Qualcomm-powered Lenovo smartbook

In order to carve out a market, smartbooks should offer the best features of the two devices they fit between. Smartbooks need all-day runtime, instant-on and smartphone connectivity melded with the keyboard and usability of a netbook. But at the same time, a successful smartbook must offer an advantage over these two devices — it must be usable, but not too big. Make the device too large and it will compete poorly against netbooks, which offer x86 program compatibility and nearly all-day runtime. That’s exactly what I see in the first smartbook design — a netbook form factor that fails to take advantage of using a lower-powered ARM processor in a pocketable package.

Image courtesy of Liliputing

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Livestreaming is all the rage today, be it from a handset or home computer with a webcam. But one of the major challenges is how to view that live content on a handset. Wouldn’t it be nice if a company could provide a method for livestreaming to mobiles without a lengthy re-encoding process? Lo and behold, enter Livestream, which today announced its Procaster beta application for Mac and PC at NewTeeVee Live, our annual online video industry conference. Using the iPhone’s native H.264 HTTP streaming, Procaster allows for near-instant broadcasting to iPhones — there’s roughly a 20-second delay from live broadcast to the devices, and multiple handsets can tune into the same stream. Watch NTV Live by clicking here or going to iphone.livestream.com. Here’s a video demo to see how Procaster works:

I took the Procaster software for a short test drive, and I was broadcasting live from my Mac in under five minutes using an integrated webcam and microphone. Procaster can use any attached webcam or microphone, so you don’t have to limit yourself to integrated audio or video capture devices. Once my broadcast was live, I simply pointed the Safari browser on my iPhone to http://iphone.livestream.com where I saw my personal channel. Tapping it opened up QuickTime where I saw a near real-time, high-quality view of my  broadcast. Even better: As a broadcaster, I was able to toggle between my camera setup and my desktop, a solution I envision as being useful for real-time training and presentations.

While there are other ways to view video on the iPhone, most involve a lengthy re-encoding effort. Livestream has cut that down to under a half-minute. And the best part? Procaster is simply using the native functions that Apple already provides to the platform. That’s a killer feature right there because it means people can begin to live stream to iPhones without any software installs on the handset.

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Ustream Viewer Launches on Android (Just in Time for a KISS Concert) NewTeeVee – by Ryan Lawler "; Living by the Numbers: What Happens When You Quantify Everything? WebWorkerDaily – by Celine Roque "; Wireless Handheld Keyboard and Trackpad for UMPCs jkOnTheRun – by James Kendrick "; 5 Energy Storage Players That Won Smart Grid Stimulus Funds Earth2Tech – by Katie Fehrenbacher ";

Posted by Kevin C. Tofel on GigaOM  |  Permalink  |  8 Comments
Tags: iPhone, Livestream, livestreaming, Procaster

Apple said this afternoon that it sold 7.4 million iPhones in its most recent fiscal quarter, 7 percent more than the same three-month period a year earlier and a whopping 43 percent more on a sequential basis. The numbers illustrate two key points: Mobile is indeed the future and reducing the base iPhone model to $99 is helping unit sales, in a big way.

Meanwhile, much to the chagrin of Microsoft and its ecosystem of partners, Apple sold 3.05 million Mac computers, a 17 percent rise over its previous fiscal fourth quarter. That’s not too shabby for a premium computer line during down times.

More interesting than the past however, is the future. This quote from Steve Jobs ought to have all of the Apple rumor sites salivating:

“We are thrilled to have sold more Macs and iPhones than in any previous quarter,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “We’ve got a very strong lineup for the holiday season and some really great new products in the pipeline for 2010.”

The iPhone is historically on a summer refresh schedule, so it’s a safe bet that next summer sees an iPhone update, not to mention the inclusion of a camera in the iPod touch line at some point. But one of those “really great new products” could well be the larger tablet device that’s been bandied around in earnest this past year. Surely it’s not a netbook because Apple doesn’t see a way to make a quality device at low netbook prices. Then again, Apple is known to redefine developing product markets. Add in the trend that more non-phone devices are falling under the subsidy model and it’s easy to believe that 2010 might see another portable computing device from Cupertino in the $300-$500 range.

And of course, iPod sales continue their slow decline — Apple sold 10.2 million iPods in the most recent three-month period, down 8 percent from the same quarter a year earlier and 7 percent from its fiscal 2009 third quarter. Back in June of 2008, I read the handwriting on the wall by saying standalone music players were dying a slow, painful death due to the rise of smartphones.

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Tags: aaple, iPhone, iPod, Mobile, Netbook, smartphones

Om’s Notebooks vs. Netbooks: Can You Tell the Difference? post sparked a healthy amount of debate when it went up Monday. Given how closely I’ve followed the burgeoning netbook sector since its birth, the discussion quickly caught my eye. Despite his observations as to how netbook makers are trying make their offerings more robust, however, crucial differences between notebooks and netbooks remain — differences that, as some astute commenters pointed out, allow netbooks to fill the gap between what’s offered by smartphones and what’s offered by full-featured notebooks. Here’s how.

The 3P Triangle — Imagine, of you will, an equilateral triangle, with each point representing one of three attributes: price, performance and portability. Currently, a notebook can excel in one or two of these areas, but not all three. If you want a highly portable notebook with excellent performance, for example, you can’t have a low price. Likewise, if you want a full-featured notebook with reasonable performance, you can expect to pay at least $600-$1,000. Just don’t expect to tote it around, because you’re going to give up portability — the device will likely weigh around 5 pounds and run out of battery life in three hours or so. Enter netbooks: They provide enough horsepower to do the majority of everyday computing tasks, tend to average around $350, and are light and small enough to carry all day long.

