$299 Asus Eee 4GB In The Wild (Target)

The other day I saw an amazing thing in the world of electronics: an actual Asus Eee at a Target store. It was the 4GB model and it was going for $299.

They carried two colors, black and white. The specs were pretty simple:

4GB SSD

512 MB RAM

8.9" LCD

Linux OS Pre-Loaded

802.11 b/g Wi-Fi

Sorry the specs pics got pretty blurry.

Although the $299 price tag wasn't too bad, for a model that's been around for over a year and is the current bottom feeder of the Eee line, it should have been less than $200.

Firefox Mobile (Fennec) Available For Downloading

Mozilla's Fennec, mobile browser is available for use.

It is usable on Windows, Linux and Macs, even though it is a "Mobile" browser.

Here's the Link

Windows Vista SP2 On The Way?

According to a post on Gizmodo, Vista may be getting a new service pack in the near (or distant) future. 

The Beta should be out sometime soon for specific users.

Cloud Computing: Is The World Ready?

So is the world,  or at least the mainstream business world, ready for "cloud computing?" Google has put a lot of their eggs in this technology basket, while Microsoft tends to dismiss it as a futuristic myth.

So the question is, is anyone really making these types of applications yet? I know people that use the Google apps. I have seen an Open Office online suite as well. It doesn't seem that the concept is too main stream right now.

With hardware costs coming down and storage capacity going through the roof, what is the need of cloud computing?

With cloud computing, you can get back to the good old world or dummy terminals. PC monitors, with no brains and almost no capacity. They hook into a server, and the server does all the work, for all terminals.

That is a cheaper, yet less efficient way to get the software needed (on the servers or Internet) to the employees without buying the hardware and licensing the company doesn't need.

It has an interesting present, and an even more interesting future. But I would agree that the world is not ready for full blown cloud computing.

Asus Reeeturns to Its Roots With $300 Eee PC 701SDX

According to a article on Giz, from Eeepcnews.de, Asus may be very well going to what most of us think a Netbook should be...CHEAP!

The article states the are those that believe that Asus will be selling a lower cost model of the Eee sometime in the near future...for $300.

Although this won't be a record breaking speed machine, it will probably serve a good purpose to those who need small, compact  and cheap PC's.

Hopefully the Eee PC 701SDX will be out before Christmas, 

so we can see this miracle for ourselves!

Firefox 3.1 Beta With 3D Tabs!

Firefox 3.1 has a Beta release available for your usage. One of the new features will be the 3D tabs. Pretty slick!

The beta site is here. 

New Apple Laptops, not cheaper, nor better

I just read an article on Giz that sums up a portion of my discontent with Apple: They charge too much for too little.

Example: 

"Let's just look at the 13-inch MacBook that was just announced, for example. For $1,300, it comes with a 2.0GHz Core 2 Duo, 2GB of RAM and a 160GB hard drive. Over at Dell, I can grab an Inspiron 13 laptop with a 13.3-inch screen, a 2.0GHz Core 2 Duo, 3GB of RAM and a 250GB hard drive. For $750. For those of you keeping score at home, that's a $550 difference, and the specs are better on the cheaper Dell." [Giz]

I am with this statement all the way. The worst part of this whole thing is that some Apple users believe that they are better than everyone just because they are willing to shell out $400 - $1000 more per laptop for the same technology.

When Apple is willing to meet the middle class person half way on price, I will meet them half way on features.

Windows 7 To Be Next OS, Not Just a Code Name

The next version of Windows will simply be called...Windows 7. This, according to an article on Gizmodo's website, was done for simplicities sake.

"The decision to use the name Windows 7 is about simplicity. Over the years, we have taken different approaches to naming Windows. We've used version numbers like Windows 3.11, or dates like Windows 98, or "aspirational" monikers like Windows XP or Windows Vista. And since we do not ship new versions of Windows every year, using a date did not make sense. Likewise, coming up with an all-new "aspirational" name does not do justice to what we are trying to achieve, which is to stay firmly rooted in our aspirations for Windows Vista, while evolving and refining the substantial investments in platform technology in Windows Vista into the next generation of Windows"

Whats in a name anyways? 

Asus Eee Touch Screen

According to an article on Giz, Asus is allowing pre-orders of their new "tablet"-esque PC. The stats are listed as "1.6GHz Intel Atom processor, 1GB RAM, 160GB hard drive and 15-inch screen running Windows XP."

This promises to be an over priced, under usable, piece of hap-hazard designed hardware, aimed at those who can't afford real tablet PC's.

Again, this is if Asus lives up to it's promise...we shall see.

Apple Rumors, Get Your Apple Rumors Here!

Follow this link to get your hands on the latest, but not greatest Apple rumors to date!

OLO: iPhone Netbook?

For those of you who thought the latest iPhone would render the end of the know universe things may be getting worse.

It seems that some company, OLO, would like to merge the iPhones capabilities into a netbook. While that me sound like a good idea, what does Apple think? I would believe that Apple would be doing this long before I'd believe some random company, especially one I have never heard of.

The concept isn't too bad if you think about it. A uber cool phone turned into a mediocre netbook. The price points should remaining the same, if not go up.

Eventually we will hear more about this, until then, just worry about the next Macbook Air.

Link here.

Asus Eee May Soon Have Touch Screen

According to Giz, Asus will begin to show off it's next Eee design...the touch screen model. The article also hints at other future changes for the compact low cost laptop, including Dual Core Intel Atom processors.

AMD Breaks Up

According to a post on Gizmodo, it looks as if AMD will break its company into 2 parts: One for chip production and one for chip design.

According to the article, "The new firm, known as the Foundry Company for now, will makes chips for other companies as well as AMD, who will continue to own 44 percent of it."

It sounds like a sound move if your chip production is a large drain on resources and cash flow. How this will affect the chip makers chips and profits will, hopefully, be beneficial to us all.

Linux Netbooks Are Returned 4X More Than Win XP Versions, Says MSI

For some reason, I believe there is someone out there screaming "I TOLD YOU SO!" According to the article, it seems the main reason people are returning these is that they get the machine, realize it's not XP, then realize they have no idea what they're doing or how to use it.

$300 is a good deal for a small compact netbook. But if you can't use it due to your lack of Linux skills, maybe the $400 XP option is better.

AMD + DirectX 11

According to Gizmodo, it seems that AMD is expecting DirectX compatible GPU's to be available in 2009.

If your in to obvious stuff, it also looks like they're expecting Windows 7 in 2009 too...[PIC]