Pine What?

Okay, so one of the big things about the new Atom chips is that for the first time, it integrates a graphics core and a memory controller directly onto the same die as the processor. This whole platform, that is, the processor, graphics and memory controller is "Pine Trail," while the processor by itself is "Pineview."

More specifically, the graphics core is 45nm die shrink of Intel's GMA 3100, redubbed GMA 3150, that runs at 400MHz. So, not only does it still suck, it also doesn't hardware accelerate H.264 video as AnandTech points out, meaning it's completely useless for Flash video, even with all of the new Flash acceleration hotness Adobe is delivering next year.

Instead, netbook makers will still have to bundle, at the very least, an "HD decoder" that accelerates H.264 for decent Flash playback, and it's not anywhere near Nvidia's Ion in terms of graphics performance. (This chip from Broadcom, to be precise.) And, not that you'll be pushing 1080p video out of your netbook, but video res is capped at 1366x768 out of the HDMI and DVI ports. Bottom line, Intel's stock offering still blows goats when it comes to video, and we're still waiting to see what Nvidia's going to do about it, given that they can't plug in Ion the way they used to. (Anand speculates they might just tack on through a PCi Express port.)

These are the three chips Intel's launching today, only one, the N450, is for netbooks, and as you'll notice, it's 1.66GHz single core chip (Intel thinks that's just fine) and supports just 2GB of RAM. The improvements you'll see with the N450 over the current Atom chips aren't exactly explosive—they mostly come from faster memory, and even Intel admits they're incremental.

Sure, it's 20 percent more efficient than the last Atom chips, but if you want remotely decent video performance in a netbook right now, it looks an Nvidia Ion-based system is still the way to go, even with Intel flashing new silicon. If you can stick it out for another month, it might be worth seeing what's a little further around the bend. [Intel]

Writing to Consumerist, Hannah describes what happened:

"Hi, last night I unplugged my laptop from its charger, carried it downstairs, and placed it on the wood floor of my living room.

I heard a loud popping sound and the room immediately filled with smoke while the laptop hissed and sizzled. It died down, I pushed it with my foot, and it stared hissing again. There is a large scorch mark on my floor.

It goes without saying, I am glad the laptop was not on my couch ...or in an airplane."

Consumerist put Hannah in touch with Dell, and they supplied her with a free upgraded replacement. They are also examining the crispy netbook itself, but have yet to release any details. Generally, when incidents like this occur, the battery is to blame. If Dell is at fault, I would hope that Hannah can get them to spring for repairs to her floor. [Consumerist]

Pine Trail was officially let out of the bag today, and comes in four flavors: the N450, D410, D510, and NM10 Express chipset. The two new Wind netbooks use the N450 chip, which is designed specifically for those smaller-sized laptops, giving 15 per cent extra battery life.

Both the U130 and U135 have 10-inch LED backlit screens with 1,024 x 600 pixels. The first model has a 160GB HDD, the latter 250GB. 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and 3.5G WiMax are listed, along with stereo speakers and a 1.3-megapixel webcam.

On sale in January, the price for the UK market is £229 and £279 for the two models (approximately $368 and $448), with the U130 coming in "snow white" and "brilliant black," the U135 in "sterling silver," "brilliant black," "midnight blue," and "cherry red." [MSI]

Researchers found that "a conventional small clamshell laptop is most comfortably used lying down in bed with the device on the thigh when the knees are kept up."

I spent months working in that very position after a bad motorcycle wreck in my twenties, and I concur that the best ergos I ever experienced, were in this position. (Could have been the vicadins, though.) I miss this working stance; I need a desk chair that somehow emulates a bed. Or a bed that emulates a desk.

The study is part of an entire class taught by Malouf, sponsored by Freescale, investigating the form factor of the netbook in its entirety. [core 77]

As for what the Tegra 2 is, nobody really knows, because the closest Nvdia execs will get to a spec rundown is to offer vague promises of MORE: evidently it will be at least twice as powerful as its predecessor, which was was impressive in its own right. We'll get a sense of how powerful it is at CES, but the major point Nvidia would like to make is that unlike last time, the Tegra 2 will actually get used:

At CES we are going to make a major announcement about Tegra family. It is highly possible that we will see some very interesting form-factors coming out at the same time. [There will be products] shown by our partners using the next-generation Tegra device. You are going to see roll-outs and deployments of tablet PCs, smartbooks, netbooks, MIDs throughout the first half [of the year]; and then you will see major roll-outs of smartphones in the second half

