Hasta La Gadget!

A little bit of Euroland investigation this morning has revealed signs that Intel’s upcoming 1.66GHz N455 and 1.83GHz N475 Atom processors are close to making their official debut. Netbook Italia spotted the official Toshiba website posting up an NB305-10F model a little prematurely — a page that was promptly yanked, but not before our amici were able to note the inclusion of the DDR3-compatible N455 CPU, a gigabyte of RAM, 250GB hard disk and otherwise unchanged specs. The expected price for that netbook is noted at €350 ($467), which is also the price at which the upgraded HP Mini 210 — spotted by German outfit nDevil — is listed on Amazon.de. Shipping dates are predictably not yet ascertained, though it’s looking like things are about to get moving nice and swiftly from here on out.

Toshiba NB305 and HP Mini 210 to be upgraded with Atom N455 CPUs and DDR3 memory originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 27 Apr 2010 08:52:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If you’ve been dying to get your hands on a ThinkPad netbook — and we mean a real Atom-based, 10-inch ThinkPad — we’ve got some good news and bad. The good is that Lenovo has indeed been making them, the bad is that you’ll have to enroll in a school in New South Wales to get one. Yep, the official word from Lenovo is that the product was a one off deal for the Australian school district. Luckily one unit escaped from the land down under and ended up in our hands yesterday, though we must admit the little laptop is pretty underwhelming since it’s just a X100e with a 1024×600 10-inch screen, rather than the original 11.6-inch one. But if an overflowing bezel is your thing, you’ll want to enroll in Summer Heights High ASAP (video after the break for those that are unfamiliar with the amazing, yet expired HBO show). We also confirmed that it has an 1.6GHz Atom N450 processor, which has less power than the AMD Neo being used in the X100e, but we’d venture to guess pumps out at least two more hours of juice with the same six-cell battery. The hands-on pictures below are probably the closest you’ll come to seeing one of these, so click on through.

Continue reading Lenovo ThinkPad Mini 10 lives, but only for Aussie students

Lenovo ThinkPad Mini 10 lives, but only for Aussie students originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 22 Apr 2010 19:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Can’t get enough of Intel’s Atom? Try the new Tunnel Creek system-on-chip flavor that the company has announced. It’s part of the Queensbay platform, something of a Menlow successor that’s better suited for MIDs and the like thanks to its greater RAM capacity (still only 1GB), PCIe bus (opening the door to Ion), and integrated gigabit LAN. All that with a consumption of just 5TDP leaves our friend Chippy from UMPC Portal to say the platform could be “the natural choice for simple, low-cost MIDs.” As Intel ramps up for its Developer Forum the company is also touting its partnership with the Chinese auto manufacturer HawTai to produce a MeeGo-based infotainment system that, wait for it, also runs on Atom. And, finally, China Mobile is looking to rely on Intel chips for “targeted platforms powering its wireless networks” and to “provide our broadband wireless network the benefits of world class energy efficiency.” Next up: Atom-based pacemakers, espresso machines, and puppy dogs.

Intel unveils Atom-based Queensbay system-on-chip, in-car infotainment, China Mobile partnership originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 14 Apr 2010 08:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’ll give you a few seconds to re-read that headline and recover from the initial shock, but yes, after almost a year of delays the EeeKeyboard is in fact ready for prime time — ASUS confirmed that the Atom-based HTPC keyboard will go on sale in the US in three weeks. We don’t have firm details on pricing, but we’re assuming the battery-powered PC with an integrated five-inch touchscreen, HDMI-out, and UWB will range somewhere between $500 to $600. We should know more soon as well as have a real-life review unit, but we’re curious, will you actually be putting some Eee in your living room? Oh and there’s a new EeeKeyboard promo video after the break in case you’ve missed our numerous hands-on vids.

Continue reading ASUS EeeKeyboard finally shipping at the end of April

ASUS EeeKeyboard finally shipping at the end of April originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 09 Apr 2010 14:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Previously on Computers Designed For Children, protagonist PeeWee PC introduced us to its creation, the Pivot Tablet Laptop, a cute little netvertible with childish specs — but a $600 price that set it well out of reach of the average piggy bank. One year later, PeeWee has matured, but not necessarily for the better. For $100 less, the new PeeWee Power Laptop, which is actually just a rebranded Classmate PC, sports the same carry handle and kid-friendly construction as its the aforesaid Tablet (though with a faster 1.66GHz Atom N450 processor, 15 game titles and a security suite, mind you), but completely ditches the tablet PC functionality. Without a stylus or touchscreen for kids on which to express their creativity (read: color outside of the lines), we’re not quite sure of the point. In truth, the Power Laptop is neither laptop nor powerful — merely a rugged, kid-friendly netbook at an adult price point. But hey, it’s got a carry handle!

Update: PeeWee representatives tell us that the Power Laptop will not actually replace the Pivot Tablet — a new version of that machine (perhaps a rebranded convertible Classmate?) is slated to appear around May.

Continue reading PeeWee PC loses the stylus, gains average netbook status (update)

PeeWee PC loses the stylus, gains average netbook status (update) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 01 Apr 2010 02:52:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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