The folks behind the quick booting Splashtop environment are introducing a major update this week. Splashtop is basically a light weight Linux environment that loads in about 10 seconds on a machine with an Intel Atom processor, allowing you to load a web browser, make a call with Skype, chat on IM, or perform other activities in less time than it normally takes to launch Windows. Splashtop coexists with Windows though, so if you don’t want to use it, you never have to load it.

Splashtop 2.0 features a redesigned application dock that you can now customize by adding your favorite applications and web sites. You can also change the default wallpaper, which is more than you can do in Windows 7 Starter Edition, which is the version of Windows that ships with most netbooks today.

There’s also a new “instant search” feature that lets you start a web search before the browser is even open. DeviceVM says Splashtop 2.0 is also faster, touch-optimized, and works better with 3G wireless broadband connections.

The first netbook to ship with the new version of Splashtop will be the Lenovo IdeaPad S10-3t convertible touchscreen model. But upcoming netbooks from Asus, Acer, and HP will also ship with the software.

Asus

It looks like some of the first netbooks from Asus to use the upcoming Intel Atom Pine Trail chipset will be minor variations on existing netbooks. We’d already seen evidence of a new Eee PC 1008P. Now there’s a BIOS file hanging out on the Asus support site for an unannounced netbook called the Eee PC 1005P.

According to Eee PC Italia, the P in both cases stands for Pine Trail, or Pineview, which indicates that the netbooks will probably be virtually identical to the Eee PC 1005HA and Eee PC 1008HA models that are available today, except that they’ll have next-generation low power Atom CPUs.

The BIOS update also appears to be focused on fixes for ExpressGate, which means that the Eee PC 1005P will feature the “instant on” environment that lets you load a web browser, chat client, Skype, or a handful of other applications within about 10-20 seconds of hitting the power button instead of waiting 45 seconds for Windows to boot. Honestly, I’ve never found ExpressGate software to be that useful, but it doesn’t cost anything extra.

HyperSpace

Phoenix Technologies’ HyperSpace software is a quick-booting software environment that can coexist on a PC with Windows or other full featured operating systems. In other words, you have a choice when you hit the power button of waiting 45 seconds or longer to boot into a full desktop operating system, or you can launch HyperSpace in just a few seconds and quickly go online with a web browser, access media stored on your PC with media players, or perform other tasks.

Yesterday Phoenix announced a partnership with Intel to work together on Moblin, a custom Linux distribution for netbooks. The press release is a little vague, but as far as I can tell, this partnership means two things:

• Phoenix will work with the Moblin team to bring fast-boot, power management, and other HyperSpace features to Moblin
• Intel and Phoenix will promote the inclusion of the HyperSpace fast-boot option to PC makers putting together Moblin-powered netbooks

It doesn’t sound like HyperSpace and Moblin are becoming one. In other words, you’ll still have a choice of booting into one operating system or the other. But I kind of have to wonder what the point is. If it took a half hour to boot Moblin and 10 seconds to boot HyperSpace, that’d be one thing. But we’re talking about the difference between 10 seconds and maybe 30 or 40 here. Not to mention the fact that most people I know tend to put their computers to sleep more often than they completely power them down, which means you can probably resume from sleep faster than you can boot HyperSpace.

LG unveiled its next generation mini-laptop at Mobile World Congress yesterday. The LG-X120 follows on the heels of the company’s LG-X110 mini-laptop. The new model features an integrated HSPA modem, a 160GB hard drive, and Smart-On technology, which is basically LG’s “instant-on” interface that allows you to access some programs just a few seconds after hitting the power button without waiting for Windows XP or another OS to load fully.

The LG-X120 also uses “Smart-Link” technolgy that les you copy files to the computer from another machine using a USB cable. This can come in handy on a machine without an optical disk drive, and it kind of makes me wonder why it’s taken this long for someone to include this feature in a netbook.

The LG-X120 has a 1.3MP camera and comes with a 3 or 6 cell battery, which should provide 3.5 to 7 hours of run time, respectively. The laptop weighs 1.2kg or about 2.6 pounds. There’s no mention of the dimensions, or even the screen size in the official announcement. Somehow the LG-X120 name makes me think LG might be stretchign the definition of a netbook and offering a 12 inch model. But it’s more likely that this computer, which bears a more than passing resemblance to the MSI Wind U120, is just a modest update to the LG-X110 which means it has the same screen and processor.

Update: MobiFrance has posted a video, some pictures, and complete specs. Looks like the LG-X120 will have a 1.6GHz Intel Atom CPU, 10.1 inch, 1024 x 576 pixel display, and measure 10.4″ x 7″ x 1.3″

via NetbookTech and Netbook3G

Phoenix Technologies has signed a deal with Asus to include HyperSpace “instant on” software on new Asus laptops. A Phoenix spokesperson tells me that includes at least some Eee PC netbook models.

HyperSpace is basically a stripped down operating system that boots faster than Windows or a full Linux distro, letting you access some apps like a web browser, VoIP, chat utility or media player without waiting for Windows to boot. I got a chance to check out HyperSpace at CES, and saw that it’s not exactly an instant on environment for netbooks. On a Lenovo IdeaPad S10, which has similar hardware to the Eee PC line of computers, it took more than 10 seconds to boot HyperSpace. Still, I suppose that’s faster than the 40+ seconds it typically takes to boot Windows XP.

There are two versions of HyperSpace. The version that can be used with more powerful laptops allows you to boot Windows in the background while HyperSpace loads, which lets you toggle back and forth betwen the two operating systems. The netbook version only lets you boot into one OS at a time.

HyperSpace is also available for anyone to download and install on their own, but Phoenix charges a yearly fee to use the software after your 21 day free trial is up. It’s not clear whether Asus and other companies that preload HyperSpace on computers will charge customers an additional fee for the software. Update: Kevin at jkOnTheRun has confirmed that HyperSpace will ship on Asus notebooks with a normal subscription plan. In other words, you’ll need to pay $40 a year to use the software on an Eee PC after your 21 day free trial expires.