News Bits: Asus Eee PC 900, Safari OK for Windows, HP UMPC Leaked

Asus 2nd gen Eee PC to have touchscreen, possible GPS

The upcoming second-generation Asus Eee PC (rumored to be called the Eee PC 900) will feature an 8.9-inch display with touchscreen panels and possible GPS support according to Kevin Lin, vice president of Asustek's sales department. Prices for the second-gen Eees will top out around $500, and shipments will begin in May or June. Other features of the second-gen Eee include the adoption of Intel's new low-cost mobile platform, doubled memory on the base model (1GB), and larger-capacity SSDs (8GB and 12GB). Asus plans to ship up to 5 million Eee PCs in 2008.

Read More (DigiTimes.com)

HP UMPC 2133 leaked, coming soon

Image courtesy Engadget

More information has been uncovered about the HP's upcoming UMPC 2133. It will feature VIA C-7M processors and VIA Chrome 9 graphics. It will supposedly hit the streets on April 7th. A $600 configuration gets a 1.2GHz CPU, 120GB hard drive, 1GB of RAM, and Windows Vista Home Basic; an additional $149 gets a faster 1.6GHz procesesor, double the RAM (2GB), Vista Business, a larger battery, and Bluetooth. There is also supposed to be a $549 model with identical specifications to the $600 model, except it runs SuSE Enterprise.

Read More (Engadget.com)

Asus to ship seven million notebooks in 2008

Asustek Computer plans to ship seven million notebooks this year. The company expects to double its shipments to China because of the skyrocketing demand. Asustek will ship 70% of its notebook to China and Taiwan.

Read More (DigiTimes.com)

Apple gives the OK to run Safari on PCs

Image courtesy Channel Register

Users installing the Apple Safari Internet browser on their Windows PCs yesterday were confused (if they actually read the license agreement that is) - it reads "This license allows you to install and use one copy of the Apple Software on a single Apple-labeled computer . . . " Basically, Apple has accidentally violated its own EULA by allowing PC users to download it. Today, Apple has given the OK to PC users to run Safari on Windows.

Read More (ChannelRegister.co.uk)

 

I wonder if Apple and sue itself for violating its EULA? Seriously, are their resources spread so thin that they can't someone to proofread their legal documents before they're released?

 

Seeing as all standard PCs are apparently apple branded, I think it's time to install OSX on my PC, after all, they say it's OK.

edit: I just realized that my PC is apple labeled, it has one of the apple stickers that comes with iPods on it. Seems like a pretty big loop hole if you ask me.

 

I'm really looking forward to more detailed specs of the 2133 and some indications of how it'll perform and of course its battery life. I like the anodized aluminum case, but details are sparse for something launching in two weeks.

I need size and weight, pictures of the front and back, and benchmarks for performance and battery life. For something costing only $50 more than the EEE 900, it is very well equipped.

But Asus may have screwed itself by delaying the EEE 900 to May/June from April.

 

HP 2133 = too expensive.

I like how all these companion devices and 'budget' notebooks are now creeping their way past $500. That is still cheap by Ultra Portable standards, but this thing has a C7 - yikes.

Might as well eBay an 8 year old PictureBook PII 233. It will be about as fast as a C7 strangled by Vista.

 

I'll be expecting a review on the 2133 immediately. It may my next laptop. With Linux of course.

 

I agree. Too expensive.

 

Needs VIA's Isaiah. Hopefully it gets about 5 hours of batt life.

Then I probably wouldn't mind the expense.

 

kinda funny to see Apple violating their own EULA, however the way they are distributing Safari is terrible, now EVERY time I start my pc i get constant reminders that I need to install it... I don't want it im happy with firefox, i only use itunes because its easy to embed album images, and i only have quicktime because it wouldn't let me use itunes without it...

they way they are distributing their software has to bordor on spyware... since i have no choice in it, and i can't seem to get rid of them (even if I uninstall everything, the apple updater is still there telling me to dl this stuff...

 

Not a fan of VIA procs. Is it the same 1.2GHz used in the Cloudbook?

 

Yup. Same old C-7M VIA have been touting since 2005.

Technically its a Centaur - remember them?

 

5.26lb?!!! this isnt even an UMPC,....

 

That packaged weight. The actual laptop will weigh a lot less.

 

... Why's the $749 one so much better equipped than the $849 one...

 

i must have one of these HP 2133s. they basically fulfill all the concerns i had with the first gen EEEPC (120gb hdd? seriously? in something that small?) and i dont care if theyre running a VIA CPU, i wouldnt be running vista on it anyway...chuck XP on it and office 2003 and then proceed to chuck the package into my backpack as a nice replacement for my ibook 12" (too heavy though i cant get over the battery life) or acer 6292 (too nice and expensive to chuck anywhere... )

 

Um, if it's the same processor as Cloudbook's, it's even slower than EEEPC's underclocked Celeron. I wouldn't pay over 500 for such sub-par performance.

 

Apparently the same procs used in the cloudbook. My same queries above!

 

Bad, just like someone said earlier, prices creeping up up up and ... soon this low price UMPC thing is a thing of the past, hehehe anyone remember the OLPC project? The EEE came from that, right? That's the first failure in a long line of failures to meet the "price goal".

 

My guess is they've found a profitable market in the US, and aren't willing to reduce profits to sell to schoolchildren and underdeveloped nations.