There’s been a rumor going around for a while that Lenovo plans to release a 10 inch, business oriented netbook. Right now, the closest thing Lenovo ThinkPad X100e. But that model has an 11.6 inch, 1366 x 768 pixel display. Now a member of the Whirlpool forums in Australia says he spotted a set of netbooks marked “ThinkPad Mini 10″ at his school.

It’s possible tat the machine has basically the same hardware as the X100e, but a smaller, cheaper display. In that case, the Mini 10 would likely have the same sized chassis and a thick bezel around the display, which is how the laptops are described in the forum posting. No word on the processor or other specs, but the laptop has an isolation style keyboard and uses Lenovo’s TrackPoint pointing stick in the middle of the keyboard as well as a touchpad below the keyboard.

We first heard mention of a ThinkPad Mini 10 late last year.

via Netbooked

Look, up in the sky! It’s a netbook killer. No it’s an oversized iPod touch! No it’s the iPad!

Apple’s new 9.7 inch touchscreen tablet may or may not be a revolutionary new device that will change the way we interact with computers. But one thing’s for certain. It’s up for pre-order today, and should begin shipping in a few weeks.

Are you planning on pre-ordering one? Or will you wait until you can see one in person before plunking down some cash? Or maybe you’re just not interested in this particular tablet.

Let us know what you think by voting in our poll. And sound off in the comments!

NVIDIA has officially lifted the thin veil of secrecy that hadn’t really been covering the details about the company’s next-generation ION platform. NVIDIA ION pairs a low power Intel Atom-powered notebook with NVIDIA graphics to deliver higher performance HD video playback, 3D graphics acceleration for games, and CUDA technology for GPU-accelerated video encoding, recording, and some other tasks.

There are a few things that make the next-generation ION platform different from the chipset found in older computers such as the HP Mini 311 and Asus Eee PC 1201N.

Here’s the bullet point version, but you can find more details below

• The platform comes on a PCI Express card
• ION systems will typically have 512MB of dedicated memory and HDMI output
• Supports netbooks with 10 and 12 inch screens
• The 10 inch model has 8 CPU cores, while the 12 inch version has 16
• The reason the 10 inch chip is less powerful is because there’s a tighter space with less thermal cooling in smaller netbooks
• Next-gen ION chips will support Optimus technology for automatic graphics switching, which means better battery life
• Acer, Asus, HP, Lenovo, and Zotac are among the launch partners with netbooks, all-in-one desktops, and nettops built around next-generation ION
• Next-generation ION systems should be priced about the same as first generation ION computers
• It’s not called ION 2

OK, now for some details. First, because Intel went and combined the CPU and GPU onto a single chip, NVIDIA couldn’t just take over the graphics and memory control functions anymore. Instead, the new ION processor is a separate video card, similar to a discrete graphics solution. The next-generation ION GPU will come on a PCI Express card that fits into mini-laptops with 10 or 12 inch screens. Yep, that’s one of the other differences, for the first time you’ll see 10 inch netbooks with ION graphics. This isn’t a huge surprise, since Acer already introduced the Aspire One 532g netbook with next-generation ION graphics.

Here’s what you might not have known, though. NVIDIA will offer two different versions of the new ION platform. The version that fits in 10 inch netbooks has 8 GPU cores, while the 12 inch model has 16. The result is that 10 inch netbooks with next-gen ION will perform about as well as laptops with first generation ION. Larger laptops, nettops, and all-in-one PCs with ION graphics will be much faster. NVIDIA says the 16 core version of ION scores about twice as high as first generation ION on benchmarks such as 3DMark06 and 3DMark Vantage.

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While Google’s Android operating system was designed for smartphones, it seems to be a fairly popular OS choice among tablet makers. A fair number of prototypes I saw at CES this year were running Android, and you can already pick up an Archos 5 Internet Tablet running the mobile operating system. But it looks like Android isn’t the only tablet-friendly OS Google is working on.

Google Chrome OS is designed primarily for netbooks and laptops with full keyboards. While Android is a light weight OS designed for a mobile computing experience, Chrome is basically an OS designed around a web browser. The idea is that most of the apps you run will be web apps, and that the hardware and software should really just be a conduit for getting online. And you know what? That doesn’t necessarily require a physical keyboard.

