29Apr
Acer (and just about everyone else in the sector) isn’t just busy churning out new netbook models. The tech giant has also been working tirelessly on a new range of MIDs — and it sounds like the new models are nearly ready to hit the street.
According to PC World, the Acer MIDs are set to arrive before the end of May and will sport version 4.0 of the company’s…er…interesting Shell interface. I’m hoping that the “virtual office” thing has gone away for good.
Shell 4.0’s foundations remain a mystery — will it be WinMo or Android? We’ll find out soon.
27Apr
The folks behind the EasyPeasy netbook operating system are getting ready to release the latest version. This weekend the team pushed out an EasyPeasy 1.6 Release Candidate.
EasyPeasy is based on the popular Ubuntu Linux distribution. Canonical is preparing to launch Ubuntu 10.04 Lucid Lynx later this week. An the latest version of EasyPeasy is built on Lucid Lynx code. But while Ubuntu works on most netbooks out of the box, EasyPeasy ships with a number of optimizations that help it run on Asus Eee PC netbooks and other Intel Atom-based mini-laptops.
Version 1.6 has a new boot system and boot artwork, faster boot speed, integration with social networks including Twitter, Facebook, and identi.ca, new drivers for NVIDIA video hardware, and a new user interface which is based on the latest version of the Ubuntu Netbook Edition user interface.
You can find more screenshots of EasyPeasy 1.6 at the EasyPeasy wiki. Or you can just go ahead and download the release candidate.
22Apr
Apple has a consumer oriented tablet. HP, Dell, Asus, and other major PC makers are expected to launch tablet style devices soon. So how exactly is a small company you’ve never heard of supposed to make a splash in the tablet space? Maybe by going after a different market — and that’s exactly what All Things D is reporting California-based startup Kakai is trying to do.
Kakai isn’t ready to talk about its new product yet. But according to All Things D, the company is working on a dual-screen tablet with a Linux-based operating system. But it’s not really designed to go head to head with the iPad or tablets running Windows or Google Android. Because it’s designed for students and will come with software that lets you read textbooks and other course materials and take notes.
It actually sounds a bit more like the Entourage eDGe than the iPad. But instead of slapping Google Android on the tablet, it sounds like the Kakai machine will use custom software designed specifically for the education market. Still, I wouldn’t mind getting my hands on a dual screen tablet that can surf the web, play audio and video, read eBooks, and let me take notes
