News

• Toshiba parties with lighter laptop and Android smartbook

  Toshiba has spent the last 25 years refining the basic laptop design of flat screen, x86 processor, full-size keyboard and removable storage. Its Portege R700 will continue that tradition when it goes on sale next quarter, but two other new portable computers Toshiba will release around the same time take the company in new directions.

• E-reader sales expected to hit wall in 2014

  E-readers like the Kindle and Nook are surging in popularity but will hit a wall in 2014 when sales drop off due to competition from a wide range of consumer electronic devices, including the iPad, according to Informa Telecoms & Media of London.

• 163 million smartbooks to ship in 2015

  A new research study estimates that 163 million "smartbooks" will ship worldwide in 2015 - a significant rate of growth given that the very first models only appeared in 2008.

• HP's smartbook may battle it out with Apple's iPad

  Hewlett-Packard's first smartbook, the Compaq AirLife 100, announced on Friday, could be a rival to Apple's iPad as the two companies aim to attract buyers looking for netbook alternatives, analysts said.

• HP debuts Android-based smartbook

  Hewlett-Packard has launched the Compaq AirLife 100, a smartbook based on the Android OS and Qualcomm's Snapdragon processor, it said on Friday.

• German court orders Lenovo to stop using 'smartbook'

  A German court on Thursday issued a restraining order at the behest of Smartbook AG to stop Lenovo from using the "smartbook" trademark to describe low-cost laptops in Germany.

• Nvidia's new chips target mobile devices

  Nvidia launched its next-generation Tegra processor for low-cost laptops and tablets on Thursday, which could intensify competition with rival Intel in the chip market.

• Qualcomm shows Lenovo smartbook

  Qualcomm put the spotlight on the smartbook concept at an analyst meeting in New York on Thursday, showing off a Lenovo-made device based on the Snapdragon chipset that company CEO Paul Jacobs said would be formally launched at the 2010 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in January.

• Smartbooks prepare to compete in mini-laptop space

  Mini-laptops based on Arm chips are set to make their way to users, which could heat up the battle in a space dominated by netbooks with Intel's Atom chips.

• Sharp to launch ultramobile device with Arm chip

  Sharp Electronics this week introduced a netbook-like mobile device with a 5-inch touch screen that is designed to run Internet-based applications.

• Microsoft aims Windows Embedded at smartbooks

  Microsoft plans to use Windows Embedded to combat rival operating systems in smartbooks and a number of other devices meant to always be connected to the Internet that Microsoft calls CIDs, or consumer Internet devices.

• Android an alternative to Windows in netbooks, says Gartner

  Google's Android mobile phone software worked well on mini-laptops at the Computex Taipei 2009 electronics show and, backed by the strong Google brand, may be headed for prime time, two Gartner analysts said Monday.

• JavaFX set for phones, smartbooks, TVs

  Listening to Sun Microsystems heap accolades on its JavaFX multimedia application technology Wednesday evening almost obscured the fact that JavaFX faces quite a battle in the space against the established Adobe Flash and AJAX platforms and Microsoft's up-and-coming Silverlight platform.

• Microsoft to leave smartbooks to Google

  Microsoft doesn't plan to offer a version of Windows for so-called "smartbooks," leaving the space open to Linux, Google's Android and other operating systems.