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Two mini Tablet PCs coming from Asus
Asus is demoing at CES2009 two new mini Tablet PCs with touch screen: the T91 and the T101.
VIA GottabeMobile.com
CES: Motorola to make phones from recycled bottles!
Not to be outdone in the “green” movement Motorola is fixin’ to release a new series of “Moto” devices recycled from plastic bottles!
The new “Moto W233″
I wouldn’t classify these things as particularly cool or “sexy” but the idea of recycling the plastic to make phones is pretty cool. At least Moto will save the bottles from being targets of my new Ruger! (Another story) :-)
You can read more about this on ComputerWorld here.
CES: New Vaio P Snapped
Engadget got out of CES with the goods…some slightly fuzzy pics of a picture of a Vaio P on a display monitor. Hey, beggers can’t be choosers.
Yep, it looks like a Picturebook reborn, with all the elements that have already been leaked and an ugly bezel to boot, so no great surprises, just confirmations….however, what are those two slots on the front of the unit under the keyboard? TWO media card readers? Why? Must be the Sim card slot….right up front. A nice change from so many other devices which bury the Sim card in hard to reach places. Looks like Sony is headed for the cloud right off the bat with this one.
Check out more angles of the same picture at Engadget.
Wind to Stand Alone?
Digitimes is reporting on a very interesting interview with MSi VP of Products Henry Lu. Much of what he said is pretty standard , but there were some interesting and provocative tidbits tossed in.
Notable amongst his comments were the following:
- MSi shipped 3 million Notebooks and Netbooks this year. 1.5 million branded MSi, the other 1.5 million OEMed to other companies.
- Of the 1.5 million MSi branded PCs, 750,000 were Wind Netbooks.
- MSi launched 25 new products in 2008, is expecting to launch 30 in 2009, with total shipments doubling in 2009.
- The standard Netbook in 2009, according to Lu, will have a 10 inch screen and a 120-160GB HD.
- Despite a disappointing year for MSi in the motherboard/GPU markets, Lu says that MSi is STILL first and foremost a component company focused on Motherboards and graphics cards and will remain so the for the next three years at least with 2009 Motherboard shipments pegged at 16-18 million.
All of that is well and good, but the really intriguing part of Lu’s interview is the point I saved for last…
- The Wind Netbook may be spun off as an independent brand.
If MSi cuts loose the Netbook division of the company, it could have a very interesting effect on the still developing Netbook market. Such a move would make sense for MSi, especially considering how hard Lu stressed that Motherboards were their bread and butter, with complete PCs being just a sideline. After all, MSi sold nearly 6 times more Motherboards in 2008 then they did Notebooks and Netbooks combined. The move would also make Wind the only pure player in the Netbook space, not having to share budget with any other products. Therefore it will be more agile then larger companies with several product categories and be able to react to market demand and innovations more quickly. Perhaps such a step is also just what the Wind brand needs to get out from under the Eee’s shadow and the company will be able to stop mimicking every hare-brained product scheme that comes out of Asustek.
Could MSi’s venture into Netbooks actually be gone with the Wind after all?
Real Reason Jobs Skipped Last Keynote…
…he wouldn’t have had anything to go BOOM about.
Of course his health problems were the deep and real reason and we all wish him a speedy recovery, but I am sure the lack of any meaty new product announcements made it easier for him to step away from podium.
Sure a nice new MacBook model was announced, with a 17 inch screen and new battery technology…and nice updates to important if not terribly glamorous software packages iLife and iWork. The dropping of DRM from iTunes is nice, but it goes hand in hand with the end of the 99 cents a song promise and the introduction of the tiered prices we all knew would have to come due to the record label’s demands.
I used “nice” way too many times in that last paragraph, maybe because that word seems to sum up the last MacWorld Keynote.
Nice.
Nothing much to write home about this time around, or so it seems to me….just a nice little tradeshow, in danger of being overshadowed for once by CES.
If I were Steve, I would have skipped it too…illness or no illness.
MOTOSURF A3100 - Cute Phone, Bad Name…
Posted by Chris Leckness on 01/6/09 in CES 2009, Motorola
Motorola’s naming conventions are played out in my opinion and this name is horrible too. I know, I know, who cares about a name. Well, quite frankly, the younger generation. But anyhow, Motorola announced yesterday that they are coming out with another Windows Mobile phone soon. The MOTOSURF A3100. The phone is to be powered by WM 6.1 and is focused on being a “Social Networking Phone”. I hope to get a chance to play with this one at CES this week.
MOTOSURF A3100: Putting the World One Touch Away
Managing your social and work life just got easier with the MOTOSURF A3100. The touch tablet’s customizable home screen is layered on top of the familiar Windows Mobile 6.1 software and has many applications that can be accessed with the tip of a finger, a stylus or an omni-directional trackball. The home screen icons can be personalized to give ‘live’ feeds on weather, news, personal and work e-mail, messaging and calendar events1. WiFi1 and 3G connectivity make the experience seamless and fast.
“We developed the MOTOSURF A3100 as a true social smartphone,” said John Cipolla, senior vice president, product development, Motorola Mobile Devices. “Home screen personalization and access to a whole host of applications gets the info you want – fast, and at your fingertips.”
