Steve Jobs Overseeing Ultraportable Apple / Mac?

With the announcement last month of a major update to Apple’s iPhone OS (version 3.0), a lot more of us began to wonder about whether Apple would be scaling the iPhone’s interface up to something larger, perhaps netbook-sized. Keep in mind that the iPhone is running a scaled-down version of Mac OS X, which runs on the normal Mac product range (MacBooks, etc.). The iPhone update included the fabled copy-and-paste, more support for landscape mode in various applications, increased Spotlight functionality, increased functionality/access for the internal mapping functions/hardware, and official access to 3rd party hardware accessories, and a lot more, all of which would be handy/necessary for something slightly larger.

AppleInsider is reporting on a Wall Street Journal article as well as some past rumors/information that even while Steve Jobs is working from home after taking a medical break from Apple, he’s still overseeing a lot of the major projects currently in progress at Apple, including a device from Apple that is “smaller than its current laptop computers but bigger than the iPhone or iPod Touch”.

Back in October of last year, Jobs made some interesting comments about netbook-sized Macs:

“As we look at the netbook category, that’s a nascent category. As best as we can tell, there’s not a lot of them being sold. You know, one of our entrants into that category if you will is the iPhone, for browsing the Internet, and doing email and all the other things that a netbook lets you do. And being connected via the cellular network wherever you are, an iPhone is a pretty good solution for that, and it fits in your pocket.

“But we’ll wait and see how that nascent category evolves, and we have got some pretty interesting ideas if it does evolve…”

A few months later, in January of this year, during Apple’s first quarter 2009 financial results conference call, Tim Cook, who is filling in for Jobs, had the following to say:

“We’re watching that space, but right now from our point of view, the products in there are principally based on hardware that’s much less powerful than we think customers want, software technology that is not good, cramped keyboards, small displays…. We don’t think people will be pleased with those products. It’s a category we watch, we’ve got some ideas here, but right now we think the products are inferior and will not provide an experience to customers they’re happy with.”

Since that time, there have been some major developments in “that space” that Apple woudl be watching. The market will soon have the NVIDIA Ion platform which provides the kind of hardware acceleration and performance Apple would want in an ultraportable device (and which would closely match the NVIDIA hardware already present in the MacBook and Mac mini line, simplifying some development costs/issues).

You also have AT&T, Apple’s partner with the iPhone in the US, offering a wide range of subsidized netbooks with 3G/mobile broadband packages. Finally, you have low-cost netbooks/ultraportable laptops that are selling incredibly well and gaining mainstream acceptance from both the public and brick-and-mortar retailers such as Office Depot and Best Buy.

The Wall Street Journal article mentions that Jobs was heavily involved in laying out iPhone OS 3.0, and Apple Insider mentions that there have been reports of Apple ordering 10-inch touchscreen displays. The price on touchscreen displays in the 9-inch and 10-inch range should be dropping this year, as devices such as the 8.9-inch touchscreen/convertible Asus Eee PC T91 Touch are produced.

Read:
- Wall Street Journal
via AppleInsider

Asus Eee PC T91 Touch Shows Up at the FCC

There is some good news if you’re in the US and have been waiting to buy one of the first mainstream “convertible” Tablet PC/Touchscreen netbooks. The Asus Eee PC T91 Touch has made it’s appearance at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). That means it might start showing up for pre-orders later this month or next.

The Eee PC T91 is a touchscreen “convertible” - the screen can pivot, allowing it to lay flush against the keyboard and to be used as a Tablet PC, or it can be rotated into a position resembling a traditional laptop/notebook, with a normal keyboard (well normal = 92% or so, given the 8.9-inch display size). It’s possible that it will be the first of its type to be available in the US without the need to go through a 3rd-party importer.

While details about the T91 have been sparse in regards to plans for North America prior to now, it was believed that the T91 would be available sometime in the second quarter of this year. At this time, there’s not much in the FCC database though - just some photos and the FCC ID listing (MSQT91NE785H if you are curious).

About a month ago, Samsun Hu, who manages Asustek’s Asus Eee PC business unit, mentioned that Asustek believes that convertible/Tablet PC Eee PCs will account for up to 10% of the their Eee PC shipments this year.

Read:
- Full FCC Listing
via Netbook 3G (French) (English Translation)

Asustek to Phase Out 7-inch Eee PC, Considers Qualcomm, Changes Motto, Branding, Plus the T91/T101

Quite a few changes have been announced by Asustek this week. The biggest is that Asustek will be phasing out the 7-inch Eee PC segment of its Eee PC family, according to Asustek’s chairman, Jonney Shih. This falls in line with comments made around three weeks ago that Asustek would be simplifying its Eee PC line, with an emphasis on 10-inch models (8.9-inch models would still be around), and Shih reiterated that emphasis in comments made to ZDNet at CeBIT 2009 this week.

