Freshfaced AMD CEO Dirk Meyer hyped the firm's upcoming Atom-challenging processor the other day, calling it "Bobcat," and promising a November reveal. We'd think he'd be the guy to know, but now we're hearing seemingly conflicting words from AMD's Chief Marketing Officer, Nigel Dessau. Dessau says AMD is "watching... rather than playing" to see what becomes of the netbook segment. As Ars Technica points out, Dirk Meyer was only promising to announce a chip in November, not release one, so perhaps both of these statements are in step with each other, or maybe they're just thinking of different processor applications altogether, but for a company that's lacked a clear focus and a true Intel killer for the past couple of years, this sort of potential doublethink isn't helping anything.
MSI to reportedly build LG's X110 netbook
MSI has been pretty successful with the Wind, wouldn't you say? Yeah, so would LG. Reportedly, LG is hoping to solicit MSI's services in order to craft its own X110 netbook. The mini laptop will purportedly boast an 8.9-inch panel, 120GB hard drive, 2GB of RAM and Windows XP runnin' the show. Interestingly, the price is expected to hover between $625 and $790 as it focuses on "design and material quality" rather than low cost. Anxious to see how that move plays out, aren't you?
ASUS continues to mercilessly flog Eee brand with Eee PC 1000HD
ASUS must think that best way to make the Eee PC stand out in the overflowing netbook market is to crank out minor, uninteresting variants of the same models, because otherwise we're at a total loss to explain today's appearance of the Eee PC 1000HD. Yeah, that's the 1000HD, not the 1000H, which we've already seen. Ridiculous. Even more ridiculous is that it's basically the same machine as the Pentium M-based Eee 904, only with the 1000's 10-inch screen. Right. So now not only are there an endless variety of Eee models, the model numbers themselves don't indicate anything logical: the Eee 901 is faster than the 904, which uses the basic case of the 1000 but shares a processor with the 900 and 1000HD -- but not the 1000 or 1000H, which are Atom-based like the 901. Hmm, Easy to learn, Easy to work, Easy to play -- not easy to buy might be your big problem here, ASUS.[Via Mobile Stylus]
Report says Sony is planning a netbook, apparently news to Sony
We'd heard some rumblings about Sony's plans to introduce a netbook of its own a little while back, but Sony exec Stan Glasgow seemed to put a damper on those the other day when he flat out said that the company was "not looking at competing with Asus." A report from China's Economic Daily News is now adding a bit more confusion to the matter, however, with it claiming that Foxconn will be providing at least some components for, you guessed it, a forthcoming Sony netbook. What's more, that same report also says that a number of other Japanese PC makers, including netbook nay-sayer Fujitsu, are also planning to get in on the low-cost laptop action in the fourth quarter of this year, although they apparently aren't quite ready to disclose any manufacturing partnerships just yet. Of course, it's entirely possible that these low-cost laptops could be just that, and not technically netbooks, but it certainly wouldn't be the first time that companies have jumped on a bandwagon after letting it pass by the first time around.[Via Electronista]
Fujitsu bumps Amilo 3540 to Centrino 2
Fujitsu-Siemens's Amilo 3000 laptops have always been decidedly stylish in their two-tone duds, and now the company's polishing them up a bit with new Centrino 2-based guts. First out the gate is the 15.4-inch Amilo Pi 3540, which features the new platform and NVIDIA GeForce 9300M GS graphics driving a display Fujitsu-Siemens claims is dramatically better than the industry standard. There's also a spill-proof keyboard, silent mode, and a 15-in-1 card reader. Europe only at the moment, should be out in August starting at £699 ($1,392).
Ego's Bentley laptop is gonna make you so cool, we swear
You know what's cool, right? Big, luxurious, fast cars. Those are cool. And then, you know, when you put a car logo on a laptop, and maybe a bit of leather upholstery? You're bordering on seriously cool levels, people. Take it from us, we know. Ego's been making luxury laptops of questionable taste and shape for a couple years now, and seems to have finally met the "alright, I guess" mark with its Bentley laptops. Complete with cross-over hand-stitching, a seemingly transplanted car door handle, and a few crappy specs, the laptop is most certainly not worth the £10,000 ($19,943 US) asking price. They go on sale this summer.
Some analysts, PC makers express concern about netbooks

While some may say that netbooks have already jumped the shark, others in the industry are now expressing some real concern about the low-cost, low-power laptops and, as the New York Times reports, they're warning that they could cut into PC makers' already thin profit margins. What's more, that word doesn't only come from the expected doomsayer analysts, but from some top tier PC makers as well. That includes Fujitsu, who's senior director of mobile product management, Paul Moore, says, "We're sitting on the sidelines not because we're lazy. We're sitting on the sidelines because even if this category takes off, and we get our piece of the pie, it doesn't add up." That's a sentiment echoed by Sony, who's Stan Glasgow says simply that, "we are not looking at competing with Asus," although he adds that Sony is "investigating" what consumers want in a second PC. Even Dell, which is set to dip its toes into the netbook waters, seems a bit hesitant, with vice president of marketing Michael Tatelman saying he thinks the devices have "limited consumer appeal," and that they're good for a "30- to 90-minute experience," but not for more intensive tasks. Of course, that's all before any of them heard of the new world's cheapest laptop, so there's no telling how things may shake out now.
