Standing up against an almost unassailable domination of x86 machine architecture, even in the ULPC segment, ARM showcased netbooks based on processors such as Freescale iMX515 and Qualcomm Snapdragon. The processors, ARM claims, are capable to run 720p HD video, and operate at speeds of up to 1 GHz. The best way ARM sees to compete with x86, is to support operating systems that run on it, such as Linux.

The growth and propagation of Ubuntu seems to be a good opportunity to cash on. ARM is reportedly working with Canonical to devise a full-featured ARM-supportive variant of Ubuntu. Meanwhile, Adobe has announced that it is working on an ARM-supportive Flash 10 plugin. Ubuntu's ARM edition should be out by April, by when we can get realistic figures about ARM netbooks' performance. The netbooks will be priced in the US $250 range and are expected to start selling from June. A video covering the presentation can be viewed here.

SiS Group Company- LinkVast Technologies Inc. today announced the first generation solid-state drive (SSD) memory controllers - LVT820 and LVT815 which manage the latest solid-state memory devices and support external DRAM interfaces to meet the advanced SSD hard drive performance requirements. In addition to standard size of Hard Disk Drive in Desktop PC, LVT820 and LVT815 also can be applied in various forms and sizes for different devices for Notebook/Netbook PC, Embedded system and specific application system markets.

With SATAII interface design, the data transfer rate of LVT820 and LVT815 up to 3Gbps. They support 8 channels (64bit/64CE) and 4 channels (32bit/32CE) memory systems respectively for the flexible and diverse capacity SSD hard drive usage. By designing with the architecture of 16-bit ECC technology, that ensures data transfer accuracy and achieve the reliability and longevity to SSD hard drive with built-in the Advanced Dynamic & Static Wear Leveling technology supporting.

Spy photos of a new Acer Aspire One netbook were distributed through the internet channel. It is unclear whether the pictures show an updated Aspire One 10-inch version or the rumored 11.6-inch netbook that's getting ready for launch sometime later this year. No specs have leaked with the photos, only clues from the pics. This model is slimmer than previous Aspire One netbooks, it has SD Expansion slot, and unusual positions for the VGA and the RJ45 network port. The keyboard layout and the Windows key, hint that it will be powered by Windows distribution, other sites also claim a SSD drive is inside the shell. Expect more information soon.

Now that Dell started the legal war with PSION, it's time for Intel to go in persuit of the "Netbook" trademark. The latter has filled a petition in the U.S. District Court against PSION TEKLOGIX. This action arises from the allegations recently launched by PSION that it has the exclusive right to use the term "Netbook". Intel claims PSION trademarked the term for its laptop computers, but discontinued its line of laptops in 2003. Effective that date, the term is no longer under PSION's supervision. Now Intel demands cancellation of the "Netbook" trademark for little computers. Intel claims the public already uses the term generically, as "extensions of the notebook category, smaller computers purpose-built for mobile Internet access." Accordingly, the court should cancel PSION's trademark registration and enjoin PSION from asserting rights in the netbook term. A copy of the petition is posted here.

The guys over at bit-tech.net are kind enough to show us the first live pictures of ASUSTeK's Eee PC T91 tablet PC. The Eee PC T91 is neither a notebook, neither a tablet. It is a netbook tablet if you know what I mean. It has a LED-backlit 8.9-inch display, like the Eee PC 900 and 901, that is touch-sensitive and can rotate at 180 degrees. The screen boasts typical WSVGA 1024x600 resolution. ASUS claims that once its screen is in position as a tablet, the T91 becomes the smallest and slimmest tablet PC to date. System specs also include an Atom Z520 processor, Intel US15W chipset, 1GB DDR2 memory, 10/100 Ethernet, 802.11 b/g wireless (n not confirmed), Bluetooth, 32GB SSD, Optional 3G data connectivity, GPS and DVB-T TV Tuner and an integrated webcam. The T91 will run Windows XP Home with Service Pack 3 installed. The Eee PC T91 is a couple of months away from release, but still ASUS wants us to know that a 10-inch version called T101 is also in the works. Find more information here.

According to a Bloomberg report, ASUS is to embed a third operating system in its low-cost netbooks, currently known as the Eee PC. When Eee PC first appeared it was powered by a Linux distribution, after that Eee PCs were upgraded to Microsoft's Windows, and now the company is said to prepare an Eee PC version that will run Google Inc.'s free Android operating system. Samson Hu, head of the Taipei-based ASUSTeK Eee PC division, said in an interview yesterday that the manufacturer has already allocated engineers to develop an Android-based netbook and eventually by the year's end the final product may start selling. No other details were disclosed during the interview. Google introduced Android back in 2007 as a software system for mobile phones. Android is based on a Linux platform, meaning that it is open-source operating system that's completely free and can be upgraded in any way. Although designed for mobiles, the OS can be adapted for netbook-style products too, Google claims.

