For now, the Motorola Photon 4G and Motorola Atrix are the only smartphones that will work with the Lapdock 100, but that’s better than the older models which each had a different dock. It’s a bit chubbier than previous models, weighing about 2.2 pounds, and offers a 10.1″ screen. It’s a nice concept, but I doubt that the current crop of phones are truly fast enough to replace a decent laptop.

For now, the pricing of the new Lapdock hasn’t been announced, but the outgoing models sold for around $500 (USD). It will need to be a lot cheaper than that for more people to adopt it, especially when you can pick up decent netbooks for under $300.

[via Ubergizmo]

Wi-Fi is a must for these Chromebooks, because you can’t do much unless you get access to the cloud with a live Internet connection. There are even Chrome Zone lounges where you can get comfy with your loaner. However, you’ll need to give a credit card deposit if you want to try one.

Chromebooks are being offered on flights between San Francisco, Chicago O’Hare, Boston, Dallas-Fort Worth. There’s a similar loaner program offered at the Ace Hotel in New York City.

[Virgin America via TechCrunch]

The NC215S will be available in the US starting next month. It’s a netbook, and will come with a 10.1 inch screen that has 1,024×600 resolution, 1GB of RAM, and a 1.66 GHz Intel Atom N570 dual-core processor. Apparently, every two hours of sunlight gives users an extra hour of battery life. Now that’s not bad, considering the alternative. It makes lugging laptops around that much lighter, since you don’t have to carry around a power adapter or an extra battery.

According to Samsung, the netbook has a battery life of 14 hours under ideal conditions. That may seem like a lot, but I get about that amount with my MacBook Pro 17 pretty consistently (no Flash installed, brightness to the max, browsing and reading). The NC15S will be available starting in the week of July 3rd for $399 (USD).

[Liliputing via Ubergizmo]

The Flexbook would have a 21:9 11-inch folding screen and is designed to be portable. My guess that it would use a flexible OLED screen of some kind. The keyboard could also fold up and can be deployed whenever needed. It would convert from netbook into a as tablet and e-book reader when the keyboard is stowed.

The design also calls for swappable rubber skins, which will allow for further customization.

It will be interesting to see what kinds of tablets, netbooks, and smartphones manufacturers come up with when flexible OLED screens become cheaply available. It’s safe to say that tablets, smarthphones and netbooks will probably end up being combined into one device once their displays can be folded.

[via Designboom]

It’s worth noting that customers will have to sign a 3-year contract to get these machines at this monthly price. This makes it sound a lot like financing to me. At that price, the overall cost of these laptops is significantly higher than a if you just bought them outright. The only real benefit is that troubleshooting warranty is included at this price. Overall, for businesses, it depends on how many computers you’ll end up buying and if it makes sense for the bottom line. It might work well for certain types of businesses and for people who don’t want to deal with the hassle of maintaining a laptop.

The Chromebooks include the Samsung Series 5, which comes with a dual-core 1.66GHz Intel Atom N570 chip, a 1MP webcam, and a 16GB SSD. There’s an SDXC card reader and VGA out via an “optional” dongle. It will cost $429 for the WiFi version and $499 for the 3G version. The Series 5 has got a 12.1-inch screen with 1280×800 resolution, an overall weight of 3.26 lbs, and an improved trackpad, which was the downfall of the Google CR-48. Battery life is supposed to be 8.5 hours. The Acer model is cheaper, starting at $349, but has a 6.5-hour battery life and an 11.6-inch screen.

Look for them both on Amazon or Best Buy starting on June 15th.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

[via Google]

The picture above shows the complementary 10.1″ 1024 x 768 multi-touch tablet screen with the Compufon itself docked on its back. The phone will run Android, but it seems like Kosmaz is still figuring out whether to use Honeycomb or the upcoming Ice Cream. The Compufon will be powered by an Nvidia Tegra 2 CPU. Other specs include 16GB of flash memory, a 4″ 960 x 640 capacitive AMOLED touch screen, an accelerometer, magnetometer, proximity sensor and ambient light detector.

The phone also has a 5mp camera that can shoot video at 720 x 480 resolution and a front-facing VGA camera, A-GPS and an NFC chip. Going back to the tablet, as you might expect it doesn’t have a CPU of its own, but it does have its own rechargeable battery that Kosmaz claims is good for 11 hours of watching video, listening to music or browsing the Web on Wi-Fi, and 10 hours if a 3G connection is used to browse.

The tablet will also come with a Bluetooth headset, so that users can still make or receive calls even while the Compufon is docked inside the tablet screen. The headset can be stored in a discreet port on the tablet when not in use. The port also also allows for simultaneous charging of the headset and the tablet screen.

