While Windows might be more popular than Linux when it comes to netbooks for a variety of reasons, price certainly isn’t one of them. We don’t know whether it’s peoples’ fear of the unknown or just the awful UI facades typically used to hide the open-source substitute, but a lot of people are hoping that Android could sweep in and offer a third choice — someday. Not content to wait, a couple of freelancers at VentureBeat (who also run a startup called Mobile-facts) spent a few hours tweaking Google’s (Linux-based) OS to run on ASUS hardware and, thanks to the availability of open-source drivers for all the wee thing’s wee devices, were up and running in no time. Mind you, the giant buttons and simplistic UI seem more suited to a G1 than an S10, but it surely wouldn’t take long to repair that. So, the only question now is when will a manufacturer step up and announce Android out of the box? There’s a tiny electronics show coming up soon, so maybe we’ll hear more there.

[Via Engadget German]

Filed under: Laptops

Android installed and running on an Eee PC in a matter of hours originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 02 Jan 2009 13:37:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Why does Intel have to be so darn stubborn? First it insists on only bundling the Atom processor with their own graphics (simultaneously breaking poor NVIDIA’s heart), and then there’s whole thing where it restricts the CPU to netbooks under 10.2-inches. But like all good things, this too might someday come to an end. According to Gadget Mix, HP is currently negotiating with the chipmaker with the intent of using the processor in notebooks 13-inches and larger. This isn’t without precedent — the Dell Mini 12 is Atom powered, after all, and there is certainly a market for folks who only need a notebook for web browsing and productivity apps — but we’ll see if people are willing to sacrifice performance without gaining portability.

Filed under: Laptops

Intel Atom coming to more massive notebooks? originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 02 Jan 2009 11:18:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Not that we didn’t already have a hunch that VIA was working up a dual-core Nano, but it seems that details are beginning to firm up just a bit. According to a new report over at China-based HKEPC, the dual-core Atom-killer will be dubbed the Nano 3000, and while it will still rely on a 65-nanometer manufacturing process, the power consumption should be much lower than existing Nano chips. Furthermore, it’ll reportedly boast SSE4 instruction support, integer / floating point enhancements and improved internal cache performance. The writeup has it that samples could start shipping out as early as this quarter, with mass production expected to get going in Q3. So, is it safe to say this whole “netbook” thing has grown some legs, or is the Tamagotchi-like crash just around the bend?

[Via CNET]

Filed under: Laptops

VIA’s low-power Nano 3000 rumored to rival Intel’s Atom originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 02 Jan 2009 07:53:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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While most of the hype surrounding Voodoo right now pertains to the Firebird gaming tower, LAPTOP has discovered yet another undercover rig from the company’s arsenal worth swooning over. Before you go getting too excited, we must caution you that the Firefly is merely a prototype at the moment, but we all know concepts are made with the intent to commercialize. With the fine print behind us, it’s worth reading up on what this Voodoo DNA’d machine offered up; for starters, you’ll notice a 17-inch panel and a hefty 13-pound frame. There’s also a multitouch trackpad, keyboard with customizable backlighting, a secondary 4.3-inch 800 x 480 display sitting beneath the main screen, a 2.4GHz Core 2 Extreme CPU, 4GB of RAM, two ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3870 GPUs and a 250GB HDD. No benchmarks were allowed, but Far Cry 2 ran “silky smooth” even with details maxed. For the rest of the nitty-gritty, we’ll direct you to the read link, and before you get all irate that this isn’t available for buy, just be thankful this post isn’t about yet another teaser from Mr. Sood.

Filed under: Laptops

Voodoo Firefly gaming laptop prototype gets hands-on treatment originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 02 Jan 2009 01:54:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Another year, another attempt at a backflip in the Red Bull-sponsored truck. This time, Rhys Millen nearly lands the stunt, but unfortunately, could not maintain control on the landing. Video after the break.

In 2007, he broke his spine while doing practice jumps for a planned New Years Eve jump. This NYE, he tried again.

[via Gizmodo]

Via Techeblog

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A modder spent approximately 10-hours and $120 creating this ASUS Eee Computer Tablet, complete with transparent casing accented with aluminum foil. This mod looks fairly straightforward, once you install this. Click here for first picture in gallery.

The display is replaced by a touchscreen and the keyboard / motherboard are kept from the original personal. The end result is something that makes one wonder why they made it at all - since its obviously too bulky to carry around anywhere.

[via Fashionfunky]

Via Techeblog

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In this episode of Will it Blend, “Tom got a new Nissan GTR, the fastest production vehicle in the world — now he wants to see if his car can compare with the speed of his Blendtec Total Blender.” Video after the break.

Via Techeblog

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One of our readers sent in a video of what could quite possibly be the world’s largest and busiest bowling alley. Located in Aichi, Japan, it boasts a whopping 116-lanes. Video after the break.

Via Techeblog

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RemoteDroid is a T-Mobile G1 app that enables “you take advantage of the G1’s keypad, and use either the trackball or the touchscreen as a mouse.” Video after the break.

It’s already been done on the iPhone, and it looks like G1 users can now use their handset of choice to control their personal.

[via Engadget]

Via Techeblog

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