Netbook

Up until now, touchscreen laptops have been one of two things — either low-resolution and lacking the horsepower to perform heavy tasks, or just too expensive. With the upcoming Aspire 5738PG, a multi-touch screen notebook sporting Windows 7 and some respectable specs priced at less than US$800, Acer is looking to bring a quality touchscreen experience within the budget of a wider range of users. On the same day, the PC giant also announced an update to its Timeline series with the addition of a 11.6-inch notebook and the transition to Intel dual-core processors on all existing models. Read More

Toshiba has announced its latest line of laptops, with two of the new Satellite models representing the company's first foray into multi-touch notebooks. While all models in the new range will ship with Windows 7 Home Premium, only the M505 and U505 Touch models will offer the touch-screen capabilities available via the new operating system. Read More

Recently at Nokia's NokiaWorld 09 event, the company unveiled what appears to be the first in a line of netbook devices, the Booklet 3G. Dave Weinstein was there to get a first hand look at the device. Read More

How do you punch a hole into the already over-populated netbook market and get your product seen by the buying public? You could just offer something that competitors don't have. But maybe that isn't enough. Perhaps you need to create a brand new device category for your new product to help it stand out from the crowd. Enter the NetNote from Taiwan's VIA Technologies which offers all the affordability and portability of a netbook and the high definition video capabilities and functionality of a notebook. Read More

Full HD video conferencing has been available for some time - provided you can afford to spend over $20,000 on a product like Cisco's TelePresence 500. Until now that is. FaceVsion's FXexpress Pro is an ExpressCard-based hardware accelerator with an HDMI input, capable of encoding and decoding 1080p H.264 video at 30 frames per second in real-time for 1080p video conferencing - and it's available for under $200. Gizmag's Tim Hanlon talked to Facevsion at IFA 2009 - click through for the video. Read More

Despite being around since the mid-nineties, eBooks have never really taken off and this is mainly down to the fact that eBook readers, which have been available for about a decade, have proven prohibitively expensive and barely more convenient than lugging around a couple paperbacks. Sony and BeBook have seen relative success in recent times, along with the Amazon Kindle, but a new competitor in the form of Asus could be set to breathe new life into the market. Read More

Samsung has announced the imminent release of the N510 netbook. The N510 is powered by the Nvidia Ion LE platform, a scaled-down version of the Nvidia Ion platform designed for Windows XP and DirectX 9.0 that retains the benefits of a discrete GeForce 9400M - including 1080p video playback. Read More

Sony has provided a glimpse of the next installment in its Vaio ultra-portable laptop line at IFA 2009 - the carbon fiber clad Vaio X series. Powered by what's billed as "an all-day battery", the slimline X-series is just over half an inch thick (14 mm), weighs 1.5 pounds (700 grams), sports a 11.1-inch display and backs the rugged credentials of its carbon fiber frame with what looks to be a very usable aluminum keyboard. Read More

They’re known as netbooks, ultraportables, subnotebooks, mini-laptops or even kneetop computers in some circles. Now consumers have yet another moniker to contend with as Nokia announces its upcoming Nokia Booklet 3G. Featuring a glass 10.1-inch HD display and Intel Atom processor, the Booklet 3G is a Windows-based unit that promises the performance of a full-function PC alongside a rated 12-hour battery life. Read More