Netbook Review, notebook review, tablet review, PC review » linux

Plasma Active One – Linux Tablet-friendly

Paul Merak — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 18:15:36 +0000

Plasma Active One is the new tablet-friendly UI for Linux’s Kappa Desktop Environment(KDE). It offers a custom user interface, and runs on a number of different ‘flavours’ of the Linux OS. Test versions of KDE are available for anyone interested to find how the other half live (actually approximately 8% of PC users use Linux-based [...]

Tizen Mobile OS

Ashley — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 23:19:39 +0000

The Linux Foundation has announced the launch of its Tizen operating system aimed at smartphones, tablets, netbooks, and mobile devices in general. The Linux Foundation is to host the project, but Tizen will be led by Intel and Samsung. Previously Intel was supporting MeeGo Linux, but the MeeGo enterprise may be wound up, now that [...]

LG happy with Android, others welcome MeeGo

Paul Merak — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 08:30:00 +0000

The MeeGo-Nokia partnership might be short lived. Their first and probably last venture device will come out later this year. Netbooknews has reported probable Nokia MeeGo tablet. Last MeeGo-Nokia project does not mean MeeGo will be out of the picture altogether. A number of companies are filling the void with LG as one of the [...]

Opera Mobile 11 now running on WeTab

Paul Merak — Sun, 10 Apr 2011 07:38:54 +0000

Opera is now giving some needed TLC to MeeGo by creating a compatible version of the Opera 11 for the MeeGo that is being implemented on the WeTab. Since it is a labs version it is not the easiest application to be installed. For those who are more tech savvy, this is an easy fix [...]

Fuduntu now supports Flash 10.2 and Google Chromium

Paul Merak — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 20:15:53 +0000

Fuduntu is an operating system that is designed for netbooks as well as other small computers. It is based on Fedora Linux and based on its name, it is quite similar to the Ubuntu Linux. With the release of the 14.9 version, the new Fuduntu OS can now support the Google Chromium browser and the [...]

Efika MX Smartbook from Genesi

Paul Merak — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 19:56:18 +0000

The term smart book has always been overused and it seems it either has very complex meaning or no specific meaning at all. What it promises is a lightweight device for internet browsing that is quite cheap. Genesi created the smartbook just for that cause. This is an unknown company so we yet have to [...]

MeeGo Linux: future uncertain

Paul Merak — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 14:02:43 +0000

Nokia just announced that it will be in partnership with Microsoft to implement Windows Phone 7 on Nokia smart phones. The Meego and Symbian will still be ship on the Nokia Phones until Windows Phone 7 is implemented. We all know Symbian is cry much ready to forgo but what about the more recent MeeGo [...]

Asus Eee Note from Chinese to English language

Paul Merak — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 10:58:02 +0000

The Asus Eee Note is packed with the Marvel processor and it runs on Linux. It has some nice camera functionality, Wi Fi, long battery power and can be used to read books in various formats. It is really a good tablet with all those stuff but it is a pain since it is currently [...]

AT&T: Atrix 4G on offer at $200-$500

Paul Merak — Sun, 06 Feb 2011 09:35:09 +0000

AT&T has just revealed that it is going to include the Motorola Atrix 4G on its list of devices. Sadly, this mobile phone will not fare as cheap as what we all have expected it to be. If you wish to dock the Atrix 4G, on the Webtop docking station, you will be spending quite [...]

Pixel Qi 7 inch display on netbooks and tablets

Paul Merak — Sat, 15 Jan 2011 00:43:42 +0000

The company Pixel Qi has started showing to the public its 7 inch displays that uses the technology for the 10.1 inch low power screens. The screens can function as a full color LCD display as well as a grayscale display that does not require backlighting and only relies on ambient lighting to work. This [...]

For the audiophile: Indamixx2 with portable music studio

Paul Merak — Sun, 02 Jan 2011 16:47:33 +0000

Indamixx has already started taking orders for the new slate with music production programs. This device is very much like most Atom tablet with a 10.1 inch display, 1024×600 pixel resolutions, and uses Atom N450. However, it has some really good aspects with the 2 GB RAM and the 250GB hard disk. Of course aside [...]