All-day computing — How many full-sized notebooks offer 8-10 hours of runtime on a single battery? None that I can think of, but I can name at least three netbooks off the top of my head that do — and at prices of $400 or less. The Samsung NC10, ASUS Eee PC 1005 and my Toshiba NB205 all get at least eight hours of real-world, web-surfing-over-Wi-Fi computing. We complain when our smartphones can’t make it through the day on a single charge, so why do we accept notebooks that face the same challenge? The fact is, we don’t have to.

Enough is all you need — Notebooks and netbooks are both laptops like a finish hammer and a sledgehammer are both hammers. Aside from the obvious size difference, they’re similar tools that are meant for different scenarios. I’d sooner have a root canal than encode a 1GB high-def video on a netbook. When I do those videos for our site, I turn to the best tool for the task: a full-featured notebook like my MacBook. But when I want to live in my browser for blogging, consuming RSS and other web content or watch the occasional YouTube video on a screen bigger than my iPhone 3GS, I turn to my netbook. The rise of cloud apps, web services and various connectivity methods turn my “little laptop” into a big workhorse all the live-long day.

Going back to my hammer example, I wouldn’t want to carry a sledgehammer for an hour, let alone all day. This, too, is an oft-overlooked point with notebooks. Notebooks are outselling desktops, but I’d argue that most owners aren’t taking advantage of the portability gained. I often talk to people about their latest notebook purchase and hear that they bought 6-pound device. When I ask them how they’re going to carry it around, they look at me strangely. A common response is, “Carry it where? It’s going to sit on my desk.” In a case like that, I’d argue that the individual just bought another desktop, only one with a battery and an attached monitor. Carrying around a netbook, on the other hand, isn’t much different from carrying the latest New York Times Bestseller in hardback. I’ve used mine — with room to spare — in bleachers at sporting events, on planes, in a car and everywhere in between. In fact, I have yet to find a place where a 10-inch netbook couldn’t comfortably be used for hours.

Om raises a valid point about the 12-inch netbooks about to hit from ASUS and others. Are they netbooks or notebooks? In the end, it doesn’t matter what we call them. And even if they’re not a hit, they’re not going to displace the tens of millions of 10-inch, traditional netbooks that are selling in a down market. Simply put, the overall value proposition of netbooks is what sets them apart from the notebooks of today. At these prices, you get more oomph than a smartphone in a bigger package that offers a more satisfying experience. Yet you won’t pay much more for portability and it can keep you productive all day long.

I think Dave Winer said it best in his comment: “[G]et an Asus and take it with you on your next trip. Leave the Mac home. It’ll open your eyes as to what’s possible. But you can’t get it by thinking your way there, you have to actually do it.” While the experience won’t be the same for everyone, I think Dave’s approach is spot-on — you can’t tell the difference between a notebook and a netbook until you try them both.

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Ask a netbook owner why he or she bought one of the small laptops and you’re sure to get a number of reasonable answers. However, the response likely won’t be, “For the killer graphics performance!” Intel’s GMA 950 core has been the bread-and-butter hardware solution for graphics since the netbook market was born in late 2007. The chip is fine for a basic, all-around graphics experience, but quickly starts to falter when stressed with high-definition video or other graphic-intensive tasks. Enter Nvidia with its ION solution, which found its way into the new HP Mini 311, an 11.6-inch netbook starting at $399. At this price point — and with the high-definition video functionality and DirectX 10 support that Intel netbooks can’t currently match — consumers are sure to be swayed towards a PC-quality graphics experience on a mobile computer, meaning the netbook market could see some serious changes.

Successful markets don’t stagnate — they morph in anticipation of consumer needs. While the original netbooks were never considered as a solution for high-definition content consumption, that doesn’t mean there isn’t a desire for such a feature. Digital content consumption is growing, so doesn’t it make sense that hardware is needed to support that demand? Although a netbook’s small screen might not provide an optimal 1080p experience, the right graphics chip paired with a digital output and a large, high-definition television makes for an attractive combination — especially at these prices.

I read LAPTOP Magazine’s early look at the HP Mini 311 with Nvidia’s ION, and the initial benchmarks are telling:

• PCMark05 scores, which measure overall performance, are 35 percent higher than the current average netbook powered fully by Intel.
• The 3DMark06 test, which focuses solely on graphics, yielded a score of 1,386. The average netbook score for this test? Under 100.
• A 114MB video encoding test from AVI to MPEG-4 using supported software took 6 minutes and 14 seconds using the ION platform. The same file on a standard netbook with Intel churned for a half hour.

Clearly, the Nvidia solution will appeal to those who appreciate strong visuals on the 1,366×768 display or want DirectX 10 support for gaming. The integrated HDMI output extends the experience to larger screens as well — LAPTOP played a 1080p trailer on a 32-inch HDTV with positive results. But do consumers want better graphics on small notebooks?

