HP plans to update its consumer-oriented netbooks with Intel’s Cedar Trail processors. The company recently introduced a business netbook with the Intel Atom N2600 Cedar Trail processor.

The existing HP netbooks which are expected to get Cedar Trail update include the HP Mini 110 and HP Mini 210. A certain French retailer has already started listing them with Intel’s third generation Cedar Trail processors.


According to the product listings, the new HP Mini 110 will have a 10.1 inch display, a 1.6Ghz Intel Atom N2600 dual core processor, 1GB of RAM, a 320GB hard drive and WiFi 802.11n. It will sell for about 279 Euros.

The HP Mini 210 will have a 1.83 GHz Intel Atom N2800 processor and Beats audio. Other specifications are the same as those of the Mini 110. The HP Mini 210 is expected to run 309 Euros.

No word on pricing or availability outside of France.

Ultrabooks are powerful computers that are just as portable as netbooks. Most of these machines sport 13.3 inch displays and don’t weigh more than a typical netbook. What’s more, they have full-sized keyboards and powerful processors. On the flip side, ultrabooks cost as much as, if not more than, mainstream laptops. Of course, due to this high price tag they are not as popular as netbooks, but now PC makers are working to drop the starting price.

Right now, ultrabooks start at around $800, but Acer says that by 2013 they could be selling for as little as $500. Acer is expected to launch several new ultrabooks this year some of which could start at $699.

Of course, in a laptop starting at around that price, you can’t expect to find many of the premium features. That said, ultrabooks need to meet certain requirements. So even at $499, they need to have an Intel Core i-series processor, SSDs or a hard drive with solid state cache. They also need to weigh less than 4 pounds and measure less than an inch in thickness.

The Samsung Galaxy Note is a cross between a smartphone and a tablet. This 5.3 inch Android device has a 1280 x 800 pixels Super AMOLED display and a stylus for making precise writings or drawings. But unlike a conventional tablet, this machine can also make phone calls. It is a bit large for a tablet, but you should be able to slide it into your pocket provided that you have larger than usual pockets.


Samsung has been promoting the Galaxy Note with much zeal, but until now it was not available in the US. Now AT&T has announced that it will start taking pre-orders for the device on February 5th. If you pre-order the tablet, you should get it by February 17th. The tablet should be available in-stores on February 19th.

If you sign up for a 2-year service contract, you can get the Galaxy Note for $299.99. The Galaxy Note has a 1.4GHz dual core processor, 1GB of RAM, an 8 megapixel camera on the rear side and a 2 megapixel camera on the front side. The US version will have 4G LTE radio. It runs Google Android 2.3 Gingerbread operating system.

Samsung is reportedly working on an 11.6 inch Galaxy Tab tablet. Word is that some people actually saw the machine back stage at CES, but they weren’t allowed to take photographs.

If sources are to be believed the Galaxy Tab 11.6 is meant to compete with the iPad 3. It will have a 1GHz quad-core processor with an ARM-based A15 Exynos processor. The concept design has a 5 megapixel rear facing camera, a 2 megapixel front-facing camera, an HDMI output port and an SD card slot. It will run Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich with TouchWiz UX user interface.



The slate will reportedly measure just 8mm in thickness. It is supposed to have a 2560 x 1600 pixels AMOLED display which again is designed to compete with the Retina Display rumored for the new iPad. More details should emerge at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

At CES earlier this month, Microsoft showed off Windows 8 running on ARM-based tablets. Windows 8 is the first version of the Microsoft OS compatible with ARM-based processors. It won’t be available to public until the second half of this year, but CNET reports that an early version of the OS for ARM will be available to developers in February.

Windows 8 for ARM features Microsoft’s new Metro-style user interface with a large start screen. It is designed for touchscreen devices. Most Metro apps are designed to run in the full screen mode. Unfortunately Windows apps designed for computers with x86 processors won’t run on Windows 8 for ARM-processors. However, future versions of Microsoft Office and other important software should run on Windows 8 for ARM. And Microsoft has already invited developers to write apps for the new OS.

Ultrabooks are thin and light laptops sporting Intel’s latest processors. Intel has copyright over the term ultrabook. That means you can’t find an ultrabook with an AMD processor. That, however, doesn’t mean that ultrabooks can’t have discrete graphics just because Intel doesn’t make them.


Fudzilla reports that some of the upcoming ultrabooks could have NVIDIA’s next-gen Kepler graphics. The Lenovo IdeaPad U410 will be one of them. It is expected to feature GMA 610 graphics which may be a part of the Kepler family.