Atom Fanless CPU design on Linutop 3 nettop

Paul Merak — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 01:43:23 +0000

Linutop has just released a mini desktop that is Linux-based with a processor that is low power. Now, they have released the Linutop 3 and they changed the existing VIA chip with an Intel Atom one. The device does not use top of the line components but compared to its older brother, it is a [...]

AMD and MeeGo Linux project

Paul Merak — Thu, 25 Nov 2010 00:40:03 +0000

The MeeGo is an open source technological project that is based on Linux and AMD has stated that it will support the project and will carry it. Since Linux is open, MeeGo is expected to run on everything that has a microprocessor inside. This is good news since if there is an open source platform, [...]

BPhone MID runs Linux

iKendra — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 16:46:38 +0000

Want a nice stylish Linux machine with a swivel screen that does not costs $1000+? Then, you shall give a glance to the BPhone. From China, this baby features a 5-inch WVGA display, QWERTY keyboard and Marvell PXA310 624MHz processor. Oh, and it is an unlocked phone too. The BPhone costs $570.

That keyboard does not look comfortable, does it?

Pandora finally in Production!

iKendra — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 21:25:04 +0000

We are sure that the folks that love to do some gaming-on-the-go have waited for a long time for this. For those who don't know about Pandora, it is a portable gaming console that runs Ångström Linux; sports a 4.3-inch WVGA display and is powered by ARM Cortex A8 CPU. It comes with 512MB of storage, two, yeah, two SD slots, TV output jack, USB OTG and a USB host.

Battery life is phenomenal - 10 hours! If you want one, you gotta be quick as only 4000 units are being made right now

Yahoo to be the default Search Engine in Ubuntu 10.04

Kamal DS — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 19:28:01 +0000

In the next official Ubuntu release, that is the Ubuntu 10.04, don’t be surprised to see Yahoo search engine being used as the default search engine by the Firefox browser. Reason? The revenue-sharing deal that has been signed between Yahoo and Canonical (folks behind Ubuntu).

That said, you don’t loose the ability to change the search engine default in the web-browser.

"If a user has Google set as their search provider, they will have exactly the experience they do today. If they switch to Yahoo!, the default home page will switch to using a Yahoo! search. If they switch back to Google, the default home page will switch back to using the Google search, exactly like today."

Broadcom Crystal HD video decoder now supports Linux operating systems

Jane — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 21:52:03 +0000

Broadcom Crystal HD video decoder is one easy way to add HD video capability to the netbooks that run on Atom processors. Since day one, it supported Windows operating systems, but support for Linux OS was absent – till now.Now, Broadcom has released the driver source code and it now supports all Linux operating systems with kernel version 2.6.11 and above. For layman, this means that it would support any modern Linux distro.That said, Broadcom is NOT officially supporting Linux in any way.[Source Code Link]

Install Linux on your netbook and get your warranty voided – Boom!

Paul Merak — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 20:36:08 +0000

The best buy store refused to get the nettop repaired just because the guy had Linux installed on it.His netbook was 4 month old and the touchpad and power adapter, all of a sudden stopped working. He took the machine to the Best Buy under the Geek Squad’s Black Tie Protection plan and explained the staff there the problems he was facing.Now, here comes the interesting part. The manager informed him that by installing Ubuntu Linux voided his warranty and it could be serviced only if the original Windows was installed on it. He went ahead and insisted that the problem occurred by using Linux. It was due to the Linux according to the manager that the power adapter and touchpad stopped working.Click on read to read this interesting story of a Linux lover

Linux strikes back; gets 1/3 Netbook OS market share

Peter — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 13:30:09 +0000

This year, nearly 35 million netbooks pre-loaded with Linux shipped this year. This is surprising considering the fact that the ASUS left the Xandros (Linux OS) in the dark few months back and solely concentrated on Windows netbooks. Acer, too stopped selling their Linux Lite-based netbooks and started selling only Windows XP netbooks. Dell seems to be the only one that is still selling netbooks that come with Ubuntu pre-installed.Another possibility can be that people bought netbooks with some flavor of Linux OS pre-installed, not from Acer or Asus, and then installed Windows OS on it. Almost all the netbooks have their XP/7 drivers online, so getting the drivers for a particular netbook is not a very difficult job.

