News Bits: Samsung VIA Nano Netbook, Sunlight-Illuminated Screens, Windows XP Still Lives

Samsung to launch netbook with VIA Nano

According to a DigiTimes report, Samsung is planning to launch as 12-inch netbook with a VIA Nano processor at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2009. It will have 1GB of RAM, a 160GB hard drive, and weigh 1.5 kg (3.3 pounds). It should be priced around US$604.

Full Story (DigiTimes.com)

LG showcases sunlight-illuminated displays

LG has developed a 14.1-inch LCD display for notebooks that is illuminated using the sun instead of a traditional backlight while outdoors. The display will debut at CES 2009. While illuminated by sunlight, the display uses 75% less power.

LG Press Release
Via (Engadget.com)

Microsoft extends Windows XP lifeline for 4 months

Microsoft had originally planned to stop selling Windows XP licenses at the end of January 2009, but has decided to extends its life until 30 May 2009. Hardware makers will still have to order before January 31, but they can take delivery any time up to 30 May 2009.

Full Story (BBC.co.uk)
Via (Gizmodo.com)

 

Samsung doesn't sound so impressive. LG sounds cool. Windows... are we surprised?

 

xp just wouldn't die LOL

 

I find it rather funny the way Microsoft is trying to kill its own beloved product...

 

Hasn't Samsung learned from HP and their VIA disaster?

Hopefully that LG display isn't glossy

Go XP!

 

The Samsung netbook sounds interesting. I'll be keeping my eyes out for that one. $600 for a 12" machine is a good pricepoint. Perfect for my needs. Hopefully the rest of it is up to par.

 

Well, HP was using an older VIA processor that ran a lot hotter. The Nano is more efficient.

 

What's the nano using as GPU?

 

Looking forward to the Nano powered machine. Hopefully VIA aren't all talk.

 

The windows XP license thing reminds of the Family Guy episode when Peter is trying to teach his sun Chris how to get out of paying a restaurant check and Chris fails and ends up beating the guy several times over the head with a bottle of wine.

Good times...good times...

BBGus

 

I was just thinking that. So many customers would like it to be continued, especially with the current explosion of netbooks.

 

Yup, but unfortunately, all good things must come to an end

I wonder how many more licenses manufacturers are going to buy. Enough for 1 year? Enough for 2?

 

But there's no particular reason that XP does these days, other than that Microsoft may say so. In fact that's half of Microsoft's problem - there is no real good reason for XP to come to an end and Vista to be used instead (a few mediocre ones such as DX10 do exist). The other half of course is that there exist good reasons for a significant number of people to continue using XP instead of Vista. Think about it - what's the number of programs that run on XP but not well (or at all) on Vista vs. the programs that require Vista. There's a lot more that favor XP. Granted some have more features in Vista (DX10), but that's small potatoes versus not working well/at all for other programs if you run both.

What I'd really like to know is why I'm hearing that Microsoft makes less money on XP than Vista. Is it that XP Home was targeted at $200 and Vista Home Premium at $240 and thus they make 120% as much on Vista sales? One would thing XP Pro vs. Vista Business would be the same since they're both $300 retail. Sure there's the XP Recovery Disc thing for auto-downgrade, but that's not that much money even if you do it very inefficiently ($1.25 to ship one CD sea transatlantic + $0.25 for the CD et. al. = $1.50 at most - any economy of scale and it's very cheap). Maybe they're thinking support costs, but there's really no getting around having to do XP patches for another half decade at least. IDK, seems like customer support/goodwill would be more important when you've got $15 billion in the bank and are making tons of money. Kind of why the no-Home-edition-downgrade thing never made sense to me.

The older VIA platform (C7) used the VIA Chrome 9 graphics system, a DX9 one that is pretty low-powered even as integrated ones go. I don't know if they've updated it; my guess would be they have.

I'd want to see the sunlight-display thing myself before buying it. Supposedly you can use sunlight to view a regular notebook decently well, but it didn't do much on my notebook. Not much worse with minimal backlight vs. full backlight in direct sun, but any better, either.

 

Thx for news Chaz

 

Thanks for the info..Chaz.

The Samsung doesnt' look too bad.

Cin.

