According to Wireless Goodness, the X20 will be released in the United States, Europe, Canada, Australia, China, Singapore and India with one of the following model numbers: LG X20, X200, XB200, XD200 and XV200. It would appear that the netbook will sport a different model number depending on the region.

The 10.1″ screened netbook, weighing just 1.2 kg (2.6 pounds) will come pre-installed with Windows 7 and is powered by the Intel Atom N450 processor, Intel 3150 GMA graphics and up to 2GB RAM.

It is said that the 1366 x 768 resolution TFT colour LCD screen will sit underneath a 1.3 mega-pixel webcam and above a chiclet style keyboard.

It is expected that both Bluetooth and 3G will be supported on board, so we may expect to see a flurry of offers from the likes of Vodafone and O2, bundling the X20 with a mobile broadband contract.

No details of the release date or pricing model just yet, but we will add them as soon as we have them.

(via Wireless Goodness)

MSI has released full specs for the new Wind U160. In the press release they confirmed that the Wind U160 which has already been awarded the iF Product Design Award 2010, will be available in a choice of Jet Black or Fancy Gold.

With its incredibly stunning looks, the U160 is extremely slimline at less than 1-inch (2.5 cm) thick and weighs in at only 1 Kg (2.2 lb). The case is coated with Colour Film Print Technology scratch resistant enamel which not only protects the netbook, but makes it sparkle in the lights.

When the lid is opened, a super quiet and super comfortable ‘chiclet’ style keyboard awaits, as well a seamlessly integrated touchpad (consisting of a grid of raised dots) built into the case itself.

Battery life is claimed to be up to 15 hours, but in normal use (with the wifi on for example) don’t expect to get all of them. None the less, with it’s power saving LED backlit screen it certainly should last the best part of that.

The full specification of the MSI Wind U160 is as follows:

NewGadgets.de already has already had their hands on the one. See their MSI Wind U160 unboxing video here:

Microsoft have something to be happy about – the company saw a 60% rise in profits in the last quarter of 2009 as the PC market seemingly picked up. The company, whose earnings grew to $6.7 billion released Windows 7 on October 22nd last year.

I wonder if part of the lull that happened earlier in 2009 was at least in part caused by people holding off buying a new PC to make sure they didn’t get stuck with Vista for the next few years Most of the people buying a PC in the third quarter would also have been entitled to a free Vista to Windows 7 upgrade. This would have meant the machine being pre-installed with Vista and needing to re-install once Windows 7 was launched. This would undoubtedly put some users off.

The financial aspects is not the only thing that Microsoft have to celebrate.  The Windows 7 launch itself seems to have gone well. Many of the self-styled Vista-bashers are happy again and the product itself works like a dream.

Photo: Techedlive via Flickr

TechRadar has highlighted an awkward answer that was given to a topical question at a recent talk given by Anders Sandholm, Senior Product Manager of Search at Google’s UK Offices.

They write that when asked if Chrome OS will support touch-screen input Sandholm appeared lost for an answer and replied… “I can’t… I mean… right now we are targeting netbooks, that’s what we’re focused on, but I expect it to work well… we expect it to target everything up to desktop computers. Chrome OS will be built for a specific hardware setup.”

Google have confirmed that they are working with a number of manufacturers who are established players in the netbook space. Unconfirmed rumours are however abound that they are also working closely with HTC, who may already be testing a Google Chrome OS Tablet.

If true, Apple could be facing strong competition not only from the NexusOne but also on their recently launched iPad. Not too surprising anyway if you ask me.

(via TechRadar)
(Picture: TheAlieness GiselaGiardino via Flickr)

The latest netbook from MSI, the Wind U135 has gone on sale in the United States. The model uses the Atom N450 processor for high power and high efficiency. 250GB and 160GB hard drive variants are now available, both of which come with 1GB DDR2 RAM and Windows 7 Starter Edition.

The U135 netbook is a special edition and features the Intel Pine Trail Platform which is said to reduce battery consumption by 15% and increase overall performance by 10%.

Appearance wise, the U135 uses a colour-film printed case which reduces the visibility of fingerprints and smudges.

Read the full story at GadgetVenue.

Picture: nDevilTV via Flickr

cnet reports that high-performance gaming specialist Alienware is about to enter the netbook market with their slightly-beefier-than-the-average-netbook M11x.

This model, which we believe will be the very first serious gaming netbook, is set to feature an 11-inch, 1,366×768-pixel screen and two switchable graphics cards – an integrated Intel chip and an Nvidia GeForce GT 335M to being full 3D graphics gaming support in. Switching between the two will be possible without the need to reboot.

In the model that cnet got their hands on, 2GB RAM, a 250GB Hard Disk and an Intel U4100 processor.

