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So yeah. I admit it. I had no clue as to what Newsy.com was until I read the wiki article. And now that I have, I might have to frequent their site more often.

Newsy is now available to download from the Intel AppUp Center for free, offering 2-3 minute news videos for quick and easy viewing for owners of netbooks with Intel Atom chips. Users of the app will enable users to share videos via the traditional methods – Twitter, Facebook, and email – as well view and post comments which are, needless to say, synced to the site. Considering that a netbook is made for people 0n-the-go and that Newsy is designed for the same,  this could easily become a hit. Of course, it’s also one of the first applications available for netbooks, so that might not be saying much. Still the iPhone app seems to be climbing the ladder, maybe we’ll see a repeat performance.

Via PRWeb, image via IELab.

The quintessential netbook processor, Intel’s Atom, is due for a real upgrade. For now, rather than clean the slate completely, Intel seems to be taking another slow step forward by announcing two DDR3 compatible CPUs with the same power rating.

The two new processors are going to be the N475, clocked at the reasonably fast (at least for a netbook) 1.83 GHz, and the N455 with the standard 1.6 GHz. Both chips plan on maintaining their thermal design power (TDP/fancy talk for heat) ratings and are scheduled for a Q3 launch.

The only thing these chips will bring is DDR3 to netbooks, so don’t plan on that alone really changing performance.  Still, it is a sign at least that the netbook market is moving away from the older DDR2 RAM to DDR3, which all parties will undoubtedly welcome. Perhaps this also heralds the last iteration of the current generation of netbook processors, so it may be time to look forward to real innovation after this.

Via Engadget

The Intel Atom Pine Trail platform, which was originally thought to be a grand step forward for netbooks, has not met our expectations.  It may be in part due to over-hyping by followers of its development, but ultimately the performance gains provided by the new line were marginal at best and irrelevant at worst.  So what caused this discrepancy?

Those hailing the Pine Trail as a godsend to netbooks graphics ultimately misconceived what the GMA 3150 controller could do. Compared to Nvidia’s Ion platform (currently the only way to get good graphics on a netbook) it is completely out of its league, and only looks good compared to the original Atom’s GMA 950.

But the real issue is what happened when Intel condensed the “Diamondville” platform from the original Atom to “Pine Trail”.  A quick glance at the image up top (“Diamondville” left, “Pine Trail” right), clearly shows us that nothing really happened. Same cores and the same interfaces.  And the problem is that while Intel was busy integrating the memory controller onto its chips for the i7 on desktops, they got lazy about Pine Trail on netbooks.  The memory controller still needs to be interfaced via the front-side bus, so no lower memory latency, no drastic performance improvement.  And to point out the obvious, the exact same core is being used on the old and new Atoms.

Is it fair for Intel to say that Pine Trail is a better product in terms of performance than the Atom 330?   Arguably, yes.  But really this whole affair simply shows that Intel is sitting unchallenged in the netbook market, as AMD has yet to provide a platform for it and ARM lacks the resources to take on Intel.  And this gives them the ability to take easy, cheap, sloppy routes for chip development, while also hurting the consumer by trying to prevent a product like the Ion 2 from making its way to netbooks.  Plain and simple like the early 2000s: a complacent Intel is a bad Intel.

via AnandTech

British Retail Company Marks & Spencer has announced the upcoming release of its first netbook, the MSNB-2009.  It is the largest retailer in the United Kingdom and only recently began venturing into selling technology.

The Marks & Spencer netbook’s features will include:

• 10-inch LCD Display
• 1 GB DDR2
• Intel Atom 1.6GHz processor
• Windows XP

This lackluster netbook is another addition to a continually saturated and expanding market. Like most brand name apparel from well-known retailers, you seem to pay for the name and what it represents, rather than for the actual attributes of the product. This seems to be the case with this netbook computer, offering the prestige of the Marks & Spencer name and not much else.

Image Via TFTS

Via TFTS

Olevia has released a new device for its netbook line, the P10. It holds all the specifications that are expected of any netbook, and adds nothing to differentiate itself from the masses. The only expected highlight of Olevia’s P10 netbook will be its slightly lower price range. This will be the netbooks sole advantage that may manage to attract customers to the product.

The netbook offers:

• 10.1-Inch Display
• Intel Atom N270 1.6GHz Processor
• 1GB RAM
• 160 GB Hard Drive
• Wi-Fi
• Linux or Windows Operating System

This isn’t Olevias first go-round in the netbook market, as it released the Yones X11A a few months back.

Image Via UberGizmo

Via UberGizmo

This HP 18.5 inch all-in-one PC packs quite a punch for a compact computer. The PC offers more than the standard all-in-ones currently in the market.