Two years ago, I would have argued “no.” I’ve personally bought three netbooks in the past two years — the Toshiba NB205 is my current device — but for the price, I’ve never expected much in the way of graphics performance. But wait a second. The HP Mini 311 with Nvidia ION is priced exactly the same as my current device at $399. And those thin-and-light devices with Intel’s CULV solutions generally start around $699 or so. Sure, they may offer a little more horsepower in the CPU department, but they actually fare worse with graphic benchmarks than Nvidia’s little engine that could. LAPTOP’s testing shows the graphics scores are roughly double that of the thin-and-lights that use Intel’s GMA4500 graphics — at half the price.

These results on a $399 netbook could heavily impact sales not just of netbooks, but even the thin-and-light notebooks. Devices in this price range aren’t meant for heavy-duty computational tasks, so consumers are currently getting by with the Intel Atom CPU — and they’re making do with the meager Intel graphics as well. But if there’s a more powerful option for visuals, buyers will gravitate towards it — the thought is: “I’m getting more performance for the same price, so why not take the plunge?”  If Nvidia continues to stay ahead of Intel’s graphics for mobile computers, I expect to see many more Nvidia ION stickers on netbooks this holiday season.

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Posted by Kevin C. Tofel on GigaOM  |  Permalink  |  10 Comments
Tags: GPUs, graphics, Intel, ION, netbooks, Nvidia

As the Master of Ceremonies at our recent Mobilize 09 event, I think I had the best seat in the house. Actually, I stood all day, but the chance to meet and introduce every speakers and panelist was like a backstage pass to the mobile web itself. In short, it was one of the most enlightening experiences I’ve had since starting this career. And while there’s no way to share every nuance of the event, Colin Gibbs has penned an informative overview of it in his Mobilize Wrap-up, published at GigaOM Pro (subscription required).

While our live-blogging provided a look at the day’s happenings as they unfolded, Colin’s wrap-up (in my colleague Liz Gannes’ words) shows the “forest, not just the trees,” by focusing on the major themes of the day and summarizing the mobile web as seen by the thought leaders and attendees of Mobilize 09. From app stores to ultraband and social media trends, Colin captures the essence of our event and tops it off with a look at our LaunchPad companies — the visionaries that translate today’s trends into tomorrow’s mobile web solutions. If you weren’t able to attend Mobilize 09, Colin’s piece is the next best thing to actually having been there. And unlike me, you can enjoy it sitting down.

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Om and I are both big fans of the PogoPlug from Cloud Engines. Using it earlier this year, we turned ordinary external drives into remotely accessible Network Area Storage devices. But even good products can evolve into better ones. Today, Cloud Engines announced a product partnership with Seagate called the FreeAgent DockStar. This $99 docking mechanism holds a Seagate FreeAgent Go external drive but also connects directly to a router to leverage the PogoPlug cloud functionality. A $29 yearly PogoPlug subscription is required for file-sharing, but the first year is included with a DockStar. Additional storage devices are supported through the three USB ports on the dock.

Will the DockStar be a rock star for consumers? The clean-looking device is far smaller and cheaper than other NAS solutions on the market, although the price doesn’t include an actual hard drive. The primary benefit is in easily sharing photos, documents, music, videos and other files by using local storage. The PogoPlug functionality simplifies that sharing and even creates an RSS feed for shared folders. Simply adding files to such a folder notifies friends and family of new content through Really Simple Syndication. Consumers are creating more shareable content each day — Emarketer forecasts 155 million U.S. Internet users will engage in user-generated content by 2013, a jump from 116 million in 2008. Devices like the new iPod Nano with camera are enabling more than passable content creation in a small, cheap package. Places to store that content are needed. But people aren’t creating content just for the sake of it. They want to store it and share their work with others. Seagate’s DockStar meets both needs in a simple-to-use and relatively inexpensive fashion.

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Ustream Viewer Launches on Android (Just in Time for a KISS Concert) NewTeeVee – by Ryan Lawler "; Living by the Numbers: What Happens When You Quantify Everything? WebWorkerDaily – by Celine Roque "; Wireless Handheld Keyboard and Trackpad for UMPCs jkOnTheRun – by James Kendrick "; 5 Energy Storage Players That Won Smart Grid Stimulus Funds Earth2Tech – by Katie Fehrenbacher ";

Posted by Kevin C. Tofel on GigaOM  |  Permalink  |  5 Comments
Tags: cloud engines, FreeAgent DockStar, pogoplug, Seagate, storage

Microsoft, after months of anticipation, today launched its latest digital audio player, the Zune HD. It’s a complete revamp of the device’s previous versions — it utilizes a bright OLED touchscreen, adds a web browser and HD radio tuner, and runs on a new Tegra processor from Nvidia. But while Microsoft hopes to “out-iPod” the Apple line of audio players with some extra features, the question isn’t “Which device has more features?” Rather, it’s “Which device has the features that consumers want most?” More importantly — will Microsoft eventually fold its Zune platform into Windows phones?

I haven’t used the new Zune HD yet, although a review unit is on the way. However, I did purchase the original Zune back in late 2006. In fact, I suspect that I’m one of the few people that owned a Zune before owning an iPod. I thoroughly enjoyed the Zune Pass music subscription that the Zune hardware supports; spending $14.95 a month to rent music was a deal that Apple wasn’t then able to match. That deal sounds even better now — Microsoft includes 10 MP3 downloads a month at no extra charge. But iPod owners who crave musical variation now have plenty of options, too, courtesy of the iTunes App Store; even Real Network’s Rhapsody To Go service was recently greenlighted by Apple for availability there. Meanwhile, Pandora and Slacker offer millions of available tracks to stream. The key difference here is that those require real-time connectivity while the Zune device can store rented music for offline enjoyment.

