March 18, 2011
Asus to take fight to tablets with cheap Google netbook
Register Hardware
Tony Smith writes that according to DigiTimes, Asus will introduce an inexpensive Google-based netbook device soon.
“Eee PC maker Asus will launch a dirt-cheap netbook this summer in a bid to eke out marketshare before the tablets take it all. So say industry moles cited by DigiTimes. The mystery machine will be out in June and cost ‘$200-250.’ If Asus ships the system with Android or Chrome OS, as the sources suggest, then it will at least have a differentiator beyond a slightly lower price.”
Visual Studio Lightswitch grows to support cloud, plug-ins
Ars Technica
Peter Bright shares details about Microsoft’s second beta of its Visual Studio Lightswitch offering.
“New to this beta is support for third-party extensions as well as application deployment to Microsoft’s Windows Azure cloud computing platform. In spite of its ‘Visual Studio’ branding and availability via MSDN, Lightswitch is not aimed at traditional, professional developers. Rather, its purpose is to assist business users in developing line-of-business applications. There is a rich history of this kind of program-simple database or spreadsheet-driven applications, developed by accountants, or business analysts, or other nonprofessional developers to assist in some business task.”
Samsung’s Laptop Is Lighter, Thinner Than a MacBook Air [GALLERY]
Mashable
Charlie White provides details about soon-to-be-released Samsung’s Series 9 Notebook, which will compete with Apple’s MacBook Air.
“Before you rush out and buy that ultrathin MacBook Air, take a look at the Samsung Series 9 Notebook that will begin gracing store shelves starting Thursday … Samsung delivers this 13.3-inch laptop that’s lighter, thinner and packs a more up-to-date processor than a MacBook Air. With all that miniaturization and speed, of course, there’s a price premium. The cheapest Samsung Series 9, packing an Intel 1.4 GHz Core i5-2537M processor (vs. the MacBook Air’s 1.86 GHz Core 2 Duo), 4 GB of RAM and a 128 GB SSD is going to set you back $1,649, $50 more expensive than the highest-priced MacBook Air.”