As mobile technology continues to converge, manufacturers are trying to provide us with the one device which can cater to all our mobile media needs. Incorporating a dual-core 1GHz processor, 1GB or RAM, an excellent quarter HD (960 x 540) screen, and the ability to transform into a quasi-netbook in an instant, the Motorola Atrix is certainly taking steps in the right direction.

But how will this first-of-its-kind product hold up under our scrutiny? Will it set a new trend, or falter in a few months? We took it for a spin to see if it’s true to its promise.

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I wrote a piece for the Sunday Times published today about the emergence of the smartbooks – netbooks which use mobile processors and Linux/Google operating systems instead of the usual Wintel duopoly. I drafted the specs from the info provided and e-mailed it back to the computer company for them to confirm the specs. Everything was in order, except the OS part which the PR wanted me to
“pls state OS to be ‘comprising of a customer user interface layer, built on a custom Linux-based OS.”

In other words, a Linux OS. “That’s rubbish” was my response and I simply told him/her that the sentence was a total waste of valuable space on the newspaper. He/she said he/she did not understand why I used the word rubbish and went on to send me more info:

Q. What is the OS for Skylight and why did you choose it?
A. The Skylight User experience is comprised of a custom UI layer built on a custom Linux base OS.   The average user will not be aware that the OS is based on Linux.  We chose this approach because it provided the flexibility to deliver a simple, discoverable, and fun gadget based way of presenting web applications and media.

Q: Is this a Lenovo Operating System?

A: That depends on your definition of “Operating System”.   We have created a unique software stack optimized to achieve a specific user experience focused on web applications, media and cloud computing.    The focus of our investments have been on the User Interface layer.

Q: What did you base the OS on?

A: Lenovo’s Skylight Interface runs on Embedded Linux.  ThunderSoft is Lenovo’s Linux System Integrator.

Q: Are you working with a Linux distribution partner? Who is it?
A: Yes Thundersoft.  Lenovo recognized the value of running Linux as a base platform for the Skylight User Interface for everything from performance to extensive customization.   This allowed us to pick the best and most appropriate elements to solve the SmartBook equation.   An extensive team of partners along with internal development teams from Lenovo and Qualcomm worked together to pick, customize and create what we needed to provide a world-class solution.

Yes my friend. It is still a Linux OS.

… is still a netbook.

Yes, I am talking about Nokia’s Booklet 3G, the cellphone giant’s first mini laptop. If you needed the surest sign of the convergence between smartphones and laptops, details of Nokia’s new gizmo are it.

Unveiled hours ago, the 1.25kg Booklet 3G will feature the usual compact screen (a 10-incher here) first made famous by the first netbooks in the shape of Asus’ Eee PC. Nokia’s small machine will also feature an Intel Atom processor and run Microsoft Windows – standard fare now in netbooks.

So, is this another “me too” product from Nokia, long after the first two waves of netbooks have come from Taiwanese electronics makers and then “A-brand” PC makers? …

It had to come sooner or later. After doing really well for its Android OS for mobile phones, and not too bad for the Chrome Web browser (with 30 million users), Google unveiled its Chrome OS for Netbooks late yesterday to a flurry of excitement online.

The free OS is meant to make apps on the Net run more smoothly, when you are at a cafe, say, getting documents on your Gmail and Google Docs. A rich experience – something you get on a “bloated” install of Microsoft Office or indeed Open Office – is what Google has been trying to offer over the Net with its Chrome browser and now the Chrome OS.

The idea is to use the two pieces of software to run Web-based applications that were probably not able run as well or with as much bells and whistles as before. To understand this, just look to Google Docs and you’ll see why it’s a great alternative – but not a replacement – for software you install on your PC.

That’s also why the initial excitement over the Chrome OS launch has quickly followed with questions, as the media and analysts begin to pick apart what the most-loved tech company is doing to enter a marketplace dominated by the most-unloved of them all – Microsoft. …

Do check out Part I if you haven’t done so!

At every computer show I always check out memory card prices just to see how much they have fallen. Here’s what I spotted at the Kingston booth at Hall 6.

For a comparison, look at some of the memory card prices from last November’s Sitex.

Prices of memory cards, especially the 8GB and 16GB varieties, have fallen. The 8GB micro SD has dropped from around $32 to $25 and the 16GB micro SD from $112 to $84.

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Do you want an Asus Eee PC or an HP mini?

That seems to be the choice that Sitex shoppers are being asked to make by SingTel and StarHub, as the two broadband operators slug it out in an increasingly saturated broadband market.

Counting personal broadband services like 3.5G offerings, Singapore has a residential broadband penetration of 93 per cent.

What do SingTel and StarHub do then? Tie you in with ever more attractive deals, of course! …

Just returned from a trip down to the computer centre in Mongkok here in Hong Kong and found that the prices of many Netbooks have been slashed – and they are really selling well.

Was there with a friend to buy the Asus Eee PC 1000H 80GB and found that in the month and a half since my girlfriend bought hers, the price has dropped more than 10 per cent. ARGGH! It was HK$4,650 then, and now, we managed to get it down to HK$4,150 if you paid cash!
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