 update Apple’s iPad

Karen — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 15:42:32 +0000

This is just in, Apple has just released an update for the iPad’s operating system. The update seems to be happening every couple of weeks prior to the device’s release. Now the OS version on the iPad is SDK 3.2 Beta 4 and the newly updated system has already been sent to the developers.

As of now, we can see some kind of pattern whereby Apple updates the iPad’s OS every two weeks. This is expected as Apple implemented the same pattern back then for the iPhone’s operating system.
Several sources claim that another update will happen on the iPad’s launch day. Though, there aren’t much details that have been released on this update but we do know that iPhone OS SDK 3.2 requires Mac OS X 10.6.2 and what’s more, the new update is only meant for development purposes. Though it’s not confirmed yet but rumors are buzzing that the new beta will not have the camera tab in the photos application that was previously found on Beta 3.

DIY Screen Kit for netbooks by Pixel Qi

Karen — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 08:57:47 +0000

This is what we were looking for, something that can boost our netbook’s battery life without harming our device. Pixel Qi did just that. The brand created something fascinating, a low-power display aka a diy kit which allows for netbooks users to switch their LCD screen with the Pixel Qi’s one. Feeling confused? So were we. According to Pixel Qi founder and CEO Mary Lou Jepsen, “The DIY kits from our distributor will be available towards the end of Q2. We will be announcing with them prior to distribution,”

We don’t know any more details on it including price or technical details or even the release date. What we do know is that the brand plans to release first a 10.1-inch display in the market to probably test the waters. The LCD display as claimed by Pixel Qi can consume between one-quarter and one-half as much power as traditional LCD screens. As we all know, it is the displays of a netbook or laptop that takes in more power from the battery so by having a Pixel Qi-made battery, it would help save your device’s battery life. We can’t just wait for it to release which will hopefully be by June.

A Peek at the LG X300

Karen — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 08:34:41 +0000

First uncovered at the CES event in January, the LG X300 will be finally released this month but unfortunately, for the US people, LG haven’t announced yet a date for them. At the CES event, among all the products announced there, we were very attracted to the LG X300 due to its slim figure with a sexy design, know what we mean? The item or device measures only 17.5 mm thick and weighs 970g. Once opening the X300 netbook, we found that it has the MacBook look by the look of its 11.6-inch LCD screen. Come to think of it, a little bit similar to Apple’s MacBook Air. Over the display, we found the usual 1.3-megapixel webcam.

The netbook is powered by the 2.0 GHz Intel Menlow platform. It comes with 2GB memory and 128GB SSD. The X300 runs on Windows 7 Home Premium operating system. There’s also an internal battery that comes with the netbook plus there’s an extra 2-cell battery that will help to provide up to seven hours of use. Seems that LG is giving preference to its own continent by releasing this mini device in Asia first then off to the Middle East and afterwards to South America.

More details on Microsoft’s ‘Courier’

Karen — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 10:22:38 +0000

Since this rumored device of Microsoft made an appearance earlier, more details are emerging on the Courier. News going around is that Microsoft will release this device sometime later this year. The Microsoft Courier is a tablet PC, pretty much like the Apple iPad. The gadget measures about 5 inches x 7 inches (when it is closed). It will work on the Nvidia Tegra 2 processor and will run on a version of the Windows CE operating system.

Microsoft hasn’t revealed anything as of yet and is not likely to do so until the device is ready to be launched. The Microsoft Courier was first spotted due to a leaked video which was confirmed by Microsoft’s Entertainment and Devices unit President Robbie Bach as one of different products that are examined thoroughly by the team run by Microsoft executive J. Allard. Even though a confirmation was given, Bach didn’t confirm or give out any other details concerning this device. What else can we do aside from waiting?

Image Via:
Engadget

Unveiling the Panasonic Toughbook C1 Tablet

Karen — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 06:44:22 +0000

Today we decided to take a look at Panasonic’s new tablet PC. The Toughbook C1 which was recently announced is a lightweight and rugged tablet PC mainly targeted at the healthcare market. The tablet which measures 12.1-inch is said to be able to sustain a 30-inch drop. The Toughbook C1 is powered by an Intel Core i5 520M vPro processor. It comes with a battery that offers about five hours of working time. There’s the option of adding in a second battery for better and longer time for usage. The tablet weighs 3.2 pounds with one battery and with the second battery, the weigh becomes 3.7 pounds.