Whether toggling back and forth between documents while on the go, listening to MP3s, video conferencing on the run, updating your Facebook status or using aGPS to navigate from point A to B, MOTOSURF puts every aspect of your life, personal and professional, just a touch away1.
MOTOSURF A3100 will be available in multiple regions beginning in Q1 2009, including Asia and Latin America.
Fring Updates for Window Mobile
Posted by Chris Leckness on 01/6/09 in Software
There are some nice updates happening for Fring right now. If you don’t know what Fring is, you don’t know what you are missing.
fring is a mobile internet service & community that enables you to access & interact with your social networks on-the-go, make free calls and live chat with all your fring, Skype, MSN Messenger, Google Talk, ICQ, SIP, Twitter, Yahoo! and AIM friends using your handset’s internet connection.
So, Gil over at Fring brings word of some nice changes for Window Mobile….
Firstly, we’re delighted to announce that in response to the ongoing development we’ve been doing to fring for Windows Mobile, our friends at Microsoft have recognized fring and awarded us their “Designed for Windows Mobile” certification. We’re delighted by this as it acknowledges and demonstrates the commitment we’ve shown to the WM platform.
Secondly, we’ve just released a major new version of fring for Windows Mobile devices, including Sony Ericsson’s new super cool Xperia.
Updates in this version include the new & improved fring Add-ons – fun, interactive mobile internet apps that sit inside fring, allowing you to take your Facebook account mobile, receive Gmail notifications and loads more.
Plus, we’ve included our popular File Transfer function allowing users to send digital files over IP to all their fring, Skype, MSN & Yahoo buddies at the click of a button (no need for Bluetooth pairing, no wires, no infrared and no costly MMS charges!) Just select a buddy, click send, and before you can say “Who’s seen my data cable?” the file has been received.
In addition, fring for WM now has a fresh new look and feel, with navigation & functionality improvements including a new ‘Go- To menu’, Privacy and ‘Joystick-In’ settings, typing indication and new Add-Ons Management screen, all making for an even smoother fringing experience.
Finally, for HTC users, we now support earpiece use, as well, so you can keep your conversations all to yourselves.
Pharos Traveler 137 Announced
Posted by Chris Leckness on 01/6/09 in CES 2009, Pharos
I was packing for CES last night and placed my extra/backup devices in a lovely slotted pouch that came with my original Pharos GPS, the one that was CF, serial, or Bluetooth. Wow. Time flys and Pharos is having fun it seems. Not too long ago, they announced two other phone/gps devices, the 117 and 127. Today they have announced the Pharos Traveler 137.
Read on for specifications…
HTC S743 - Smartphone Coolness for the USA
Posted by Chris Leckness on 01/6/09 in CES 2009, Fuzesite, HTC
I was kind of envious of the Europeans when this phone dropped over there. It’s a Windows Mobile Standard phone that has a slide out keyboard and the styling of the HTC Touch Pro/Diamond. Today HTC announces the HTC S743. This is that phone made for the USA. It will be an unlocked GSM device and will be available unsubsidized at select retailers like Dell and CDW.
Read on for the Press Release…
The Apple Tax
Paul Thurrott has posted at his blog a very nice article or note about what Microsoft calls Apple Tax.
There are two tables created by Microsoft to illustrate the whole concept. After checking those tables the only thing that I can say is that with the same amount of money that you spend in a Mac, you buy a really powerful PC. Just in HDD you get twice the space for the same money. You get 30% of more RAM and in one case even a Blue-Ray Driver or a TV Tuner.
VIA - SuperSite Blog
Windows Mobile New Year’s Resolutions
Posted by Steve Mueller on 01/6/09 in Microsoft, Opinion, Windows Mobile 7
Just before I spoke with Chris about joining Mobility Site, I had written an editorial about what Windows Mobile could do to get some respect, called Windows Mobile New Year’s Resolutions. It’s fairly long, so I don’t want to repost it here, but I discuss the following areas to improve:
- User Interface
- Web Browser
- E-mail & Messaging
- PIM Applications
- Phone Applications
- Media Player
- Other Applications
- Synchronization
- Hardware
Check it out and let me know what you think. Would fixing all of those issues be enough to win back former Windows Mobile users? Are there other things you’d like to see improved?
Christmas Cheer for Acer and Asus
It seems Santa left a lot of Aspire One and Eee Netbooks under trees, which has resulted in vendors Acer and Asus continuing to drink the good egg nog regarding their 2009 sales figures.
According to Digitimes, Acer moved 500,000 8.9 inch Aspire One-series Netbooks in the US alone during the month of December. Based on that, and with the release of the new 10 inch Aspire One supposedly just around the corner, Acer is projecting sales that exceed 12-13 million units in 2009.
A similar carol is being sung at Asustek. Based on strong sales of the Eee 1000HA and 900HA during the holiday season, Asustek now plans to ship 7.1-7.3 million Eees in 2009.
Strong sales projections, linked with anticipation over new models due to premier at CES and after should keep confidence rising in the Netbook niche, while sending further chills through Intel and other vendors still staking their futures on high margin Notebook sales.