Microsoft Windows 7, the Starter Edition

Channel Insider has an article up discussing the pros and cons of Microsoft’s plans as far as netbooks and the upcoming Windows 7. Specifically, they discuss the Windows 7 Starter Edition, which is going to be a stripped-down version of the “regular” Windows 7 versions/distributions. One of the worst aspects of the Starter Edition will be the fact that it only allows for three applications to be run concurrently.

There will also be some advanced features missing, which I don’t think will be as important (for most) as the three application limit, but CI makes a good case for the Windows 7 Starter Edition versus the Windows XP Home edition that ships with many current netbooks:

The big question is, Will customers be willing to pay for an OS that is arguably less capable than Windows XP Home edition, which is currently found on the majority of netbook computers? Netbooks have proved to be a challenge for Microsoft—the company has had to make special exceptions to get netbook vendors to put a Microsoft OS on those systems, the end result being a step backward down to Windows XP.

They point out what many of us have experienced - where Vista ran poorly on ultraportable netbooks/sub-notebooks, Windows 7 (beta) runs much better and provides for a better overall experience, even when compared to the performance of XP Home (especially in the networking area).

They do make a crucial point that Microsoft can’t ignore: If Microsoft (and the manufacturers who will be working on what editions are shipped with various netbook models) botch it and start pushing out netbooks with the Starter Edition, Apple could very well gain quite a bit with the release of their own netbook. Chances are high that any netbook shipping from Apple is going to ship with a version of Mac OS X that resembles what you see with the MacBook and with the Mac mini (and it wouldn’t surprise me if it’s the same OS X that ships on their consumer products). Apple is very proud of the fact that they’ve managed to scale OS X down to the iPhone, and you also have a huge unofficial (highly unofficial) group of netbook users who have worked out how to install OS X on just about every type of netbook you can imagine. OS X runs well on these devices. Apple also makes use (or has in the past) of the fact that they basically have two versions of OS X they ship (three if you count the iPhone) - the consumer/client version, and the server version. They don’t have a Home or a Home Premium or a Professional or a Business or an Ultimate version.

Microsoft takes a huge risk when trying to push a version of Windows 7 that would restrict you to three applications, and Channel Insider mentions the advertising benefits that Apple would reap:

How will Apple respond to the launch of Windows 7 Starter Edition? I can picture the cute commercials now. Imagine a Mac commercial where the PC guy is shown juggling a couple of balls, the Mac Guy walks in juggling dozens of balls and throws one ball in the PC Guy’s direction, and the PC Guy drops everything

The ads would write themselves, as many American consumers have not experienced a “Starter” edition of Microsoft Windows, and would be extremely upset to find out after the fact that their netbooks with Windows 7 can’t do as much as their netbooks with Windows XP. Retailers would not be happy with Microsoft or the manufacturers, as they would bear the brunt of consumer anger and confusion.

Read: Channel Insider

Netbooks Impacting the Mainstream Market

Joe Wilcox, editor of Microsoft Watch, has put together an in-depth article about the impact netbooks are having on the traditional, or mainstream, laptop/notebook market.

Netbooks are cannibalizing the low-end part of the market and driving some margins down (in the so-called “race to the bottom”). Just how much they are is up for debate - I think once we’ve seen another quarter or two, and factor in the MSI Wind U100 and Acer Aspire One launch during the first half of last year, then we’ll have a better idea on just what kind of impact they are having. eWeek considers this a huge problem for the overall PC market, and they believe the Microsoft must be a part of anything that addresses this. They mention the first quarter 2009 shipment information that was just released by both Gartner and IDC, and PC shipments declined by 6.5 percent over this time last year, while netbooks/sub-notebooks sales were strong. I think some of that is being alarmist - even if netbooks didn’t exist, shipments would probably still be down. Companies are cutting back, and within the last few years, laptops have reached a point as far as cost versus computing power, where the benefits of upgrading fairly often for consumers has dropped substantially. It’s one thing if you are going from an old Celeron or Pentium 4-based laptop from 5 years ago to a Intel Core 2 Duo-based system, it’s another if you are already on a Core Duo or Core 2 Duo-based system. I think we’ve reached the point where people aren’t going to be compelled to upgrade as often. On top of that, you have Microsoft Windows 7 which is going to perform as well or better on existing systems that were sold with Vista (and it performs just fine on Intel Atom-based systems).

