Meet the VEGA Tablet – runs Android OS

VEGA, a tablet from ICD (Innovative Converged Devices) will get rolled out during CES 2010. It will be available in varierty of display sizes: 7, 11 and 15-inches. The design has been minimalistic. It runs on a Tegra processor and has resistive screens which means that it would be a joy to use it.

It runs Android OS which makes its 7-inch version a direct threat to Archos 5 Android MID. Anyone wants a 15-inch Android device?

ASUS EEE 1008HA – Display and Hinge

ASUS EEE 1008HA is the first EEE PC with a glossy display. Until now, all the EEE PCs have come with matte display. I have always loved matte screens as it allows me work inside my office as-well-as on the road too. Glossy displays, although look very pretty are a nightmare to work with in the direct sunlight or bulb.

If you have ever seen HP Mini 1000 or any of the mininotes from HP in person, then you will name ASUS as the copycat as it copied the recessed hinge design of the HP Minis netbooks and implemented it in the EEE 1008HA. But who cares? We are happy with the design as it has considerably helped in reducing the height of the design.

Thoughts:

If you have been happy with your notebook with glossy display and you are fine with them even while working outdoors, you should then have no problem with the EEE 1008HA. Personally, I would still prefer matte displays.

Netbooks to account for One out of Seven laptops in 2009

According to iSuppli, Netbooks are selling so well that netbook to notebook ratio will be 1:7 by the end of this year. Shipment of laptops (including netbooks) is increasing 10% every year, which is a clear sign that people want to buy portable devices.

Quite frankly, one of the major reason for such epic growth of netbooks was the introduction of bigger screens and bigger keyboards. Atom processor, which works great for running XP also made a significant contribution.

Glossy Screens can give you back pain

Studies have shown that glossy screens may be dangerous to your health. You may wonder how? Well, glare on the high gloss screens make the operator to sit in awkward positions which can lead to injury.

Lately a lot of companies are coming up with netbooks with glossy displays. Acer have always been a fan of glossy screens in their netbooks. Asus was earlier in favour of matte screen, but now even they have started to release models with glossy netbooks.

I personally feel that netbooks should come with matte screens as they are meant to be used-on-the-go.

More Pictures of Disney Netbook!

We mentioned about the Disney-branded ASUS netbook yesterday. Here are few more pictures of it:

Click on read more to see more pics of it including its interface screenshots!

Dell phases out Mini 9 netbook

Dell has confirmed that it won’t be making Mini 9 netbooks anymore. The Dell Mini 9 was launched in September 2008 at a price tag of $349. Since then, the Dell has released several (bigger) netbooks as the market was responding better to the bigger netbooks as they allowed the manufactures to equip them with bigger keyboards and bigger screens.

Dell is now urging the consumers to go for the Dell Mini 10V instead which is currently retailing at $299 and comes with a bigger 10-inch screen.

Casing Macron unveils 10-inch netbook

Taiwan-based PC case manufacture, Casing Macron has unveiled 10.2-inch netbook. These new netbooks will be shipped to the Chinese Telecom providers in the end of month of May. Unlike many other companies which just sell rebranded products of popular netbook manufactures like MSI, the Casing Macron will be building the netbook using in-house components. This include cases, coolers and power supplies, which will help them to reduce the overall cost of the netbook.

Commentary: They have been selling just 7-inch models so far. This is a wise move by Casing Macron as most of the netbook companies are phasing out the 7-inch models as people want bigger keyboards and bigger screens. Also, since they are themselves producing the netbooks, it will let them to sell these netbooks at comparatively lower price than the rest of the competition.

No Blackberry netbook in horizon

RIM’s CEO has confirmed that they won’t be releasing a blackberry netbook anytime soon. This is not surprising as just few days back, he literally thrashed the netbooks by saying that since the Smartphones are more portable than netbooks, they will always rule over netbooks.

Instead, he says that wirelessly connected hardware like keyboards and secondary screens is something they will work upon. Stupid logic.

CONFIRMED: No Apple Netbook coming

After months and months of rumors about the Apple netbook, Apple’s chief operating officer finally confirmed in harsh words that Apple will never produce netbooks as they do not deserve the MAC brand. Here are the exact words,

When I look at netbooks, I see cracked keyboards, terrible software, junky hardware, very small screens. It’s just not a good consumer experience and not something we would put the Mac brand on. It’s a segment we would not choose to play in.

He further said, if you want smaller screens, you can go ahead and buy iPhone/iPod for that. This makes me wonder how can an iPod Touch replace my netbook. I own several Windows Mobile devices along with iPod Touch (latest 2G version) and I firmly think that in no way they can ever replace my EEE 1000H.

iPod Touch and Netbooks are both two very different devices. Both of them have their own specific use. I like iPod Touch and WM devices as they are way more mobile than any netbook in the market. But, when I need to do some serious work, I always look up to my EEE 1000H (which is still very portable as compared to normal notebooks).

What this actually shows? This shows that Apple’s Chief operating officer, Tim Cook has actually never used any of the modern day netbooks as none of them have cramped keyboard, ‘junky hardware’ or terrible software.