Samsung is introducing two new 10.1 inch netbooks in Russia. From the photos, it looks like the Samsung N130 and N140 are a cross between the Samsung Go and N110. I can’t tell for sure from the pictures, and my Russian is rusty nonexistent, but it looks like base of the netbook has a rubberized finish, a la the Go. The keyboard and touchpad also look like the Go’s, but instead of an edge to edge piece of glass, the screen seems to be a more traditional display with a plastic bezel around the edges, like the one on the Samsung N110.

Both models will have Intel Atom N270 or N280 processors, 10.1 inch, 1024 x 600 pixel displays, 802.11b/g/n WiFi, Bluetooth 2.1, 1GB of RAM, and 160GB hard drives. The N130 will ship with mono audio and either a 3 or 6 cell battery, while the N140 will come standard with a 6 cell battery, although it looks like two different versions are available, a 5200mAh 6 cell battery or a higher capacity 5900mAh 6 cell battery.

The netbooks weigh about 2.8 pounds and measure 10.3″ x 7.3″ x 1.2″. They’ll be available black, white, or blue. No word on pricing yet, or if and when they’ll be available outside of Russia.

Update: As per the comments, it looks like these models are also available in the UK, Germany, and Italy for between 300 and 350 Euros (or about $429 to $500 US).

Update 2: According to CNET, Samsung claims the N140’s battery will last up to 11 hours.

Update 3: Netbook News.de reports that the laptops will ship with Windows 7 Starter Edition.

Update 4: It looks like the N130 case isn’t rubberized, just a bit rounder than earlier Samsung netbooks. It still looks a bit like the Samsung Go case to me.

via Netbooked and Gadget Folder

I’m starting to think Russia is breeding a new species of super-netbook hackers. All the coolest netbook-to-carputer hacks I’ve seen have come out of Russia. And now another Russian hacker has decided that rather than waiting for Asus to release it’s Eee Keyboard, he would build his own by cramming the guts of an Eee PC 900 into a Sven Multimedia EL 4002 keyboard.

The DIY Eee Keyboard may not have wireless HDMI, and it may not be as slim as the real thing. But it does pack a full computer inside a keyboard case, plus a VGA output, a few USB ports, and other goodies including headphone jacks and a built in mic. It’s probably more suited for use as a desktop PC than a home theater PC. But it’s still pretty awesome.

Update: The forum posting has been updated with additional photos of the DIY Eee Keyboard in action. If you haven’t checked out the post at Eee-PC.ru in a few days, you should definitely give it another look.

thanks Ivan!

Samsung and Yota are launching a version of the Samsung NC10 netbook in Russia with support for WiMAX mobile broadband connectivity. The Yota network suports speeds of up to 10MB/s.

The netbook will be available starting this week for 19,900 Rubles, which is the equivalent of about $597 US.

Aside from the WiMAX support, this is a standard run of the mill NC10 netbook, with a 10.2 inch, 1024 x 600 pixel display, a 1.6GHz Intel Atom N270 CPU, 1GB of RAM, and a 160GB hard drive. In addition to WiMAX, the netbook supports 802.11b/g WiFi, Bluetooth 2.0, and has an Ethernet jack for folks who still used wired connections.

via Eee PC.net

It’s been a few months since I’ve seen a good hack for cramming an Eee PC into an automobile dashboard. Fortunately, another Russian hacker who has what I can only assume are some mad skills and way too much time on his hands, has posted an article showing exactly how to take a 7 inch Eee PC apart and turn it into a carputer that hooks into an auto stereo system and even acts as a graphic equalizer. 

The finished product is an auto computer with 1GB of RAM, 4GB of built in storage plus an 8GB SDHC card, a 7 inch, 800 x 480 pixel display, Bluetooth, a slot-loading DVD-RW drive, GPS, 5.1 channel audio, a touschreen, and a boatload of USB adapters that string the whole thing together. All in all, I dare say this guy’s car probably has more features than the average desktop PC. Plus, you know, you can drive it places.

Russian netbook fans are getting a rebranded version of the MSI Wind U100 laptop. You can already pick up a U90, which is the 9 inch version of the Wind in Russia. But for those looking for a roomier 10 inch screen, there’s the Roverbook Neo U100.

The Neo U100 appears to be prety much identical to the version of the MSI Wind available in the US. I say appears, because my Russian is not so good (read: nonexistent), and Google Translate doesn’t show me any real specs like hard drive capacity, CPU speed, or even screen resolution. What we do know is that the Neo U100 has a battery, 3 USB ports, a card reader, VGA output, and WiFi.

The RoverBook Neo U100 sells for 14,566.50 rubles, or about $621.76 US.
thanks Ivan Zenkov!