Ubuntu's contribution to propagating Linux to the client platforms (general desktop/notebook) is invaluable. Its developers are known to codename major builds of the OS after animals. An upcoming version, 9.10 has been codenamed "Karmic Koala", after the cute and cuddly animal from south-east Australia. Going by Ubuntu's six-month development cycle, 9.10 should follow 9.04 "Jaunty Jackalope" slated for this April, and should be coming out by October.

The new client-version is expected to be netbook-friendly, with having significantly lower boot times. The target booting time for 9.04 is 25 seconds, while the developers hope to improve that figure further with 9.10. The developers will be integrating features from Intel's Moblin platform in order to improve performance on Atom-based devices. The Server Edition based on Ubuntu, which is steadily gaining in adoption, yet lagging behind offerings from market heavyweights such as Red Hat and Novell, will also get its share of improvements, one of the most important of them being enhanced support for cloud-computing.

ASUS, inventor and innovator of the widely acclaimed Eee PC, is proud to announce that the Eee PC 1000HE has been recognized by consumers and prominent media outlets as the best ultra-mobile Internet device in the market today. In the United States alone, the soon-to-be released Eee PC 1000HE is already ranked among the top three most desired gadgets on Amazon.com, and pre-orders have been steadily increasing. This phenomenal reception of the Eee PC 1000HE is due to the incorporation of several technological innovations that provide users with a highly dependable and long-lasting ultra mobile internet device capable of up to 9.5 hours of battery life. This has resulted in an increasing share in the minds of US consumers today.

Freescale Semiconductor has collaborated with an impressive lineup of companies to enable 3G connectivity and additional operating system options for netbooks based on its new i.MX515 processor. For OEMs, the expanded ecosystem means faster time to market, greater differentiation and more compelling end devices.
Freescale entered the netbook market in January 2009 with the introduction of the i.MX515 processor and a comprehensive netbook reference design. The solution is designed to enable consumer products that deliver gigahertz performance, eye-popping graphics and eight hours of battery life between charges at extremely aggressive price points.

Our well known news informer DigiTimes claims that Lenovo plans to materialize an Intel Atom N280 powered IdeaPad S20 netbook featuring a 12-inch panel. If accomplished, Lenovo will be one step ahead of the competition, which currently offers only 10-inch netbook solutions for a reason described below.

Lenovo reportedly plans to launch an Atom N280-based IdeaPad S20 netbook featuring a 12-inch panel. The specification would break Intel's restrictions for netbook products that state devices cannot offer panel sizes larger than the 10-inch category, according to sources at notebook makers. As a consequence for breaking the restrictions, Lenovo will lose out on preferential pricing for the N280 processor, and would end up having to buy at Intel's officially announced price, which is around US$10 higher than typical quotes to vendors of Lenovo's size, the sources noted. The sources commented that Lenovo hopes the decision will help boost its netbook sales by avoiding the fierce competition in the 10-inch segment.
The IdeaPad S20 netbook with an Atom N280 processor and GN40 chipset, and Windows XP will be priced at around NT$20,000 (US$586), the sources detailed.
In the related news, Asustek Computer's 10-inch Atom N280-based Eee PC 1004DN is expected to be priced around US$379, while Acer is already selling its Atom N280-based netbook at NT$17,000.

Acer America, part of the world's third largest PC company, today announced U.S. availability of the 10.1-inch Aspire One AOD150, expanding the company's growing family of popular netbooks. The new Aspire One AOD150 comes on the heels of its highly successful 8.9-inch predecessor. The global market share leader in the netbook category, Acer is offering the 10.1-inch Aspire One AOD150 to U.S. customers today with prices beginning at $349.99.

Acer, today presented an all-new 10" Aspire One netbook, complete with a 10-inch screen, Windows XP and integrated Bluetooth, and designed for a fast, simple and utterly cool online life.

Only one year after first appearing on the market, netbooks have totally revolutionized the PC market, helping to form an entirely new market segment that users themselves created through a real need to be online all the time and to socialize around the clock.

Acer, thanks to its unique ability to read market trends and anticipate user needs, rapidly introduced the Aspire One, the world's most popular netbook.