I’m sure some of you will have figured out by now how the Compufon “turns” into a netbook – yep, by adding a keyboard to the tablet screen. The complementary case with a built-in full-size keyboard has an opening in the back for easy access to the Compufon itself, and it has grooves in front so users can easily adjust the angle of the screen.

Overall the Compufon is a promising concept, which is why I can’t blame Kosmaz for looking ahead and envisioning a future where gadgets everywhere will have a dock for the Compufon – Internet-enabled TVs, in-car computers or in-flight entertainment systems. It’s not even that hard to imagine some companies foregoing full desktop PCs for dumb screens with docks for the Compufon (or a similar device). Of course we’ll still have to wait and see the actual device in action, but overall the only thing I don’t like about the Compufon is, well, “Compufon”. But Kosmaz still have several months to come up with a better name if they want to. Check out the source link below for more info.

[Compufon Official Website]

The updated OS adds in fixes for 3G modem activation, carrier connection fixes, WiFi connectivity improvements, and the trackpad and sensitivity have been adjusted. The OS has also had its power system optimized and lots more.

It’s nice to see Google is fixing things for the OS and maybe now that things work decently (I assume) we will see the OS actually get used on some netbooks we can actually buy. The new update brings Chrome OS to 0.10.156.46. That may be the most complicated system of numbering an OS version ever; I shall call it the dorky decimal system. Of course, my favorite thing about Chrome OS netbooks was when Google burned one up.

[via Techcrunch]

Wiimote hacker Johnny has built this inexpensive telepresence bot using an iRobot Create, a cheap netbook, and a bit of laser-cut acrylic. The whole thing runs on custom software which let’s Johnny remotely steer the robot and see where he’s going as his face appears on the remote netbook screen. He even hacked the iRobot’s charging station so the ‘bot can recharge itself without human intervention.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

This is definitely a cool option for people who absolutely need to be somewhere they currently aren’t. Read more about Johnny’s telepresence ‘bot over at Procrastineering, where you can grab the software for yourself if you want to try to make your own.

[via FastCompany via Make:]

Created by Rasmus Konig Sorenson, the Nanocade is the perfect netbook upgrade, turning your compact PC into a full-fledged mini arcade system. Actually, Rasmus built the first one with a Mini ITX board and a 10″ LCD monitor inside, but says a netbook would work perfectly too (although I’m betting you’d need to separate the screen from the keyboard portion to make it fit). The cabinet comes in kit form, and definitely looks like it would take some work to assemble, but the completed prototype sure looks swell.

When fully outfitted, the Nanocade has real arcade quality buttons and a joystick, and once connected to a netbook loaded up with MAME, you’ll be able to play just about any arcade game you want. The only real downside I see to the Nanocade is that the cabinet itself will cost $300 bucks, and then you still have to buy the joystick and buttons making it more costly than most netbooks themselves.

Oh well, I guess I could always just get one of these and call it a day.

[via The Red Ferret Journal]

The latest netbook targeted at kids is the new PeeWee Pivot 2.0. This netbook has that protective software we expect in a kids machine and also has 15 different games kids can play that help them learn. Under the hood and that spill resistant keyboard, this thing is all netbook.

It has a 10.1-inch screen that pivots from netbook to tablet mode with a resolution of 1024 x 600 and an optional 1366 x 768 resolution screen available. Other features include an Atom N450 CPU, 1GB of RAM, 160GB of storage and lots more. Pricing starts at $599 (USD) makes this machine expensive compared to similar mainstream netbooks, although the tablet functionality and durability do give it a leg up for kids.

This is just a teaser video, but it’s a safe bet that this convertible netbook will make it to market. Will it be relevant? I don’t know. I’m honestly not that inspired and that’s down to one big reason: the Windows 7 OS makes for a terrible tablet environment. We’ve all seen the different demos, and tablet manufacturers need a custom OS to fully exploit the features of a touch-based interface.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

For now, Apple is still king of the road when it comes to tablets. In fact, they currently dominate the market and it’s been like this since the iPad has been released. Will the upcoming releases of Asus, HP, and other manufacturers’ tablets change this? Only time will tell.

[Blogeee.net via CrunchGear]

The company has announced that it will have 1000 of its new Windows 7 Fluid Stream tablet computers available to ship in time for Christmas. The tablet has a 10.1-inch multi touch screen, Atom processor, 1GB of RAM, 160GB of storage, and packs in WiFi as well as Bluetooth.

