Schmidt: Chrome OS News in Late 2009

SUN VALLEY, Idaho (Reuters) - Google Inc Chief Executive Eric Schmidt said there may be announcements later this year about netbook PCs running its new Chrome operating system, as the Internet giant makes its deepest push into Microsoft Corp's business.

Schmidt also said on Thursday that while the worst of the economic downturn has passed, there aren't any strong signs of an immediate recovery.

"I think the new normal is now," Schmidt said at a one-hour briefing with reporters, along with Google co-founder Larry Page, at the Allen & Co media and technology conference in Sun Valley, Idaho.

Earlier this week, Google announced it was developing a PC operating system based on its Chrome Web browser, expected in the second half of 2010. The company said computer makers like Hewlett-Packard Co and Acer are working with Google on Chrome devices.

"Everybody we've talked to under nondisclosure is excited about the plan. So hopefully later this year we'll see some announcements," Schmidt said on Thursday.

Schmidt and Page repeatedly steered the conversation away from the rivalry with Microsoft, describing the Chrome OS as a product that would be "additive" to the PC market.

"I don't want to talk about Microsoft," Schmidt said, noting later that Google did not have any particular goals for Chrome to take market share in the PC business.

"We actually don't look at market share at all," said Schmidt.  (story Link)

HP EliteBook Notebook Series – All Muscle No Fat

HP India has announced the launch of its HP EliteBook Notebook PC series designed for the style-conscious corporate mobile professional.
Launched in a gym to reiterate the ruggedness of this series that is inspired by aircraft construction, these notebooks adorn military-standard durability, which is designed to be business-rugged withstanding dust, vibration, altitude and high temperature.

The HP EliteBook series comprises a total of six premium business notebooks - 2530p, 2730p, 6930p, 8530p, 8730w and 8530w - encompassing the professional (p) and mobile workstation (w) class notebooks series.
"HP EliteBook's sleek, innovative designs combine a sophisticated look with durability, thus aligning to the evolving mobile work environment," said Anurag Arora, Country Manager – Business Notebooks, Personal Systems Group, HP. "Furthermore, HP has incorporated the right amalgam of hardware and software features to deliver a dependable business notebook PC that delivers enhanced security & improved ease of use in a stylish new package." (story Link)

Review: Samsung NC10-14GB

From cell phones to HDTVs, Samsung products have successfully found their way into American homes for the past decade. But the company hasn't made much headway with its laptops, and for good reason: The laptops have only recently started selling in the United States. Samsung needed a strategy that would jump-start its laptop presence. A netbook was the obvious choice, as this category is taking the market by storm. The Samsung NC10-14GB ($480 street) is a lot like every other netbook, but it has a few small advantages. It comes with a six-cell battery instead of a puny three-cell, and the keyboard is a tiny bit (1 percent) bigger than those of the MSI Wind and the HP Mini 1000. Ultimately, though, it loses out on price: The MSI Wind is a lower-priced package for now (by about $50, which in the netbook category is significant).

The white exterior of the ASUS EeePC 4G, once thought of as sleek and sexy, has been copied over and over for other netbooks like the Wind, the Acer Aspire One, and the Lenovo IdeaPad S10. Splashed in navy blue, the NC10 is neither bland nor head-turning. The HP 1000's embedded patterns and the metallic lid of the ASUS EeePC 1002HA are taking netbook designs to another level, and the trend won't stop with them. At 10.3 by 7.3 by 1 inches, the NC10's dimensions practically identical to those of the ASUS EeePC 1002HA. The HP Mini 1000 (10.3 by 6.6 by 0.9 inches) and the Lenovo S10 (9.8 by 7.3 by 0.9 inches) are slightly thinner and smaller. At 2.9 pounds, the NC10's frame seems heavy, but once you factor in the standard six-cell battery, its weight is actually on a par with its 10-inch counterparts.

By 10-inch, I mean the size of the widescreen. Netbooks like the Acer Aspire One (2.1 pounds), the Dell Inspiron Mini 9 (2.3 pounds), and the ASUS EeePC 900 (2.2 pounds) are noticeably lighter because they have smaller 8.9-inch widescreens. The viewing experience is obviously better with a bigger screen, but the 1,024-by-600 resolution is the same across the board. The NC10's brightness and contrast levels are consistent with those of other 10-inch netbooks and make for pleasant viewing. Its 93 percent keyboard is 1 percent larger than those found on the Mini 1000 and the MSI Wind—not a huge difference, although the keys are noticeably bigger and the typing experience better. Consequently, the touchpad is minuscule compared with those of the EeePC 1002HA and the Wind, resulting in a tighter pinch when using your thumb and index fingers to navigate.

