Intel Atom Shortage, VIA Sales, Nano Shipments

Intel Atom Couple of quick articles on Intel and VIA CPUs for the netbook market.

First off, DigiTimes mentions the impact the Intel Atom shortage is having on the netbook industry. They mention that because of the shortage, that LCD panel makers who handle the manufacturer of the 7″ to 10″ LCD panels for these devices are concerned about shipments of these devices (i.e. people waiting for specifically for an Intel Atom device). It’s not helped by the fact that there is a battery shortage (which might ease up this month – note the word “might“). The Intel Atom shortage on the other hand could last through the fall (into September).

DigiTimes mentions that for 8.9-inch displays, AU Optronics (AUO) and Chi Mei Optoelectronics (CMO) are the primary suppliers. When it comes to the 10.2-inch displays, Chunghwa Picture Tubes (CPT) and HannStar Display ship the majority of those. Kind of interesting little bit of information. Another company, Innolux Display, is ready to start producing panels for the low-cost / sub-notebook market.

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HP 2133 Mini-Note in the Classroom

Might the HP 2133 Mini-Note gain additional popularity with students (a target audience that HP mentioned was important to the 2133’s success). HP made an announcement yesterday at the National Educational Computing Conference (NECC) that the Fresno, California, United School District is working on deploying … Read more

MSI Wind U100 Unboxing, UK Availability

Looks like the MSI Wind U100 is starting to show up in the UK, as of yesterday. Morgan Computers is showing it in stock (via Mobile Computer) for £329.99 excluding VAT (around $655). This is the 10″ version, with an 80GB hard drive and Microsoft … Read more

Flash-Based SSDs Don’t Help Battery Life?

Tom’s Hardware has posted an article that’s generating a lot of buzz. They are saying that flash-based Solid State Drives (SSD) don’t help the battery life of your laptop. Instead, they are saying that it in fact decreases it. Given that SSDs don’t have the … Read more