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Top European technology company Packard Bell has joined the netbook wars with an aptly branded netbook - dot. In releasing their own netbook, Packard Bell says that they have been watching the netbook market for quite some time now and noticed that most of them “have been too austere and too business oriented for consumers.” Hence, the company wants to put more emphasis on having a netbook that is more family-oriented. And does it succeed with that objective? Let’s take a quick look at the Dot netbook’s features:

See the features and how we expect this netbook to stack up to competitors.

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While we all know that nobody seems to be all that excited about the latest Eee PC model because of its lack of outstanding features, we still owe it to you our dear readers to cover the official announcement of the Eee PC 900A. Like we said before, the Eee PC 900A doesn’t offer to many features and probably realizing this, Asus decided to add a new color variant to the Eee PC 900A instead, sadly of all colors that are available in the color wheel, Asus decided to paint it in purple. It’s not that we have anything against the color purple. But we just think that it doesn’t fit into the category of the Eee PC netbooks.

Anyway, if you’re raring to get that purple Eee PC 900A as soon as it comes out here’s a quick recap of what you’re going to get for your hard-earned bucks. The Eee PC 900A features the same 1.6GHz Intel Atom processor that the Eee PC 901 has, an 8.9-inch display with a 1024 x 600 resolution, 1GB of RAM, built-in card reader, 0.3-megapixel webcam, Wi-Fi, Ethernet, VGA out, three USB ports and a 8GB or 16GB SSD option.

In addition, Asus is throwing in a free 20GB of online storage on the Eee Storage Service that was announced a few days ago. Another weakness of the Eee PC 900A is that it could only offer 3-4 hours of battery life and its lack of Bluetooth connectivity feature. Still, if these don’t bother you too much, you can grab yourselves the Eee PC 900 for around $465 when it comes out later this month.

Product [Asus]

From the Japanese electronics company AOpen comes a new nettop powered by Intel’s Atom processor, the XC Cube LE200. Enclosed in a mini-ITX enclosure which measures only 200 x 321 x 106 mm, this computing box features expandable PCI slots and a 3.5-inch SATA HDD, and a non-mounted slim optical drive.

Other features include; a 1.6GHz Atom processor, Windows XP or Vista Basic OS, an Intel 945GC+ICH7 chipset, a 945GC built-in Intel GMA 950 VGA output, HD Audio 2.1ch sound, and a maximum of 2GB RAM.

The XC Cube LE200 could be a good alternative to the Eee PC Box if it will be released internationally. However, like pricing information, there are no words on international release yet as well. But we do know that it will released in Japan this month.

Product [AOpen] Via [Aving USA]

Although we’ve reported before that Fujitsu’s new Lifebook U2010 UMPC has hit the FCC for approval as the U820, Fujitsu Singapore went ahead and officially launched the UMPC as the U2010 in Singapore. So, while the US UMPC fans awaits for Fujitsu to launch in the US market, here’s a quick rundown of the official specs and details of the Lifebook U2010.

Aside from what we already know that the U2010 will have a 1.6GHz Intel Centrino Atom processor Z530, a SuperFine 5.6” WXGA 1280 x 800 display, a choice between 60GB HD or 64GB SSD for storage and its WLAN, LAN and Bluetooth connectivity features, we also learned that Fujitsu is prepping up the U2010 as a multimedia device. As such, it will have wireless connectivity features that would let users connect to any FM radio and its audio output. It’s music on-demand technology will let users play songs directly from their U2010’s music library as well.

In addition, the Lifebook U2010 also features; a built-in 1.3 megapixel web camera and a digital microphone, Microsoft’s Origami Experience 2.0, web browser,
a long 8 hours battery life, slip resistant base, a 2-level BIOS lock, Anti-Theft Lock Slot and Fingerprint Sensor.

Read [Fujitsu Press Release] Via [ href="http://www.pocketables.net/2008/08/fujitsu-lifeb-1.html" title="Pocketables">Pocketables]

Remember the Fujitsu Lifebook U2010 that was spotted in Vietnam not so long ago? Well, you may not have to wait that long before it reaches the US market as the mini-tablet PC is already seeking the FCC approval. Interestingly, it is now bearing the name Lifebook U820. No word yet on why the sudden change in name, but we’re thinking that it might be to avoid confusing this UMPC with another Fujitsu product known as the T2010.