Both, however, are capable of viewing videos in addition to playing music. ZuneHD owners will enjoy brighter and more vibrant video content than iPod owners thanks to the OLED display used by Microsoft. However, those same Zune HD owners will struggle to use their device outdoors — OLED displays appear washed out in direct sunlight. Aside from different display technologies used, the iPod Touch offers a bigger screen with a higher resolution — it uses a 3.5-inch display at 480×320 pixels, while the new ZuneHD is 3.3 inches at 480×272. On a small screen, those missing 48 lines of resolution aren’t that noticeable and Microsoft figures they’ll make up for it by trumping Apple on larger, high-resolution external displays.

Each device can use an optional A/V dock, but the Zune HD can output high-definition video at 720p through its dock, while a docked iPod can only push content at 480p. Here again, Microsoft beats Apple in technical specifications, but unless consumers plan to carry portable HD content and connect to an HDTV, the point is lost. Eventually, I believe that could happen — I proposed such an idea nearly four years ago — but most households already have several options to get HD content on the big screen. How many of them will need a mobile one, too? (For a hands-on demo of the device’s video capabilities, see the video made by Liz and Chris over at NewTeeVee at the bottom of the post.)

Speaking of connectivity, Microsoft has kept Wi-Fi in the Zune line. This time however, it’s far more useful. The original Zune limited Wi-Fi use to “squirting,” or sharing music from one Zune to another; Microsoft later added the ability to sync music wirelessly from a PC. Now it’s included a version of Internet Explorer for web browsing, bringing the Zune HD closer to Apple’s iPod touch and its mobile Safari browser.

Which brings us, of course, to the big question: Will Microsoft eventually meld the Zune and Windows Phone platforms into a stronger competitor to Apple’s iPhone? The opportunity is there, but it appears Redmond isn’t quite ready. On Oct. 6, handset makers will officially unveil Windows Mobile 6.5 devices and no Zune integration is expected. But Windows Mobile 7 is due in 2010, which leaves the door wide open for a Zune Phone. Such a device would have to offer the best features from both the Zune and Windows Mobile platforms to compete with the iPhone juggernaut. The Zune bits would bring entertainment value to the handset, while the large array of Windows Mobile software titles could instantly create an vast “app store” for the Zune brand. Zune will have a marketplace at launch, but the titles are few. Clearly, consumers crave apps, so why not leverage the tens of thousands created for Windows Mobile?

While Microsoft has clearly matured the Zune HD from its humble beginnings, the extra features are unlikely to have Apple scared. So far, while Cupertino offers fewer features, the market is proving that they’re the right features for today’s consumers.

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Posted by Kevin C. Tofel on GigaOM  |  Permalink  |  9 Comments
Tags: Apple, iPod, Microsoft, zunehd

What if virtually every cellular handset on the planet enjoyed accurate location awareness? That’s the question I pondered after meeting with GloPos, a startup that’s about to leave stealth mode whose self-learning software algorithm enables any basic GSM or CDMA cellular phone to provide extremely precise locational data without using GPS — or even Wi-Fi, for that matter. The patent-pending technology offers positioning to within 1-40 meters, including indoor and underground locations.

Think about it — your old RAZR from 2005 suddenly gains precise location awareness that rivals or beats the location fixes from a high-end smartphone of 2009. With near-global handset support, and no additional radios required, GloPos could effectively commoditize location.

Location fixes by cellular triangulation are nothing new, of course, but they’ve never been as accurate as GPS. Until now. GloPos’ “secret sauce” is in its location algorithm, which sends small amounts of data — as little as 100Kb — from a standard phone to a server that returns a precise location within milliseconds.

GloPos is run by Mikael Vainio and Alexander Le Bell, who together have more than two decades of mobile experience with Nokia and Ericsson. They founded GloPos in March of this year by spinning it off from 4TS, a Finland-based company that offers location and sensor technologies for the logistics and shipping industries. 4TS is a major shareholder of GloPos, but the company is funded by an angel investor. Vainio and Le Bell currently outsource technical support and R&D to 4TS; they plan to expand the executive team within weeks.

GloPos has an placeholder web site up, but details of its location solution won’t be live there until next week. After that launches, we should hear more about the company’s business model plans. Its technology has obvious advertising possibilities, or it could be that GloPos licenses it to carriers and handset makers. Or perhaps it will offer the service to consumers directly. That possibility — and the fact that I met with Vainio and Le Bell in San Francisco, aka the unofficial iPhone capital — led me to ask about getting their software onto that device. After all, any software in the App Store goes through Apple’s direct and/or AT&T’s indirect scrutiny.

While Vainio sees an opportunity there, iPhone sales are a drop in the bucket when compared to the global handset market as a whole. Remember, there’s no need to have GPS or Wi-Fi radios for the GloPos solution, so practically any and every handset can leverage it. Still, he hasn’t lost sight of the iPhone platform. “There are over 2,500 location-based apps in the App Store,” he noted, so if GloPos could make an inroad with the platform, every one of those apps could leverage the more accurate position fix using nothing more than than a device’s cellular radio.

We already know that location-based systems are the future. But while some think the way to get there is by adding radios to new hardware, the team at GloPos believes it’s by combining intelligent software with legacy handsets. They may be right.