Alienware has apparently stated that the M11X will have a base price of $799 (£498), which makes it higher than the normal netbook price range, but still a low price for a very capable gaming machine. Details of when the M11x will go on sale are not yet readily available but we will keep you informed, as soon as we know it.

(via cnet UK)
Picture: jerryluo0520

PC World has made a handy comparison of the new Apple iPad vs a traditional netbook and I think they hit the nail on the head – the two shouldn’t be compared – they are not aimed at the same target market.

Quoting Apple’s Steve Jobs saying “[The iPad] is so much more intimate than a laptop, and so much more capable than a smartphone with this gorgeous large display.”, they point out that a netbook does a good job of what it is supposed to be – a small, cheap laptop that can do the basic tasks of a normal PC.

The iPad however is a different animal. If you want to type a a long e-mail, you’re either going to get finger-ache using the on-screen touchpad (admittedly it won’t be as fiddly as the iPhone keyboard as it is somewhat larger), or plug in a USB keyboard (perhaps something like the concept in the photo above) which will certainly less attractive, not to mention somewhat less practical to whip out on the train on the way to work.

The iPad is however smaller, lighter, not much more expensive that the average netbook and certainly sexier. I love web browsing on my iPhone, and I am going to love web browsing on the iPad. If the reports about the battery life are true there is not going to be much to worry about in that department.

via PC World
Photo: nDevilTV

Photo: GlennFleishmann

Many commentators have noted that Apple’s entry price of just $499 for the iPad is as low as half of what was generally expected. Have Apple priced the iPad too low?

DigiTimes.com reports that notebook vendors (specifically Asus and MSI) must now review their entire strategy for entering the tablet PC market.

The vendors originally planned to offer prices pegged at 20-30% lower than the Apple iPad, while they generally expected the device to cost as much as US$1,000. The US$499 entry-level price has caught vendors by surprise and means they will now need to adjust their price scales even lower to attract consumers, the sources pointed out.

What effect the iPad will have on the netbook market is as yet unclear. Since the vast majority of netbooks are running Windows (good or bad) it does mean that people can buy or install whatever applications they like. Since the iPad will be locked in to the AppStore in the same way as the iPhone, some people may find it simply too restrictive. Time will tell!

(News via DigiTimes.com)

Whether this helps or not, I don’t know – certainly after watching them, I want to wait even less. I want to download Google Chrome OS, and I want to download it NOW! Do you hear me Mr. & Mrs. Google! I want it now!

No… I suppose that asking isn’t really going to help to make it any quicker. I’ll just have to keep watching the videos endlessly until I can get my hands on it. When I get bored of the videos I’ll endlessly go back to pining for it!

Here’s the videos, if you want to pull up a chair…

What is Google Chrome OS ?

The first video explains the differences between Chrome OS and say, Windows or Linux, and why we want and need it.

Google Chrome OS Demo

The next Chrome OS Demo Video shows the Speed, Simplicity and Security that Google are striving to build into the OS. As well as showing the amazing seven seconds start-up time, this review is a real ‘hands-on’ demo of the current development build of Chrome OS and highlights what you can do in what is essentially an entire OS in a browser.

Google Chrome OS Security

The third, shows the concept behind ensuring the OS is and remains secure.

Google Chrome OS and Open Source

Finally, this last video (for now) demonstrates how and why Google Chrome will be open source, including the benefits behind it.

Enjoy!

The specification of the Skytone Alpha 680 is like most of the recent Smartphones – a 533 mhz ARM processor and 128 MB of RAM (can be extended up to 256 MB). Built-in storage is a little sparse in the base model – just 1 GB SSD although a 4GB option is mentioned on the companies website, as well as being expandable by using an SD or SDHC card in the slot that is thoughtfully provided.

The 680 looks like any other netbook at first glance, but closer inspection reveals that it can also be used in ‘Tablet PC mode’, although even closer inspection raises the question – how are you supposed to use it like that, when it does not have a touchscreen.

The 7-inch screen, apart from not being a touch-screen also only offers 800×480 resolution, so in this way it would be a little unfair to put in the same class as the regular Intel based netbooks around. The price though is set to be considerably lower than your average EeePC, so there will certainly be a market for it, probably in the web-browsing only user-base.

Other than this, its good to see that all the features we’ve come to expect are included – from a VGA port, an Ethernet port and a webcam, microphone and speakers.

If you draw a line between smartphone and netbook, it’s clearly much nearer the netbook end of things, and we are sure that many of the other players in the market (probably including Microsoft) are paying attention to see how it sells.

Will the Skytone Alpha 680 be leave a mark in the history of the netbook as significant as the one that Asus made with their first EeePC. Time will tell.