The NC10's features are consistent with those of other top-rated netbooks. It comes with three USB ports, a VGA-out, an Ethernet port, and an SD slot. Lenovo opted to forgo a USB port in its S10 to make room for an ExpressCard slot, which is a handy addition for expansion devices that enable 3G wireless services and other specialty ports. Both the HP 1000 and the Dell Inspiron Mini 9 have 3G wireless built in, simplifying things even further. A 160GB hard drive is included and appears to be the capacity that everyone is settling on. By next year, you'll see netbook hard drive capacities standardized at 320GB.

The NC10 contains the same parts as every netbook. Its 1.6-GHz Intel Atom N270 processor and 1GB of memory are no surprise. The same could be said about the integrated graphics. The ASUS N10Jc-A1 is an exception, a netbook that utilizes two sets of graphics chipsets to its advantage—one for 3D work and another to save battery life. The NC10's SYSmark 2007 Overall score topped the Wind's by a point, though you wouldn't notice it in real-world applications. The NC10 was a bit slower on video-encoding tests, trailing the others in the comparison by at least 2 seconds. (full Story)

PMC-Sierra's 6Gbps SAS RAID-on-chip

HONG KONG: PMC-Sierra Inc. has announced that its PM8011 SRC 8x6G 6Gbps SAS RAID-on-Chip (RoC) is shipping on the new high-performance Smart Array RAID controller cards from HP. The superior performance and flexibility of PMC-Sierra's SRC RoC enables the next-generation 6Gbps SAS RAID platform to more than double the performance of existing RAID solutions.

The new HP P212, P410, and P411 Smart Array RAID cards harness the full throughput of 6Gbps SAS and 5Gbps PCI Express 2.0 using PMC-Sierra's innovative RoCstar Contention-Free Architecture to maximize performance in equipment such as the HP ProLiant DL385 G5p and HP ProLiant DL580 G5 servers.

"IT professionals will see dramatically improved performance with the new HP Smart Array cards, enabling them to address their immediate storage needs, while future-proofing their data centers for emerging requirements," said Greg Lang, president and chief executive officer, PMC-Sierra. "Providing industry-leading performance and being first to market with end-to-end 6Gbps SAS chipsets solidifies PMC-Sierra's position as a technology leader and strengthens our relationship with HP."

According to IDC, a global provider of market intelligence, server shipments are expected to continue to grow above the 10-million-units-per-year mark by 2011. HP is the recognized server market leader by volume with market share of more than 30 per cent.

"Customers need improved RAID performance because of data center demands for higher computing power, storage throughput, and support for virtualization," said Mike Gill, vice president of Industry Standard Servers, HP. "PMC-Sierra's advanced RoC architecture integrated into the HP Smart Array RAID stack enables us to offer the industry's highest performance server and storage solutions." 

Data center demands for higher computing power, networking bandwidth and support for virtualization applications are driving system requirements for improved host bus interface, input-output, and RAID performance. PMC-Sierra's RoC device is SAS-2 compliant, doubling the storage throughput to 6Gbps and enabling a new level of system reliability, availability and scalability.  (full Story)

Review: HP EliteBook 2530P

It's rare when a laptop can pull off great battery life with either its standard battery or an extended one. The HP EliteBook 2530p ($2,099 direct)—a business ultraportable—has the battery capacity to last from a breakfast meeting to a late-afternoon powwow without sacrificing performance. Its long battery life can be attributed, in varying degrees, to the low-voltage CPU and the solid-state drives (SSD). I needed a laptop that was light, durable, and had a full-size keyboard for a weeklong business trip, so I brought the review unit of the 2530p with me. (Its internal optical drive didn't hurt either, since two DVD flicks came for the ride.) Suffice it to say that the 2530p delivered in spades.

With the EliteBook line, HP has come a long way with its business laptops. I'm used to the bland, conservative attire of Compaq-branded frames, so it's nice to see that the 2530p has the looks to go with its brains. It's completely surrounded by anodized aluminum, a moldable metal that's both durable and sleek. Its looks are more appealing than those of the Lenovo ThinkPad X200 and the X301. With a thickness of 1.1 inches, the 2530p is not as thin as the Sony VAIO VGN-Z590. At 3.7 pounds, it's heavier than the Z590 (3.2 pounds) and the same weight as the Lenovo X200. Even with the standard battery and an optical drive, the 2530p is pleasantly light and can minimize the hassle of an airport security check, since it's easy to pull out of and return to your bag.