 

Some more info on Samsung's netbook:

http://translate.google.com/transla...ung-nc20-4202.html&sl=it&tl=en&hl=en&ie=UTF-8

Also from Via's site about what kind of GPU may be teamed with the Via Nano:
http://www.via.com.tw/en/resources/pressroom/pressrelease.jsp?press_release_no=3007

All in all looks very interesting but now I got to wonder how it will compare to the nVidia+Atom netbook coming out in June.

 

hmmm... XP won't die... I wish it did then we could just move on.

on a good note it looks like Win7 Beta with in a few months.

 

It's the little engine that could!

 

Let's see what the what the Via Nano can do, and I hope they don't exaggerate it's battery efficiency.I must say I'm kinda disappointed with the first Atom on my 1000H.The speed is just passable at best.That could be overlooked if it allowed you to have significant longer battery life like it was advertised(7 hours),but it's not really the case.It is better than most laptops..but I'll be lucky if it gets close to 4 hours from normal use with the lowest bearable screen dimness.And seems like the more I try to condition it, the worst it got.That coupled with it's annoying resolution is the reason I decided to sell it.I much rather stick with my old reliable X300.I'm gonna lay off netbooks until they solve or improve on these 2 issues.

I really don't unstand why all netbooks only have 1024 x 600 res..Except for the ultra slow HP Mini-Note 2133 which have a nice 1280 x 768 res..Also why does the new HP Mini 1000 have the crappy 1024 x 600 as well? Can someone answer this for me please.

 

The Mini-Note 2133 used the Via C7 while the Mini-Note 1000 uses a Intel Atom N270.

1024x600 is the max screen resolution supported for the Intel Atom N270+945G chipset. Intel also restricts the Atom N270 to a max of a 10" LCD.

The new Atom Z520 in the Dell Mini-12 uses a "better" chipset and allows for a bigger screen and higher resolutions.

 

the notebook from samsung in this story is the samsung N20 right?

 

Yes.

10char

 

sunlight illuminated display sounds amazing if it works like it sounds and doesn't interfere with the normal backlight in anyway.

 

Agreed, 600 pixels of vertical resolution is . . . abysmal, even on a 10" screen. The original HP mini had such a nice resolution for that size; 1280x800 is actually usable.

Thanks for the info. Not that I don't believe you, but do you have a link to a source like Intel documents? I'd like to read more on this.

 

Honestly all I have to go on is second hand information from what some news and info sites say about Intel setting restrictions on what classifies a netbook or a umpc and how developers can use their atom processors. The Intel Data sheets for the Atoms and 945GSE I can read off their website don't specifically list a restriction and that the chipset supports resolutions up to UXGA. I'm suspecting that maybe that only applies to secondary external displays though and that the Netbook's screen itself is limited to VGA, or WVGA which would be the 1024x600 resolution.

Your source article for the Samsung netbook even mentions Intel's restrictions on netbook screens to 7 to 10 inches.

This article and this one from umpcportal.com also mentions those restrictions and sources an Intel Developer Forum presentation as the source.

Then there's this article from cnet that talks about how Nvidia wants to break that "artificial restriction" the Atom has on screen size for netbooks by pairing the processor with the Geforce 9400M.

To be honest though I prefer a 10 inch or at most an 11 inch screen for a netbook and I just want what most want which is better HD and 3D support.


So just to sum up what I know (or think I know) on the matter:

- The Intel Atom N270(Diamondville) is what Intel classifies as it's Netbook Atom and uses the 945GSE chipset with the 950GMA that supports VGA or DVI-D output. Intel considers Netbooks to have a screen size of 7 to 10 inches and limits the max resolution to 1024x600.

-The Intel Atom Z5xx(Silverthorne) is meant for use in UMPCs and MIDs uses the SCH US15W chipset(Poulsbo) with GMA500 that has better, but still limited, HD and 3D support. According to that first umpcportal.com article Intel considers a UMPC/MID as having 4.5 to 7 inch screen, but based on Dell's Mini-12 there doesn't seem to be a restriction on screen size.

 

Okay, I'm sure admin will hate me for this, but as a college male I MUST say, I just can't resist +(...

HOW MANY of those LG displays do I have to buy in order for that hot Korean girl to come with it?

 

actually the price of the LG includes the girl!

 

Transreflective displays have been around for years now - mostly in handheld computers and so-called ruggedized notebooks, but there have always been issues regarding illumination, contrast and colours. So it will be interesting how LGs will solve these problems.

Example: Toshibas R500 (display-pics in the middle of the article)
http://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-Toshiba-Portege-R500-Subnotebook.7995.0.html