The iPad is a netbook killer

And just wait until Windows or Chrome versions hit the shelves.

From the link:

While it’s true that netbooks are the more affordable choice with better keyboards, USB ports, faster processors, superior e-mail and Flash usability, and a variety of models to choose from, the popularity of netbooks have been in a freefall just as the elegant iPad is catching fire.

Could this be happenstance? Maybe. The netbook trend may just be played out regardless of the iPad. But a new report from Morgan Stanley argues there is a direct correlation.

In addition to forecasting that the iPad will cannibalize iPod Touch sales, the Morgan Stanley report provides data showing that the netbook craze hit a crescendo in July of 2009, with a stunning 641 percent year-over-year growth. But after the holidays, netbook growth took a big fall, and it’s been dropping each month since. In April, netbooks only experienced 5 percent year-over-year growth.

Ten netbooks

From CIO.com. I’m not sure if netbooks will become as popular in the U.S. as they are in Europe and Asia, but I’m betting we hear a lot more about this tech in the coming months.

From the link:

Image credit: IDG News Service

 

The MSI Wind U100-279US Netbook

MSI Wind netbooks usually crack the top 10 best-sellers list. Key features are its light weight and ergonomically designed keyboard, which is just 20 percent smaller than a full-sized laptop keyboard.

Cost: $379.99 at Amazon
Screen size: 10 inches
CPU: 1.6-GHz Intel Atom processor
RAM: 1GB, 2GB maximum
Storage: 160GB hard drive
Battery: 6 cell
Operating System: Windows XP Home
Weight: 2.6 pounds

Google’s Android on the desktop?

It may just end up there.

From the link:

It’s not news that Microsoft will get Windows 7 out as fast as possible this year. Vista has been a complete dog, so Microsoft will rush to deliver what is essentially a cleaned-up, lightweight version. What is news is that Google will have its own contender for desktop operating system king: Android.

Android, you ask? What would a Linux-based phone operating system be doing on the desktop? Running it, perhaps. You see, Matthäus Krzykowski and Daniel Hartmann, founders of start-up Mobile-facts, discovered late last year that Android has two product policies in its code. Product policies, they explained, are instructions in an operating system aimed at specific uses. Android’s two policies are phones and MIDs (mobile Internet devices). You probably know MIDs by their more popular name: netbooks.

The light begins to dawn, doesn’t it? But just because a program says it can do a job doesn’t mean it can actually deliver the goods. Recall, for example, just how well Vista ran on “Vista Capable” PCs.

So, Krzykowski and Hartmann decided to see if they could get Android to work on a netbook.

It took them about four hours to compile Android for an Asus’ Eee PC 1000H. Then, they reported on VentureBeat.com, “we got the netbook fully up and running on it, with nearly all of the necessary hardware you’d want — including graphics, sound and wireless card for Internet.” In other words, Android is already a desktop operating system.