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ASUS plans to limit the netbook storage options

According to ZDNet, Asus is planning to limit the number of choices regarding the storage options. What does this exactly mean? This means that during the launch of a certain model, it will then , e decided by ASUS which model will be offered in the country: SSD-based one or the HDD-based one.

Now, is it a good news? Well, the end-consumer should be given the choice to decide between the HDD or SSD. For example: I like that fact that the EEE 1000 series has SSD as option. There are many people who want the durability of SSD. At the same time, there may be many people who store a lot of data and will want to go for the HDD option. So, the choice should be there.

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Radical Comic Designer Mobile released for Windows Mobile (and reviewed!)

Radical Comic Designer allows to quickly add comic captions and speech bubbles to your images (including the ones that you have taken with your digital camera).

The application installer comes in the form of CAB which is meant to be executed directly on the phone itself. So, copy the CAB file via your PC’s activesync and execute the file on your device itself.

You can open any JPG file located in your device. Unfortunately, no other image formats are supported (at the time of the review atleast). You can also directly take a picture from the camera and work upon that image.

However, the only grip is that there is no way to save your raw work. The file can be exported in only JPG format. A lossless image format like PNG/BMP would have been much better.

To resize the bubble or the caption, use the stylus and start dragging it from the extreme bottom-right of the bubble/caption.

The Radical Comic Designer Mobile is available for $9.95 from the following link: (also its official webpage)

http://www.radicalbreeze.com/rcdwm.html

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Adamo netbook in the pipeline?

Adamo 13.4-inch notebook was launched yesterday by Dell, but a screenshot of the Dell’s support utility shows signs of the Adamo’s 9-inch version in the works.

Adamo netbook in the pipeline

If the 9-inch Adamo is really in the works, then will it also cost >$2000 just like the 13.4-inch Adamo? Is there a market for the premium netbooks? Well, after the immense success of the SONY VAIO P (see unboxing here), I cannot say ‘no’.

Adamo netbook in the pipeline

[via reghardware]

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Opera Turbo promises faster web browsing on netbooks

Opera has introduced a new concept called “Opera Turbo”. It is a server-side compression technique in which the Opera’s servers compress the web-pages and their elements before sending it to the client’s machine. It is axiomatic, the target market is not the people with the high broadband speeds. They won’t get much benefit out of this technology. The people who use slow internet connections and the people who are still trapped behind the slow EDGE and GPRS networks are going to the target market for the Opera.

Here is the screenshot of apothetech.com running inside the Opera Turbo. You can observe that the quality of graphics has been bumped down a lot in order to reduce the size of the overall website as much as possible.

One question that pops up on our minds whenever we hear about our data coming via third party servers is privacy. Opera promises to bypass the traffic whenever we are on SSL site. Also, they promise that they won’t be storing any information of the users.

So what does not work?

  • animated GIFs do not work
  • some flash content won’t work initially: You will have to click on the flash content to load it. This is a wise move by folks at Opera. Had they allowed the flash content to load automatically, it would have consumed a lot of bandwidth.

Remember the time, when every day we used to hear some browser claiming itself as the “world’s fastest web-browser”? Looks like the Opera is back in the game, at least for the people on-the-move.

Supports: Windows, Mac OS X and Linux/Unix

[download Opera Turbo]

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Oops! The Lenovo’s rumored netbook was just a concept

The Lenovo's rumored netbook was just a concept

Few days back, we posted about the Lenovo’s super-widescreen netbook, now being rumored over the Tech websites as “Pocket Yoga”. Folks at PCmag contacted the Lenovo and they told them that

It’s a design concept and may not even ship in China.

So, it was just a concept to see the outcome of fusion of smartphone and netbook. Thankfully, that-ultra-widescreen-netbook with odd display ratio will never hit the markets.

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Sotec C103 netbook launched – nothing exciting at all

Sotec C101’s ‘upgrade’ has been released, C103. What has changed as compared to its previous model? Nothing. The only refreshment is that it is now available in 2 different colors: black and white.  Well, if you call a Here are its (boring) specifications:

  • Atom N270
  • 1GB of RAM
  • Intel 945GSE Express chipset
  • 10.1” WSVGA LCD
  • 160GB of HDD
  • Wifi b/g/n
  • Battery Life: 5 hours!

So, what has changed? Color!

[sotec webpage] [via akihabara]

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Tube Version 4 for Windows Mobile released

With this application, you can use GPS on the surface to find tube stations and you can also plan your journeys much more easily.

New features:

  • Redesigned route and directions layout. This now provides an overview of the complete journey along with step by step instructions all on one screen, making it much easier to follow your planned journey.
  • Improved GPS support with auto start of the GPS and continuous tracking of your curent position
  • Full support for landscape mode and high resolution screens

These improvements will work with your existing maps but to enjoy the maximum benefit our maps have also been redesigned and improved.

[Homepage for Tube for Windows Mobile]

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VIA Surfboard C855 supports 1080p playback!

VIA has unveiled a new mainboard reference design for netbook. It will come with 1.6GHz VIA C7-M ULV processor with a 800MHZ FSB. But that alone is not the reason for the HD playback. It has the VIA’s Chrome9 graphics with support for hardware H.264, MPEG-2/4, VC-1 and WMV9 decoding that let it decode the HD videos. It supports resolution up to 1366×768 and external display resolutions of up to 1920 x 1440. It also has support for wifi, BT and GPS.

Th VIA Chrome 9 GPU will allow a machine to decode the HD video with less 40% CPU use. Surely, they are going to give the Intel Atom, some tough competition.

