smartech

We would like to wish all of our readers a very happy, peaceful and inspiring New Year

Think of getting a new media player? The kind that would both play your HD content and give your bank manager a reason to smile? iToos M6HD might be the right solution, as the Chinese PMP breaks into the market moments before 2009 ends, with a 4.3-inch 480 x 272 TFT display and an HDMI output that will pump your 1080i videos on your LCD TV. It houses 4GB of internal storage with an SD card expansion, it has an FM radio tuner, but boasts a wide range of codecs support (including H.264 and MKV). And for the best part, it would cost ya only $58.50 (kind of).

[via Akihabara News]

It looks like Asus wants to make it harder and harder to decide which netbook should be better for us to buy. And after the company already announced the 1005P/1005PE Pine Trail netbooks which suppose to be released somewhere around mid-January, it now releases for pre-orders the Eee PC 1001P that boasts exactly the same 1.6GHz Intel Atom N450 CPU, but includes only Windows XP preloaded inside, instead of the popular newcomer, Windows 7 Starter. Besides that single core Atom processor, the new portable clamshell-style machine will also include a 10.1-inch 1024 × 600 display, along Intel’s GMA3150 graphics, 1GB of RAM, a 160GB hard drive, a 0.3-MP webcam, WiFi, Mic and a 4400 mAh battery. Amazon.de has it listed for your pre-orders at €249 (about $360) and shipping is set to the 3rd week of 2010. No signs for US appearance at this point.

Update: Looks like Amazon US finally adds the Asus 1001P to its netbook listing with that same specs mentioned up, for $339.99.

[via Netbooknews.de]

So, Samsung finally gets its Pine Trail version out to the market, as the N220 Atom N450-based netbook surprisingly shows up in France with a fair specs lineup that includes a 10.1-inch display along Intel’s GMA 3150 graphics, 1GB of RAM, 250GB HDD, WiFi, Bluetooth, a built-in webcam and a 6-cell battery inside. Operating system? You’ve guessed right, it’s Microsoft’s Windows 7 Starter, preloaded into that green glossy flavored machine, and price accordingly, around 350 euros, or about $500 when it lands Stateside.

[via I4U]

We wouldn’t bother you with yet another Chinese Atom-based N280 netbook that packs a 10.1-inch display, 2GB of RAM, a 250GB hard drive, WiFi, 3G WWAN connection, 3-cell battery and a built-in webcam, if it wasn’t for that stunning brushed-metal plate that covers the Sheng T108 netbook, spotted in Shenzhen only few days before. Yes, it looks very similar to HP’s 2133 machine that was first introduced over a year and a half ago, but price wise, it should cost a lot less money, when this thing becomes available across Asian markets.

[via shanzai]

Truth is that holidays season can be very boring, tech wise, but here’s something that might catch your eye during this time of quiescency, as latest news apparently indicate the first netbook to include Google’s Chrome OS platform will presumably boast some nifty specs inside like NVIDIA’s Tegra chipset for graphics handling and Arm-based processor, instead of Intel’s popular Atom flavor. Other than that, the rumor suggests it would pack a 10.1-inch 1,280 x 720 resolution with multi-touch display(!), along 2GB of RAM, 64GB SSD, WiFi, Bluetooth, an integrated webcam and 3G connectivity module. Battery is claimed to offer 4 or 6-cells versions while buyers will be able to pick an optional GPS system as part of the deal, which suppose to be very attractive and stand at somewhere below $300. Stay tuned for a lot more to come.

Update: We hear that Google will be selling those netbooks directly. More on that, hopefully soon. Still, no official confirmation from Mountain View to these rumors.

[via Netbook News]

We’re not so sure you had that new MyRacer PMP included in this year’s holidays list, but just in case you’re still in a hunt for last moment gifts, Korean’s Lisse H10 officially gone live, with a crisp 5-inch 1,280 x 720 display and a set of ordinary specs, amongst you can find 16GB of storage, FM tuner, an HDMI output, microSD slot expansion, built-in mic and wide range of formats support, like MP3, WMA, AAC, WAV, OGG, and FLAC audio files, or AVI (Xvid / DivX), WMV,ASF, RM, RMVB, DAT, MPG, MP4, VOB, SMI video files, or JPEG, BMP, and GIF images. Regretfully,both price and release date are still missing, so you might consider buying it for the next holidays season.