This article also appeared on BusinessWeek.com.

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As a netbook fanatic, you’d think Nokia’s unveiling of the Booklet 3G, its first foray into the netbook world, today would have me doing my geeky dance of joy. I’m waiting for Sept. 2nd — when the handset maker and mobile service provider is expected to disclose the bulk of the device details — before I decide whether to kick up my heels and do a little jig.

It’s difficult for me to get excited about the Booklet 3G as not only is it late to the party, but it doesn’t appear to offer much more than the netbooks already on the market. Case in point: The Booklet 3G will run Microsoft Windows using the Intel Atom platform. I originally thought this might be the next-generation Atom — aka the PineTrail platform — but All About Symbian indicates the CPU is a 1.6GHz Intel Atom Z530. That’s the same processor that’s been available in Dell’s Inspiron Mini10 netbook for the past several months.

The Booklet 3G tips the scales at 2.75 pounds and offers a 10.1-inch display. Nokia says the screen is “HD ready,” which tells me that resolution is likely 1366×768. While that beats the standard netbook resolution of 1024×600, several currently available netbooks can be equipped with the same resolution for as little as $25 extra. A full complement of wireless radios are tucked in the Booklet 3G — 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and HSPA 3G — as well as a webcam, support for A-GPS, and a properly laid-out keyboard and trackpad. In other words, based on the current known specifications, the Booklet 3G is yet another WinTel netbook.

Nokia does claim a 12-hour battery life for the device, but without specifications on the physical battery capacity and the CPU platform, it’s difficult to put that claim into perspective. After all, there are aftermarket power packs that extend the run time of today’s netbook by 50 percent or more. But not everyone wants to carry a battery that weighs half as much as the netbook it powers. And manufacturer battery claims are often suspect in the real world. My latest netbook, a Toshiba NB205, is advertised with up to 9.08 hours of battery life. However, I can only stretch it out to around eight hours in everyday, normal usage.

What could Nokia do or could it have done with the Booklet 3G to make me do my geeky happy dance?

• Be the first netbook on the market with an Intel PineTrail platform CPU, which would offer better power efficiency and therefore, longer battery life.
• Ensure that the 12-hour run-time claim is a real-world measurement. Battery claims are often based on controlled tests that don’t emulate typical usage scenarios.
• Consider an option running Moblin, the open-source netbook operating system project sponsored by Intel. The two companies entered into a partnership this past June to share development efforts between Intel’s Moblin and Nokia’s Maemo.
• Keep the cost of the Booklet 3G in or under the $350-$399 price range — or find carrier partners to fully subsidize the device.

I expect that Nokia will try to use its Ovi services to help differentiate the Booklet 3G. But Ovi is available from any current computer right over the web, so there’s no “netbook specific” feature there. Without one or more of the options outlined above, Nokia simply isn’t differentiating the Booklet 3G enough from either the netbooks of today or from those right around the corner. Unless I hear more details that align with my four differentiators, my dance of joy is on hold.

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Two weeks ago, on a Saturday night, my son Tyler and I went netbook shopping. I know, I know — most folks spend Saturday nights in front of the television, out at the movies or taking in a show. Not us. We go netbook shopping. What can I say? It’s a father-son bonding ritual in our geeky house.

It took me more than an hour before I settled on the new Toshiba NB205. As far as netbooks go these days, there really aren’t many differences. The vast majority use an Intel Atom processor, run Microsoft Windows XP on 1GB of RAM and offer plenty of hard drive storage space for a little laptop. They all include Wi-Fi, several USB ports and most include some type of memory card slot. The Toshiba NB205 is no exception — but it has three sweet features that make it better than the MSI Wind netbook I purchased last year.

The 3 Features That Won Me Over

Take for example, the trackpad and mouse buttons on the NB205. Instead of one single mouse button used for both left and right clicks — common on netbooks — the NB205 has two distinct buttons. And the size of the trackpad is extremely generous. Compared to the trackpad on my MSI Wind, the NB205 offers nearly double the usable size. It’s actually larger than the trackpad on some full-figured notebooks I use.

Then there’s the Toshiba Power Saver utility, which manages energy settings at the individual component level. That sounds complicated, but the software provides a handful of pre-configured power schemes that do the heavy lifting. When using the utility on the “Long Life” setting, I can work online for nearly eight hours with the NB205’s included 6-cell battery.

Lastly, there’s those USB ports. Like most other netbooks, the NB205 includes three of them. But Toshiba enabled one port with a “sleep and charge” function, which provides power to it even when the device is off. I wouldn’t use such a feature when running this netbook off of the battery, but it comes in handy when I want to, say, charge a phone when the netbook is plugged in. When my netbook is off but connected to an electrical outlet, I can top off the batteries in my handheld devices. And Now That I Own It…

How much do I like my purchase so far? Even with the included 1GB of RAM —  a standard for netbooks running Windows XP — the NB205 is handling my daily web work with ease in XP. I will be upgrading to 2GB of memory later this week, bringing the RAM in line with what most full-featured notebooks offer these days. As a Microsoft TechNet subscriber, I have early access to the RTM version of Windows 7, so I installed the OS on a second partition for a dual-boot solution. Upon booting the device, I simply choose to run in either XP or Windows 7. When running Windows 7 on the netbook, I find that I’m getting XP performance combined with the additional features of Microsoft’s newest operating system.