For starters, it is one of the few all-in-one PC’s that have opted to use a 1.5GHz AMD Athlon 64 X2 CPU rather than the Intel Atom processor. Another improvement is the computer’s super-sized memory and storage capacity. The MS214 comes equipped with 2 gigabytes of DDR2, twice the average amount. The PC’s storage capacity is just as high, with 300 GB of storage.

The HP MS214 also includes integrated wireless-n and gigabit LAN connectivity. Both of these greatly facilitate the transferring of files. Lastly, the PC is complete with the addition of a DVD burner.

The only pitfalls of this all-in-one PC are that it doesn’t offer any kind of touch screen capabilities and has a meager six USB ports, two of which will likely be hogged by a keyboard and mouse. Overall, HP’s all-in-one PC offers a lot of bang for $600 bucks.

Via WashingtonPost

Image Via AutoDigital

Lots of new technology and applications will be coming out in 2010. Intel, for one, will be jumping into the competition with an app store that will be exclusively for netbooks. In fact, it’ll come pre-installed. Of course the 50 million expected shipments of netbooks in addition to the release of the Intel Pine Trail Atom processor also provide an incentive for Intel to launch an app store.

Fortunately, the director of Intel’s Developer Network, Scott Apeland, says that “The Atom Developer Program doesn’t favor one OS over another, and at its core, the program is meant to facilitate development across multiple OSes… we plan to expand support to different run-time environments, including Adobe AIR and Microsoft Silverlight.”

Developers will be raking in the dough with this new rollout, getting 70% of revenues made, similar to the system in place for Apple. Launch dates for Intel’s new app store are currently up in the air, but no worries, we’ll keep you posted.

Via FierceCio.

The date has been confirmed: you’ll be able to get your hands on the all-new Atom N450 line of netbooks from ASUS, Acer, Lenovo and MSI on January 11th, 2009. The new Atom netbook CPU was going to be here in December, but manufacturers have been holding off at Intel’s request.

However, in an effort to not overshoot consumer demand,  most vendors will only stock ‘conservative’ numbers of the new machines. These netbooks will be coming on a wider variety of operating systems than in the past – Moblin, Windows 7, and Windows XP have been mentioned, and everyone is still holding his breath for the Google Chrome OS. Word has it that if you buy a Moblin or XP netbook in January, you can upgrade to Chrome for free by the March release of the Intel Atom N470.

Via I4U.

Intel’s newest Pine Trail processor is set to get inside new netbooks in the near future. Nobody seems to know for sure what the netbook world will gain from them just yet, but what we do know is that the design integrates graphics functions – previously stationed on an auxiliary chip – with the main CPU.

For consumers, this should mean some serious improvements in important areas, according to Intel executive VP Sean Maloney:

“Better battery life. But performance more than anything,”

HP has even held off on selling preconfigured HP Mini 5101 netbooks from the HP website, preparing for new models involving the new Pine Trail processors.

A Dell spokesperson signaled that Dell is in as well:

“You can expect that Dell will be offering products based on Intel’s next-gen Atom platform, aka Pine Trail.”

We won’t be seeing much of the Pine Trail until 2010, but before you know it, Black Friday will be over, holiday shopping will be through, and it will be time to kick it with a new Intel Atom.

Via CNet.

Hey you! Want to install Mac’s Snow Leopard OS onto your non-Mac netbook? Fortunately with this following hack, you can. A forum member at InsanelyMac posted a patch that allows users to install the Mac OS X 10.6.2 update on their netbooks. Testing has ensued for roughly a week already and the hack seems to be in full operation.

If you have a netbook that has doesn’t come equipped with an Intel Atom-based processor and want to give the the Mac OS X 10.6.2 a try, click here for a link to the patch.

Via TheMacObserver.

Image via SoftSailer.

While most netbook users are looking forward to the release of Intel’s Pine Trail platform in early 2010, the company itself already has plans to further upgrade the Intel Atom platform in 2011. The newest platform will be dubbed “Cedar Trail.”

Since 2011 is still quite far away, no other information is available on this new netbook chipset, but we’ll keep you posted on any future developments.

Via Fudzilla.

Currently, most Intel processors installed in netbooks are the Atom N270 and Atom N280, but Intel is looking to quickly transition to the Pine Trail platform. Maybe you’ll want to hold off buying a netbook for now, as Intel’s new platform is expected to launch on December 21st of this year.

Intel wants to generate excitement for the new Pine Trail platform for netbooks by planning a press release in late December to disclose the details of the platform. Pine Trail will probably also be the talk of the town at the Consumer Electronics Show in January of 2010.