There’s a page on the Chrome OS developer site showing a series of concept drawings for how Chrome could work with a tablet. The mockups include several images of an on-screen keyboard which can be repositioned or reconfigured. For instance, you could type with all ten fingers on a full sized on-screen keyboard much like the Apple iPad on-screen keyboard. Or you can split the keyboard so that some letters show up on the left side of the screen and others are on the right. This would make it easier to hold the tablet in your hands and type with your thumbs.

Right now, the Chrome tablet UI is just a concept. There’s no confirmation that Google or anyone else is working on the hardware for this device, or that PC makers are planning to install Chrome on tablets. But it certainly looks like Google is at least thinking about the possibility.

You can check out a concept video after the break.

via TechCrunch and Download Squad

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Tablets were everywhere at CES this year. NVIDIA had them, Freescale had them, dozens of Asian companies had them, and the Notion Ink Adam tablet was one of the most hyped products of the show. And many of the tablets showed a lot of promise as portable media players and web surfing tools. But call me old fashioned, but I still like a physical keyboard for writing email, leaving blog comments, or even just entering a URL.

But just because there’s no keyboard built into the tablet doesn’t mean that you can’t use a keyboard with a tablet. Most of these devices have USB ports, and that’s pretty much all you need to plug in a full sized or portable keyboard. I stopped by the Aisonic booth at CES last week where I spotted a ton of USB and wireless mini-keyboards in all sorts of sizes and shapes.

One of my favorites is the one above, which has an integrated trackball which would make it a perfect Home Theater PC remote control/keyboard. But the company also has a number of keyboards ranging in size from “disappears into your hand” to “nearly full sized.” Some of the cheapest looking USB keyboards appear pretty flimsy, but some of the fancier ones seem like they’d be sturdy enough to throw in your shoulder bag and carry around with your tablet.

You probably won’t see any of these mini-keyboards sold under the Aisonic brand name in the US. The company is looking for international distributors for its products.

Now if only there were more tablets with built-in kick stands so you could prop them up easily while typing on a USB keyboard.

More pictures after the break.

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MSI isn’t the only company showing off a dual screen netbook concept at CES this week. I stopped by the international exhibitor section this morning and spotted a dual-screen model from Korean company dnb.

The dnb Dual netbook prototype isn’t quite as elegant as MSI’s solution. Basically, it looks like someone took a standard 10 inch netbook and hacked off the keyboard and replaced it with a touchscreen and virtual keyboard software. The lower screen doesn’t quite sit flush with the unit, but what we’re looking at is just a prototype. The company is looking for partners to help bring the netbook to market.

The demo model features two 10 inch, 1024 x 600 pixel displays, a 1.66GHz Intel Atom N280 CPU, and runs Windows XP, although I doubt these specs are final. dnb is highlighting the fact that the second display isn’t just for a keyboard. You can use the extra screen real estate to display a running application in each window, a web browser in one and a spreadsheet in another, for example.

The dnb dual screen netbook is much larger than the MSI prototype, and it doesn’t feature the vibrating feedback when you hit a key with your finger. I can’t decide if that’s a good thing or a bad thing.

More photos after the break.

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Netbooks and Notebooks

• ASUS UL20A 12″ laptop w/Intel Core 2 Duo SU7300 for $548 + $17 s&h – BuyDig
• Samsung N130-13B 10.1″ netbook w/Windows XP, 5.8 hour battery for $279.99 – Amazon
• Refurbished Asus Eee PC 1005HAB w/Atom N270, Win XP, 3 cell battery for $269.99 – Mwave
• Refurbished Asus Eee PC 1002HA netbook w/Atom N270, Win Xp, 4 hour battery for $329.99 – Mwave
• MSI Wind U110-031US 10.1-Inch Silver Netbook – Over 14 Hours of Battery Life for $389.99 – Amazon

Accessories

• FREE 1 Day Express Shipping with Paypal – Buy.com
• Free next-day or 2-day shipping – HP
• Logitech V450 Nano USB Cordless Laser Mouse for Notebooks for $30 + $5 s&h – Best Buy
• Airlink101 802.11n Wireless Mini USB 2.0 Adapter for $16 + free shipping – Meritline

Deal of the later-this-week

• Best Buy will have a 10 inch Lenovo netbook for $197 on December 25th -26th.