Although my computing needs are light, I’m impressed enough with the device that it’s the only one I’m using for my daily work. For 10 hours a day or more, this netbook is now my primary computer. I am taking advantage of the VGA port — a standard inclusion on most netbooks — to drive a 24-inch, 1920×1200 external display in my home office. Netbooks are made to be portable, but why not use a larger display when immobile?

Typing on the NB205 is actually a joy, both when mobile or stationary. The island-style keys run nearly edge to edge on the chassis, providing a nearly full-sized keyboard experience in a portable package. Unlike some earlier netbooks, the layout is correct and even offers dedicated Page Up and Page Down keys — which comes in handy when working on the 1024×600 screen, since that resolution requires a fair amount of scrolling.

Toshiba offers the NB205 in four different colors — Frost White, Posh Pink, Onyx Black and Royal Blue. Regardless of the color you choose, the NB205 retails for $399 direct.

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Posted by Kevin C. Tofel on GigaOM  |  Permalink  |  9 Comments
Tags: netbooks, Toshiba NB205

Earlier this year, Acer announced plans to create a dual-boot netbook capable of running Microsoft Windows XP and Google Android. But while that might have made sense at the time, that was before Google announced its Google Chrome OS. And so I’ve I questioned Acer’s plan to continue with its Android netbook strategy. I just don’t see much value in the company spending development time and money on Android as an addition to a netbook that’s already running a very capable OS.

It appears the market agrees with me, because Acer is pushing back the launch of the dual-boot netbook, DigiTimes is reporting. Original plans were for an August release, but due to lack of market demand, Acer is now reportedly waiting until at least November. As DigiTimes writes:

“[F]urther evaluation has found demand for an Android netbook is not strong enough, and it has therefore decided to postpone the launch of the model.”

I’m not sure that demand for an Android netbook will be any stronger a few months from now, either. In fact, I suspect it will be even weaker. Microsoft is due to launch Windows 7, which runs perfectly well on today’s netbooks, in October. And Google’s Chrome OS isn’t too far behind, with a launch set for the second half of 2010. In the meantime, Ubuntu’s latest version already includes a “Netbook Remix” edition. Where does that leave room for Android on a netbook?

I was hot for Android on a netbook late last year, but much has changed since then. We’ve yet to see much traction for ARM-based netbooks, making it an x86 world for now. And putting a handset operating system on a 10-inch netbook display is like cramming Mac OS X on a 1024×600 screen — I’ve done it, and the experience isn’t optimal. At this point, Android may have missed the netbook boat — even if Acer isn’t quite ready to admit it.

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Ustream Viewer Launches on Android (Just in Time for a KISS Concert) NewTeeVee – by Ryan Lawler "; Living by the Numbers: What Happens When You Quantify Everything? WebWorkerDaily – by Celine Roque "; Wireless Handheld Keyboard and Trackpad for UMPCs jkOnTheRun – by James Kendrick "; 5 Energy Storage Players That Won Smart Grid Stimulus Funds Earth2Tech – by Katie Fehrenbacher ";

Posted by Kevin C. Tofel on GigaOM  |  Permalink  |  13 Comments

Netbooks are emerging as one of the few bright spots in computer sales during this global economic downturn, with DisplaySearch estimating that in 2009, worldwide sales of netbooks will double from the prior year, to 32.7 million. To put that number in perspective, that’s more iPhones than Apple is forecast to sell this year. Granted, we’re not comparing apples to Apples here, as these are different device classes, but merely looking to illustrate that there are already some serious numbers to be found in this still-nascent market.

But more important is how such sales predictions compare to those of higher-margin notebooks, as well as where in the world the growth is taking place and what’s driving it. As DisplaySearch notes:

• In North America, netbook sales weren’t quite 10 percent that of notebook sales in 2008. That number is expected to grow to around 22 percent in 2009. Instead of one netbook to every 10 notebooks sold, DisplaySearch estimates it will be a 1:5 ratio this year. That can’t bode well for hardware makers’ profit margins.
• Out of six global regions in the DisplaySearch study, when it came to netbook sales in 2008, China languished near the bottom. In 2009, however, sales in the region are forecast to jump 260.1 percent — more than 10 times that of notebooks’ expected rise.
• In Europe, where telecom carriers often subsidize netbooks, resulting in no out-of-pocket cost to consumers, the netbook penetration rate is already at 22 percent. That’s since just October of 2007, when what is widely considered to be the first netbook — the ASUS Eee PC Surf — was first introduced. Now that all three U.S. carriers are bundling subsidized netbooks with 3G service, it’s safe to expect a faster rise in penetration rates here as well.

Sales numbers aside, who is poised to benefit? Given the degree to which sales of netbooks are seen rising even amid the current economic struggles, it’s no wonder that Google plans to fight Microsoft for the netbook operating system space — they offer what is expected to be more than 30 million environments in which customers can click ads on a recurring basis this year alone. That’s a smart, long-term strategy, so my odds are on Google. Microsoft’s strategy to sell the OS license for a one-time fee simply doesn’t offer the same growth potential. Perhaps Redmond should give Windows away for free on netbooks and look for alternative methods of revenue in this hot market.