The NVIDIA Kepler family of chips will support the NVIDIA Optimus technology which allows your computer to automatically switch between integrated and discrete graphics options. That means when you are performing tasks that doesn’t require discrete graphics power your computer will use the integrated Intel HD graphics. While performing GPU intensive tasks, the NVIDIA Kepler graphics will kick in.

We probably won’t see high performance discrete graphics in ultrabooks. These are ultra thin and light laptops that can’t accommodate elaborate cooling systems. What’s more, they are also supposed to get good battery life which is not something you can expect from a laptop with a bleeding edge GPU.

PocketBook International has introduced a new 7 inch Android tablet called PocketBook A7. It has a 1GHz TI OMAP 3621 processor, 4GB of storage, 512MB of RAM and a 1024 x 600 pixels display. The tablet runs Android 2.3.7 Gingerbread operating system.


PocketBook International doesn’t call the A7 a tablet. The machine is positioned as a ‘multimedia reader’ and it supports a range of file formats and Adobe DRM.

In terms of looks, the PocketBook A7 isn’t all that different from the Amazon Kindle Fire or Barnes &Nooks Tablet. However, it does have a few interesting features such as Google Android Market support, 2 megapixel front-facing camera and microSDHC card slot. The 7 inch capacitive touchpanel supports multitouch inputs. No word on pricing or availability at the moment.

HP has made a new addition to its netbook line-up. The HP Mini 110-4100 is aimed at businesses and students. It has a 1.6GHz N2600 dual core Cedar Trail processor with Intel GMA 3600 graphics. The 10.1 inch display has a resolution of 1024 x 600 pixels.


HP says that its Mini 110-4100 aka Mini 1104 is a full-function notebook. That Cedar Trail processor, however, is meant for use in netbooks. The laptop, nonetheless, has got a few premium features. While most netbooks come standard with Windows 7 Starter Edition, this model is also available with a choice of Windows 7 Home Premium or Professional operating system. Both 3-cell and 6-cell battery options are available. The spill-resistant Chiclet style keyboard is nearly full-sized. Other specifications include up to 360GB of hard drive storage, up to 2GB of RAM, WiFi, Bluetooth, built-in webcam and optional mobile broadband.

The HP Mini 1104 has also got 3 USB 2.0 ports, a media card reader and a VGA port. It doesn’t have an HDMI output port or a USB 3.0 port.

One particular configuration with 2GB of RAM, a 320GB hard drive, Windows 7 Home Premium operating system and a 6-cell battery runs $399. Lower-end configurations too are available and they should cost less.

Asus has quietly released a budget-friendly 10.1 inch laptop with an AMD processor and HDMI output port. The Asus Eee PC R051BX has an AMD Fusion based 1GHz C-50 dual core processor and Radeon graphics with full HD video decoder.

The laptop has 1GB of RAM, but since the RAM is soldered to the motherboard it doesn’t seem to be upgradeable. That means there is no quick way of enhancing performance. Other specifications include 2 USB ports, a webcam, a media card reader and HDMI output port. The laptop comes standard with a 3-cell battery.

The R051BX belongs to the Sea Shell Eee PC lineup. It has got a matte display and a glossy black exterior.

In Germany it is now up for pre-order. No word on pricing or availability outside elsewhere.

The Motorola XYBOARD WiFi tablet has started shipping. The company had started taking pre-orders for the 8.2 inch and 10.1 inch tablets a few weeks ago.

Both tablets are available in two models. While Motorola is selling the WiFi-only versions of the tablets, Verizon will also offer models with 4G LTE mobile broadband. Both tablets will be available with either 16GB or 32GB of storage. The 16GB version of the 10.1 incher runs $500. The 32GB model will set you back $600.


The 8.2 incher with 16GB of storage runs $400. The model with 32GB of storage is priced at $500. All models have a 1.2GHz dual core processor, 1GB of RAM and front and rear facing cameras at 1.3 megapixel and 5 megapixel respectively. Both tablets can handle 1080p HD video playback. The supported connectivity options are WiFi 802.11a/b/g/n, Bluetooth 2.1 and aGPS. Both 8.2 inch and 10.1 inch models have 1280 x 800 pixels displays.

Motorola says that the 10.1 inch model will get up to 10 hours of battery life. It weighs around 1.33 pounds. The 8.2 incher has a smaller capacity battery which will reportedly get up to 6 hours of runtime.

Apple announced that it shipped a whopping 15.4 million iPads during the last quarter of 2011. In all, about 26.8 million tablets were shipped during this quarter. If you do the math, it is not difficult to see that Apple still claims about 57.6 percent of the tablet market.