He mentioned the screensize as a major factor, which makes sense - most people have indicated that they prefer at least 1024×600, while the 7-inch models only allowed for 800×480.

DigiTimes mentioned that the Eee PC business is being broken down into three major groups:
- High-end netbooks - over $400 USD, includes Eee PC S101
- Mainstream - $299 - $399 USD, such as Eee PC 1000HE and Eee PC 1008HA (see announcement).
- Entry-level - $299 and under, mainly 8.9-inch Eee PCs

Interestingly enough, according to Samson Hu, the manager of Asustek’s Asus Eee PC business, Asustek estimates that the convertible/Tablet PC touchscreen Eee PCs - the Eee PC T91 and Eee PC T101, will make up 10% of the company’s Eee PC shipments for 2009.

DigiTimes is also reporting that Asustek is looking at Eee PCs based on Qualcomm’s platform. Hu has said that Asustek does not have plans to produce non-Intel Atom-based Eee PCs at this point, but they are evaluating other platforms. Last month in an interview, Hu mentioned that Asustek was looking at Android based netbooks for its Eee PC line, and had gone so far as to assign engineers to evaluate the Android platform.

Hu also made comments that they don’t believe that Intel’s CULV platform will impact mainstream markets, and instead will be concentrated in emerging markets.

The Asustek motto (at least as far as Eee PCs are concerned) has also been changed from “Rock Solid. Heart Touching” to “Inspiring Innovation. Persistent Perfection”.

The Eee PC branding was also changed - it did stand for “Easy to learn, easy to work, easy to play”, and it has been changed to “Easy, excellent, exciting”.

Read:
- ZDNet
- DigiTimes

Asus Eee PC T91GO - a T91 With 3G

Not much to say about this, just that it’s firming up previous information about Asustek offering 3G/UMTS mobile broadband functionality with their new convertible netbook/ultraportable as well as selling it through some mobile providers. Ahead of CeBIT 2009, Eee-PC.de has posted a photo of a new model of the still-unreleased 8.9″ Eee PC T91.

It’s called the Eee PC T91GO.

The slogan is “Stay Connected Anywhere With Eee PC T91GO”.

Colors listed look to be black and silver or black and white.

Still no pricing or availability, but today kicks off CeBIT 2009, so chances are we’ll see that information released.

Read: Eee-PC.de
via SlashGear

Two Hands-On Videos of Asus Eee PC T91

A few sites have started previewing the upcoming 8.9″ Asus Eee PC T91, Asus’ first touchscreen and Tablet PC convertible netbook/ultraportable.

Last week, Mobile Computer was able to make a hands-on video of a pre-production model of the Eee PC T91. They show off the build-quality. The model they had came with a built-in Digital TV tuner and GPS, although that will probably be optional at the retail level. They do show the rotation of the display and converting it back and forth between a Tablet PC and a laptop. It works with both finger and stylus. There is a button that appears to allow for converting between landscape and portrait modes. They discuss the built-in battery (that is not replaceable by the end user). Their model came with a 16GB SSD. The RAM is accessible by the end-user (so that you can probably go up to 2GB versus the default 1GB).

They even compared it size-wise with the 10″ Eee PC 1000HE and mention that the T91 will come with the chiclet-style (or scrabble-style) keyboard that comes with the 1000HE as opposed to the keyboard shown on the pre-production model.

NetbookNews.de’s Sascha was also able to put together a high-quality video, and it showcased the T91’s touch interface. He called it a “netvertible”, a play on netbook and convertible. Asus has developed a custom touch interface running on top of Windows XP Home. There is a scrolling sort of wheel with icons/shortcuts. There is a sort of a bar in the middle that you can use as a bookmark bar for applications you frequently use - it’s called a “quick launch”. The “FotoFun” software was interesting - it makes use of the touch interface.

Mobile Computer mentions that a 3G version will be sold through mobile carriers, but that none have been named. Sascha at NetbookNews.de mentions a price of $500 - not sure if that’s US dollars, and that it will be out in the second quarter of 2009.

Next week’s CeBIT 2009 should see the release of a lot more informationon the T91 (as well as the 10-inch version, the T101).

Read:
- Mobile Computer
- NetbookNews.de
via Blogeee.net

Toshiba Introduces New Portege M750 Models

Toshiba has introduced three new models in its 12.1-inch Toshiba Portege M750 line. The M750 laptops are “convertibles” the display rotates/swivels around to allow you to convert back and forth between a normal laptop/notebook form factor, and a Tablet PC setup. These three models are new in the United States. If you want to jump up to an actual touchscreen as opposed to using a Digital Pen, it’ll cost you around $400 USD, although you get a bump in the CPU performance as well as an optical DVD writer.