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Ustream Viewer Launches on Android (Just in Time for a KISS Concert) NewTeeVee – by Ryan Lawler "; Living by the Numbers: What Happens When You Quantify Everything? WebWorkerDaily – by Celine Roque "; Wireless Handheld Keyboard and Trackpad for UMPCs jkOnTheRun – by James Kendrick "; 5 Energy Storage Players That Won Smart Grid Stimulus Funds Earth2Tech – by Katie Fehrenbacher ";

Posted by Kevin C. Tofel on GigaOM  |  Permalink  |  5 Comments

The fight for the netbook operating system just gained a new challenger in Google with the announcement of its Chrome Operating System. Although the Chrome OS is slated for various x86 computers, its initial target is netbooks, on which Google expects to see it running by the second half of 2010. Which begs the question: What’s so special about netbooks that they need their own operating system? And which of the current or planned OS environments is best suited for these devices?

Most operating system efforts in the netbook area have been misplaced from the beginning. Time and again we’ve seen desktop environments shoehorned into small screens with meager hardware. Windows, OS X, and most of the standard Linux distros work well on full-sized laptops and desktops, but aren’t optimal for a more portable device. While it’s appealing to have a consistent UI and desktop application support on these little laptops, consumers are challenged with poor performance and an interface not designed for a WSVGA or WXGA display. Which is why Google and others feel there’s room for a netbook-specific operating system.

An even better way to answer the question of why a netbook OS is to ask the following: Would you want your desktop environment crammed into your smartphone? What would happen if it was? How would you use the “big” interface on such a small screen? The answers are the very reasons why Microsoft developed Windows Mobile and why Apple has reworked OS X to fit on the iPhone. Perhaps the smartphone example is more extreme than the netbook case, but the same logic applies. And like a smartphone, the ideal use case for a netbook is to get connected to the web and run relatively low-powered software that isn’t CPU-intensive.

So who’s in the game, what do they have to offer netbooks and where do they fall short? Here’s my take, including each player’s odds of success:

• Microsoft (4:1) – Windows Vista proved to be far too much for lowly netbooks to handle. Windows 7 shows much more promise as it runs well on limited hardware. But as with any desktop operating system, it’s not as effective in a mobile device. There’s simply too much extra baggage along for the ride that isn’t needed for web use and light application support. Windows Mobile might fit the bill, but Microsoft hasn’t announced any intentions to port it from ARM to x86 devices.
• Apple (50:1) – If it does happen, you’ll only run Mac OS X on an Apple-branded netbook. Since there is no such device, this is the longest of shots to happen in the near term. I’ve dabbled with the hackint0sh crowd to install OS X on a netbook and while it works, the experience falls short. Again, the OS is designed to fit on bigger displays with higher resolution. Running OS X in a 1024×600 resolution gets old quickly.
• Intel (10:1) – What goes better with chips than dip? In this case, the dip is called Moblin, which stands for Mobile Linux. Intel has backed this open-source mobile OS since 2007 and the first few beta efforts show promise. The interface is focused on getting you to the activities you’d most likely do with a netbook: email, web surfing, updating social networks and playing digital media. Your calendar events are readily viewable as well, lending some homage to the PIM functionality of today’s smartphones.
• Linux (20:1) – Many have tried and many have failed to bring Linux to netbooks. Return rates on the first netbooks were high because consumers weren’t familiar with the Linux environments. To a large degree that has changed for the better, thanks to Ubuntu’s Netbook Remix Edition, but there are simply too many custom Linux distros. So many that consumers will never see the consistent look and feel they crave. Custom versions have included Acer’s Linpus Lite, HP’s Mobile Internet Experience, and ASUS’s Xandros distro with a dumbed-down interface.
• “Instant-On” Linux solutions (15:1) – A sub-section of the Linux crowd has made some inroads on netbooks this past year. Folks like DeviceVM and Phoenix Technologies offer nearly “instant-on” Linux partitions that quick access to the web, email and productivity suites. These run in place of the main operating system, but as they’ve added more features, I’ve argued they could become full-fledged mobile operating systems in their own right. However, they’re still maturing and also face the consistent look challenge.
• Google (3:2) – While I called for Android on netbooks last year, I like the idea of the Chrome OS even better. Yes, it’s a browser sitting on top of a Linux kernel, so technically you could lump it with the Linux points above. But there’s a few key differences that will help Google find success. Google’s web services offer a very consistent look and feel. They already have a massive user base used to that consistency. And to loosely borrow a line from hockey legend Wayne Gretzky, they’re not skating to the puck, they’re skating to where the puck is going to be.

There’s plenty of commentary about how the Chrome OS will be too limiting and that web apps are much ado about nothing. But folks in this camp are “skating to the puck” and equating tomorrow’s web-based operating system with today’s computing paradigms. What about the future with HTML5 standards, allowing for more application-like functions in a browser? Why discount the freedom and opportunities that cheaper and more widely available wireless broadband will bring to netbooks? And won’t wider development adoption and maturity of Google’s Gears allow for far more offline opportunities in Chrome OS? WebworkerDaily’s Simon Mackie is ready for — and all but predicted — a web OS last month in his GigaOM Pro piece (subscription required). He envisions apps on a web OS offering that elusive productivity nirvana that we’ve been waiting for:

“If the web apps were well designed, you could even work on the exact same documents on your smartphone, effortlessly keeping all of your data in sync and accessible from anywhere, on any device.”

