February 9, 2009 -- Acer America today announced U.S. availability of the 10.1-inch Aspire One AOD150, expanding the company’s growing family of popular netbooks. The new Aspire One AOD150 comes on the heels of its highly successful 8.9-inch predecessor. Acer is offering the 10.1-inch Aspire One AOD150 to U.S. customers today with prices beginning at $349.99.

The new 10.1-inch Aspire One provides continuous access to the Internet in an easy-to-use, stylish design with a similar ultra-compact footprint as the original 8.9-inch version. The netbook is designed to be an affordable and simple solution for Web browsing, checking email, instant messaging, VOIP calls, streaming video, viewing photos and listening to music. Read more

February 2, 2009-ASUS, the innovator who revolutionized the mobile computing landscape with the original Eee PC netbook, today announces its most powerful and long-lasting Eee PC yet – the 1000HE. Available for pre-order from selected online E-tailers, the Eee PC 1000HE is the pinnacle of netbook computing, offering more power, longer battery life, increased comfort and legendary ASUS quality.

World’s First Atom N280 Netbook

With the extra power of the Intel Atom N280 processor, users will be able to boot faster, get work done quicker, and enjoy higher performance compared to other Atom N270-powered netbooks. The Eee PC 1000HE also features ASUS’ exclusive Super Hybrid Engine (SHE) technology, which can boost CPU speed for extra power or lower it to preserve battery life, all at the touch of a button. Read more

January 5, 2009--Lenovo today announced the latest additions to its Idea brand of personal computers for consumers. The new PCs push the envelope in the pursuit of thinner and more stylish designs, and combine these attributes with unique features like facial recognition and high-definition entertainment technologies to give consumers a computing experience like no other. There are four new IdeaPad laptops – the IdeaPad Y650, one of the thinnest and lightest 16-inch laptops, the Y550 and Y450 laptops with a similar family design to the Y650, and one of the thinnest all-in-one desktop PCs, the IdeaCentre A600. With the explosive growth of social networking, Lenovo also continues to enhance its IdeaPad S10 netbook with new instant on capability, facial recognition and easy access to Lenovo’s social networking community.

“With the launch of our global consumer Idea brand a year ago, we’ve shown the world that PC technology can be powerful and beautiful,” said Liu Jun, senior vice president and president, Consumer Business Group, Lenovo. “This year, we will keep pushing the limits of good design, balancing form and function, as you’ll see exhibited in our super-thin, 16-inch laptop and all-in-one desktop. This unique blend of design and engineering sets us apart from competitors and gives consumers a new kind of entertainment and computing experience.” Read more

December 9th, 2008 – Acer, the third largest vendor in the worldwide PC market (source: Gartner data, 1H 2008) today announced the Want One? Online Video Contest.

The contest, created to celebrate the spirit of the Aspire One, the first netbook launched by Acer, gives participants the chance to write, direct and make their own video and submit their best work for a chance to score worldwide recognition and win fantastic prizes like an Aspire One netbook, an Xbox 360, Microsoft Zune 8 GB MP3 player, cash and more.

The contest gives anyone with a video camera and imagination the opportunity to showcase their talents to the world. Videos should illustrate power, freedom, and style – everything that the Aspire One stands for and the winners will be decided by the public and based on total YouTube views, comments, honors and overall ratings. Read more

Want to be really hip? Mention Gartner’s newly minted Hype Cycle. It’s “in.” So much more today than Chris Anderson’s Long Tail or Geoffrey Moore’s Chasm. MBA’s like the Hype Cycle because it lets them figure out what new idea they’re going to “develop” to make their gazillion dollars. VCs (also MBAs) use the cycle because it tells them where they should be throwing their investors’ dollars. Media folks like it because it gives them a hook for stories on what’s hot, what’s not and why companies fall on their faces.

But wait…we forgot one ingredient? The consumer! Fortunately the CEA (Consumer Electronics Association) tracks that sort of thing and people simply do not overthrow known stuff for new stuff as quickly as we would like! Read more

October 15, 2008--Samsung just announced its highly anticipated entrance in the U.S. notebook market. The product line-up includes notebooks in four different categories—Premium Thin & Light, All Purpose, Business, Desktop Replacement and the Netbook segment.

“With Samsung’s entry into the U.S. notebook market, we are now able to provide a complete PC computing solution to our customers,” said Christopher Franey, vice president of Marketing and Commercial Sales at Samsung Electronics Information Technology Division. “The introduction of Samsung’s premium notebook offerings to the U.S. market solidifies Samsung as a global technology leader, providing advanced mobile computing designs of the highest reliability and quality.” Read more

MSI Computer just announced that Best Buy is now carrying the MSI Wind U100 netbook. The ultra-mobile Wind (acronym for “Wi-Fi Network Device”) weighs in at just 2.3 pounds and comes with a 120GB hard drive, 1GB of RAM, an ergonomically designed keyboard (only 20% smaller than a standard notebook keyboard), and was the first 10” netbook to feature the new Intel Atom 1.6GHz processor.

Priced at only $399, the Wind U100 includes Windows XP Home edition and also features 802.11b/g and Bluetooth, a built-in 1.3 megapixel webcam with mic, and the battery (3 Cells) life can last up to 2.5 hours. Read more