Kohjinsha + Bandai = Netbook for kids

What do a Japanese notebook maker and toy manufacturer have in common? Nothing until recently, when both Kohjinsha and Bandai teamed up to ride the Netbook popularity wave that's seen almost every major laptop vendor sport one in their stable. The Gachapin & Mukku Netbook has one interesting twist. It's a limited edition, and it's aimed at kids using cartoon characters (a dinosaur and a bigfoot) whom Japanese tots are familiar with. Slated for a March rollout at 79,800 yen (US$878), this is no toy, however. In fact, the pricing hardly falls into the Netbook comfort zone.
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NEC launches inexpensive pink laptop

Want your girlfriend to look pretty in pink with a laptop to match, but just can't afford a costly model? NEC's latest addition to the Versa family, the S1300, is an inexpensive 13.3-inch thin-and-light based on AMD's Puma platform.

Though relatively affordable at S$1,699 (US$1,209.60), this is not some cheap model which rides on its 2008 Good Design Award and falls apart at the slightest misuse. The notebook is tough enough to withstand up to 100kgf of pressure, which is equal to the likes of semi-rugged laptops like the Panasonic ToughBook CF-F8, though a far cry from the NEC Versa S9100 (which can handle up to 300kgf).
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OLPC to laptop makers: Use our design

The One Laptop per Child initiative seems to have found that imitation isn't simply a form of flattery, it's grounds for a new business model.

Speaking at the TED 2009 conference, OLPC founder Nicholas Negroponte said that the future of the initiative--which set out to put simple, durable, low-cost laptops in the hands of schoolchildren in developing nations--is to become, in essence, more commonplace, to "build something that everyone copies", according to Ethan Zuckerman, blogging from TED.

That copying has already begun, Negroponte said, pointing to the surging popularity in recent months of Netbooks--laptops built by a range of commercial PC makers with a focus on low cost and simplicity of design. "They didn't copy the right things from us, but they exist," Negroponte said, per Zuckerman. "We had to build the first laptop because no one else would do it."
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HP Mini 2140 hits retail stores

If you have been eyeing the latest metal-clad Netbook from HP, you can now score a unit as it has just hit retail stores today in Singapore, with the rest of Asia getting theirs soon as well.

Unlike the first HP Mini-Note, which started at S$999 (US$711.23), the Mini 2140 is much friendlier to your pockets. The basic configuration with Intel Atom 1.6GHz processor, 1GB RAM, 120GB storage and Windows XP Home Edition goes for S$799 (US$568.85), putting it in the same price point as other 10.1-inch Netbooks with plastic bodies. If you want a little more oomph, the higher-end S$999 (US$711.23) unit comes with 2GB of RAM and Windows XP Professional Edition.

At these prices, we see a great future for the HP Mini 2140. Not only is it affordable, its metal body, nearly full-sized keyboard and ExpressCard/54 slot (possibly a first for Netbooks) puts the Mini 2140 ahead of the Netbook pack. The only caveat--be prepared to carry a little more weight as the aluminum shell does add more heft to the machine.

Transcend boasts new high-speed solid-state drive

Transcend, the company that introduced a solid-state drive-based external drive the other day, on Thursday unveiled its 192GB Solid-State Drive.

Despite the mundane name, the new drive is equipped with NAND flash memory and offers up to 192GB of storage, a fast sustained read performance of up to 150MBps, and up to a 90MBps write performance, according to Transcend. Its latency is rated at 0.2 milliseconds, which is practically instant.

It's a 2.5-inch SATAII drive--currently the most popular interface--and is compatible with most notebook computers or any other devices that use this storage standard.

Transcend's new SSD also has integrated Error Correction Code technology, mostly found in memory for servers, that helps ensure accurate data transfer and built-in wear leveling technology designed to give the drive long storage lifespan and reliability.

The drive will be available later next week with capacities ranging from 8GB to 192GB. It also comes in an IDE version. All drives come with a two-year warranty. The 192GB SATAII version is estimated to cost US$454.

Via CNET Crave

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