This jibes with chatter from the last few months that companies like Samsung, Nintendo and even Nvidia themselves have suddenly started working on Tegra hardware; we just didn't know until now that it'd be next gen. What we still don't know is what that means: If the original Tegra could decode 1080p video, what can the new one do? Decode 1080p video more enthusiastically? [XbitLabs]

Specs include: a 400 MHz processor, 256 MB RAM, 2 GB flash memory, 7-inch screen (800 x 480), USB 1.1 and 2.0 ports, SD card support, and it runs either Linux or Windows CE operating systems (it should also get about 4 hours of use on the Lithium battery). Yeah, don't expect much for your $99—as the product page notes, it's "small, slow, and sufficient." Africa is available now at the Cherrypal open store. [Cherrypal via PRNewswire via Engadget]

We don't have details as to exactly how much these drives will cost or when we'll be seeing them in our computers, but we do know that they're shipping to Seagate's OEM and integrator partners at the very beginning of 2010. If the Momentus Thin lives up to all its claims, then its 160GB and 250GB capacities should be a rather attractive option for netbooks. Definitely something to keep an eye on next year.

SEAGATE UNVEILS WORLD'S THINNEST 2.5-INCH HARD DRIVE FOR SLIM LAPTOP COMPUTERS

SCOTTS VALLEY, Calif. - December 14, 2009 - Seagate Technology (NASDAQ:STX) today announced the Momentus® Thin drive, the world's thinnest 2.5-inch hard disk drive for ultra-portable and entry-level laptops, high-end netbooks, backup devices and consumer electronics. At a wafer-thin 7mm in height – 25 percent slimmer than traditional 9.5mm 2.5-inch laptop hard drives – the Momentus Thin drive gives original equipment manufacturers (OEM) and system integrators significantly lower cost-per-gigabyte storage than solid state and 1.8-inch drives, enabling a new breed of entry-level thin laptops.

Of all netbook computers available today, 90 percent feature 9.5mm 2.5-inch laptop drives because solid state and 1.8-inch hard drives are largely cost-prohibitive for this market. The Momentus Thin drive provides the lowest-cost storage for netbooks and thin laptops, enabling computer makers to offer systems that reach a broader market.

"The Momentus® Thin drive promises to help computer makers differentiate on mobile-computing form factor and better compete in the fast-growing markets for thin laptop PCs and netbooks," said Dave Mosley, executive vice president of Sales, Marketing and Product Line Management at Seagate. "Seagate is committed to helping its OEM and system integrator partners meet market demand for thinner laptop PCs and plans to expand storage capabilities for thin laptops as demand for these slimmer models continues to grow."

The Momentus Thin drive rivals traditional 2.5-inch laptop drives in performance and power-efficiency, enabling thin-chassis designs in all segments of notebook computing and allowing OEMs both to design in greater value on high-end netbooks for easier upselling and to create a wider value differentiation between consumer and commercial laptop PCs. The Momentus Thin drive features two capacity points – 250GB and 160GB – an 8MB cache, a Serial ATA 3Gb/second interface and a 5400RPM spin speed. The drive is scheduled to ship to Seagate's OEM and integrator partners in January 2010.

The Seagate® Momentus® family now helps laptop makers give home and business users a sweeping upgrade path – from netbooks, often purchased as introductory, low-cost laptop PCs strictly for emailing and Internet surfing, to notebooks offering mainstream business and consumer applications, to feature-rich, high-performance laptops, all in standard-size and the increasingly popular thin models. Seagate Momentus 5400RPM and 7200RPM hard drives in the traditional 9.5mm height combine the industry's broadest feature set – including self-encryption, FIPS 140-2 certification and free-fall sensors – with up to 640GB of capacity, fast 3Gb/second Serial ATA interface speeds, cache sizes as large as 16MB, and among the highest hard drive shock-tolerance, acoustics and reliability specifications for entry-level, mainstream and high-performance laptops.

[Seagate]

Toshiba mini NB205

Starting Price: $399.99 ($382.36 now at Amazon)
If you're going to be staring at a 10-inch screen for hours on end you deserve a design that doesn't feel claustrophobic, and the 3-pound NB205 delivers with the biggest touchpad in its class and a spacious chiclet-style keyboard. This netbook doesn't look cheap either, thanks to the textured lid and slick color options (black, white, pink, blue or brown). We're not fans of Windows 7 Crippled Edition, but the NB205's nearly 9 hours of battery life and 250GB hard drive make this $399 machine a great deal. [Review]