The machine has a 100% money back guarantee that it will ship in time for Christmas and will cost you $599 (USD). The Fluid Motion is the same tablet, but adds 3G connectivity and is priced at $699. The Motion won’t ship until February of 2011. Both machines can be pre-ordered right now.

Actually, it’s $80 if you add shipping. You can buy it on eBay (there are more than 10 units available! Wow!). No one will judge you. It could be your kid’s first computer! Also, you know what sucks about this whole thing? It has more USB ports than my MacBook. How insulting is that?

[via TechEBlog]

This display is perfect for users who are outside with their netbooks a lot and are sick of straining to try to ready the screen in direct light. The screen is 10.1-inches and will fit most netbooks according to the manufacturer.

If you are interested, in the Pixel Qi replacement screen, it sells for $275 (USD), which isn’t cheap. However, it’s easy to read in direct sunlight and promises to use 80% less power when in reflective mode than normal screens extending battery life.

[via MakerShed]

I have a bastardized typing style that is a cross between touch typing and whatever you call it when you have to look at the keyboard to type even though I type really fast. The problem, when I work on my netbook is that I end up putting my palm on the track pad accidentally, which moves the cursor about the time I am not looking at the screen and I end up with an entire paragraph in the wrong place.

Synaptics has announced new tech at Computex that will hopefully stop this issue forever. The new trackpad technology supports gestures with up to four fingers, but the best part is that the new SmartSense tech can tell the difference between the palm of your hand and your fingers.

While the multi-finger gesture capability is really cool, the ability to detect accidental is a godsend to those of us who type our work for a living.

When Intel strapped its Atom line of processors with a screen size limitation of 10.2-inches I wondered why it even bothered with the netbook segment if they obviously didn’t really want to sell the Atom CPUs. Intel has now got at least half a clue and announced that it would be lifting the screen limits for the Atom N550 CPU.

The CPU is set to launch in the second half of 2010. Makers can now put the CPU into machines with up to 12.1-inch screens. Those machines must run at least 1GB of DDR3 RAM and at least a 32GB SSD or a 250GB HDD. Wait a minute, those are still limitations!

[via DigiTimes]

This thing turned up in November of last year and was nothing but a netbook with a custom OS that promised to be simple. In my opinion, netbooks aren’t really complex devices to start with. Regardless, the Litl Webbook was aimed at the person wanting to watch video and surf the web.

It could be stood up like an easel for a TV style watching experience and that was its only really different feature amongst its peers. The big downside was the machine was priced at $699 (USD), making it way more than it was worth – and way more than just about every netbook on the market. The Webbook has now been price cut to $399, but me thinks the lower price is too late. There are many other options on the market today that will do what the Webbook does for less money. Maybe Litl’s next venture will play out better.

Of course this concept could be so much more awesome if it offered more than just an easy way to use one SIM card and one account. For example if you were surfing the web on the phone, when you insert it into the netbook your browser will start up and you can resume browsing. Or if you could use the phone’s screen as the netbook’s touchpad. Or if you could easily drag-and-drop data between the two devices. What do you guys think?

[via The Inquirer via Slashdot]

Sony has now updated the Vaio P and apparently still doesn’t think of the strange machines as netbooks. The little handheld rigs come in some bright hues including green, pink, orange black, and white. Inside the wide and thin chassis are available Intel Z530, Z550, and Z560 CPUs.

Storage is provided by SSDs in 64GB, 128GB, or 256GB capacities, and the machines also include GPS, Wi-Fi, WiMax, 3G, and Bluetooth. That is a lot of features to cram into a machine with such small stature. The small screen has an incredibly dense resolution of 1600 x 1280 on sports a track pad on one side of the screen and a pair of mouse buttons on the other. Pricing and availability for the US is unknown, but May 22 is the launch date in Europe.

[via Netbook News]

This Rilakkuma netbook is actually a tablet as well, although the Japanese like to call it a UMPC. It’s got a 8.9-inch touchscreen, 60 GB HD, TV Tuner, DVD drive, 1GB RAM, and two USB ports. It comes with a webcam, SD card slot, WiFi and Bluetooth. And teddy bears. Eating pancakes.

The most important thing for the target audience is that this Rilakkuma netbook comes with a bunch of pre-installed Rilakkuma wallpapers, super-cute icons and screensavers. The best part is that when users turn on the webcam, they can choose to see their faces in five different virtual Rilakkuma picture frames!

It will go on sale in Japan at the end of June for around ¥90,000 (appx. $990 USD). If you want it, you’d best contact Japan Trend Shop or Geek Stuff 4 U for help.

[via CrunchGear]