[Thanks, Penny]
[Thanks, Penny]
World's Cheapest Laptop may just be the world's cheapest laptop
We've gotta admire the functional naming here. "World's Cheapest Laptop." Hard to get that one confused with the world's almost-cheapest laptop, or similar pretenders. From what we can glean from this laptop's Alibaba page, it's built by Impulse, sports an NPX-9000 model number, and gives new meaning to the term craptop when it comes to specs. The 7-inch screen is accompanied by a 400MHz, MIPS processor, 128MB of RAM, 1GB of flash storage, and a few USB ports and an SD card slot. You'll be filling up one of those ports with a WiFi dongle, and we're guessing that SD card slot will be your lifeline for storing just about everything that isn't the Linux operating system. The wholesale price is $130 US, with a 50 unit minimum purchase. $6,500 for a laptop for you and 49 of your closest frenemies? We're sold.
[Thanks, Seema R.]
[Thanks, Seema R.]
Dell offers inexplicable Xbox 360 Elite bundle with certain XPS M1730 purchases
There's just one problem with this, the way we see it: most folks with $3000 earmarked for a gaming laptop probably already own an Xbox 360. Just a thought. Other than that we see little to dislike about this little promotion. Dell is offering up its top-of-the-line XPS M1730 system with an Xbox 360 Elite bundle tossed in for good measure. The bundle includes, a pair of faceplates, two game and of course the Xbox itself, and while it's not exactly "free" -- you're looking at a couple hundred dollar premium over a similarly specced M1730 -- it's still a savings of over $300, and should be eBayable, if nothing else. Offer expires July 24th.
[Thanks, Cezar]
[Thanks, Cezar]
Gigabyte's M912 mini convertible tablet gets priced
Gigabyte's M912 has remained largely in the shadows since peeking its head out in early June, but now we're finally getting a hint as to how much coin we'll be forced to lay down in order to acquire one. Based on information from a Taiwanese poster over at UMPC Fever, the M912V, which arrives with Windows Vista, 1GB of RAM, WiFi and Bluetooth, should cost around $656. The WinXP-based M912X will reportedly check in at around $620, while the M912M arrives with a lower resolution display (1,024 x 600 versus 1,280 x 768 on the other two) and no Bluetooth for $556. Take all of this with a tablespoon of salt for now, but at least you've got a general frame of reference to work with as you plan out which netbook to squeeze into your gadget portfolio.
[Thanks, YpoCaramel]
[Thanks, YpoCaramel]
Another breakthrough purportedly brings us closer to quantum computing
In reality, quite a bit of time has passed since we've heard of the next great leap in the (seemingly) never-ending journey towards quantum computing, but we're incredibly relieved to learn that at least someone is still out there, somewhere, pressing on. An international team of researchers have reportedly shown that they can "control the quantum state of a single electron in a silicon transistor, even putting the electron in two places at once." Essentially, the team is using tiny semiconductor transistors to "control the state of a quantum system," but there is still a long ways to go before any of this is meaningful. The crew managed to discover a few things by chance, yet to create a quantum computer, they would need to "position atoms of arsenic (or some other material) in the transistors more reliably." For those of you way too geeked out, fret not -- we'll let you know when all of this technobabble finally amounts to something.
[Thanks, Chris]
[Thanks, Chris]
Kohjinsha SC3 convertible UMPC hits the test bench
Shortly after the Kohjinsha SC3 was removed from the comfy confines of its packaging and exposed for all to see, said UMPC has managed to get reviewed. Initially, impressions were quite positive, as the reviewer noted that build quality was "superb," the size was adorably small and the display satisfied all expectations. As for sheer performance, the Menlow-based rig excelled as it churned through applications with no huge lag issues; however, all that computing made the unit exceptionally warm, though it did remain quiet even when breaking a sweat. Battery life was shorter than advertised (only 2.5 hours), but aside from that, there wasn't a whole lot to gripe about. Think it's too good to be true? Head on down to the read link for videos, benchmarks and impressions.
Eee PC 1000H gets a $100 price drop
It's only been on sale for six days, but the pricetag on the Eee PC 1000H just dropped by $100, down to $549. We're not sure if early buyers will get that extra Benny back, but it certainly can't hurt to ask -- and ASUS, while you're at it, how about taking a little off the 901 as well?
[Via Mobile Stylus; thanks to everyone who sent this in]
[Via Mobile Stylus; thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Microsoft takes in $60b, sells 180m Vista licenses since launch
Microsoft's been touting its "fastest annual revenue growth since 1999," which resulted in a princely $60.42 billion dollars in its last fiscal year, but the number that has us rapt? Vista licenses sold since launch about 18 months ago: 180m. Damn, not too shabby a clip -- especially considering that they moved 20m licenses moved in month one, 40m licenses moved after the first 100 days, and 140m licenses by last April. But at roughly 10m licenses per month, that means Vista's still a couple years out before it surpasses XP, and with a bit of luck, by then we'll have already moved on to Windows 7.
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Dell shows its love for Linux, rolls Ubuntu 8.04 out to systems
Aw, aren't these two just as cute as a button together? We can almost see Dell gushing at the thought of rolling Ubuntu out in a pair of new machines early next month. Nah, we didn't just fabricate that -- the Ubuntu 8.04-powered XPS M1530N and Studio 15N should be available in a matter of weeks, and in the meantime, you open source aficionados can enjoy Hardy Heron as a pre-installed option on the XPS M1330N, Inspiron 1525N and Inspiron 530N. Hit the read link for purchase options in your country.
[Via TG Daily]
[Via TG Daily]































