Acer: iPad Not a Netbook Killer
Best Buy’s constant going back and forth on how netbooks and laptops are affected by tablets such as iPad has forced others in the industry to make their thoughts known about the future of these devices. Acer may be a bit biased here, but it clearly is not ready to give up the fight just yet. According to Digitimes, Intel’s latest processors will give these devices enough boost to stick around for now:
Acer Taiwan president Scott Lin at a press conference noted that netbooks will not die. After Intel upgraded its Atom processor, netbook’s price/performance ratio saw a significant improvement and the segment is expected to maintain a stable share of the notebook market, separate from tablet PCs. (more…)
BestBuy: iPad Killing Netbooks
It is quite astonishing to see Best Buy keep making claims about the effects of iPad on the PC market and then backtrack on those claims just a while later. The company’s top executive did claim that iPad was just mauling laptops’ marketshare. Of course, Best Buy is still interested in selling those laptops, which is why the company had to back-track on that position. This time around, BestBuy CEO has decided to further clarify his earlier claims by holding iPad responsible for the netbook market slowing down a bit. Best Buy CEO’s third take is as following:
I was brutally misquoted… Let’s try this again. What we saw was approximately 40% to 50% cannibalization on netbook sales during a very narrow window–not over a sustained period of time
Best Buy’s CEO may have been misquoted or gotten it out wrong a couple of times. But there is a lot of truth to his statement. Apple iPad is a big competitor to netbooks but it won’t replace a fully-fledged laptop. That’s not its purpose. Best Buy President, Mike Vitelli, further clarified that statement (as reported by Fast Company): (more…)
BlackBerry Playbook: Another Netbook Challenger
Apple iPad may have not been advertised as a netbook killer, but it has managed to take marketshare and sales away from netbook makers. Playbook by Blackberry will be a more formidable challenger in enterprise. The device is ready to go for business. It has a 7 inch LCD screen, a 1 Ghz processor, and 1 GB RAM. It also includes two cameras (one front-facing), with 3MP and 5MP resolutions. The device takes advantage of Blackberry Tablet OS by QNX. It supports multitasking, HD video, Flash 10.1, Adobe Mobile AIR, Java, OpenGL and HTML5.
Apple Netbook Air Coming?
Apple is a premium brand. The company is not willing to associate its name with any product that is not considered to be a premium device. Netbooks are considered to be cheap laptops that are portable but do not pack too much power. They do not seem like a product category that Apple could be interested in. But what would you call a 11.6 inch Apple laptop? According to DigiTimes, Apple is planning to ship 500K 11.6 inch Macbook Air units by the end of 2010:
Quanta has reportedly landed orders for 11.6-inch MacBooks from Apple. Shipments of 11.6-inch MacBooks are expected to top 400,000-500,000 units in 2010. But Quanta declined to comment on issues concerning clients or orders. (more…)
Chrome OS: Netbook’s Savior?
Google has been preparing to dominate the portable laptop market with Chrome OS for quite some time now. Early on, many consumers were hoping to see Android take off in the netbook market. We have already seen a bunch of Android netbooks, but they did not gain the traction that netbook makers were hoping for. Android has a lot of merits, but it is Chrome OS that Microsoft and, to a lesser point Apple, should be worried about. Google Chrome netbooks are on their way and could provide this market the boost it needs to keep going strong into the next year.
Mostly Chrome OS is a browser; it’s really just a way of letting you buy a computer and have the web be at the centre of the experience, We look at what everyone’s doing with computers today and by and large most people only ever need the web.
said Gren Murphy, Google Chrome’s lead designer, to the Age. (more…)
BlackPad to Challenge Netbooks?
Credit: UberGizmo
If you thought iPad was going to be the only tablet going after netbooks, you may want to rethink that. RIM is awfully close to announcing its very own tablet that runs on QNX’s operating system. RIM has been looking for ways to sustain its market-share and reach new markets. The new operating system should allow the company to do just that. RIM is rumored to be building 2.5 M BlackPad units for Q4, 2010. RIM deciding to drop Blackberry OS for QNX for its tablet is a surprising move to say the least. Blackberry customers are very loyal and would have had an easier time making the transition to BlackPad with a familiar software on-board. The ramifications of RIM using QNX on BlackPad is not clear. (more…)
How To: Add a Blu-Ray Writer To Your Netbook
Blu-ray media is wonderful for backing up things, especially those large hard drives. A dual layer blu-ray disc can hold 50 GB of data, something you don’t ever come close to with DVDs and other solutions on the market. Besides, if you want to burn HD movies, you are going to need blu-ray. The good news is more companies are now offering blu-ray writers with their personal computers. The bad news is we are still somewhat away from the day where these will be used in laptops. Netbooks won’t be getting one of these anytime soon either. LG WH10LS30K 10X Blu-ray Burner is an affordable and powerful blu-ray player that you can take advantage of to burn blu-rays on your netbook computer. (more…)
LG X140 Gets Dual-Core Upgrade
You can count LG X140 among those dual-core netbooks. The new version of LG X140 takes advantage of ATOM N550 processor with a 1024 x 600 pixel display. This netbook does seem a bit thick for what it is. This LG X140 video, courtesy of NetbookNews.com, should give you ideas:
BestBuy: Netbooks Are Not Dead
When a company expects to sell netbooks, it’s often not to smart to claim them dead. Netbooks have been wounded by tablets. They may or may not go away. But to proclaim them dead at this point is not smart. Apparently, BestBuy does not consider netbooks to be on the death row.
While they were fueled in part by a comment in the Wall Street Journal that was attributed to me, they are not an accurate depiction of what we’re currently seeing. As we said during our recent earnings call, we believe computers will remain a very popular gift this holiday because of the very distinct and desirable benefits they offer consumers,
Kensington KeyFolio: Turn iPad Into a Netbook
Credit: Dvice
Many consumers are torn between picking up a netbook or settling on an iPad. Both these devices have their merits. The main issue with the iPad is the fact that it does not have a real keyboard. That is a turn off for data crunchers and those who intend to type a lot on their device. Kensington KeyFolio aims to change all that. It is a bluetooth keyboard case for iPad (expected to sell for $100) that protects your device and turns it into an almost-netbook. (more…)
