Gadgetell | Tech News, Reviews, and Interesting Things

HP Mini-Note users listen up, VIA has just released an updated set of drivers that seem to be well worth the time it will take to complete the update. Now don’t get me wrong this update is not going to completely change your trusty little notebook, but the update has been noted as offering improved video playback, which for a lot of people has been a major issue.

According to the benchmarks from the folks over at HP 2133 Guide, they are claiming that the “video playback was improved quite a bit on each OS.” They ran the benchmarks on a Windows XP (with SP3) and Windows Vista (with SP1) based Mini-Note that featured a 1.6Ghz VIA C7-M processor, 2GB of RAM, and the standard 120GB 7200 RPM hard drive.

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Via, the company that brought us the NanoBook, has a new reference design; a computer called the OpenBook.  This design is changed from the previous iteration, modeled to compete with the Asus Eee PC which has launched since the original NanoBook was unveiled.  The computer sports an 8.9-inch display, with a 1024 x 600 resolution, three USB ports, VGA out and two 2-megapixel cameras. Additionally, it can connect to the internet via HSDPA, WiMAX or EV-DO. For the small form factor, a colossal 2GB of RAM and a 2.5-inch hard drive is squeezed in. You can run Windows Vista, XP or any Linux distro as your operating system. The OpenBook is based on the C7-M ULV processor and the VIA VX800 chipset, and you can get around 3 hours of battery life; in optimal conditions.

Via is putting the CAD files of the hardware up for download under a Creative Commons license, OEM manufacturers can have a go at making this the best they see fit.

Via [UMPC Portal]

Rumor has it that Nvidia is currently in discussion with VIA Technologies and a possible acquisition is in question but VIA is said to be setting a very high price tag.

According to DigiTimes, the possible Nvidia-VIA scenarios include acquisition of VIA’s processor division, a strategic alliance, or the acquisition of the whole company. Since VIA is slowly going down in terms of profits, it may as well rethink of opening up with a much lower price.

No official word yet was given out by Nvidia because they said this is just a market rumor so a comment is unnecessary. Even VIA denies the speculations and says that an acquisition isn’t cooking up and is determined not to give up the x86 CPU division.

Read [DigiTimes]

We saw the Eee PC pick up an incredible, almost cult like following and with that came more mods and hacks than most of us could even imagine. It has taken some time, the Cloudbook has gotten off to a slow start, but that seems to be coming to an end. A decent community is starting to get going behind the Cloudbook, albeit not as large or devoted as the Eee PC has, but still its getting there and I am sure it will continue to grow with time. With the community getting behind the Cloudbook we are beginning to see some cool new mods, along with some tips and tricks that make the gOS-based ultra-portable a little more user friendly.

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While the Cloudbook may have gotten off to a rough very rough start, it seems we have some traction building. Initially you had to either make that purchase at ZaReason (who quickly dropped the Cloudbook after all those initial problems) or by placing your order, for delivery only at Wal-Mart.

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The Cloudbook showed up as available early Friday morning at Wal-Mart and we wasted no time in placing an order. It arrived on Monday evening as expected and here is a nice unboxing set to show you the Cloudbook in a little more detail. With some very positive first impressions we are thinking we have a winner when compared to the Eee PC. Stay tuned for a more in depth review comparing the Asus Eee PC and Everex Cloudbook in the not too distant future.

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Wal-Mart has updated their website to show the Cloudbook as an in-stock item. The out-of-stock and coming soon notes have been removed and you can complete the order process. After what seemed like endless delays and a product that was never truly going to be available, our order has been placed. Of course we will see just how long the processing time is and just how quick it is actually able to ship out. If all goes well our Cloudbook should be delivered sometime between Monday and Wednesday of next week, we will let you know our thoughts once it arrives.

Product [Wal-Mart]

Today is the day that the Cloudbook is set to begin shipping. After a few delays we have reached the launch date once again, the Everex website still refers to the 2/21/08 date, so far so good.

With that ZaReason, who currently seem to be the only company to actually ship a Cloudbook have announced they will discontinue selling the laptop. ZaReason is citing they will stop selling the laptop because of all the pre-orders they took, then had to cancel because of Everex. That caused them to lose a lot of money due to “bank transaction fees” because of the refunds.

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I say actual user with a little sarcasm, but its nice to see a Cloudbook in the hands of someone other than press. While I value the review that Laptop had given us, its nice to see a user who placed an order actually have their hands-on the Cloudbook, it just makes it seem a little more real.

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Our calendars are marked and we have been eagerly awaiting the actual release of the Cloudbook, but it looks like we may be waiting even longer. DigiTimes is reporting that we are set to have another delay of the Cloudbook and the release could be pushed back into March. The reason behind the delay is not in relation to the gOS as we previously suspected, but instead due to the weather in China. Yes we are aware just how strange that seems.

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