HP mini 311

Starting Price: $399
What a difference Nvidia graphics make. This Atom+Ion-powered netbook can not only handle mainstream games like World of Warcraft without breaking a sweat, it takes full advantage of Flash Player 10.1's hardware acceleration for dramatically smoother Hulu playback on the 11.6-inch screen (or bigger screen via HDMI). You can even edit video on this 3.2-pound powerhouse, which comes with a stylish HP Swirl pattern in black or white. If you care about longer battery life, get the cheaper Windows XP version.
[Windows XP Review] [Windows 7 Review]

Samsung N140

Starting Price: $384.99
Samsung made a splash last year with its first netbooks for the U.S., and the $399 N140 builds upon the success of the NC10 but modernizing the design, adding Windows 7 (though it's Starter), and beefing up the hard drive to 250GB. Available with a burgundy or blue lid and outlined with silver trim, this Atom machine performs like other netbooks but features a glare-free matte display and comfy keyboard. You also get decent audio courtesy of SRS Sound. [Review]

Mark Spoonauer is the editor-in-chief of Laptop Magazine and Laptopmag.com, which reviewed over 130 notebooks and netbooks during 2009. To see all of their top picks of the year, click here.

According to a new report by Jeff Orr, an analyst at ABI, Linux preinstalls represent 32% of the 35 million netbooks shipping this year (a number consistent with Dell's own reports). And it makes sense. Pretty much any variation of Linux is lighter weight than Windows (even the improved performance of 7 over Vista is paid for in battery life). And in the lowest end of the hardware market, I'd bet consumers are a lot more cognizant of the impact an OS has on the final price of a computer. [Computer World via Slashdot and Awesome Image]

Teo en Ming, the ChromiumOS64 project lead, says of the download:

"The original Chromium OS project does not support 64-bit platforms. This is because the majority of the netbooks in the market are based on Intel Atom processors, which are mostly 32-bit."

With Chrome OS launching properly at the tail-end of 2010, we've got a full year to wait before we see anything more solid become available. And even then, it'll only be available on Google-branded devices, with Acer hoping to launch the first official netbook running it.

Let us know how you get on with the 64-bit Chromium browser below. [ChromiumOS64 via TechRadar]

Netbooks with Intel's next-gen Pineview Atom N450 CPUs arrive in January, and the faster N470 chip may hit in March. There are also more netbooks with Ion graphics coming down the pipe, including the first Ion-based Eee PC. AMD is still kicking around the netbook space, too.

Little netbook keyboards will still make you feel like a basketball player driving a Mini Cooper, but the damn things are just so cute and cheap we can't stay away. (It's a love / hate relationship). And though HD video is most definitely a reality for netbooks, not all the new models will give you that smooth HD Hulu loving you crave.

Next-Gen Intel Chips

As our break down of Intel's line-up explains, "Pineview" Atom processors (like the single-core N450 or the eventual dual-core 510) integrate the CPU, GPU, and memory controller on the same chip. The benefits: Better graphics, and according to MSI, at least 20 percent better power consumption.

MSI previously gave us the scoop that Pine Trail-M netbooks, using Pineview processors, are slated for a big CES debut. Their upcoming 10-inch convertible touchscreen U150 with Windows 7 will use one. Though Intel still hasn't set an official date (publicly at least), DigiTimes is reporting today that the launch date will be January 10. That means Asus, Acer, Lenovo and MSI, which had planned to launch Atom N450-based netbooks in December, are all now expected to make their new models available from January 11 onwards. As mentioned, we expect to preview them at CES the week before.

DigiTimes goes on to say that the follow-up N470 chip (likely 1.83GHz) is expected to land in March. That syncs with apparent leaks of the Pine Trail-M roadmap that have floated around. And even though netbook makers already ship machines with more than 1GB of RAM, word is that Intel will actually encourage 2GB of memory for the N470. An upgrade over previous Microsoft/Intel limitations imposed to prevent cannibalization of ultra-portable notebooks.

So will N450-based netbooks handle HD video? According to Engadget, not without an extra chip like the Broadcom Crystal HD video accelerator, which should add about $30 to the overall price. Apparently, native HD video is still a little down Intel's roadmap path.

So What About Nvidia Ion Netbooks?

I'll be very interested to see just how close Pine Trail-M netbooks get to Ion performance, and for those with an HD video chip, how well they handle high-definition video, too. The integrated nature of Pine Trail-M could give it an advantage in price. But will the price/performance ratio be enough?

Nvidia also has a little ace in the hole called Flash video acceleration. They recently demonstrated an Ion-powered HP Mini 311 playing stutter-free YouTube HD video on an external monitor. Watch the demo below. The final version of Flash 10.1 will make this an everyday occurrence sometime mid-next year. And you can try the Beta now.