[via Move Player]

Details scarce at the moment, but HP officially joins the Pine Trail pond, with its latest Mini 210 netbook which has recently appeared on various online retailers, like eCost, and suppose to replace the previous and popular Mini 110. From what we know, the new 210 version is expected to go live in five different color variations, matte silver with pattern, matte black with pattern, sonoma red, pacific blue or solid black, and suppose to include a 10.1-inch flush glass display, along that trendy 1.66GHz Atom N450 processor, the new Intel GMA 3150 graphics, 1GB of RAM, a 160 or 250GB hard drive, 802.11b/g/n wifi connection, 5-in-1 card reader, 3-cell/6-cell battery and Windows 7 Starter edition preloaded inside – all priced at $321 for basic package and up to $399 with some optional upgrades. Stay tuned.

Update: Turns out the Mini 210 wasn’t the only Pine Trail netbook that HP has issued. And besides that Mini 210 we’ve mentioned in here and the 5102, released to premium users, the company has also announced the Mini 2101 and the Compaq 201, both to include 10-inch displays, Island style keyboard and Broadcom Crystal HD accelerators. However, while the Mini 2101 is priced at $399 and packs a 1.6GHz Intel Atom N450 processor, 1GB of RAM and Windows 7 Starter, its sibling, the Compaq 201 runs for only $229, but has the good old Atom N270 processor,paired with 1GB of RAM and Windows 7 Starter. Design wise, they all look the same, except the colors. PR notes after the break.

[via Logichp]

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Call it recession, or maybe old fashion, but some companies, like Averatec, have apparently decided to skip Intel’s Pine Trail bandwagon at the moment, and walk with those good old N270 chaps, at the time where other brands already showing off their latest Atom N450 ware, upon request. So for all of you conservative users out there, Averatec’s HS-105 netbook can be the right solution before 2009 ends. Besides its impressive design, you get yourself, for a non-disclosure price, a 1.6GHz Atom N270 processor, paired with Intel’s integrated 945GSE graphics, a 10.1-inch 1,024 x 600 display, 2GB of RAM, 1.3MP webcam and either 160GB or 250GB storage drives at your choice. Availability is considered enigma at this point, we hope to get the missing parts before an Atom N800 goes live.

[via Akihabara News]

For a start, we’d like to express our sincere gratitude and appreciation to the readers who washed themselves in the Pine Trail rain we’ve been pouring over their heads lately. At this point, it’s just hard to ignore the flow of devices that sprout out with Intel’s new platform planted deep in their bowels – and looking at the growing list, it ain’t going to stop. And if you’ve been asking yourself where exactly is MSI in that Atom N450 flood, you’re only few words from getting the dope – as the Chinese corp announces its decent representant, a 10.1-inch Wind U160 netbook, that carries an MSI chop. It suppose to make a debut at the CES, in January, with that same Pine View processor we just mentioned and a good looking lid on top – I mean seriously, where did they take that stunning hinge from, Sony Vaio or what? In any case, the company claims for a 10 hours battery and a $350 starting price, when this thing goes live – so lets hope.

Update: We’ve added the hands-on video, taken out of the CES show, courtesy of engadget. As you can see, the Wind U160 comes with a Windows 7 Starter edition which handles a 250GB hard drive, 6-cell battery, a chicklet keyboard and 1GB of RAM – all priced for $399. Sony Vaio, watch behind you.

[via engadget]

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“All roads lead to Rome” says the sentence – in our case they lead to Vegas, where the CES show is about to start in few weeks from now. But before we get there, here’s another Pine Trail contender, this time from Japanese corp Fujitsu that officially announces the Atom N450-based MH380 netbook, which was approved by the FCC a month ago and suppose to include a 10.1-inch 1366×768 screen, along 2GB of RAM, a 250GB hard drive, 802.11n WiFi, Bluetooth, 1.3MP webcam and a 6-cell battery, claimed to provide up to 7.5 hours of work time. Besides that, this beautiful machine, combined of Brown, Ivory White and Black Diamond flavors, boasts an integrated scroll wheel nob which seats on top of the keyboard surface, few inches from that usual trackpad floor. Regretfully, we’re still lack of info how this new motion scrolling dot will actually affect the price, but with a Windows 7 Starter edition already preloaded onboard, it’s surely going to cost a lot.

