Asus |
The new Eee PC is E-E-Easy and fun to use.
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When you mention small, cheap laptops the One Laptop Per Child device immediately comes to mind.
Designed for third-world school children, the OLPC was supposed to cost just $100, although that price has increased to $200.
That’s why this week’s announcement from Asus is so exciting.
Their Eee PC also is a small, simple laptop which runs on the Linux operating system and is made to sell for just $300 to $400. Since it went on sale, last month in Taiwan, the Eee has been selling like hotcakes.
Asus has just announced their feature-rich, top-of-the line model, the Eee PC 4G is now available for sale here in the United States.
Eee stand for “easy to lean, easy to work and easy to play.” It’s a small, ultralight laptop with a 7-inch color screen, an Intel processor (the OLPC has an AMD chip) and a battery which provides up to 3 hours of use before needing recharging. Eee weighs less than two pounds.
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Everex |
The new Green ePC runs on a form of Linux called the gOS.
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Beginning today, Wal-Mart is selling a brand new computer for $199.
Everex calls their new Green gPC an alternative personal computer which runs on Linux – a free operating system. Its name implies it’s an alternative to more expensive devices which run on Microsoft Windows or Apple’s operating system.
(MSNBC.com is a Microsoft-NBC Universal joint venture.)
The gPC uses Ubuntu Linux, which is a free, open-source operating system. I’ve been testing Ubuntu on a number of different computers – old and new – for the past few months and I highly recommend it.
Everex added a green, graphical desktop and calls the result the gOS. The screen features oversized icons and a large, horizontal navigation bar with easy-to-understand icons for Web sites and free, installed software including the Mozilla Web browser, Skype and the OpenOffice suite plus links to YouTube and Wikipedia.
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Cellufun |
In this round it's Hillary vs. Rudy
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There aren’t many scintillating new items being displayed on the show floor at the 2007 CTIA Wireless I.T. and Entertainment expo in San Francisco.
But one new game displayed there did catch my eye.
From the “picture-is-worth-a-thousand-words” department, there’ll be a new game available soon for your cell phone called The Mobile Ring.
As you can see, this game from Cellufun lets you pit any U.S. presidential candidates of your choice in a knock-down battle—in a boxing ring.
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For the first time, a trade show for the cell phone industry is light on new phones. In the recent past there had been a slew of shiny new handset designs to admire. Not so this year.
The 2007 CTIA Wireless I.T. and Entertainment expo, here in San Francisco, is focused on everything you can do on your smartphone aside from making a phone call.
Wireless data use over cell phones is exploding. According to a new CTIA survey, non-voice service revenues in the first half of 2007 rose 63 percent over the same period last year.
That means more and more people are using their cell phones to send and receive IMs, e-mails, text messages, download maps, Web pages, music and video files, photos and nearly everything else you can think of - other than voice calls.
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Palm |
The new, smaller, red Palm Centro.
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Palm desperately needs some good news.
It was love at first sight.
Not because it is compact and nicely shaped – or because it 3G wireless connection is fast - or because it handles Microsoft Exchange mail, calendar and phonebook with aplomb.
I love it because it’s that and more. It’s an all-around great device.
The Centro is really a smaller Treo. Palm says it’s 20 percent smaller. I didn’t spend time measuring. Let’s just say it’s slightly smaller. What they’ve done they’ve made it easier to hold.
The screen is smaller than the Treo’s – but readable. The keyboard is smaller, too. When you first see it you might think it’s too small to type on, but even with my big fingers, I found the Centro’s keyboard made it easy for my typing to be quite accurate. I like it better than the iPhone to type on.
There’s a 1.3 megapixel camera on the back, which seems skimpy for a modern-day smartphone. It does produce fine looking photos and videos, though.
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Com One |
A reasonably priced table/portable Wi-Fi radio.
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Imagine listening to more than 5,000 radio stations from all over the world in a radio in your home.
You can if you have a high-speed connection and a Wi-Fi connection to the Web and Com One’s Phoenix Wi-Fi Radio. It's both a battery-operated portable as well as a table radio.
Wi-Fi radios aren’t real radios in the sense that they receive over-the-air signals from near (AM and FM) and far (shortwave) broadcasters. Wi-Fi radios receive Internet radio station streams where their signals come via a WI-Fi connection.
These devices are small, radio-shaped wireless computers that play music streams available on the Web. They’re also able to stream music you have stored on any computer hard drive wirelessly connected in your home.
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AT&T |
The screen tilts forward slightly so you can see it better while typing. Hence the name.
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AT&T’s new Tilt is fast. Really fast. I know that because I’m familiar with the phone in other forms.
The Tilt is nearly identical to AT&T’s previous 8525 device and to T-Mobile’s current Wing smartphone.
They’re all manufactured by HTC, they’re all GSM-based world phones which run on Windows Mobile OS, and they all have similar controls and buttons. They’re also all very good cellular phones.
But there's a huge difference. While the 8525 runs on the older, slower Windows Mobile 5 and Wing runs on the older, slower EDGE wireless data network, the Tilt has the most recent OS and runs on AT&T’s super-fast, 3G system.
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Logitech |
It's part wireless mouse, part laser pointer and part remote control.
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Logitech has created a computer mouse called the MX Air that’s actually half mouse and half remote control.
The MX Air is made to be used “on the desk” or “in the air.” It works like a regular, wireless mouse when you push it on a flat surface.
But, it also works like a combination laser pointer and video remote controller when you wave it in the air and point it towards your TV.
It is made to let you control – from near or far - the latest breed of multimedia Windows PCs. Especially new media computer units which require placement close to those shiny, flat-screens, high-definition televisions.
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Palm |
The new, smaller Palm Centro.
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Palm desperately needs some good news. No one is really buying PDAs anymore. Their Treo smartphone design has been aging ungracefully. And their Palm Foleo (small laptop which connects to a smartphone) was stillborn when it was cancelled days before its release.
Palm is hoping to turn that all around with its new smartphone, which looks a lot like their old Treo smartphone – only smaller. Overall, it’s 30-percent smaller in every direction. Except for some new chrome trim in places the family resemblance is easy to spot.
Centro has a full QWERTY keyboard and it’s a whole lot smaller than the Treo’s.
Centro runs on the tried and true Palm operating system. It does photos (1.3 megapixel camera), plays music, surfs the Web via its Blazer browser, handles your e-mail (even Microsoft Outlook mail) and can handle many different flavors of instant messaging.
There’s built-in Bluetooth, Google Maps, Sprint TV, news services and picture mail plus a voice and memo recorder. E-mail attachment viewing is done thru Documents-to-Go software.
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Pinnacle Systems |
HTC's Advantage is part smartphone, part mini-laptop with a lot of features crammed inside.
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You don’t need to spend big bucks to watch high definition television on an expensive flat-screen TV.
Pinnacle Systems has created a much cheaper way. All you need is their $129.99 PCTV – HD Pro Stick and a laptop computer.
The Pinnacle PCTV HD Pro Stick lets you watch high quality, over-the-air digital, high-definition and standard definition TV shows. No monthly fees or subscriptions are necessary.
The HD Pro stick package contains an HDTV video and audio card built inside a small USB 2.0 device.
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