You can find more deals on netbooks, gadgets, and accessories in the Liliputing Deals section.

Intel isn’t expected to launch its next-generation low power Atom processors until January. But we already know that the company is planning a new line of Atom chips for netbooks and a related line for low power, small form-factor desktops, or nettops. Two of the first nettop chips will be the Intel Atom D410 and D510. The folks at German site CarTFT have gotten their hands on one of each, and they were kind enough to run some benchmarks.

The results are pretty much what I would have expected, with the new chips offering slightly better CPU and GPU performance than current generation Intel Atom chips. But a machine with a current generation Intel Atom 330 dual core processor and NVIDIA ION graphics will still trounce the new processors in 3D graphics benchmarks.

You can find details of the CarTFT benchmarks at this PDF link.

via SlashGear

Netbooks and Notebooks

• MSI Wind U100 10” netbook w/Atom N270 CPU, Win Xp Home for $265 – Superbiiz (coupon: SUPERSTEAL25)
• Refurbished Gateway LT2021u 10.1” netbook w/Win XP, Atom N270, 3 cell battery for $239.99 – Buy.com

Accessories

• HP SimpleSave 1TB USB 2.0 Portable Hard Drive for $92 + free shipping – HP
• Airlink101 802.11n Wireless Mini USB 2.0 Adapter for $17 + free shipping – Meritline
• SanDisk 4GB Cruzer USB 2.0 Flash Drive for $10.95 + free shipping - Buy.com

You can find more deals on netbooks, gadgets, and accessories in the Liliputing Deals section.

It shouldn’t come as any surprise that Microsoft is more than ready to bury Windows XP. The operating system is nearly a decade old, after all, and the company would clearly rather have users buy shiny new machines with Windows 7. Windows XP would have retired a few years ago, but Microsoft pulled it out of the vault when it became clear that there was demand for small, cheap, and low power machines like netbooks.

But Windows 7 runs almost as well on most netbook hardware as Windows XP, if not better. And while you can still pick up plenty of netbooks with XP, Microsoft will stop offering the OS to netbook makers in about a year.

But there’s a chance it will already be pretty much gone from the market much sooner than that. Perhaps as soon as early 2010. Microsoft netbook cheif Don Paterson tells The Register that while Windows XP will be available for a little while longer (when purchased with a netbook), he doesn’t think it will have much market share after the holidays.

Paterson also points out that Microsoft will be marketing Windows 7 pretty heavily, and not Windows XP. But I don’t think Microsoft ever really did much marketing for Windows XP on netbooks. The company simply made it available, and customers more familiar with Windows than Linux gravitated toward Windows XP netbooks making it the dominant OS for that market segment.

I’m sure that if PC makers stop offering Windows XP netbooks, people will move on and simply start using models with Windows 7. But while the new operating system does offer some nifty features that are absent from Windows XP, (including Windows Media Center, Aero Glass effects, and backup and restore capabilities) many of the best features of Windows 7, including all of those plus Windows XP compatibility mode, aren’t available in Windows 7 Starter Edition. And that’s the version that’s currently shipping on the vast majority of Windows 7 netbooks. You can’t even change the desktop background on Windows 7 Starter Edition, which means that you can make a good case that Windows XP netbooks are actually more capable than those running Windows 7 Starter.

Of course, you can always pick up a netbook with Windows 7 Home Premium, but those are less common and they generally cost more. And while you can upgrade from Windows 7 Starter to Windows 7 Home Premium, you have to pay $80 for the privilege.

In the meantime, if you’re in the market for a netbook running Windows XP, take solace in the fact that there are still plenty available for purchase. Just don’t blame me if Windows 7 takes off in popularity in a way that Windows Vista never did and developers stop writing applications that are compatible with your Windows XP netbook within the next year or two. I guess you could always just install Linux on it.

via Netbook Choice