Remember that Google is talking about an operating system that’s a year or more away. There’s so much that can happen on the web in a year or two. A year ago, I didn’t envision recording video on my phone and having it appear on YouTube with the press of a button. I didn’t forsee that my computer would determine its location solely by using a database of Wi-Fi access points. Nor did I predict that little laptops costing $300-$400 would sell by the tens of millions. I sure missed some interesting trends when I was “skating to the puck,” but this time, I’m heading down ice and waiting for the pass that puts a web-based operating system on my mobile netbook in 2010.

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Ustream Viewer Launches on Android (Just in Time for a KISS Concert) NewTeeVee – by Ryan Lawler "; Living by the Numbers: What Happens When You Quantify Everything? WebWorkerDaily – by Celine Roque "; Wireless Handheld Keyboard and Trackpad for UMPCs jkOnTheRun – by James Kendrick "; 5 Energy Storage Players That Won Smart Grid Stimulus Funds Earth2Tech – by Katie Fehrenbacher ";

Posted by Kevin C. Tofel on GigaOM  |  Permalink  |  37 Comments

One of the most oft-cited benefits of netbooks is how much they cost, in that they offer much of the basic computing power of a laptop or desktop for a much lower price. This week, however, the focus shifted to how the prices for these handy devices compare to one another.

It emerged back in May that Intel offers preferred pricing for its Atom CPU, but netbooks are just now seeing the effects of such pricing. According to Liliputing, Intel charges $45 if a netbook maker purchases just the Atom CPU, yet the Atom paired with Intel’s 945GSE chipset and GMA 950 GPU (which provides a graphics boost) costs just $25. Essentially, the CPU and GPU together are far less to buy than the CPU alone. Nvidia’s Ion platform, meanwhile, is a more capable combination of Atom CPU and $30-$35 GeForce 9400M GPU. Since Nvidia doesn’t quality for Intel’s preferred pricing, the CPU and graphics combo costs manufacturers $30-$35 $70-$75.

The bottom line for consumers? If they’re looking to buy a netbook and are set on one powered by Intel, they may want to look for one with the graphics-boosting GMA 950 GPU, since they’ll be getting more for less. If they’re not set on having Intel inside, however, Nvidia’s Ion platform offers a comparable solution, price-wise. they’ll pay less but suffer in the graphics department. If they’re not set on having Intel inside, however, Nvidia’s Ion platform offers better graphics performance at a $50 price premium.

With certain companies, however, a higher-than-average price is practically synonymous with the brand. A good example is Sony, which finally jumped into the netbook market this week with the $499 VAIO W. The device isn’t much different from the cookie-cutter models we’ve seen over the last year, most of which start around $300 — 10.1-inch display, 1.6GHz Intel Atom chipset, 160GB hard drive, webcam, Wi-Fi and nearly full-size keyboard. The VAIO W does offer one relatively unique quality: The display is capable of 1366×768 resolution, allowing for native 720p video. Unfortunately for consumers, that feature would be better suited with the Nvidia Ion but it isn’t an option on the VAIO W. And if it were, it would likely cost even more.

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Ustream Viewer Launches on Android (Just in Time for a KISS Concert) NewTeeVee – by Ryan Lawler "; Living by the Numbers: What Happens When You Quantify Everything? WebWorkerDaily – by Celine Roque "; Wireless Handheld Keyboard and Trackpad for UMPCs jkOnTheRun – by James Kendrick "; 5 Energy Storage Players That Won Smart Grid Stimulus Funds Earth2Tech – by Katie Fehrenbacher ";

Posted by Kevin C. Tofel on GigaOM  |  Permalink  |  5 Comments
Tags: Intel, Netbook, Sony

After listening in on yesterday’s Palm investor call, I came away feeling only half-satisfied. On the one hand, Palm says it’s poised to become cash-flow positive in two quarters. The company ended the last fiscal quarter of 2009 with $255.1 million in cash, even after going through $72.4 million. Sales of the Palm Pre really won’t impact finances until the next quarter, but according to CEO Jon Rubinstein, “Everything is going according to plan.” Palm expects gross margins for the Pre to approach 30 percent over time, which will surely help the bottom line.

On the other hand, the second piece of the puzzle isn’t yet in place. To continue driving demand for the Pre, the Application Catalog needs to be significantly expanded. It’s currently in a beta and holds a meager 30 applications. And there won’t be many more added until Palm gets the Mojo SDK to a wider audience.

That audience is set to expand soon. Rubinstein said that “hundreds to thousands of developers” will gain access to the SDK in the next few weeks. Palm hopes that it will be open to all interested developers by the end of the summer, but admitted it’s still tweaking the toolset. In the meantime, Apple’s iPhone App Store is busting at the seams with some 50,000 titles.

But Palm is betting its future on the webOS platform, believing it will drive the company for the next 10 years and beyond. With a bet like that, it makes sense to proceed in the self-described “controlled and methodical fashion” to get the platform right the first time. Given the ever-growing competition in the smartphone market, there may not be a second chance.

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Ustream Viewer Launches on Android (Just in Time for a KISS Concert) NewTeeVee – by Ryan Lawler "; Living by the Numbers: What Happens When You Quantify Everything? WebWorkerDaily – by Celine Roque "; Wireless Handheld Keyboard and Trackpad for UMPCs jkOnTheRun – by James Kendrick "; 5 Energy Storage Players That Won Smart Grid Stimulus Funds Earth2Tech – by Katie Fehrenbacher ";

Posted by Kevin C. Tofel on GigaOM  |  Permalink  |  13 Comments
Tags: Palm Pre, smartphone, WebOS