One hacker has already added a Broadcom HD video accelerator to the Intel Atom powered Samsung NC10 which worked well. Another hacker has tried the same hack on a VIA C7-M powered netbook and come out with good results. Chris over at HP Mini Note PC has modded his HP Mini 2133 with a Broadcom Crystal HD Enhanced Media Accelerator card. With it installed he’s been able to play 720 and 1080p videos on his netbook including Blu-Ray video. The Blu-Ray videos needed to be paused for a few seconds first though so the video could buffer.
Unfortunately Chris hasn’t provided a guide on how you can mod your own Mini 2133 but, you can see how successful his project was in the videos after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »
Second tier LCD makers were hoping that demand for 11.6 inch displays would be high, giving them a chance to compete with Samsung, LG Display and AU Optronics, who currently dominate the notebook and netbook panel market. They hoped that demand for 11-13 inch displays would propel them into the competition but it seems the demand for these size displays is actually dropping. Many netbook manufacturers appear to prefer the displays to be 10 inches or smaller. CULV notebooks were also to make use of these display sizes but, it appears many will actually be using displays of 13.3 to 15 inches. The shipment of 11-13 inch displays is expected to drop significantly.
Expect for another onslaught of new netbook releases either t before the year ends or early next year. For sure, once Intel releases its new processor that will replaced the Atom CPU that we find in most netbooks nowadays, netbook manufacturers will be rushing to beat each other in coming up first with a Pineview netbooks/nettops.
Intel confirmed this during the IDF earlier this week. And even gave some information about what to expect from the Pineview CPU once it gets into the insides of our beloved netbooks and nettops.
Pineview would make netbooks and nettops’ CPU smaller and would allo w manufacturers to come up with thinner netbooks. Power consumption will also improved hence longer battery life.
Aside from these, communication between the processor and memory will also be faster, so future netbooks will be much much faster than current netbook models. Multimedia capabilities will also be enhanced so expect manufacturers to explore and on this. Perhaps make their netbooks HD capable.
But most important of all Pineview CPU will cost less than Atom so we might be seeing cheaper and yet powerful netbooks in the future.
We’ve all seen the SSD upgrades for various netbooks from various companies, such as Active Media and RunCore. The companies specify which netbooks the SSDs will work on as currently, different netbooks have different connectors. At the Intel Developer Forum in San Franciso, the SATA International Organization have announced the release of a standard connector named mini-SATA, or mSATA which uses the Mini PCI Express connector. This will only be applied to SSDs up to 64GB, while higher capacity SSDs will still be designed in either 1.8 or 2.5 inch formats.
Hp, Lenovo, Dell, Samsung and STEC are behind the change. Toshiba are also backing the change and have already announced two mSATA SSDs in 30GB or 62GB models.
Netbooks have struggled to take off in India, despite the population. It’s estimated that this year will see 300,000 netbooks sold compared to last year’s 40,000, which is an improvement but, based on the population, of around one billion, Liliputing describe this number as being “peanuts”. To change this trend, India will be the next country to bundle netbooks with 3G data plans. Asus and Dell are currently working with wireless carriers to make this possible in India.
Over the course of the contract, the netbook can end up costing more than buying it up front but, you also get the data usage and some consider it a way to pay for netbooks in instalments.
We’ve previously seen one modder add a touch screen to his Eee PC 901 and built it into a kitchen cabinet. It seems he’s not the only one to make this move. Another modder has modded his Eee PC 701, given it 2GB of RAM, a touch screen along with a TV receiver and sound system. He’s then added it to a kitchen cupboard, making it a “Kitchen PC”. You can see the video of how he did this below.
My Digital Discount are offering up an 8 cell battery giving up to 10 hours of battery life for the Dell Mini 9 and Vostro A90. As standard, the Dell Mini 9 features a 4 cell battery, so this battery from My Digital Discount should give you up to twice as much battery life. One thing the company has noted on the battery, is that the BIOS needs to be A04 or earlier, other wise there may be problems recognising or charging the battery. However if that isn’t a problem for you and your BIOS is an earlier version, the great news is the extended life 8 cell battery will only set you back $65.
While the IdeaPad S12 from Lenovo is available already with an Intel Atom processor in the US and Europe, with the US also able to purchase the netbook with a VIA Nano processor, we’ve yet to see the NVIDIA ION powered model. It was touted to be the first netbook using NVIDIA ION, but Samsung could possibly release the N510, which also uses NVIDIA ION, before Lenovo do, as we’ve already seen photos of the netbook next to the NC10.
The delay in release is because instead of shipping with Windows Vista, the company are holding off until Windows 7 is released and will ship with that sometime in October. Samsung will also be doing the same with the N510, so it really will be a race then, to see who can get their NVIDIA ION netbook out first. When it is released, it will retail for $550, making it only $50 than the Intel Atom model.
LG who make products for many electronic sectors, especially mobile phones, have already released some netbooks. But word has it, that LG are working on a new netbook “Synergy” that will work in sync with your handset. It isn’t clear on whether any LG handset will be able to sync with the netbook, or if a specific model will be released. Synergy will allow the netbook to answer calls and reply to texts without any need of grabbing your phone when someone contacts you. You’ll also get caller ID with it, along with being able to browse the files stored on your handset from the netbook.
Synergy will also feature a 10 inch display, bluetooth and run Windows XP. The suggested price for the netbook is $149 with a two year contract.
The Samsung Go, aka N310 which features a rubberised shell, anti bacterial keyboard and considered to be a “kid friendly netbook”, also uses FailSafe technology inside. FailSafe, from Phoenix Technologies provices IP tracking of the netbook along with BIOS encryption.
FailSafe is a unique theft deterrence product and service from Phoenix Technologies that provides you with the ability to protect, track, and manage your laptop and your confidential information if it’s ever lost or stolen.
Encrypt your data, secure your laptop, and protect your identity with FailSafe.
FailSafe is described as being practically impossible to bypass without destroying the hardware and with it the data. Which makes it a great netbook for business executives who need to keep their files safe, despite the rubberised look, which in the end, makes it more mobile to carry around without having to worry too much about knocks and bumps.
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