Specialists with external data storage, I-O Data has come up with a new ultra-slim external DVD-burner it claims to be netbook friendly, given that most netbooks rely on external optical drives. The new drive (model: DVRP-U8XLE2) is 21mm thick and comes with a square profile. The drive roughly measures up to be the size of a portable CD player. It burns dual-layer DVDs at 6X speeds, DVD-R, DVD+R at 8X speeds. It sports a standard USB 2.0 interface. Interestingly, its makers claim this drive to perform identically, an in at its full operational write speeds on any netbook.

ViewSonic Corp., a leading global provider of visual display products, today unveiled its new computing line, which includes its first netbook, the VieBook, an all-in-one PC, the VPC100 ViePC, and an attachable PC, the ViePC.

ViewSonic's netbook is an ideal solution to fulfill the growing need for an ultra portable, daily use computer. At 2.6 pounds, the VieBook is highly-mobile, Internet-centric and offers users a lightweight yet powerful option for their on-the-go needs.

Do you ever think of dropping MSI U120 in your backpack and easily biking around the island? This dream can come true because the U120 is light enough, slim enough, thin enough and has the manageable keyboard and monitor as well as optional 3.5G network card to enable you to make short work of your business and go on your journey.

In addition to the optional 3.5G network card enabling you to easily surf the internet, MSI U120 is even "WiMAX Ready". Presented at CES, MSI built up a WiMAX wireless environment to allow people to experience the outstanding WiMAX wireless performance with U120 at the show. U120 is the outcome of MSI's constant efforts in technology research and development for its endless progress.

Lexar Media, a leading global provider of memory products for digital media, today announced the immediate availability of the new Crucial.com Netbook Upgrade Center for purchasing DRAM memory, Solid-State Drives (SSDs) and flash memory cards suitable for most netbook products now available in the market. Netbooks, simplified notebooks designed to be affordable, energy efficient, and smaller in size, are growing in popularity with consumers because of their practical price point and no-nonsense capabilities. The Crucial.com Netbook Upgrade Center will help customers optimize the performance of their netbooks with the right upgrades and accessories. The complete line of DRAM, SSD, and flash memory netbook upgrades are now available at Crucial.com, Crucial.UK, or Crucial.EU.

SanDisk Corporation today unveiled its next-generation of flash memory-based solid-state drives for adoption in various netbooks. Dubbed SanDisk pSSD-P2 and SanDisk pSSD-S2, the new flash drives feature SATA interface and come in capacities of 8, 16, 32 and 64-gigabytes. They are made using SanDisk's reliable 43-nanometer Multi-Level Cell (MLC) flash memory. SanDisk also claims that its new pSSDs are going to be very cheap when released, but unfortunately there's no exact information to confirm their words.
"Netbooks represent the fastest growing PC segment in 2009 and 2010 yet widespread adoption of SSDs in netbooks has been limited by speed, capacity and cost constraints," said Rich Heye, senior vice president and general manager, Solid-State Drives (SSD), SanDisk. "With the significant improvements in performance, capacity and low pricing, these SSDs are a perfect fit for the exploding netbook market."
SanDisk's second generation pSSD drives are slated to be available in February 2009.

HP continued with its "blue-shift" of incorporating Intel Atom processors across its ULPC lineup, this time with its Mini 2140 netbook, siblings of whom are based on VIA processors. The Mini 2140 comes with a 10.1-inch LCD with LED-backlit illumination. The screen provides a maximum resolution of 1366 x 768 px. The chassis holds an almost complete QWERTY keyboard, a 1.3 MP webcam and a track-pad. Under the hood is an Atom CPU clocked at 1.60 GHz, up to 160 GB of hard-drive storage, with connectivity options including ethernet, WiFi, an ExpressCard slot and some USB 2.0 ports. Operating system options include Windows XP, Windows Vista, OpenSuSE Linux or FreeDOS. This notebook is equipped with hard-drive fall damage protection that senses a fall and quickly parks the hard-drive to try and minimise the damage. The unit tips the scales at 1.17 kg (around 2.58 lbs). It will start selling later this month at a price of US $499.

Even though almost all of the netbooks as we call them today are using Intel Atom processors as their main processor and if not they use VIA CPUs, Freescale, a third company, is moving in on this fastest-growing segment of the PC market. The company said on Monday it is planning on introducing a new chip for netbooks that are priced below $200. Freescale's i.MX515 processor will run on super low-cost netbooks only, that are created mainly to perform basic tasks such as accessing the Internet and running office applications, with no gaming or performance CAD involved. Moreover, the i.MX515 won't support any Microsoft Windows OS at all, which leaves the door open only for Linux. The main strength of i.MX515 based on the Cortex-A8 core from ARM is its low power usage, which suggests extra long battery life of the machines equipped with this CPU. According to the company, the chip would allow a netbook with an 8.9-inch display to receive eight hours of battery life. Again, expect more information at CES 2009. There Freescale will showcase a working i.MX515-based netbook prototype made by Pegatron (ASUS spin-off company).

