By now you’ve probably heard about the biggest buzz made by Google today. Their much anticipated Google Chrome OS was officially announced. But no, the Chrome OS itself is not yet available. In fact, it won’t be available for consumers, at least for a year starting today. What was announced is the Google Chrome Open Source Project geared for developers so that they can start making cool applications or even their own OS based on the Chrome OS.

Amidst the announcements and interviews, Google’s VP for product management Sundar Pichai made some points that relates to netbooks and the implementation of the Chrome OS once it is available to consumers.

One main point made by Pichai was something about current netbook users will not be able to download Chrome OS on their existing netboks. Google will specify the requirements of the netbook that will run Chrome OS and users will need to buy it.

Pichai also said that Chrome OS netbooks will run on both X86 and ARM chips. And these netbooks will be most likely available same time as today next year.  Google will require netbook makers to deliver slightly larger netbooks than what are currently available.  Perhaps even with full-sized keyboards and bigger touch pads.

What Pichai didn’t mention or  even hinted is whether there will be a Google co-branded netbooks like what they did we the Android phone.

So, there you go. It’s still a long time to go before we see the first netbook running on the Chrome OS.

via CNET News

While Asus has already made its dual-core, ION-powered netbook – the 1201N, Laptopmag already had a hands-on report of the Eee PC 1201N. The Eee PC 1201N boasts of Windows 7 Premium, 12-inch display, 1.3-inch thick, 3.2 pounds, chicklet-style keyboard and a dimpled trackpad.

The Eee PC 1201N also has HDMI port so you can attach it to high-def monitor or TV.  Laptopmag was able to try out this feature by attaching the 1201N to a high-def monitor/TV and was please with the full screen HD output when watching Hulu and YouTube.

In addition to all the features we mentioned, the Eee PC 1201N also boasts of a dual core Intel Atom N330 CPU. It also packs in 2GB of RAM and 250GB HDD.

The 1201N will sell for $499 and will be available in the US soon.

Check out Laptopmags full video hands-on here.

Liliputing is running a report about PC maker Haleron’s latest operating system based on the Linux platform. This OS according to Haleron supports Linux, Windows and Google Android applications. The OS is based on SUSE Linux but can also run some Windows apps, thanks to the included WINE system. Additionally, the Haleron Ocean OS will also let you run applications that are otherwise made to run on Google’s mobile phone OS.

The Haleron Ocean OS is now available for download here and can be installed on regular laptops and dekstop PCs as well as netbooks. The netbook version is a 420MB download so get your USB cleaned up.

The thing is, installing it on a netbook may require a little more patience and perseverance. If you haven’t installed any OS yet on your netbook before, you may skip this one or have to courage to install it anyway. To help you on your quest, follow the instructions for formating a USB stick here. Then grab the OS and good luck.

Reports from Canalys analyst Natalie Spitz say that Asus leads the netbook manufacturers pact in terms of market share in Europe. Acer has a commanding 32.4% market share followed by Asus with 19.6%.  Area coverage include – Europe, Middle East and EMEA countries. Acer’s netbook shipment to Europe is growing at 4.2% from Q3 2008 to Q3 2009.

Isn’t it interesting that Asus who was supposed to have carved the netbook market niche is now playing second fiddle to Acer who was rather a little late in entering the market? What does it say? Does it mean that Acer netbooks are better than the Eee PCs? Or cheaper perhaps?

Other stats from other netbook companies include – Samsung with 12%, HP with 11.6%, Toshiba with 4.2% and Dell with only 3.5%.

The report also said that there were around 3.7m netbooks shipped in the EMEA regional along for Q3. This is 68.9% more than what was ship a year ago. This only goes to show that netbooks are still getting their share of the PC market industry.

via Register Hardware

Somewhere in Japan, has officially launched its latest netbook – the Ferrari ONE. Obviously, this is an F1-inspired netbook as seen on its design and form factor. The Ferrari One netbook sports a Royal Red color with red hinges, and of course the vaulting horse badge which Ferrari is known for.