Update: Netbooked now updates that Fujitsu’s MH380 will run for $449 and will go live “somewhere next month” (remember that?). In any case, official announcement is half past the break.

[via Netbooked]

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Intel’s Pine Trail platform is live, kicking and ready to go. The latest introduction of that series comes from Dell and its Inspiron Mini 10 which is now reported to include the Atom N450 processor, which suppose to give a little boost to that Windows 7 Starter the netbook runs. Besides that, for a starting price of $299 you should see basic specs like 10.1-inch 1024×600 display,160GB hard drive, 1GB of RAM and 3-cell battery, all packed under that same slick and squarish hood. However, for extra charge you’re being offered – and whether or not you want to accept it’s up to you – to enhance your experience with a 1366 x 768 display, a six-cell battery, producing 9.5 hours work time in one single charge, four shiny colors, Bluetooth, WWAN, GPS, TV tuner and a strong Broadcom Crystal HD accelerator for flawless high-def chime – that would probably cost you few hundreds dollar more, but should be worth a try. PR announcement added after the break.

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For some reason, we have that strange feeling it would be hard convincing you to read new stuff about yet another tablet machine which suppose to come out “somewhere next month”. That said, we did find that whenever a magic word such as Android is being included in the draft, we tend to get high rates of inbound traffic, rather than sparse. In a hope that our beloved readers will always have enough, we’d like to introduce you one more tablet device that should be added to your holidays wish list raff. And looking into details, the new culprit carries the ICD brand and tagged as Ultra, but also features an ambient light sensor and a snappy android-based system – in fact, it’s an Android 2.0 prototype which performs impressively, considering its early stage, and responsible for that is the top-notch lineup that was stuffed under the 7-inch resistive touchscreen cage, amongst you can find a 1GHz Tegra T20 CPU, paired with an HDMI output, 512MB of RAM, 4GB of storage capacity, WiFi, Bluetooth 2.1 and 1.3MP camera on front of the hub, however for merely $249, you should expect receiving USB 2.0, microSD slot and even a built-in accelerometer for landscape image grab. Stay tuned.

Update: Looks like ICD’s Android tablet Vega (this is the name) just turned official and soon be offered by T-Mobile UK as what appears to be a kitchen tablet, sporting a 15-inch display which can easily handle your 1080p video stack . Not to mention that Android platform, running in the back and the batch of apps like media player, web browser, IM and contacts, included in the pack. PR message after the jump.

[via engadget; Recombu]

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Not that anyone was getting surprised reading it – but for those of you who were disconnected from RSS feeds lately, and deprived themselves of glancing at any tech news, mind you that a second set of  Intel Pine Trail platform is about to hit the netbooks scene, and should be out at any moment. And Taiwanese corp Asus, to be one of the first to unveil its latest state-of-the-art lineup, which apparently includes two Eee PC Seashell machines, both pack Intel’s 1.66GHz Atom N450 “Pineview” CPUs (45-nanometer), as the first one, Eee PC 1005P, houses a 160GB hard drive, basic 6-cell Li-ion battery and matte 10-inch 1024×768 LED backlit screen, while the second, Eee PC 1005PE, comes with a bigger, 250GB HDD, stronger 6-cell Li-ion battery, more powerful Intel GMA 3150 graphics and that same size 10-inch display, only with a glossy panel integrated inside. The two, will be offered either in Black or White flavors, at the time they will be released – January 11th – priced at £211 ($345) and £235 ($380), respectively. Full specs are just after the break.

Update: Hit the jump to checkout battery life and Benchmark performances, compared with 1008Ha’s Atom N280 Diamondville processor .

[via netbooknews]

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Tweet tweet, Zune HD finally gets a twitter app – now available for downloading via Marketplace, free of charge. Design wise it looks great, but once ending with registration process and firing up the application, this is where it start getting buggy and the UI performs a bit sluggish. Despite malfunctions, you can send tweets, follow your Twitter feed, view replies, search on Twitter, send direct messages and watch your favorites tab as long as you want – until it freezes up (no lists support at the moment).

Update1: Surprisingly, it forces you to be polite while using the app, otherwise your cursing tweets will snappily get trashed and brutally thrown out of the line. Stay tuned for more about that.