The company had 68.2 percent of the market share during the same quarter in 2010. That means, Apple’s market share is shrinking, still it has enough reasons to celebrate considering the fact that Apple sells only two iPad models. Meanwhile, there are dozens of companies that sell Android tablets, but they have only managed to capture around 39.1 percent of the market share.

Among Android tablets, the most popular was perhaps the Amazon Kindle Fire. This $200 tablet launched during the last quarter of 2011. It doesn’t have top-of-the-line hardware, but has been selling really well due to its low price tag.

Windows tablets and other devices such as the BlackBerry PlayBook and HP TouchPad made up less than 4 percent of the market share. Windows 8, which is compatible with ARM-processors, will launch this year. Then we should see a rise in the number of Windows tablets hitting the market.

Consumers across the world bought nearly 10.5 million Android tablets in 2011. It looks like a million of them were shipped by Motorola. The company reported its quarterly earnings yesterday and said that it shipped 200,000 tablets during the last quarter of 2011. It shipped close to a million tablets during the entire year.


The Motorola Xoom, which launched in February 2011, was the first Android 3.0 tablet to hit the market. The tablet is available in two models – WiFi-only and WiFi + 3G/4G. There was considerable hype surrounding the machine, but it wasn’t the most popular Android tablet of the year. That distinction probably goes to the Amazon Kindle Fire. This $200 tablet launched during the last quarter of 2011, but thanks to its ridiculously low price tag it has been selling like hot cakes ever since.

Other companies that have had decent success in the tablet space include Acer, Asus, Dell, Samsung and Lenovo. The Samsung Galaxy Tab and the Asus Eee Pad Transformer were popular, but we don’t have exact sales figures.

The Samsung Series 5 ultrabook is now up for pre-order for the starting price of $900. The laptop has got an Intel Core i5 processor. It also features quick boot and resume technology.

The Series 5 ultrabooks will be available in three models: two of them are already available for pre-order.


Both Amazon and J&R have started taking orders for the 13.3 inch and 14 inch models. Both come standard with 4GB of RAM, 500GB hard drives with performance enhancing 16GB of solid state cache and 1366 x 768 pixels matte displays. The 14 incher also comes with a built-in DVD drive.

Other common specifications include WiFi, Bluetooth 3.0, USB 3.0 and HDMI output port. They also support the Intel WiDi wireless display technology. The Samsung ultrabooks are a bit thicker and heavier than typical ultrabooks. While the 13.3 inch model weighs 3.2 pounds and measures 0.7 inches in thickness, the 14 incher measures 0.8 inches in thickness and weighs 3.9 pounds.

No word on the availability of the $1100 13.3 inch model which has a 128GB SSD instead of the 500GB hard drive.

The Lenovo ThinkPad X130e is now up for order. The 11.6 incher is aimed at students. It was supposed to be available in December, but Lenovo missed that date. Now the laptop is up for order from Lenovo’s website. The base configuration runs $429. It will start shipping in the second week of February.


Two different models of the laptop are available: one with an AMD processor and another with an Intel processor. The AMD configuration starts at $429. The Intel version runs $549.
Both models have 11.6 inch displays with a resolution of 1366 x 768 pixels. Other common specifications include 4GB of RAM, a 250GB hard drive and 802.11b/g/n WiFi. Because the laptop is aimed at students it has a semi-rugged case with a rubber bumper on the top. The reinforced ports are recessed for protection.

The AMD configuration is available with a choice of AMD E-300 or AMD E-450 APU. Both chips come bundled with powerful Radeon graphics. The Intel configuration has a Core i3-2367M ULV processor and GMA HD 3000 graphics.

The Pantech Element is a waterproof tablet with an 8 inch display and a $449.99 price tag. If you are willing to sign up for a 2 year service contract, AT&T is offering it for $299.99.

The tablet is powered by a 1.5Ghz Qualcomm Snapdragon dual core processor. It has also got 1GB of RAM, 16GB of storage, 3G, WiFi, Bluetooth as well as AT&T’s 4G LTE or HSPA + network. The 8 inch capacitive multitouch display has a resolution of 1024 x 786 pixels.



Other specifications include a 2 megapixel camera on the front side and a 5 megapixel camera on the rear side. The tablet runs Google Android 3.2 Honeycomb operating system. It measures 0.4 inches in thickness and weighs a little more than a pound.

As for the water proofing, well, it isn’t without its limitations. AT&T says that the tablet can survive accidental exposure to water when all the ports are covered. That’s it.