According to a report, Acer Chairman JT Wang alleged that Microsoft software could soon effectively take on Apple. Perhaps the only challenge that persists at the moment for Microsoft’s Windows is the growth of Apple’s iOS on tablets (iPad), and smartphones (iPhone) – according to an editorial in Taipei-based Digitimes, which published Wang’s comments on Monday.

Citing Wang’s comments, Microsoft’s Windows “hasn’t had any achievements within these two markets that can help it gain share,” citing a decline in Netbook sales hence resulting in only “slim” growth in the conventional laptop market. Although the publisher didn’t detail on Wang’s point, we assume Wang was speaking about market intrusion by the iPad, for instance, on the Netbook as well as low-end laptop market.

Although, recent reports from Gartner indicate only meek growth in PC sales in 2011; the Acer Group was placed in the 4^th position in world rankings in terms of PC sales in the third quarter, according to IDC.

According to Wang, Apple’s “notebook products are only minor drivers” for growth and pale citing to the exciting escalation seen in its iPads and iPhones. However, Windows 8 could change this. In a few coming years, Wang sees a rebirth of the Microsoft camp behind Windows 8 as Microsoft reacts more efficiently to “consumer demands,” according to the report. Expect to see Windows 8 by 2013.

The Windows 8 is anticipated to run on wider range of devices, including, smartphones, tablets, Ultrabook clamshell laptops (latter rivaling Apple’s MacBook Air) and tablet-laptop hybrids.

Source: Cnet

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ASUS had initially made some handsome wedge of magnesium alloy in US late last year. Well, it now appears the ultraportable notebook finally graces folks in the UK as well. The 13.3-inch U36′s notable  features include a svelte 19mm thickness, second-gen Intel Core i5 processor, 4GB of RAM (upgradable to 8GB), NVIDIA GeForce GT 520M graphics card, and a USB 3.0 toggle (for an approximated 11.5 hour battery life).

The U36S’s touchpad and keyboard are fairly basic. The keyboard sort of small Chiclet-style keys, which is comfortable enough to type on although a bit firm at times. Its touchpad is smooth while supporting multitouch gestures for example pinch-to-zoom.

U36S’s hardware seems heavy now that we’ve already played with the ASUS’s UX21 ultrathin, but of course at price point of £699 (just above $1,200) it’s hard to whine much. And heck, if Asus just included some real speakers in this gamble; it would basically be an almost perfect ultraportable. If your hands already sweating for the thrill, it’s available at major stores in your choice of black or silver.

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For those who are not yet satisfied, post-PC era is already here with us? We can fairly decisively conclude we’ve finally entered a post-netbook time. And this Q2 2011 marks the first time we’ve witnessed netbbooks numbers being eclipsed by tablets, according to ABI Research – where global tablet sales increased to 13.6 million units, than that of 7.3 million netbooks. In fact, Netbooks surged 13% from their first quarter sales of 8.4 million netbooks, and, more significantly, tablet sales really shot up: clocking 6.4 million units in the first quarter of this year.

Cost seemingly isn’t a driving factor as earlier thought – according to the research firm; tablets still maintains an average price of $600 – almost double compared to their typically under-powered netbooks. Oh, by the way, did you know that of the 68% of tablets sold were of Cupertino’s flavor?

Source: CNET UK

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Hitachi-LG Data Storage (HLDS), one of the world’s biggest optical drive manufacturers for desktop PCs and laptops, recently unveiled the world’s first Blu-ray Disc combo drive with a built-in SSD specifically for use in notebooks and other types of portable devices. They’re calling it the HyDrive, and from the looks of it, it just might be our ticket to widespread adoption of SSDs in notebooks and other portable gadgets.
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Read the rest of Asus to adopt recently unveiled Hitachi-LG DS HyDrive tech in next-gen Eee Top PCs (176 words)

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If you really are short on space, want an extremely portable PC or just like small packages, this new nettop from Habey should be up your alley. The BIS-6620 is small, at 4.5″ x  4.5″ x 1.5″ and would probably be right at home as an in-car PC.