I think that it is a problem for manufacturers, but at the same time, the damage is done. It’s very clear that these devices are something that consumers are very interested in, and in many cases, they are being bought by people who may not already own a laptop for one reason or another. I can also see the fear that the NVIDIA Ion platform inspires in some - a low-end netbook/ultraportable, perhaps powered by an Intel Atom (or a VIA Nano), capable of HD graphics (even just 720p). That would absolutely impact the traditional 15″ (and now 17″) budget market. Netbooks with their current, outdated graphics systems, are already impacting the market - the demand was there, and the products to fill it simply didn’t exist, at least at a pricepoint that was affordable by mainstream consumers. As we go forward, you’ll find more people willing to forego the 15″ laptops for something in the 13″ and below range.
Read more

Apple’s Netbook, AT&T’s 3G Upgrades

Commercial Times/Digitimes is reporting that Foxconn Electronics (as it’s known in the US, Hon Hai Precision Industry as it’s known elsewhere) could be the potential supplier for an Apple Mac OS X-based netbook.

Foxconn and Apple have a relationship that goes back several years, and they’ve manufactured either partially, or in whole, devices for Apple that include iPhones, MacBook Airs, Mac minis, along with some iPods, so it makes sense that they are in the running for this.

Something that maybe slightly related - on the heels of AT&T offering netbooks with mobile data plans, Telephony Online is reporting that AT&T is working on upgrading its existing 3G networks up to a 7.2Mb/s speed. The improvements that could potentially double current speeds/capacity are software-based, designed to boost its 3G network before its eventual move over to a 4G network.

Telephony Online claims that it’s centered around the downlink capacity. The article mentions that most laptop cards (and presumably USB adapters), as well as smartphones and iPhones that AT&T currently offers, can handle the increased capacity.

Should AT&T’s plans to offer netbooks with mobile data plans prove successful, along with iPhone OS 3.0 coming out in the not-too-distant future, the increased capacity should be put to the test. Already Skype has been rolled out to the iPhone (although WiFi access is needed for VOIP), and an iPhone-based Hulu.com client is in the works as well.

Read:
- DigiTimes
- Telephony Online
via AppleInsider

NVIDIA Talks About the ION

NVIDIA has issued another press release about the ION platform, along with a few more details about launches, as well as commitments from software companies in regards to boosting/optimizing software for the ION platform.

Companies mentioned include Microsoft (no surprise), Electronic Arts, Adobe (Flash anyone?), and Google. Games and applications mentioned as benefitting from the Ion include Google Earth, Adobe Photoshop, Spore, Call of Duty 4, PowerDVD, and a few other games.

They’ve also posted a video discussing the ION, with select comments from interviews. Among those interviewed in the video, Corey Rosemond, Microsoft’s Windows Gaming Group Marketing Manager, along with others in the industry, with all involved putting an emphasis on the portability and low price point of the ION platform.

While I see the appeal of an NVIDIA ION ultraportable running a hardware-accelerated Photoshop CS4, I’m wondering if the limitations won’t be under the hood but rather what you see in front of you - Photoshop these days is not the best of experiences on a 1024×600 or 1024×576 display. There is a niche to be filled though, there are plenty of people who want that kind of functionality. The more interesting thing to me is High Definition video, along with 720p or 1080p output. It would be interesting to see an ION-powered ultraportable being used as a mobile HTPC.

Unfortunately we don’t get anything too specific, just that there will be some “incredibly small and affordable PCs” available sometime between now and the end of the quarter (June). Take it for what it is - the start of the marketing hype, but it’s a good sign of things to come.

Read: NVIDIA Press Release
(Video - 480p WMV)

Intel’s Austin Chip Design Team Looking Beyond Atom

The Austin-American Statesman has taken a fairly comprehensive at the Intel Corporation’s chip design center in Austin, Texas, along with the chip design team responsible for the Intel Atom.

The article mentions that Intel is aggressively looking to push Atom-based technology into other markets, not just laptops/netbooks. It also mentions “Lincroft”, which is the second-generation version of the Atom, and which is geared towards Mobile Internet Devices (MIDs) as well as smartphones.

Lincroft is a major step up from the first generation Atom, as it offers built-in graphics processing as well as memory control, along with lower power requirements. All of that adds up to a smaller size for the platform as well.

In the midst of a lot of high-tech companies cutting back in various areas, Intel’s mobility group in Austin team is doing well, thanks to the Atom:

Despite a tough industry downturn, Intel now has more than 900 workers in Austin, more than ever at its 11-year-old design center.

The reason is the Atom family of low-power, low-cost processors, which Austin designers created and which has become a major new product for Intel.

Atom fueled a boomlet in the infant market for netbooks — small, affordable mini-notebook computers — in 2008.

Read: Austin-American Statesman

HP Studying Google’s Android Platform for Ultraportables

How about Google’s Android operating system/platform for a notebook/laptop or even a netbook? Would you believe HP is taking a look at it?

