Update: Well, the reviews seem a bit mixed from the tech crowd even as the TV news stories are about the best thing Apple could have hoped for – breathless anchors telling us how much they want an iPad.

Wall Street Journal has a good summary of the early buzz. My take so far is that these are the key features in play:

“low price” “giant iPhone” “many applications” “high quality” “no still or video camera” “potential typing challenges”

This morning Apple launched what is almost certain to become the new tablet computing standard, the Apple iPad. Reviews will be coming in at a lightning pace today and we’ll try to summarize them later, but in the meantime here’s a great “Everything you need to know about the iPad” piece from the Gizmodo people.

Apple iPAD launches

Ipod, apple, computers, iPad, laptops apple, iPad, tablets

Laptop Magazine looked at several of the new 10″ Netbook computers and has a nice write up of models from ASUS, Aspire, HP, Lenovo, MSI, and Samsung.

The ASUS and Aspire appear to be their favorites when all factors are considered but if you are in the market for a netbook you’ll want to read these and other reviews.

Happily for consumers if not for the industry at large, price in this category does not appear to correlate all that well with features and quality.

computers, laptops, technology aspire, asus, computers, laptops, lenovo, msi, netbooks, samsung, ultra mobile

UPDATE:  Reports, pictures, and details are still murky but this appears to be a case of overhyped nonsense where the device is simply a flash drive system without monitor or keyboard:  http://education.zdnet.com/?p=2131

The Times of India and others are now reporting that a team of students and the Government of India have developed a low cost laptop that is expected to be put into widespread use throughout India very soon. The initial cost is reported to be $20 with a mass production cost expected to be $10.

Yes, you heard that right – ten bucks for a computer.

Although the specs on these machines will obviously be marginal, it is not longer important for most users to have a robust machine – rather cloud storage and applications and internet-as-network computing has become dominant even for many high end computer users.

As admirable as the One Laptop Per Child project has been to this process it appears the India machines may wreck the One Laptop train. Although it’s not clear yet if the India systems will be self powered and have mesh networking capabilities as the One Laptops do, I think the key brilliancy of Negroponte was to create machines that were accessible to a dramatically greater number of people than have had access in the past to advanced technologies. The India project combined with the dramatic innovations in smartphones and cellular connectivity combined with Intel’s falling out with One Laptop last year may obsolete the One Laptop project in its current form, though Negroponte can certainly be proud to have ushered in an era of “extremely low cost” computing.

Web 2.0, computers, laptops, technology India $10 computer, One Laptop per child

Includes XP w/Stylus

By John Ghysels, Special to Technology-Report.com

Sometimes it pays to manufacture chips and the surrounding hardware feeding input into those chips.  Intel is proving this by diving into select portions of the PC market with this low cost, netbook class, convertible PC it will soon be introducting at CES next month.  We’ve never seen such a cheap, flexible machine before with such power and it could be a real show stopper in Vegas. Although branded obviously for the student market, it promises to bring portable power to anyone.

This Classmate PC has an 8.9-inch swivel screen with touch and stylus input, a Web cam, and 1.6 GHz Intel Atom processor, 60GB hard drive running Windows XP, with a few Intel touches to make XP work for the convertible form factor. It includes Vision Objects Pen Input, which makes anything input via the stylus editable as text. It also includes a virtual keyboard, for when operating in pad mode.

Note that this model has far more memory and power than the original Classmate PC, which will continue to be sold.

Technology-Report has been told that the rumored price for this tiny, convertible Classmate PC will be somewhere around $250 to maybe $400, though the company declines to put a specific number out there just yet. Guess we have to wait to bug the reps at CES.

John Ghysels, 12/20/2008

laptops, portable computing Classmate PC, convertible PC's, netbooks, PC Reviews

By John Ghysels, Special to Technology-Report.com

Product Review: High computing power in a small package; the Latest Acer Aspire One

A while back, I started a “sales journal” using ACT to track notes on my sales calls. I was using a fragile, old 50 GB mini-laptop to write in notes on my clients immediately after calling on them. This practice became an invaluable tool on tracking little details and items for follow up that usually didn’t make it to my easily lost or otherwise non-transcribed paper notes. Needing more memory, I tried carting around a full size laptop for this purpose for a time, but I found I just didn’t bother to take notes when it came to wedging that big computer into my lap in front of the steering wheel for a few minutes after every call (yes, while still parked, you smart alecs!). Also, when it came time for trips, I kept reaching for the mini when packing, despite the obvious advantages of my more powerful laptops. 

For car seat road warriors like me, I was excited when I saw the low price on this relatively powerful ACER machine.  For a mere $350, you can have the power to run RAM hungry programs like ACT, while still pulling off the usual suite of Office programs and email.  At 2.2 lbs with the included 3 cell battery, the weight can’t be beat, and with 1 GB of RAM and 120 GB Hard Drive, it offers plenty of flexibility and room for those needing portable power.

Thoughtfully, Acer loaded Windows XP Home Premium, rather than RAM hog Vista, which keeps the little machine speedy enough, and saves the trouble of having to rollback to XP for some business applications. 

If you are a photo bug like me,  I have found that having the ability travel with a camera and bring along the ablility to download, share, email and upload pictures tends to make one a helpful and popular family travel companion.  It is actually a bit amazing that of this still comes in at about $100 less than the well known and popular Lenovo S10.  In fact, this laptop costs about half the price of many mid-level consumer SLR cameras, yet would be a invaluable part of a traveling photographer’s pack. 

Some have faulted the 3 hour battery life on this lightweight unit, however, given the added outlets at many new airports and the ease of adding regulated AC converters in the car, I can’t say this worries me much. If it is a concern, a 5 hour, 6 cell battery is available, that boosts the weight to only 2.8 lbs. 

I find when it comes to making a quick trip, from making a few sales calls to a family overnight, nothing beats a tiny package of power when you need it.  Adding in the 5 in 1 card reader wraps up this package nicely, especially given the rapidly falling prices of SD memory.

Editor’s warning:  BEWARE there are TWO versions of this computer for sale at the moment, under the same name, and nearly the same price. The earlier version is a Linex version, with one a 16 GB “solid-state” hard drive. The newer version has a 120 GB hard-drive and runs on Windows XP Home. So unless you have an affinity for Open Office, stick with the bigger hard drive of new version of the Aspire One. 

November 28, 2008

John Ghysels

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