I like netbooks, I happen to think that the tradeoff of screen size and some power for portability is well worth it for the way I use a notebook. That said I think going below an 8-inch or 9-inch screen size is too much of a compromise, but some folks want even more portability in their web access device.

The MID walks the line between a netbook and smartphones like the iPhone and Gigabyte has an interesting new MID called the M528. The M528 was seen back in June, but Gigabyte has updated the specs. Running on Linux the device has a 4.8-inch LCD screen with a resolution of 800×480 that is touch sensitive.

The CPU is an Intel Atom Z500 running at 800 MHz and it uses the Intel SCH UL11L. Onboard memory is 512MB and storage is to a 4GB SSD. Bluetooth is integrated and a 3MP autofocus camera is optional. WLAN at 802.11b/g is offered and the machine now offers a HSDPA mini card modem as well. The QWERTY keyboard is backlit and the battery is a 3.7V 2700 mAh unit.

Gigabyte

written by NewsFeeder \\ tags: Linux

Search engine giant Google released its Chrome web browser in early September. As expected the browser was released as a beta version but what was definitely not expected just happened. After three months of beta test development Google has released an official stable version 1.0.154.36 of Chrome.

Approximately 100 days, 10 million downloads and 14 updates. That is the Chrome beta in a nutshell. The latest update improves the stability, speed of start up and JavaScript processing as well as overall performance.

The new stable version also improves the bookmark features – you are now able to easily import and export bookmarks to and from your Google Chrome.

Chrome will be updated frequently in the future as well. Upcoming updates will add form prefilling, browser extension and RSS support as well as Linux and Mac OS X versions of the browser.

Download Google Chrome.

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written by NewsFeeder \\ tags: Linux

If you go down to your local AT&T store to buy a new phone or mobile broadband modem you expect AT&T to subsidize the price of the device in exchange for signing away two years of mobile carrier freedom.

According to a source at Engadget, Radio Shack of all places may be the first company to offer a subsidized 3G enabled netbook. The netbook in question is the Acer Aspire One, already the best selling netbook around right now.

The machine is the Aspire one that you can already purchase at Walmart with the addition of built-in 3G. The netbook will sell for $99 with a two-year agreement on a wireless broadband plan of $60 or more. At that price, the Acer One is cheaper than some of the cellular modems offered at AT&T. The rig runs Windows XP Home if you are worried it’s the Linux version to save money for AT&T.

Engadget

written by NewsFeeder \\ tags: Linux, Windows

Mozilla has released a new beta version of the popular Firefox browser. According to Mozilla Developer Center Firefox 3.1 Beta 2 includes improvements to speed, performance and compatibility. Download it and you’ll also get try out couple of new and anticipated features.

The speed and performance improvements come from the updated version of Gecko layout engine and the new TraceMonkey JavaScript engine. TraceMonkey especially is a welcome addition as it provides a huge boost to JavaScript processing speeds. Firefox 3.1 Beta 2 also includes the new Private Browsing Mode which allows users to browse the web without leaving any traces. You can also now choose to remove the history of for example only past hour of browsing.

Download Firefox 3.1 Beta 2 for Windows, Mac OS X or Linux.

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written by NewsFeeder \\ tags: Linux, Windows