Here’s some details about the Pine Trail platform. The key component is the “Pineview,” which is a new CPU that integrates the Intel Atom N280 core with a DDR2 memory controller and graphics core. By integrating these last two parts with the CPU, the overall power consumption is reduced. The Pine Trail chipset, nicknamed “Tiger Point” handles the system I/O.

The three main chipsets that will debut at CES will include the 1.66GHz single-core N450 processor, the 1.66GHz single core D410 processor, and the 1.66GHz dual-core D510 processor, the former of which is for a netbook and the latter of which are for desktops.

Via RegHardware.

Image via BlogCDN.

In an attempt to compete with the Intel Atom netbook processor, VIA has announced its own new Nano chip. The Nano 3000 offers a 20% boost in performance over its predecessor and increases power efficiency by 20% as well.

The Nano chip will be available in a variety of speeds including 1 GHz, 1.2 GHz, 1.3GHz, 1.4GHz, 1.8 GHz, and 2 GHz, all with an 800MHz bus speed. These chips will have SSE4 support, virtualisation, and 64-bit OS support. They will also be powerful enough to decode 1080p video.

Is the VIA Nano really better than the Intel Atom netbook processor? According to the PCMark 05 and 3DMark2006 benchmarks, the Nano 3000 processor scored higher than the Intel Atom processor by 43% and 49%, respectively.

The Nano 3000 processor is expected to come out in early 2010. VIA has yet to confirm pricing. We’ll keep you posted.

Via BitTech.

Word has it that the new Atom N450 Pine Trail M processor, complete with a new (but relaxed) set of restrictions for netbook manufacturers will be available by January 2010. the 1.83 GHz chip will feature an increase in the memory limit from 1 GB to 2 GB, with manufacturers being encouraged to use 20 or 30 GB SSDs in conjunction with the new chips.

Packing the all new Windows 7, double the RAM, and a faster Atom CPU, the netbooks of next year might not resemble the netbooks of days gone by. Change might not be a bad thing.

Via MobileComputerMag.

Intel has been quite successful, partially due to the popularity of netbooks and thus the popularity of Intel Atom processors that comes with netbooks and ultraportable laptops. In fact, Intel is becoming so successful that they are looking into expanding the use of their chipsets in the realms of headsets, media players, TVs, and other digital electronic devices.

Of course, there’s stiff competition in this market. One major rival is ARM Holdings, located in Cambridge, England. While many people may not have heard of ARM, it’s no doubt a significant player in the market for processors of digital electronic devices. For example, if you take any random cell phone, there’s a 95% chance that it contains at least one ARM processor. If you take any cell phone that was made in the past five years, this percentage increases to 100.

We’ll keep watch as Intel tries to make its way into the rest of the digital electronics market and keep you posted on any news we hear. In the meanwhile, who do you think would win this battle – if it even comes to that?

Via CIO.

Generally, netbooks that have packed the Intel Atom processor in the past have generally been equipped with 1 GB of RAM, but the demand for a more powerful netbooking experience may push Intel to equip their future Atom netbooks with 2 GB of RAM.

The release of Windows 7 will probably also have a major role in influencing Intel’s decision.  Intel Atom netbooks featuring a 160 GB of 250 GB hard drive storage option and 2 GB of RAM may sell for $299 $349 each starting next year. Any thoughts?

Via Ubergizmo.

Intel’s been developing their next batch of Atom processors for a while and it’s likely that they may be releasing their first Intel Atom Pine Trail netbook chipset in January of 2010. In fact, the 1.66GHz Intel Atom N450 processor is rumored to launch on January 3rd. Netbooks with N450 chipsets may follow shortly thereafter.

This two-chip platform requires much less space within a physical netbook, something that manufacturers are quite excited about. There shouldn’t be much difference in netbook battery life or performance though, as the processor is roughly the same as previous Intel Atom versions.

The selling of the Intel Atom N450 chipset will be $64, $20 more than the current Intel Atom N270 chipset.

Via Fudzilla.

Intel has announced that the new Pineview chips for netbooks and nettops will ship 4Q this year.

The announcement came at IDF in San Francisco from Jeff DeMuth of Intel platform marketing. He didn’t say when Pineview netbooks would make their ways in to stores, but first quarter 2010 seems like a likely option.

Intel has just recently announced that by 2012, both BMW and Mercedes-Benz automobiles will be shipped with Intel Atom-based infotainment systems, or in-vehicle entertainment systems, designed by Harman-Becker.

In terms of BMW vehicles, these infotainment systems will be available in the 7-series, the largest of the three main series.

Who knows? Maybe this will be the start of a new trend – we’re definitely excited. There’s currently no more information on this subject, but we’ll be sure to let you know if we hear anything.

Via Engadget.