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EMTEC, a company especially known for their mobile peripherals, plans to have their newest netbook, the Gdium, on display at CES 2009.  Let’s begin with the specs.

First off, it comes with a nice 10 inch screen with a 1024x600 resolution, overall measures out at 9.8 x 7.2 x 1.25 inches, and comes with a full sized keyboard.  The nice feature in the Gdium is that it is completely Open Source and comes preloaded with applications such as Firefox, Thunderbird, VoIP, a blog editor, audio player, video player, undisclosed security programs, and Open Office suite apps.  With Open Office apps, you are able to utilize word processing, presentations, spreadsheets, etc.

EMTEC wants to emphasize low energy usage and so it sports a MIPS-64 chip designed by ST Microelectronics and it runs on an optimized version of Mandriva Linux OS.  Now, if you plan to share this netbook with others, you can keep all of your data safe as well as the others who use it.  The Gdium comes with something called the G-Key, which allows users to store their data and apps on a USB flash drive and not have to save anything on the actual machine.  When you own one of these machines, you have access to its personal, dedicated website.  Within this website is a social networking program and other resources targeted at students.  In addition, it contains email devices, forums, blogs, news forums, and everything else to keep you connected. 

Chris Mack, EMTEC’s EVP Sales & Marketing in North America, had this to add about the Gdium:

“The Gdium netbook offering is unique to the marketplace. The revolutionary new design and the unique synchronization feature of the G-Key separate Gdium from the rest of the pack. With a sub-$400 retail price point, we believe EMTEC will become a key player in the netbook market.”

The netbook industry is rapidly becoming very popular so it makes sense EMTEC debuts their netbook at CES in hopes many people check it out and might become interested in buying it.  You can expect a lot of other netbooks at CES as well.

Read [EMTEC]