Habey BIS-6620

• 1.1GHz Intel Atom Z510 or 1.6GHz Intel Atom Z530
• VGA out, S-Video
• up to 2GB RAM
• 1.8″ SATA HDD
• 4 x external USB + 1 internal USB, PS/2 keyboard and mouse port, LAN port, WiFi (optional)
• CF and SD card readers, internal SATA-II port
• HD Audio, 1080p capable, VESA mountable
• Dimensions: 4.5″ x  4.5″ x 1.5″
• Weight: 0.48kg

The small size makes it perfect for mobile ad platforms, kiosks with touchscreens or for shop PCs. It’s fanless as well though I expect a lot of heat will come out of this system with continuous use. In any case, the processor speed means it’s not for intensive apps and will fit the bill for most basic consumer functions like online browsing, light word processing and the like.

It doesn’t come with an OS but you can fit in any OS from Linux to Windows 7 into it. It also just sips 10 watts of power. You can get one from Newegg for US$299.99 with free shipping.

source Habey

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Asus has just added a new nettop to its online selection in the form of the EeeTop ET1610PT. The letter ‘T’ at the end of its name signifies that it will sport a touchscreen display, and you can expect a standard screen version of this nettop to become available without the letter ‘T’ at the end. Its list of features include a 15.6-inch 1600×900 resolution screen, integrated Intel GMA X3150 graphics and the Intel Atom D410 processor. 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi comes built-in, as are six USB ports, a 5-in-1 card reader, 0.3-megapixel webcam and an Ethernet port. The default operating system it comes with is Windows XP, but you should be able to upgrade it to Windows 7 very easily (though not for free). It’s slated to become available in Europe for less than 400 Euros or about $540 USD.

Via Netbook Italia

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Following on from the CES announcement of the MSI Wind box DE220 nettop, Brad over at Liliputing managed to grab some photos of the nettop. On our previous report, we didn’t have much information on the nettop, or even what it looked like. We can now reveal it will come with Windows 7 Home premium, up to 4GB RAM and up to 1T HDD. It will be available with either a Intel Atom D450 1.66GHz dual core processor, or the Intel Atom D510 1.66GHz dual processor. You can also add ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4330 graphics and 802.11b/g/n WLAN.

The size of the DE220 nettop is 10.8″ x 6.7″ x 1.6″. No information on when the nettop will be released or where. The price is also unknown at this point.

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MiniPC of Japan recently did an upgrade of one of their nettops and it now houses the new Intel Atom D510 processor. Here are some specs:

MiniPC ED510

• 1.66GHz Intel Atom D510 dual-core CPU with NM10 Chipset, GMA 3150
• 2 x RAM slots (DIMM)
• 2.5″ SATA HDD Bay
• Gigabit LAN
• 6 x USB, RJ45, PS/2 keyboard and mouse, audio jacks
• mini PCIe slot, eSATA port, VGA out
• 5.1 Channel HD Audio port

You can see that it’s similar to previous nettop configurations offered by other manufacturer and the only difference seems to be the processor. It only consumes 31W at maximum load which is very energy efficient but probably won’t be able to handle processor-intensive tasks like video decoding or high-end games very well. It can run fanless though, according to MiniPC’s website, if running on light tasks.

The presence of a mini PCIe is odd though, maybe they want to include a Broadcom Crystal HD decoder in there? There’s no ports for DVI and HDMI so don’t expect to be able to hook up your living room LCD TV without adapters. Price goes for ¥23620 (US$ 261) for the unit only.

source MiniPC.jp

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All-in-one PCs have been all the rage recently. But did you know that instead of a screen, a PC’s innards can be packed alongside an integrated projector as well? This is exactly what MSI is trying to accomplish with their Projector PC concept, and so far it looks like they have succeeded.

They’ve displayed a prototype at CES in Las Vegas and revealed a bit about its system specs. All in, it looks to be a nettop (with NVIDIA’s ION graphics chipset using an unidentified version of Intel’s Atom processor, 3.5mm headphone jack, HDMI out, four USB ports and a built-in DVD writer) combined with a mid-range projector that can output 1080p on a 60-inch diagonal space.

MSI plans to launch this Projector PC by the third quarter of this year, so if playing Facebook games at 1080p is your thing, watch out for it then.

Via Gizmodo

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Shuttle has just announced two new small form factor PCs equipped with Via’s Nano processors. These are the Shuttle XS92 and XS29F, which are expected to be showcased next week during Computex in Taipei, Taiwan. The Shuttle XS92 SFF will feature VIA’s Nano L CPUs while the Shuttle XS29F SFF PC will have VIA’s Nano U line of CPUs to be more power efficient, not needing any internal fans because of low thermal output. Not much else have been revealed about these SFF PCs at the moment, but expect to learn more about them in June at Computex.

Via Fudzilla

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