ASUS Eee PC 1005P to have Express Gate Quick Boot OS

Twinkle — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 20:40:52 +0000

ASUS Eee PC 1005P is going to be the ASUS's first netbook that will be equipped with Pine Trail processor. That is, however, not the most exiting feature, it is its BIOS update that has cropped up on ASUS’s support page, which says there is an update for the Express Gate OS.So, what is the Express Gate OS? Well, it is a stripped down Linux distribution that is meant to boot as quick as possible that lets to user to do basic stuff like getting connected to Internet and check his email. This is a clever move by ASUS as it will give it an edge over the current netbook makers. Many companies including Acer does not bundles any quick booting OS with their netbook. One cannot call Android a quick booting OS for a netbook as that does not even runs a desktop version of Firefox.It shall be noted that Lenovo is an exception as it does bundles a quick booting OS with their netbooks

Jolicloud enters Pre-Beta Version

Twinkle — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 18:50:00 +0000

Jolicloud’s Pre-Beta for the netbook OS has been made public officially. The Jolicloud Pre-Beta brings in much awaited feature: GMA 500 Support. Other goodies include Express Installer for providing intuitive way of installing it from Windows itself; better boot up speed and video management, updated Linux kernel and updated GUI. To learn all about Jolicloud,

Read our Jolicloud OS review

Flash 10.1 – no love for netbooks, at least for now

Paul Merak — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 08:26:11 +0000

Adobe released BETA of newer version of flash that is supposed to provide GPU acceleration. However, since it does not supports GMA 950 which is used in most of the netbooks, it is going to make little to no difference at all in the flash performance in the netbooks.Right now, it only supports GMA 4500 and Nvidia ION. So, users ION powered netbooks and nettops should update to the this version. Others shall wait for Adobe to include GMA 950 supportNote: Linux and Mac netbooks/notebooks are not yet supported[Download Flash 10.1]

Adesun AD-708 VIA-based tablet from Shenzhen runs Windows XP

Twinkle — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 07:33:31 +0000

New 7-inch tablet AD-708 by Adesun manufacturer from Shenzhen is based on VIA’s x86 architecture and can run Windows XP, It is also being offered with Windows Vista and Linux as OS. It measures 200×121.5×35mm and is available in two versions: basic and delux version. The basic versions has 512MB memory, 8GB SSD and a 3200mAh battery, while the delux version has 16GB SSD,1GB memory, 6400mAh battery, 2GB SD card, and built-in GPS receiver.The rest of the specs are common like both are powered by a same VIA C7M processor (that runs @ 1.2GHz), G-sensor, an 7-inch 800×480 WVGA touchscreen display, Wi-Fi b/g connectivity, 2 USB 2.0 ports, Bluetooth, VGA port and SD card reader. The basic version is for about $293, whereas the delux version for about $441 USD.

Lenovo won’t be launching any Linux netbooks – verifies interest in Google Chrome OS

Twinkle — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 08:15:35 +0000

After lots of babbling and rumoring, Lenovo now came forward and authenticated about planning and considering netbooks with Google Chrome OS. However, it is going to a some time for the Lenovo to churn out netbooks totting Chrome OS as they do not even have Chrome's Alpha code to test on their netbooks.Lenovo also pointed out that Windows 7 has further widened the gap between Linux and Windows. According to Lenovo, people were returning their Linux netbooks as they were not able to run iTunes on it. As weird as it sounds, we actually think that Linux, especially Ubuntu 9.10 has come with plethora of improvements and new user-friendly features. Just because it cannot run iTunes does not means that it is an inferior OS.Example: it takes less steps to install an app in Ubuntu than Windows. Just go to Ubuntu Software Center; find the app and click install. No more Terminal mumbo-jumbo

Dell Vostro A90 for as low as $219!