The typing experience a laptop offers is crucial for me as a writer, and I didn't miss a beat with the 2530p's full-size keyboard. The number "1" key is about half the size it should be, but every other key is standard size. If I had to rank the typing experience, I'd say that the Lenovo X200 is easily the best, the 2530p a close second, and the Sony Z590's uniquely styled keys, third. The 2530p uses dual pointing devices: a pointing stick and a touchpad. The pointing stick is too stiff for my taste, but the touchpad is both responsive and appropriately sized. Along with those of the ThinkPad X200 and the Dell Latitude E4300, the mouse buttons are the quietest and the least resistive in the industry.

The 16:10 format, 12-inch LCD widescreen is acceptable for office productivity, but I found the 13-inch one on the Sony Z590 better equipped for viewing movies and photos. Even with a bigger screen, the Z590 is at least half a pound lighter, as well, thanks to its carbon-fiber frame. If a bigger screen is a must, the HP EliteBook 6930p has the same exact look and a 14-inch screen. A matte screen is another business feature of the 2530p and the ThinkPad X200—it offsets any glare coming from a bright light source. (full Story)

Technorati Tags: HP EliteBook 2530P,Laptop,Gadgets,Sony Vaio,Lenovo

Reviews: HP Mini 2140

The HP 2133 Mini-Note was (and still is) ahead of its time design-wise, with an aluminum finish that made the original ASUS EeePC 4G look like a toy by comparison. As one of the first netbooks that helped spur the ongoing revolution, it was enticingly presented and crafted to look like its EliteBook business siblings. But it wasn't without flaws. Specifically, the VIA processing innards were slow and required excessive cooling, resulting in significant fan noise and heat coming from the base. The newly minted HP Mini 2140 ($500 street) replaces the older parts with faster and more energy-efficient ones from the Intel Atom platform while keeping the impeccably fresh design intact. It's basically a business and education version of the HP Mini 1000.

From the outside, you can't tell the Mini 2140 from its predecessor. The aluminum alloy finish, a glaring departure from the white lacquered designs of the Acer Aspire One, the MSI Wind, and the Lenovo IdeaPad S10, is what made the Mini-Note exceptional in the first place. The 2140, starting at 2.6 pounds (with the three-cell battery), is slightly lighter than the 2133. It's as heavy as the Mini 1000 (2.5 pounds) and the MSI Wind (2.6 pounds), and a bit heavier than the Acer Aspire One (2.1 pounds), the lightest in the netbook category.

The 2140 could have been as light the Acer One had it not moved to a bigger screen. It now sports a 10-inch LED widescreen like those of the Wind, the Mini 1000, and the ASUS EeePC 1002HA, rather than an 8.9-inch one. The hinges are concealed when the lid is open, dropping down so that the bottom of the screen meets the system's base, which gives it a modern look. The optional 1,366-by-768-resolution screen is the first on a 10-inch laptop (HP is calling it its high-definition display). My test unit came with a 1,024-by-567 display, which is more consistent with the resolutions found on most netbooks, and it will save you a couple of bucks. The 92 percent keyboard is one of the biggest among netbooks I've seen, as big and as nice to type with as those on the Wind, the 1002HA, and the Mini 1000. The Samsung NC10-14GB, however, has a minuscule advantage with its 93 percent keyboard. As with its predecessor, an exceptional keyboard doesn't help the placement of its mouse buttons, as they flank the touchpad on each side. I found it easier to navigate with two hands.

The 2140 ranks high in features. Its two USB ports don't sound impressive, but it forgoes a third USB port for an ExpressCard 34 slot, which is a better choice. This slot can be used to expand the netbook's capabilities by adding, for instance, a FireWire ports, extra USB ports, a TV tuner, or mobile broadband. Oddly enough, this business netbook doesn't integrate mobile broadband or 3G wireless. Meanwhile, the Mini 1000—a consumer netbook, mind you—does. Otherwise, the 2140 has an impressive selection of storage options, including 160GB (5,400- and 7,200-rpm) spinning drives or an Intel 80GB solid-state drive (SSD). Capacity-wise, the Samsung NC10 has a slight edge with its 320GB, 5400-rpm drive. Like all netbooks, the 2140 comes with an SD slot for digital camera cards and a webcam for video chat… (full Story)

Intel’s CULV to Come in Q2

Intel’s new platform for thin and light ultraportables should appear as early as Q2 2009, according to Digitimes. The new platform, dubbed CULV for consumer ultra-low voltage, is a tweaked ULV Core series architecture, designed to take on AMD’s Neo platform.