All three models feature:
- LED-Backlit display
- Fingerprint reader
- 2GB RAM
- 160GB HDD (some models feature 7200rpm)
- eSATA/USB Combo Port with Sleep and Charge
- Gigabit Ethernet
- Intel WiFi 5100AGN5 (802.11a/g/n)
- 3 year warranty

These models are targeted at the back-to-school shopping crowd, and they are:

Portégé M750-S7211
- $1,279 (USD)
- 12.1″ Display - supports Digital Pen/Stylus
- Intel Core 2 Duo T6570 (2.1GHz)

Portégé M750-S7212
- $1,699 (USD)
- 12.1″ Display - supports Digital Pen and Touch
- Intel Core 2 Duo P8600 (2.4GHz)
- DVD SuperMulti DL Optical Drive

Portégé M750-S7213
- $1,799 (USD)
- 12.1″ Display - supports Digital Pen and Touch
- Intel Core 2 Duo T9400 (2.53GHz)
- DVD SuperMulti DL Optical Drive

Available: ToshibaDirect.com
Read: SlashGear

Asus Eee PC T91 Early Look and Preview (bit-tech)

Yesterday, bit-tech.net got an early look at the upcoming 8.9-inch Asus Eee PC T91. The T91 breaks the conventional laptop form factor line that Asustek had established with their Eee PC line. It’s a convertible laptop/Tablet PC - the touchscreen display rotates on a swivel, allowing it to be used as either a normal laptop (with a touchscreen display) or with it folded flat, a Tablet PC.

The T91 could every well be the first convertible Atom-powered netbook/ultraportable available to mainstream consumers in North America. Right now, they are limited to using importers such as Dynamism to import such devices like the 8.9″ Gigabyte M912X .

bit-tech.net has posted a lot of good photos showing the various configurations of the display. Keep in mind it is a pre-production model. They also took a look at the size compared to other 8.9″ devices in this range, and surprising, it’s actually smaller than the Eee PC 900 and 901. There is a T101, a 10-inch version, that will be out later this year, for those who want something slightly bigger. A switch has been included allowing you to turn off the touchscreen functionality, and the power switch is a sliding-type of switch so that the power isn’t accidentally turned off when using the T91 in various modes.

One problem some may have, and this is probably because of engineering/technical issues, it does have a fixed battery, instead of one that can be easily swapped or replaced. Asustek points out that the Intel Atom Z520 (1.33GHz) does consume less power than the normal 1.6GHz N270 (20% less). The Intel US15W chipset also consumers less power than the 945/950 chipset found in most of these devices these days. The model they had access to had a 32GB Solid State Drive (SSD) which should lower power consumption a bit. Asus claims up to 5 hours, which as bit-tech points out, is probably up to 4 hours of normal usage.

bit-tech.net was given a tentative release date of April of this year for the UK .

Read: bit-tech.net

Lenovo ThinkPads Meets Semi-Rugged Requirements

This kind of came out of nowhere. We all knew that ThinkPads had a reputation for being tougher than a lot of other laptops/notebooks in the market.

Lenovo has now announced that the following eight ThinkPads have been designated by Lenovo for use in semi-rugged environments, as well as various field conditions:
- Lenovo ThinkPad X200
- Lenovo ThinkPad X200s
- Lenovo ThinkPad X200 Tablet
- Lenovo ThinkPad X301
- Lenovo ThinkPad T400
- Lenovo ThinkPad T500
- Lenovo ThinkPad R400
- Lenovo ThinkPad SL300

The X200 series is Lenovo’s first widescreen 12″ ultraportables in the ThinkPad X series line; the X301 is a 13.3-inch widescreen, as is the SL300. The T400 and R400 are 14″ laptops, and the T500 is a 15″ laptop.

This is surprising in that usually when laptop manufacturers try to meet certain military or field specifications (utility work, construction sites, law enforcement), they offer a special model/version, with various changes from their normal line. As the press release points out however, these ThinkPads come with protection for the hard drive, as well as a sturdier chassis and display than some.

Via: SlashGear

Press Release:

Lenovo Puts ThinkPad Laptops to the “Tough Test”: Meets Military Specs for Semi-Rugged Computing

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, NC – February 24, 2009: Lenovo today announced that it is designating eight ThinkPad laptops for use in field and vehicle semi-ruggedized computing environments such as in public safety, utilities, construction and the military. The ThinkPad X200, X301, X200s, X200 Tablet, T400, T500, R400 and SL300 laptops meet a barrage of military specifications tests and are enhanced with specially-designed durability features such as an air-bag like protection system and a roll cage in select models. Because field computing requires excellent screen viewability, Lenovo is also adding a new optional 680-nit high brightness panel to its most popular laptop, the ThinkPad T400 laptop.

“ThinkPad is well known for quality, reliability and innovative security technologies for business computing,” said Tom Ribble, executive director, Worldwide ThinkPad Product Marketing, Lenovo. “The truth is we’ve always built tough laptops that can weather extreme conditions from hiking the rainforests of the Amazon to flying in space. You don’t need a PC that looks like a tank to excel in harsh environments, and unlike many of our competitors, we don’t put an extra charge on toughness.”

Read more

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