Update2: Microsoft has taken this Zune HD Twitter app censorship way too far from expected, and couple hours later, after setting the stage for turmoil, and getting knocked from every possible direction, it finally unleashed a statement, vowing to fix these chopped cuss words “issues” as soon as it finds a proper code line replacement. Here’s what Redmond had to say:

The recently released Twitter for Zune HD application has been abbreviating some explicit words in tweets when viewed on the device; however these explicit words do appear in their full text on the Twitter site or on any other Twitter client. We have identified the issue and are taking steps to update the application as soon as possible to ensure Twitter for Zune HD users are able to view tweets in their original state.

Update3: And one day later… Microsoft releases firmware update v1.1, which allows free Twitter expression, without any censorship or limitations. Bugs, lags and other malfunctions are yet to be fixed though.

[via Zune Insider; engadget]

We’ve already seen Viewsonic’s Atom N280 VNB101 netbook, showing up in Taiwan five months ago, but that probably wasn’t enough, and now it seems the company is about to release a new one, which carries the consecutive name VNB102, and includes the very basic specs with Intel’s Atom N270 processor inside, along a 10-inch 1024×600 LED panel, 1GB of RAM, 160GB hard drive, 802.11b/g WiFi and 6-cell battery, which lasts around 6 hours in one single charge. The operating system, on the other hand, is brand new – Windows 7 Starter – and that should do in order to collect $399 when this machine goes live on December 18, or in other words, tomorrow. Press release is just after the break.

[Viewsonic]

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Despite market flotation, we keep seeing more and more entry-level players surface up in the wild, targeting non-deep pockets, at the time where branded ones are out of their reach.  This way or another, some manufacturers, like Korean iRiver, occasionally offer both. From one hand we have a pricey touchscreen media player such as the P7, which costs hundreds of dollars, and from the other, the E30, that represents the slim and light lineup. The late, that enters into Chinese markets these days, packs a 1.8-inch display and either 4GB ($59) or 8GB ( $79.99) capacities to choose from. Besides that it sports a 52 hours battery and runs almost every known format, available around.

Update: Amazon now has it, up for order both in 4GB and 8GB storage capacities.

[via gmp3]

Chinese corp RAmos seems to be releasing HD players on a monthly bases – our feeling only – and those of you who’ve been thinking it would slow down a bit, should think again, as the company rolls out yet another one, the T11TE, priced at $177.45 and houses a 5-inch 800 x 480 touchscreen, paired with microSD slot expansion, 16GB of flash storage, dual 3.5mm jacks(?) and of course, a 1080P HDMI output, to pump high-def videos on your tele – although it runs other common formats such as DAT, MPG, MPEG,VOB, MP4, MOV, AVI, DVD Video, ASF, WMV, MKV, TS, RM,and RMVB. Other than that, this half-inch thick PMP will record voices, thanks to its built-in mic or help you share your music around, with those integrated stereo speakers it boasts. No word whether it would make its way Stateside or not, surely it won’t keep that “new player” title for long.

Update: Checkout the video we’ve added after the break.

[via PMP Today]

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It’s small, black (with golden touch) and looks like Hello Kitty, have you guessed? Well, that wasn’t hard, was it? I guess not, especially when it comes from a company – AKA iRiver – that already launched Mickey Mouse players to the pond. This time it’s a cat, THE cat, if you take Garfield out of the equation. The DAP itself offers either 2GB or 4GB storage capacities at your choice, along a USB cable and color matched ear buds bundled inside. Japan release is set for December 18, just before the holidays, with prices around Â¥7,980 ($90). Miao

[via Akihabaranews]

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A whole  slew of Pine Trail netbooks coming to CES 2010, next month in Vegas – that we already know. But the fact that Acer has sneaked into its lineup lists an ultra-portable machine of that series, is relatively new. The newcomer, Aspire One 532, packs an Atom N450 processor (Pine Trail platform), along 1GB RAM, 5-in-1 card reader, a 10.1-inch 1280 x 720 display, Windows 7 Starter edition, and either 160GB or 250GB HDD capacities to pick at your choice. Price tag remains reasonable and stands at 299 Euros, as you get to choose between Blue, Black, Red or Silver flavors to cover your coat.

Update: Basic specs include a 3-cell battery, but you can upgrade to the 6-cell version for extra cash.

[via netbooked]