News also dropped today that Asus' 12.1-inch Eee PC 1201N, its first Eee PC with Ion graphics, is finally up for pre-order over at Amazon for $500. It'll be available in January, and join existing Ion-based netbooks like the HP Mini 311 (11.6-inch), Lenovo IdeaPad S12 (12.1-inch), and the Samsung N510 (11.6-inch). But here's the thing: they all use existing Diamondville-class Atom processors.

The good news is that Intel has actually pointed out that despite having integrated graphics, Pineview processors are compatible with Ion. We've not seen such a netbook with both yet, but CES is just around the corner. Nvidia has also reportedly said that its Ion 2 (yep, gen 2) chipset for Atom netbooks will arrive by the end of the year. I'm betting we'll see some Ion 2-based netbooks at CES in January, but my guess is we won't be able to buy one until March or April at the earliest.

A netbook with Ion graphics and an Intel Pineview processor like the N450 sounds pretty sweet, right? Hopefully that's what we have to look forward to.

Next Gen Flash Runs 720p Movie Smoothly on a Netbook, Demo -

Distractions, Distractions

Real quick: I'm not ignoring AMD. Having left it too late to join the netbook fray, their upcoming Congo platform will instead mostly complete with Intel's ultra-low voltage processors. We're talking about notebooks with 12 to 13-inch displays. I say mostly, because Asus is readying an AMD Congo-based version of that 12.1-inch Eee PC I mentioned above. The unit's ATI Radeon HD3200 graphics will handle 1080p video.

It's going to be one hell of an interesting Consumer Electronics Show. ARM and VIA are still trying to get inside netbook trousers: Asus has an Android-based "Smartbook" planned for early next year, and Nvidia is pushing its competing ARM-based Tegra chip. Asus also wants to be first with a Chrome OS netbook when Google completes it in the second half of 2010. Finally, there are a ton of interesting eReaders and touchscreen tablets on the horizon...and don't even start me on the Apple Tablet.

A number of these devices might replace what you thought would be your next netbook. Either way, whatever we see, you'll hear about them here in almost pornographic detail. Personally, the tech behind my next $500 netbook—still no small investment—will almost certainly be something we first see under the bright lights of Vegas. Hopefully they'll be better-looking by then, too.

The business model will follow that of the iPhone app store, with developers getting 70% of the revenue and 30% going to operational and partner costs. Potential applications will also go through a similar vetting process to Apple's, although hopefully a bit more transparency.

Intel hasn't yet said how many developers are actually working on netbook-specific applications, and they were vague in a CNET interview about what exactly we might see, other than promises of social networking-type capabilities. And of course, there's an easy way to keep 100% of your netbook software sales, and that's by just selling it as, you know, software. In any case, there's no clear timeline for the store other than 2010, but Intel seems motivated to get this done quickly. Soon, I hope... I'm curious to see what form this takes. [CNET via Apple Insider]

Feather is the name of YouTube's new lightweight version of the video streaming site. You can try it out now via Google's TestTube collection of beta trials.

What you lose with the lightweight option is the ability to view videos in High Quality, and most of the commenting and sharing options have been stripped out. But hell, that's a small price to play for being able to watch the above gem on your $249 netbook, right? [YouTube Feather via All Things D]

Actually, the slide-out battery isn't the only change compared to the original Seashell 1008HA (which had a non-removable battery). The keyboard on this 10-inch screen revision has gone chiclet, and there's a new VGA adapter that connects via mini-USB, and hides away in a recess underneath the netbook.

Those other standard specs I mentioned look to include 1GB of RAM, 160GB hard disk, 802.11n Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth. And if pink isn't your thing, Fudzilla also has pics of the faux crocodile skin finish in brown.

It's extremely likely this will be one of several Asus netbooks we'll see at CES in January, and also one of many using Intel's Pine Trail-M platform. We already know MSI will have a Pine Trail-based 10-inch touchscreen U150 netbook at the show. Good times. [Hardware Zone (Update: Story removed) via Netbooked]

Acer has been developing a Chrome-based netbook since mid-2009, and its Chairman, JT Wang, has told DigiTimes, he wants it to be the first netbook out there when Chrome OS is released in the second half of 2010. [DigiTimes]

As mentioned, the 1201N will be the first Eee PC with Nvidia Ion graphics when it arrives in December for about $500. It'll include 2GB RAM, 250GB hard disk, and HDMI out.

And we've just learned that Asus is also planning a version with AMD's 1.6GHz Congo MV40 processor and ATI Radeon HD3200 graphics. That means 1080p video support. No word yet on pricing or availability, but it can't be that far off. We'll fill you in as we learn more. [SlashGear]