While Apple and Adobe’s little tussle over Steve Job’s adamant stand to not let Flash on the iPad, people from other companies have been trying to create tablet computers running other mobile OS’s that can run Flash. One such operating system that can run Flash would be Google’s Android.

From Tech Ticker:

At the Web 2.0 Expo in San Francisco, Zedomax stumbled upon a prototype Android tablet at the Adobe booth. The prototype seemed to run Android OS 2.1 but more importantly, ran Adobe’s Flash and Air. The site
claims that both Adobe’s technologies worked “flawlessly” and were “totally impressed by how it ran”.

We’re not sure how the Flash-enabled tablet would behave if we multi-tasked extensively but it’s good to hear that non-iPad users will be able to enjoy Flash and Air content in the near future.

Videos after the break.

I’m not delusional enough to believe that Android-powered tablets would be enough to unseat the iPad from being the current king of tablet computers (well, considering that this is the first tablet computer that really sold well, the iPad really has no competition), but for people who want to play videos on sites other than YouTube and play Facebook games, this is a good option. Instead of, you know, waiting for HTML 5 to take over the reins of interactive web content from Flash.

I’m not a Flash apologist; I understand how many exploits can be exploited within Flash, and I actually use FlashBlock on both Firefox and Chrome, but if you want to have a tablet that doesn’t break half the sites you’re visiting, and you want a tablet now and you can’t wait for the future, then an Android tablet with Flash and Air is a good idea.

We’ve seen netbooks flourish for the last two years. These cheap and relatively underpowered mini-laptops have been super portable. Add the fact that they can do almost all the basic computer user’s needs at an affordable price, so it’s really no surprise that netbooks have been the number one product for many computer manufacturers.

But it looks like in 2010 we’ll be seeing the portable computing landscape changed yet again. Lots of talk about a new class of mini-laptops running ARM-based processors have been on the news a lot lately. Since they’re running ARM, they won’t be able to run Windows XP or Windows 7. They’re all going to be on Linux. However, they’ll be able to last for a long time on a single charge, and some will be featuring integrated 3G connectivity and HD video acceleration features.

You also get the ability to receive emails, instant messages, and other data even while the computer is in sleep mode. Basically, you are going to get the best of both worlds in terms of notebooks and smartphones, hence the name “smartbooks.”

From Liliputing:

The president of ARM Korea says that as many as 20 ARM-based smartbooks could hit the streets in the first quarter of 2010.

Most, but not all of these devices will likely be sold by mobile broadband providers at subsidized prices. That means you may be able to pick up a smartbook for less than $200 up front. Some might even be free. But you’ll probably end up paying up to $60 per month to actually use the 3G wireless capabilities, which means that over the course of a 2 year service contract you could end up paying between $1400 and $1600 for a device that looks like a laptop, but which has a slower processor and won’t run Windows.

Are you willing to put up with Linux if it means that you’ll be able to get more out of a single charge? Give me your thoughts!

Now the whole world has waited with bated breath as to what Chrome holds for us netbook owners. I mean, Windows is really the dominant OS right now for netbooks, and Linux can’t seem to go beyond the dedicated community of developers. Maybe Chrome will be the OS to actually challenge Microsoft. I can’t wait to see what happens.

I never knew wind resistance wasd a big factor in netbook design, but I guess when you’re travelling and you keep your netbook in front of you, the less wind resistance you get the better.

Um. Anyway, that is a main selling point of he G-Five KTNO2. I don’t know if they’re serious with that, but since the specs are the same as any other netbook (1.6GHz Intel Atom, 1GB DDR2, 160GB HDD, 10.2” 1024 x 600 LCD, 2xUSB, VGA, 3G SIM slot, card reader, RJ45, Bluetooth, 1.3Mp camera), I guess anything goes in the fight to make your netbook stand out.

If this rumor is true, then this is going to be the ultimate portable notebook.