Jane — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 20:19:25 +0000

You can yourself a Dell Vostro A90 (same as Dell Mini 9) directly from Dell for as low as $219. You will get 8GB SSD, 1GB RAM, Ubuntu 8.04 Linux, Atom N270 processor, 8.9-inch display 1024x600 resolution, GMA 950 chipset, WiFi b/g together with a 4-cell battery.[Link]

uSmart M1C – a tiny netbook that is 1080p capable

Twinkle — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 17:40:56 +0000

At the Hong Kong Electronics fair, uSmart uncovered a tiny netbook, called the M1C. This one has just 4.8-inch display and is equipped with power-sipping Intel Atom Z530 processor, a GMA 500 graphic chipset and HDMI out. It weighs just 0.5kg and can run Linux, Windows XP, Vista or Windows 7.That keyboard looks awful!

Robovie PC Robot

Twinkle — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 17:08:02 +0000

First of all, don't be surprised to a robot news on Gadgetmix.com. We are not changing niches anytime soon. The reason why Robovie got mentioned on gadgetmix.com is the fact that this robo 'netbook' is powered by an Atom processor. Huh? This is actually not a robot, but a robot with netbook innards. It comes with an Intel Atom Z530 processor that runs at 1.6Hz, slightly faster than Z520 that comes in entry-level VAIO P (review). For OS, you can install either of these four operating systems: Windows XP, Vista, 7 or Linux.A webcam resides in place of its 'eyes'. It has 2 USB ports, LAN and VGA out. It is powered by a 2000mAh battery and it weighs 2.2kg. It is being priced at $4500 (including tax) (388800 yen!), it is made to burn a real good hole in your pocket.The only thing that is robot-like in this machine is the fact that you can program its legs. For that you must use Windows as Linux is not supported. Its legs has high maneuverability and can adjust its height by bending his legs.

Eking S515 MID AKA Digicube Z8 MID Phone to hit the market this October

Jane — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 16:37:22 +0000

Eking S515, also known as Digicube Z8 MID phone has is going to hit the market this month (October). The S515 is powered by an Intel Atom Z515 processor running at 1.2GHz clock speed. It has support for 3G; has a sweet sliding QWERTY keyboard; a 5-inch WVGA (800x480) display. You get 16GB SSD for storage and 1GB RAM to run apps.For OS, you can either choose between the good 'ol Windows XP OS or Linux OS. It has support for China Telecom CDMA2000, China Mobile TD-SCDMA and China Unicom WCDMA 3G network.Price is not known yet.

ARM to overtake Intel in Netbooks and Smartbooks? – We DISAGREE!

Paul Merak — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 13:24:19 +0000

Currently, there is no doubt that Intel is the uncrowned king in the netbook market, but according to the market analysts, ARM will surpass Intel by the year 2012. According to this analyst, Intel-powered netbooks have started to become very expensive and cost more than $200 and offer just 3.5 hours of battery life. On the other hand, ARM-powered netbooks will cost less than $200 and will also last much longer: 8 hours.Our take on this:The comparison is baseless. People want Windows OS on their netbooks. They want to use their desktop apps on their netbooks for which they require Windows OS. Unfortunately, since Microsoft has already confirmed that it has no plans on bringing their desktop OS to the ARM-architecture, you are left with nothing but Linux or Google's Chrome OS.We believe that smartbooks can never surpass netbooks in terms of sales even if they are offered for less than $100. Clearly, they offer little advantage over the current slew of smartphones which do much more than emailing and web-browsing alone. Also, in their comparison, they said netbooks have 3.5 hours of battery life. Wrong as most of the netbooks these days come with 6-cell batteries which offer more than 5-6 hours of run-time with active Wifi usage. Looks like these analysts have been taking in account the netbooks that were released last year.

Moblin 2.0 comes out of BETA – now available for download

Jane — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 16:56:42 +0000

Moblin 2.0, a Linux OS and an open source project focused on building a Linux-based platform optimized for the next generation of mobile devices including Netbooks, Mobile Internet Devices, and In-vehicle infotainment systems.[Moblin official website] [Download the final Moblin 2.0 image]After being available as BETA to the users from past few months, Moblin has finally announced the final version of it. Give it a go guys!