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We have just recently seen the Eee PC 900a show its face in some leaked images, and although it seemed to be just another model in the never ending Eee PC lineup, we were hoping for something special.

Sadly, the specs have been revealed and honestly we are not really sure why Asus even bothered, its just another Eee. It will feature the 1.6GHz Intel Atom processor but that is about where the excitement stops.

Other features include what seems to be the standard now; an 8.9-inch display with a 1024 x 600 resolution, 1GB of RAM, built-in card reader, 0.3-megapixel webcam, Wi-Fi, Ethernet, VGA out, and three USB ports.

The Eee PC 900a will also be available in a 8GB or 16GB SSD option, but sadly Bluetooth will not be included. The 900a will be available beginning August 21 and retail for 299 EUR (around $465 US).

With all the different models and options now available, it seems that Asus should just make a few standard case sizes and then offer them in a selection of colors and allow the user to configure them as desired.

Via [jkkmobile]

Although we were pleasantly surprised to see Asus returning to their roots with the recent information that surfaced showing off the new additions coming to the Eee PC 701 series, this latest image would normally just be chalked up as yet another model in the never ending Eee lineup.

However, we did notice one interesting bit worth mentioning, the newly pictured model is the Eee PC 900a, and although there has not been any official word, some speculation (and hope) is that the “a” is in place for Atom, as in the processor.

Otherwise, like I mentioned its just one leaked image as of now, but still it shows something to hope for, that is assuming you are not already burnt out on the never ending models of the Eee PC. Seriously Asus, I am a fan of the Eee lineup, I have one myself, but even I cannot keep up anymore with what you have going on. Lets try and bring it back to just being simple, low-cost, easy-to-use notebook like you started with.

Image [Blogeee] Via [thegadgetsite]

The follow up to the recently released Eee PC 900, the 901 has been revealed in pictures. The Eee PC 901 will be an Intel Atom-based mini notebook and has most of the changes on the inside, there are however a few minor, but noticeable differences on the outside. The power jack has been moved to the left side and they have added a few extra buttons between the keyboard and battery. There is also one interesting change on the outside, the Asus logo has been removed in favor of an Eee logo.

These images show the 901 in white, however we would only assume that it will show up in at least black as well. Hopefully we will see some more information filter out soon, as any release date and pricing is still unknown. Keep reading for some more pics…

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BenQ is slowly venturing out of the mobile phone arena and into the UMPC battle ring with this intriguing new device which will supposedly be an Atom-based little PC. Details and specs have been very slow to come but we now have a somewhat relatively clear picture of it, and just about all of the necessary info you’ll need to know in case you intend on purchasing it.

Apparently, this little number is going to be somewhat like a miniature Eee PC, with specs that resemble that UMPC’s very closely. BenQ’s MID will reportedly have an 800 MHz Silverthorne processor, 512 MB of RAM, a 4GB SSD and a Poulsbo chipset. The connectivity options, meanwhile, range from HSDPA, 802.11 b/g WiFi, and Bluetooth 2.0+EDR. The screen looks large enough and presumably readable even under direct sunlight. Already this looks like a formidable Nokia Tablet competitor, and I haven’t even finished detailing the other specifications yet.

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Sharp and Willcom have delivered a tiny yet powerful device with the D4 UMPC. Boasting of being the first UMPC with Intel’s Atom Centrino processor inside, the D4 runs at 1.3 GHz, has a 5-inch LED back-lit touchscreen display with a 1024 x 600 resolution, 1GB of RAM, a 40GB hard drive, 2-megapixel camera, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.0+EDR and a full QWERTY keyboard.

With a high-powered processor and memory, it’s no wonder that D4 comes preloaded with Windows Vista Home Edition. The D4 UMPC weighs just under one pound and measures 3.3 x 7.4 x 1.0-inches. Other goodies include a built-in one seg TV tuner and a memory expansion slot for microSD.

The D4 UMPC will be release to the Japanese market sometime in June for around $1,280 equivalent in Japanese Yen. It is configured with Japan’s PHS system for phone calls so it might take some time before it gets released internationally.

Via [Gizmodo] Via [AV Watch]