According to reports, the top three notebook vendors are working on CULV based products, and expect to sell as many as 10 million CULV based units before the end of the year. As the platform is scheduled for launch in Q2, this is quite an impressive number, but the $699-899 price tag of upcoming CULV notebooks is quite tempting.

Intel apparently plans to divide the notebook market into four segments. Everything above 12.1-inches will be traditional notebooks, it will have a Atom netbook segment, Menlow MID segment and the new, thin and light 11 to 13.3-inch market segment.

Intel’s CULV platform should fill the gap between Atom based netbooks and ultraportables, or even classic 12.1-inch machines, mainly due to its competitive pricing. Intel’s decision not to allow Atoms in machines over 10 inches also makes sense, as it would hurt its own upcoming platform and further lower the average selling price of its mobile CPUs.

Recently it was reported HP would ash Intel to allow it to build 11.6 and 13.3-inch Atom based machines, but it seems HP has opted for the CULV platform instead, following pressure from Intel.

AMD launched its Neo platform on CES, and at least on paper it is in the lead, but we have still to see actual product announcements or any word from AMD on the number of design wins. When Puma was launched some six months ago, AMD boasted 90+ design wins at launch day, and we all know Puma didn’t manage to make much of an impact on the market. (story Link)

HP Unveils TouchSmart TX2 Multi-Touch Tablet

For years, the computer industry has been pushing the concept of the tablet PC, but save for a small percentage of professionals in specialized fields, the form factor has largely failed to catch on.

Hewlett-Packard is looking to change that with the Wednesday introduction of the TouchSmart TX2, the first multi-touch tablet for Windows.

HP took some interesting baby steps with touchscreens with the launch of the TouchSmart IQ816 all-in-one "kitchen" PC. Designed for family use, the PC proved its usefulness when it came to multimedia, letting users get more hands-on with things such as digital photos.

Like its predecessor in the TouchSmart line, the TX2's touch capabilities are largely focused on multimedia--flipping and expanding digital pictures and things of that nature. Some of the touch functionality extends to other apps, but it's fairly limited.

PC Magazine got some hands-on time with the computer earlier this week, and the first thing HP showed us was the ability to launch HP MediaSmart by drawing an "M" with two fingers (even this simple gesture took some getting used to, however).

HP is also being a bit generous with the multi-touch classification. While it supports more fingers, the gestures at this point are still limited to two. An HP rep suggested that there were limited functions that might require more than two fingers, but Apple's new multi-finger trackpads for the Macbook certainly make a different case.

Otherwise, the tablet is a lot like its predecessor, the Tx2000z. It features a 12-inch widescreen, a stylus, a dual-layer DVD burner, three USB ports, and a multi-card reader. Inside the tablet has a 250GB, 5400-rpm hard drive, a 2.2-GHz AMD Turion X2 ZM-82 processor, and 4GB of memory. Pricing starts at $1,149. (full Story)

Windows 7 Puts it’s Finger on Enhanced Biometric Support

I’ve always found biometrics to be an interesting aspect to technology. And I was excited to discover that Windows 7 offers changes to the way Windows handles biometrics to enable better experiences. Windows 7 introduces the Windows Biometric Framework which makes integration easier and more consistent to help deliver enhanced reliability, compatibility and usability of fingerprint-based solutions. The Windows Biometric Framework also makes it easier for developers to include biometrics in their applications by providing a common API that can be added independently with each biometric fingerprint solution. For a more in-depth look at the Windows Biometric Framework check out this whitepaper from Windows Hardware Developer Central.

This week at CES 2009, we have several key partners announcing support for the Windows Biometric Framework in Windows 7.

With tens of millions of notebooks in the market with UPEK fingerprint sensors, UPEK has worked closely with us on the development of the Windows Biometric Framework and sees strong value in using applications that support fingerprint biometrics through the Windows Biometric Framework. If your laptop uses a UPEK fingerprint sensor, such as my Lenovo X300, you can download the pre-release Protector Suite software here which utilizes the Windows Biometric Framework in the Windows 7 Beta today. I’m currently testing it out myself and its pretty slick! Rob Blau, UPEK’s Vice President of Development, talks more about UPEK’s support for Windows 7 here in their press release (Word Document).