From Tech Ticker:

Dell Latitude Z was leaked in June and till date we maintain that it looks hot. Now the word comes from Forbes is that Latitude Z will get its official unveiling in the coming weeks along with an interesting feature.

The Latitude Z will support wireless charging. How it works is still a mystery but we can expect something on the lines of previous concepts like Wildcharge or Palm’s Touchstone.

I’m pretty sure that the charging will be kind of a hassle more than an advantage, but whatever will push us more towards full wireless charging for ultimate portability, I’m for it.

Anybody know what this is? It looks pretty neat. This looks like an unidentified slate-style MID running Android. Honestly, it looks really beautiful and it’s like an overgrown iPod touch.

See for yourself:

Some names have been floating around for this device. It’s been called the Apple inetbook, the android iMid, and most recently the Android MID. I mean, I don’t know what it really is, but whoever developed this great MID should finally come out and make us want it right away.

But honestly, I was thinking of the Crunchpad when I first saw it. We can only speculate.

Imagine travelling with this baby, guys. Imagine how light that is. Imagine how easy it is to carry around and the envious glances you’ll be getting.

But this is weird: if they want to phase out Windows XP so badly, why are we seeing Windows 7 Starter Edition prices go higher than XP? It doesn’t make sense at all.

Microsoft still hasn’t officially announced exactly how much it will charge for Windows 7 Starter Edition, and the price could be variable since it will be sold in large volumes to PC makers. Consumers won’t be able to walk into a store and pick up a copy. But Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer did suggest recently that the pricing scheme will go something like this: Windows XP, Windows 7 Starter, Windows 7 Home, and then Windows 7 Professional.

Via Liliputing

Nvidia CEO Jen-Hsun Huang has accused Intel of unfair chip pricing even though he also daid that his company will not be filing any antitrust lawsuits against the top chip maker.

Huangs pronouncements may be considered strange considering that the company is in a partnership with Intel in making graphics chips that are paired with the Atom. Huang said that Intel sells the Atom for $45 but a three-chip set is sold at $25 as a way of “luring business away.” Huang said that this practice is unfair and that companies like Nvidia should be able to compete and serve the market.

Although Huang has a point — Intel was recently ordered by the European Commission to pay a fine of 1.6 billion euros for its illegal competition practices against rival Advanced Micro Devices — saying something negative against a company you’re currently in business with would still raise eyebrows.

The lithium-ion batteries that are contained in certain notebook computers were the subject of two reports that were submitted to the US Consumer Product Safety Commission as well as Health Canada. The said reports were said to contain examples of minor property damage.

The batteries affected by the recall were those manufactured between August 2007 and March 2008. Among the computer models that likely contain the faulty batteries are:

HP Pavilion
dv2000
dv2500
dv2700
dv6000
dv6500
dv9000
dv9500
dv9700
dv6700

Compaq Presario

A900
C700
F700
V3000
V3500
V3700
V6000
V6500
V6700

HP Compaq

6720s

The recalled batteries will also have the following barcode levels. Please note that the ^ denotes any letter or number in the code:

62940^^AXV^^^^
65033^^B7U^^^^
65033^^B7V^^^^
65033^^BGU^^^^
65035^^B7U^^^^
65035^^B7V^^^^
65035^^BGU^^^^
65035^^BGV^^^^
67059^^V8U^^^^
67059^^V8V^^^^

It is interesting to note that the last time a battery recall happened, which was in 2006, it began a series of recall announcements from a number of companies. This means that this could be the beginning of a massive recall move from other companies as well.

Based on its preliminary third quarter results, Seagate said that it expects to post $2.1 billion in revenue for the third quarter ending April 3. This is bigger than its expected target of between $1.6 to $2 billion.

Seagate is citing the good performance to the increased market demand for 2.5 inch and 3.5 inch ATA drives. The company is now expecting that its fourth quarter earnings will again exceed expectations with earning of between $1.9 billion to $2.2 billion.