Earlier this year at CES, gaming peripheral maker Razer 
Google previously said that Acer and Samsung will launch Chrome OS-based notebooks in the first half of 2011, but don't hold your breath waiting for this happen. Instead, it looks as though first-tier notebook makers, which also include Asus and Sony, are all pegging the second half of 2011 to begin mass shipments of Chrome OS notebooks,Acer has finally and formally pulled the lid off of its unique Windows 7 dual-screen tablet. The Iconia-6120 Touchbook, which sports an Intel Core i5 CPU, 640GB drive, HDMI out, USB 3.0, and twin 14-inch LCDs made of Gorilla Glass, will cost $1,200 in both Canada and the United States and will be available in April. The Iconia-6120 is available for pre-sale now at major retailers.
Everything is 'tablet this' and 'tablet that' these days; where's the love for netbooks? Still there, apparently, and if you're a fan of netbooks, future models could potentially be cheaper than ever before. The secret sauce to less expensive netbooks lies in less expensive mobile processors, and we're not talking about a $5 or $10 savings, either.
We've always held that netbooks and tablets can coexist, though if netbooks are to stay relevant, PC makers may have to experiment with lower priced models. Word on the Web is that Asus is planning exactly that and will launch a new non-Windows netbook in June for around $200 to $250. At that price, it would be hard to ignore, especially with today's worthwhile tablets running $500 and up.
Industry bigwigs Intel and Lenovo jointly announced the Lenovo Classmate+ PC, a purpose-built laptop for kids in grades K-8. If it all looks and sounds a bit familiar, it's because this is really Intel's Classmate netbook with Lenovo's label slapped on the lid. That's not unusual, as Intel specs the reference design and lets OEMs tweak and sell them as their own.
Tablets hold all the sex appeal right now, but when the dust settles, don't expect netbooks to have packed their gear and gone home. On the contrary, netbooks are still thriving and being updated, as is the case with HP's Mini 210 and Mini 110 models. Both of these are receiving a dual-core makeover courtesy of Intel's Atom N570 processor.
Research firm Gartner fanned the flames of anti-PC fanboism by essentially declaring that mobile PCs are dead. To be fair, Gartner didn't actually say as much in so many words, but it sure did paint a pretty grim picture for the future of notebooks and netbooks, which Gartner predicts will have a tough time competing with tablets. Listening to Gartner, you'd think that by this time next year, we're all going to be a bunch of iPad and iPhone toting hipsters too cool for for PCs. More blasphemy after the break.
You might have already seen netbooks equipped with an Intel Atom N570 processor, but have the two of you been officially introduced? Not until this week, you haven't. We're not sure what's taken Intel so long, but the chip maker decided that now is the right time to announce its latest dual-core Atom N570 processor.
If the Taiwan market is any indication, prices may soon come down on dual-core netbooks in the U.S. Netbook prices in Taiwan are on a downwards trend, recently falling to around $340, and some models have gone lower than that. Notebook players say it's a necessary adjustment in order to create some separation with the emerging tablet market, Digitimes reports.