Specs wise, the Ferrari ONE live up to its car counterpart, boasting an AMD Athlon Neo X2 L310 1.20Ghz CPU, AMD M780G chipset, ATI Radeon HD 3200, 4GB of RAM, 160GB HDD, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g, 11.6-inch LED-backlit display in 1366×768 resolution and a weight of 1.5kg.

Pricing is still unavailable, but we’re pretty sure it will be release to the Japanese market on November 27.

via Akihabara News

There’s an ongoing buzz created by a new study published by Square Trade regarding netbooks and notebooks reliability. The study revealed that budget-friendly notebooks and netbooks from Acer, Lenovo and HP are bound to breakdown faster than those machines created by ASUS and other brands. In addition, notebooks/netbooks manufactured by Toshiba, Sony and Apple did pretty well than their rival companies.

Highlights of the study centered on three  points – 3 year malfunction rate per notebook/netbook brands, first year malfunction rate comparison between notebooks, netbooks and premium laptops  and malfucntion rate by price.

In brief here’s what the study revealed:

• HP branded notebooks/netbooks are most likely to fail within three years, while ASUS is the less likely to malfunction
• Netbooks are most likely to fail than regular notebooks and premium laptops which is the less likely to malfunction one year upon purchase.
• Obviously, netbooks are most likely to malfunction than premium priced laptops

via Electronista

With the growing concern about the current state of the environment, it feels good to know that even IT companies and PC manufacturers are doing things in their own little way to contribute to environmental protection.

Take the case of Dell which is using bamboo materials for the packaging of its notebook products including netbooks. In fact, Dell is the first IT manufacturer to use bamboo material of its product packaging. How noble right?

In case you’re wondering why Bamboo, well this lowly material is said to biodegrable and renewable and is a good alternative to molded paper pulp, foam or corrugated cardboard.

Dell use these bamboo materials for the upholstery of the Inspiron Mini’s packaging. And according to sources, Dell is looking for other ways to use these materials to their product manufacturing, hopefully they are not planning to use it as a body casing for netbooks.

via Netbook News.de

Malata, a popular IT company in China has release a new tablet netbook called the R108T. From the way I see it, the Malata R108T looks pretty good in terms of form factor and you could say that attention was given to its design.

The tablet netbook sports several designs including Ferrari Red, Piano Black, Coffee, Gold and Champagne. So that pretty much gives you several options on which design to get.

Specs wise, here’s what you should expect from the R108T tablet netbook – 10.1-inch rotating screen with touch feature, Intel Atom N270 1.6GHz CPU, 1GB RAM, 160GB HDD, 1.3MP webcam, and pretty much the usual netbook features.

An nice feature was added to the netbook for Chinese users – the  Hanwang handwriting software making input of Chinese characters very convenient.

Price of this netbook according to Shanzai.com is a bit on the pricey side. But the site didn’t mention how much though.

If you’re anywhere in the UK, you might want to check out the MSI X Series site and print out a special coupon. This magic coupon will entitle you to get a free MSI Wind U100 that you can redeem when you purchase any of the MSI X-Slim series notebooks – X340, X400, X600 and Wind12 U200. That will get you the free MSI U100.

Sounds fair right? The gig is part of MSI UK’s Christmas promotion and will run until Dec. 31, 2009.

The MSI X600 laptop sells for £799 while the MSI Wind U100 is currently priced at £249. S

Is there any chance that MSI will bring this gig in other countries? It’s a pretty good deal!

via Mobile Computer Mag

Samsung is releasing the Samsung Go again, this time under AT&T’s mobile 3G plan. And to make it even more exciting, the new Samsung Go was upgraded to Windows 7 Starter Edition.

Samsung Go will be available on AT&T starting November 22. And in case you’re interested to get it, be it known that you will have to be tied up to an AT&T service agreement. If you don’t mind at all, the Samsung Go will give you the following key features – 2.8 lbs, pebble-style keyboard, LED-backlit, borderless glass display, 4-cell battery with 4 hours battery life, Intel Atom N270 CPU.

via Samsung News Room