MSI today announces U115 Hybrid. The very first notebook computer in the world that is capable of operating both SSD and HDD hard drives simultaneously, combining all the features of SSD and HDD in the U115 Hybrid for your enjoyment.

With MSI Exclusive Hybrid Storage Technology, in the "ECO on" mode, the battery life of U115 Hybrid is super long. This amazing battery life can escalate the mobility and the productiveness of the U115 Hybrid, which can also make your daily lives much more convenient.

Samsung was a bit late to the netbook party with its first NC10 netbook, but now the company is going to catch up on others with NC20. Samsung NC20 will supposedly be the NC10 successor, and while the attention this week is on NVIDIA and Intel, the NC20 will be powered by a VIA platform. The reported specifications claim a 12.1-inch display, a 1.3GHz VIA Nano U2250 processor, 1GB of DDR2 RAM and a 160GB hard drive, all packed in a system that weighs 1.5 kilograms and costs US $642 (Euro 450). The netbook will feature built-in Bluetooth 2.0, Wireless 802.11b/g, single Ethernet, a 3-in-1 memory card reader and a 1.3MP camera. Other details remain sketchy for now, it's also unclear what platform this VIA CPU will plug into. Samsung will presumably debut the NC20 at CES next year.

NVIDIA is poised to energize the PC market by transforming Atom PCs into a premium experience found today in higher priced laptops and desktops. NVIDIA will supercharge the fastest-growing segments of the PC market - netbooks, small form factor and all-in-one PCs - by enabling these products to play rich media and popular games in high definition. At the same time, the Ion Platform will create new and exciting premium PCs that fit in the palm of your hand.

The formula is simple: Combine the highly rated GeForce 9400 GPU found in new desktop and notebook PCs with the Intel Atom CPU. This combination (code-named Ion Platform) enables the smallest premium PC experience available today, making it ideal for the exploding category of mini-notebooks and compact PCs.

ASUS' Eee PC has been named Forbes Asia's Product of the Year for 2008, right after being crowned Stuff Magazine's Gadget of the Year and Computer of the Year. In justifying its selection, Forbes hailed the Eee PC for "its innovation and disruption", and added that the "ultraportable" netbook had "changed the global PC industry". This new addition to the Eee PC's mantle joins numerous other awards chalked up in the media, design and industry circles over the past year, most notably NBC.com's Best Travel Gadget and the prestigious G-Mark Award.

ASUS, a worldwide leader in notebook design and the fastest growing notebook brand, today announced the newest member of its award-winning Eee PC family-the Eee PC 1002HA. Featuring a stylishly redesigned chassis adorned with a brushed aluminum LCD cover and palm rest, the Eee PC 1002HA is a sophisticated, lightweight, easy-to-use netbook that brings a touch of elegance and utility to everyday computing.

Acer's Taiwan president Scott Lin confirmed today that Acer plans to launch 10-inch Aspire One netbooks in February or March next year. Despite the bigger screen and most likely the bigger keyboard, the 10-inch Aspire One will probably have the same specifications as the 8.9-inch One on the market today, including the Intel Atom processor and Microsoft Windows XP Home OS. Unfortunately, all this information has to be confirmed.

Acer plans to launch 10-inch Aspire One netbooks in February or March next year, according to Scott Lin, Acer Taiwan president. As for its 8.9-inch netbooks currently available, the 3.5G module-based Aspire One netbooks being bundled with Taiwan Mobile (TWM) services is expected to reach a shipment volume of 9,000 units in the Taiwan market in the fourth quarter this year, Lin said. Acer currently sells 10,000-20,000 Aspire Ones and 7,000-8,000 consumer notebooks monthly in Taiwan, he added. Lin also pointed out in Taiwan, notebook average selling prices (ASPs) are expected to continue dropping through the end of this year, with an average decline of 10%. High-end and lowest-cost models will feel less price pressure, while models within the range of NT$30,000-40,000 (US$900-1200) will see the largest price drops, he said. The company will also launch a 14.1-inch LED-based notebook priced below NT$40,000 during the upcoming IT Month-a local promotional sales event-and is preparing to launch 12.1-inch, 13.3-inch and 15.6-inch LED-based notebooks in 2009. Acer will also start selling a 13.3-inch notebook and all-in-one PCs based on its sub-brand Gateway during the show and the company expects the 13.3-inch notebook will fill up the gap in Acer's product range.