Oh, sure — Google’s being all-too-kind by handing out a few free megabytes of Verizon data with each of its Cr-48 netbooks, but if you’re both lucky enough to have one and more inclined to use that dust-collecting AT&T SIM of yours, there’s hardly a better day for you to pay attention to a hack. After noticing that a recent update to Chrome OS added GSM support for Qualcomm’s Gobi 3G chip, Hexxeh dug in a little to see what it’d take to get the Cr-48 operational with a data SIM from Ma Bell. Turns out there’s shockingly little needed from you; [...]

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Is this real? Is this happening? It’s been over four years since AMD and ATI completed their $5.4 billion merger with the promise of Fusion hybrid CPU / GPU chips, and after what’s seemed like nearly endless delays, the company’s delivering here at CES 2011. And it’s delivering in a big way — the first Fusion chips are a direct assault on Intel’s Atom and the netbook market, offering what AMD says is better CPU performance, vastly better GPU performance with DirectX11 support, dedicated 1080p HD video processing and HDMI out, and “all day” battery [...]

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Fresh off the heels of announcements regarding Android 2.2, and its release unto the Nexus One (and other handsets in Q3), Google is divulging some juicy details regarding the next major release of Google Android, 3.0. Named Gingerbread, it promises a new look and feel specifically suited to the tablet family of mobile devices. UnwiredView.com, translating from a Russian podcast given by mobile-review.com’s Eldar Murtazin, is reporting that Gingerbread will be essentially a separate branch of the Android development cycle. It’s geared towards larger devices, and may be excluded [...]

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When Intel released the details on its dual-core, mobile Atom N550 processor earlier this week ASUS was one of the first to raise its hand with a netbook sporting the new CPU. Well, now we’ve got a few more details on the forthcoming Eee PC and unsurprisingly — as it is coming from ASUS — there appears to be a couple of different versions. The first is the 1015PEM, and according to TechInStyle, the small lappie will be powered by the new 1.5GHz N550 CPU, support up to 2GB of DDR3 RAM, and be €349 ($440 US) when it hits the market. However, we’ve also heard from ASUS’s [...]

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After a steady stream of Netbooks and entry-level laptops, it’s nice to slip behind the seat of a deluxe mobile powerhouse for a change. Alienware’s new M17x laptop jams pretty much any high-end component you can think of into an imposing, matte, black chassis, including an Intel Core 2 Quad Extreme QX9300 CPU, dual Nvidia GeForce GTX 280M GPUs, and 1TB of hard-drive space. While the system starts at a reasonable $1,799, you’ll need to configure something closer to our $4,849 review unit to really get the benefit of Alienware’s years of experience making high-end gaming [...]

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You’d think after running into ASUS’s next generation Eee PC 1018P and 1015PE over five months ago at CeBIT, our excitement may have waned for the stylish netbooks. Oh, but it’s actually the opposite, and when the brand new netbooks arrived last week, we grabbed the X-Acto knife (safely, of course) and eagerly unboxed them to see if the aluminum clad little laptops were as svelte as we’d remembered them. Sure, the $350 1018P and 1015PE have standard netbook internals (an Intel Atom N450 CPU, 1GB of RAM and Windows 7 Starter), but without a doubt they’re some [...]

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This might come as a big shocker to all the iPad ‘boo’ crowd out there but it seems like Steve’s Netbook-killer has already starting affecting the growth and sales of Netbooks to a huge extent. A report by Fortune says the following: As her chart (above) shows, sales growth of these low-cost, low-powered computing devices peaked last summer at an astonishing 641% year-over-year growth rate. It fell off a cliff in January and shrank again in April — collateral damage, according to Huberty, from the January introduction and April launch of the iPad. Funny thing is that Netbooks aren’t [...]

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Google has announced the launch of Google Editions e-book online store by the end of 2010 which will be the largest digital online library of its time. Google Editions will be platform independent which means it will be accessible throughout all the digital devices from mobile phones to netbooks and tablets to computers. Google spokesperson Gabriel Sticker said that Google has totally scanned more than 12 million books, in-print and out-of-print which is a huge number as compare to the e-books rivals like Amazon and newly entered Apple with iBookstore which are platform specific for Kindle [...]

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MSI is best known as a component manufacturer, but also produces a range of laptops, from compact netbooks to high-powered gaming machines. The X400-225UK is a sleek CULV model that combines a stunning screen and great mobility from its small chassis. Weighing just 1.7kg, this machine is perfect for life on the move. Its slim design has a depth of just 25mm when closed and is easy to slip into even the smallest hand luggage. The 219-minute battery life is decidedly average, however, but provides basic mobile usability. As with the Lenovo ThinkPad R500, sturdy black plastics have been used to [...]

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If you’re thinking about picking up an ultra-portable laptop, this week’s Hive Five is a great spot to start your comparison shopping. These are the netbooks most loved by Lifehacker readers. Photo by nDevilTV. Earlier this week we asked you to share your favorite netbook with us. We’ve tallied the votes and we’re back to share the top five netbooks. While every Hive Five covers things that are closely related, netbooks are known for being particularly close in description. If you’re using this list as a spring board for a potential netbook purchase, we’d [...]

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