[via Slashgear]

press release:
VIA Surfboard Rolls Out Peak HD Performance for Mini-Notebooks

VIA Surfboard C855 Reference Design offers a highly power-efficient, ready-to-build solution to give system developers a head start in the mini-notebook market

Taipei, Taiwan, March 17, 2009 – VIA Technologies, Inc, a leading innovator of power efficient x86 processor platforms, today announced the VIA Surfboard C855 Reference Design – an ultra-compact mainboard incorporating the VIA C7-M ULV processor, the brand new VIA VX855 unified IGP chipset, and advanced VIA multimedia and connectivity silicon, that has been specifically designed for easy integration into devices targeted at the rapidly growing mini-notebook market.

Unveiled today at the VIA Global Mobility Bazaar (GMB) Tech Forum Spring in Shenzhen, China – an event bringing together a host of PC manufacturing and infrastructure partners focused on delivering affordable, power efficient mini-notebooks to global markets – the VIA Surfboard C855 Reference Design will not only reduce development time and costs for system manufacturers, but offers the latest advancements in ultra-mobile technology including smooth playback of high bit-rate 1080p HD video and outstanding 8-channel HD audio.

While consumers have been quick to endorse the mini-notebook form factor and the convenience provided by its connectivity and web surfing capabilities, the rise of HD video has resulted in a growing demand for better visual computing from ultra-mobile products.

The VIA Surfboard C855 meets this demand by providing flawless playback of high bit-rate 1080p HD video, which along with support for internal display resolutions of up to 1366 x 768 pixels and external display resolutions up to 1920 x 1440 pixels, the latest high definition VIA Vinyl Audio, and a wide range of connectivity options, allows for a rich on-the-go multimedia experience.

“A key advantage of the VIA Surfboard C855 is the head start it affords mini-notebook system developers or those seeking to enter the market,” said Richard Brown, Vice President of Marketing, VIA Technologies, Inc. “Not only is VIA in the unique position of being able to offer customers a complete, ready-to-build solution, but the new board’s HD capabilities mean VIA-based mini-notebooks will provide a superior multi-media entertainment experience.”

For more details on the VIA GMB Tech Forum Spring, please visit the VIA website at:
http://www.via.com.tw/en/company/events/2009gmb-techforum/

About the VIA Surfboard C855 Reference Design
Designed for 10-12″-screen mini-notebook devices, the powerful, feature-rich yet highly power-efficient VIA Surfboard C855 Reference Design comes with a VIA C7-M ULV processor supporting an 800MHz FSB, combined with the VIA VX855 media system processor with its support for a wide range of digital media technologies and I/O appropriate for the mini-notebook market.

The advanced graphics experience of the VIA Surfboard C855 Reference Design is powered by the high performance VIA Chrome9 HCM IGP offering support for hardware acceleration of the widest variety of leading video standards including H.264, MPEG-2/4, VC-1 and WMV9, which significantly reduces the workload and power consumption of the processor and enables high bit-rate HD video playback while utilizing less than 40% of CPU resources.

The latest high definition audio is supported through VIA Vinyl 8-channel HD audio, and a rich range of connection options includes support for Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, GPS and 3G for unparalleled flexibility.

More information about the VIA Surfboard C855 Reference Design may be found on the VIA website at:
http://www.via.com.tw/en/initiatives/spearhead/surfboard_c855/index.jsp

About the VIA GMB Alliance
Launched in Shenzhen, China, in October 2008, the VIA Global Mobility Bazaar Alliance was established as part of VIA’s long-term commitment to inspire innovation in mobile computing devices by sharing its leading-edge technology and expertise in power efficient x86 processor platforms.

Leading Chinese manufacturers are participating in the VIA Global Mobility Bazaar, as well as infrastructure partners such as American Megatrends (AMI), InnoLux, ITE Tech, PQI, SanDisk and TD Hi-Tech.

A key focus of the VIA GMB Alliance is to bring innovative mobile computing devices such as mini-notebooks to fast-emerging markets around the world, as well as within China. These markets are among the fastest growing in the world and are developing a keen appetite for mobile computing.

Further details on the VIA Global Mobility Bazaar may be found on the VIA GMB website at:
http://gmb.viatech.com/

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SONY VAIO P hardware tour (and some silly comparison pictures with the EEE 1000H)

So, we finally got the VAIO P! Although the SONY hates to use the word netbook for the VAIO P, but we still consider it as a netbook due to its specifications and size. It is a different story all together, when you talk about its high price though.

Immediately when you hold it in your hand, you get the feeling of SONY’s excellent built quality. Everything is so well made and manufactured. Also, I would like to point out that it is much smaller and thinner than what it looks in the various photos published online so far.

Look how small is the box compared to the unit itself

On the left side of the VAIO, you will find the DC port, a USB port and earphone jack.

This is its right side

On the front (left side), you will find the WiFi on-off switch, SD card reader followed by MS duo card reader.

On the other front (right side), you will find the on/off switch followed by battery and HDD indicators.

SONY has modelled the VAIO P around its keyboard. Even though I’ve not still powered on the unit, I can feel how nice is the keyboad. The travel and depth of the keys is great. I had some doubts in my mind regarding the chicklet style keys of the VAIO P, but they feel great so far.

The power brick is almost the size of the EEE 1000H’s power brick, which is 50% the size of adapters of big notebooks.

Comparison with the EEE 1000H

The EEE 1000H absolutely dwarfed the VAIO P!

Stay tuned for the full review which will be published by the end of this week!