AuthenTec has also worked closely with us on the development of the Windows Biometric Framework. They are providing beta test participants with access to software that enable convenient logon for Windows 7-based PCs, thanks to AuthenTec fingerprint sensors integrated with the new Windows Biometric Framework. You can download their 32-bit software here and their 64-bit software here. AuthenTec fingerprint sensors can be seen in business and consumer notebooks from the world’s leading brands from ASUS, Acer, Dell, Fujitsu, Fujitsu Siemens, HP, Lenovo, LG, Samsung and Toshiba. Andy VanDamia, AuthenTec’s Director of PC Software, discusses working with us on the Windows Biometric Framework here.

And Validity believes the Windows Biometric Framework facilitates greater adoption of fingerprint security solutions by providing a flexible platform, enabling easy fingerprint sensor integration into PCs.

The early adoption and readiness by these companies has played a vital role in validating the suitability of the Windows Biometric Framework as a platform for fingerprint biometric devices in Windows 7. (story Link)

Nokia was the World’s Largest Computer Maker in 200

The tech community is gearing up for CES and Macworld Expo 2009 events this week and it is expected there will be new from the large computer makers, Apple, HP, Dell, Lenovo, etc. However, did you know that Nokia is now the world’s largest computer maker with 13.8% of market share? HP, Dell, Apple, Acer, Lenovo, RIM, and Toshiba follow in the stats. These numbers only include the Nokia smartphones and not all of the Nokia mobile phones (Series 40 phones are quite powerful too, but not included) or devices (Nokia Internet Tablets are not included), which would increase their numbers even more.

Now, the first argument you will probably make to Tomi’s article linked above is that Nokia smartphones (and those from RIM, Apple, Windows Mobile, and Google) should not be considered computers. I recommend you check out his other follow-up article that takes an in-depth look at the history of computers over the last 50 years to see how today’s modern high end smartphones fit into the computer picture.

Nokia has been calling their Nseries devices “multimedia computers” for the last couple of years and I tend to use this label often too as agree with them about the Nseries functionality. These devices capture amazing photos and video that you can even edit on the device itself and share online without ever needing to connect to a PC. Most, if not all, of the Nseries devices come with TV out cables and Bluetooth so you can actually use a Nseries device as your only computer with a connection to a monitor/TV and Bluetooth keyboard. Most people today use their computer for email and web browsing and with a Nseries device and external monitor/TV there is no reason you can’t do it all with the phone as the central core of your system.

You will never do away with the full PC computer and no one is saying they will go away because there are a ton of real needs for a full size powerful computer. However, it is quite amazing what these mobile devices today can do and I know that every phone currently in my collection blows away the PCs I had back in the 90s. I actually prefer to use my mobile phone for setting appointments, browsing through email, and browsing through my RSS feeds over using my PC since I find it more convenient and faster. Coworkers also tell me they prefer using their iPhone for browsing through their email list rather than using Outlook on the PC. (full Story)

Thin HP Pavilion dv2 has AMD's Neo Platform

Comes loaded with Windows Vista to avoid netbook nomenclature, up to 4GB RAM support and 500 GB storage

With CES 2009 just a few days away, HP announced less than a inch thin Pavilion dv2 notebook with 12.1-inch LED backlit display, reported CNET.
Pavilion dv2 features AMD's new Neo platform CPU, 1.6GHz Neo MV-40, similar to Intel Atom and ATI Mobility Radeon 3410 graphics. Consumers can expect to see Pavilion dv2 in March at a price range of $600 (Rs. 29,000)-$800 (Rs. 40,000).

HP Pavilion dv2 measures 1.3 inch at its thickest point and weighs about 3.8 pounds. AMD's new Neo platform for netbooks will compete with Intel Atom platform. HP loaded Windows Vista to break the netbook nomenclature shell. The dv2 is equipped with up to 4GB RAM (only one slot) support, up to 500 GB storage, WiFi (802.11b/g/n), HDMI port, 8x DVD Burner, webcam, Bluetooth and WWAN configurations.

HP also announced Pavilion dv3 with 13.3-inch LED backlit display. The dv3 features 2.3GHz AMD Turion X2 Ultra ZM-84 dual-core mobile processor and ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3200 series graphics. The dv3 will have price tag of $800 (Rs. 40,000) to $1,200 (Rs. 58,500) and pre-orders to begin soon.
After it showcased Voodoo Firefly a few days ago and now Pavilion dv2 as well as dv3, HP's intention to steal the show at CES 2009 is fairly visible. (story Link)