It’s no April Fool’s joke. Reuters is reporting that Hewlett-Packard is looking at various ways that Google’s open-source operating system could be used. The article also mentions that the Wall Street Journal has sources claiming that HP is looking at Android as a platform for future netbooks.

Right now, Android has mainly been seen on mobile phones (or smartphones).

An HP spokeswoman declined to comment on any specific products, and only said that HP was studying Android in order to “understand all of the OS choices in the marketplace that might be used by our competitors, or that might possibly be of value to our customers too…..We want to assess the capabilities that Android might present for the computer and communications industries.”

HP is not the first to consider this, mind you. Back in February, the head of Asustek’s Eee PC line stated that Asustek had assigned engineers to look at Android-based netbooks and other Android-based devices, for a product that might be designed and finished by the end of this year. At the time, Asustek had not committed to a production run of any such devices, and as of now, they still haven’t, but it raised a lot of eyebrows.

Android is appealing - it’s free, it’s lightweight, has a large development community, and there are plenty of applications beginning to roll out for it, and being that it’s Google, an Android-based laptop/ultraportable will have access to most of the Google apps that many people use on a daily basis. People have been making Android run on non-mobile phone devices as well.

Given the “race to the bottom” as far as pricing, it could very well present a viable alternative to Linux on the $300 and lower devices.

Read: Reuters

Microsoft Talks Touch and Gestures in Windows 7

The Windows Touch Team at Microsoft has posted a very comprehensive look at touchscreen interfaces and interaction with Tablet PCs in regards to the upcoming . The post is their first on this subject, and it sounds like they will be discussing it much more in the upcoming weeks/months.

They plan on touch being a “ first-class way to interact with your PC alongside the mouse and keyboard“, instead of in the past, where it usually felt more like an add-on (or even an afterthought). They also plan on it not only being used to scroll through a web page or zoom in or out on a map or photo, but also finding its way into games.

They discuss how touch in Windows 7 has evolved and built upon the experience they’ve been gaining since the Tablet PC days of Windows XP. They also mention where they think touch is headed:

We think touch will become broadly available as the hardware evolves and while it might be the primary input for some form factors (such as a wall mounted display in a hospital, kiosk, or point of sale) it will also prove to richly augment many scenarios such as reading on a convertible laptop or a “kitchen PC”.

Among the gestures that will work with existing applications:
- Tap and drag
- Scroll
- Right-click
- Forward and back
- Zoom and rotate

There won’t be a totally seperate user interface/shell either - they are working on integrating it directly into Windows 7, with some of the UI elements being optimized for touch input (such as taskbar buttons, etc.).

It’s a very extensive article, and it’s pretty clear they are making touch a major focus of Windows 7.

Read: Engineering Windows 7

Lenovo Pocket Yoga (Pocket Notebook) Discussed

There has been a lot of talk about Lenovo’s “Pocket Yoga”, which closely resembles the form factor of the Sony VAIO P series (or rather, the VAIO P resembles it). In the words of Lenovo, it’s the smallest pocket notebook. The photo(s) were from two years ago.

Over at Design Matters, one of Lenovo’s official blogs, Johnson Li, who is the Director of Lenovo’s Beijing Inovation Center, has spoken about the concept product from Lenovo that was leaked out.

Note: If you are curious to see several images from the Pocket Yoga concept design, Lenovo has posted photos on the Lenovo Photo Library at flickr. Yes, there is a photo of it in somebody’s back pocket.

Li mentions what created the hoopla:

Last week some buzz was created by a photograph that someone snuck out of our Beijing design studio. The picture was of a pocket-sized PC we developed about two years ago, well before the current netbook craze and the introduction of a similar form factor by one of our competitors. Since the design has been shown in public in the past and received some attention, I thought it might be of some interest to discuss the design inspiration and share some photos and drawings of the device.

We in Lenovo’s Beijing design center refer to this concept as the “Pocket Yoga,” an extension of an award winning design we’ve shown in public based on a folding concept inspired by the practice of yoga by one of our New Zealand-based designers. The full Yoga concept was a folding notebook with a detachable keyboard. The system unit was covered in leather.

The use of leather is interesting - Li says that it can “transform a cold, plastic or metal machine into something warm and considerate, transforming it into something friendlier and more like a trusted and valued possession. Always there, always waiting.”

He also considered the “soft hinge” design that has three different modes, to be one of the major innovations. It allows the touchscreen display to rotate all the way over to lay flat, and turns the device into a Tablet PC.

Read: Design Matters (LenovoBlogs.com)

Next Page »