Speaking on the device’s features, the C1 tablet comes with a multi-touch display which literally means that it has finger and gesture input plus there’s an electronic stylus pen that can be used for handwriting recognition. Kind of fun, reminds us of our childhood when we were learning how to write. There’s a 250GB hard drive. The Toughbook C1 has a triple-hinge design. It’s designed as such so that two for opening and closing the screen and another for rotating the display to tablet mode. The Panasonic Toughbook C1 will be available in June at the price of $2,499.

HP Mini netbooks with 1.83GHz N470 processor

Karen — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 11:01:16 +0000

HP will be the first netbook brand to release their devices equipped with the latest processor from Intel, the 1.83GHz N470. The netbooks we are talking about here are the HP Mini 5102 and HP Mini 2102. The Mini 5102 and Mini 2102 feature 2GB of 667MHz DDR 2 memory. They both will come with a 10-in display that features a resolution of 1024 x 600 pixels. Also said to be on these netbooks would be the Intel NM10 chipset, USB ports and a VGA output.

These HP netbooks also feature the standard Gigabit Ethernet. Not forgetting the 7200rpm SATA hard drives with 160GB listed as standard and it comes with the 250GB and 320GB options. Both devices feature the Intel GMA graphic engine that is integrated into the N470 CPU. Despite the similarities between these two models, the HP Mini 5102 will be available with Broadcom’s Crystal HD chip and with a 1366 x 768 display.

Stylish Averatec N1200 with Pine Trail CPU

Karen — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 04:50:50 +0000

Averatec has been in the netbooks market for quite some time now. Actually, the brand name Averatec was created by Trigem which is a PC manufacturer. Trigem created the brand name Averatec in order to introduce their netbooks in the market. Now the brand has released their new netbook, the Averatec N1200.

The Averatec N1200 netbook looks definitely stylish to us; it’s maybe the most stylish device that this brand has ever released. Let’s explain this; it has a professional design with a metallic lid combined with a brushed-aluminum look. It works on a 1.66GHz Intel Atom N450 processor. It comes with a 10-inch display that features a resolution of 1024 x 600 pixels. It comes with a memory capacity of 1GB of RAM and 160GB hard drive. Other features include Ethernet, VGA, and two USB ports and a 3200mAh battery. It works on Windows 7. We don’t know how much it will cost yet and when will it be available in the market.

A Peek at the Acer Aspire One 532h

Karen — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 04:28:12 +0000

The Aspire One series from Acer started out in the market two years ago. The combination of a moderate ultra portable laptop with a cheap price has proven to be a hit among consumers. The Acer Aspire One 532h is a stylish netbook yet at a cheap price. This slim netbook comes with a 10.1-inch screen. It is covered with a metallic black-blue design that requires us to wipe our fingers first before touching the netbook. In other words, it is prone to fingerprints, heavily.

We tested this netbook by working on several tasks on it. We must say that it surprised us by behaving really well. The battery sustained well and we must say that the netbook handles the pressures of working on multiple tasks smoothly. We charged it during the night and the netbook was alive for a whole day. The problem with this netbook is that it gets hot pretty easily and thus this makes it difficult for us to hold it on us. We would advise those who do not fancy difficult touchpads to purchase a mouse to go along with this netbook. The Acer Aspire One 532h works as it provides a great performance and, it is cheaper than most netbooks.

UK Prices for Apple iPad are out

Karen — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 02:45:20 +0000

The prices for the Apple iPad for people over in United Kingdom have appeared online. Though not confirmed by Apple but many around are assuming that these will be the real prices. The Apple iPad (WiFi-version) will cost around £389, the 32GB iPad will cost £439 and the 64GB version will be at £489. By the outlook of these prices, they are definitely more than what people will be paying over in the United States. There, the prices were listed together with the launch of the Apple iPad and they were as such: £327 (non-3G iPad), £392 and £458 for the 16GB, 32GB and 64GB versions of the iPad.

The Apple iPad devices are said to reach UK as soon as they will be released in the United States. The 3G version of the iPad will be released soon after. Word around is that the WiFi+3G version iPad will be available in the UK sometime in March. In the US itself, the Apple iPad is considered to be quite expensive and it’s the same over in the UK. Nevertheless, Apple always has its loyal customers who mind the price when purchasing the Apple iPad.