Memex 1.1

From Register Hardware…

Asus has announced the anticipated Intel Atom-based Eee PC - and a pair of new models that, the company claimed, boost battery life to more than seven hours. Oh, and they sport 10in displays, hard drives and 802.11n Wi-Fi.

As expected, the new version of the current 8.9in Eee PC 900 is the 901, while the 10in versions are dubbed the 1000 and 1000H - the former has Linux, the latter Windows XP Home. Both have a keyboard that’s only eight per cent smaller than a standard laptop keyboard…

No firm info on UK prices, but my guess is >£300+VAT.

Now a 7-hour Linux sub-notebook would be something…

The Linux-based ‘network appliance’ market continues to grow. The Register is reporting that

Elonex has rolled out its sub-£100 Linux-based laptop, the One, but it looks like it’s going to prove harder get hold of than Asus Eee PC has been.

Elonex today unveiled black, pink, green, white and silver Ones to whet buyers’ appetites. However, it admitted that the initial batch with comprise just 200,000 machines, none of which will go out to punters until June…

This morning’s Observer column…

For some months, strange goings-on have been reported in branches of Toys ‘R’ Us. Shifty-looking middle-aged men and younger males wearing ponytails and Grateful Dead T-shirts have been observed leaving the premises with small cardboard boxes which they then gleefully tear open upon reaching the safety of their cars. Exclamations of ‘Yes! And ‘Yeehaw!!!’ have been heard by security guards, who are as puzzled by all this as their checkout colleagues.

‘I can’t figure it out,’ said one store manager, when quizzed by this columnist a few months ago. ‘The things are just walking out of the store. They sell out the minute we get a delivery.’

Picture from Engadget.

The HP subnotebook is out. Two flavours — one running SUSE Linux, the other running Vista. Interesting video tour here.

From Technology Review…

NEW YORK (AP) — Computers that run the Linux operating system instead of Microsoft Corp.’s Windows didn’t attract enough attention from Wal-Mart customers, and the chain has stopped selling them in stores, a spokeswoman said Monday.

‘’This really wasn’t what our customers were looking for,'’ said Wal-Mart Stores Inc. spokeswoman Melissa O’Brien.

To test demand for systems with the open-source operating system, Wal-Mart stocked the $199 ‘’Green gPC,'’ made by Everex of Taiwan, in about 600 stores starting late in October.

Walmart.com, the chain’s e-commerce site, had sold Linux-based computers before and will continue selling the gPC.

This was the first time they appeared on retail shelves…

The little ASUS sub-notebook continues to amaze me. Tonight I just plugged my 3G HSDPA modem into one of the USB ports. The machine instantly detected the model and I just followed the instructions in the Network dialog box and, bingo! — I was on the Net. This is the way Linux machines ought to be. In fact, it was easier to set up for the modem than was the MacBook Pro.

According to the Register,

HP’s going after the Eee PC with a compact laptop that sports an 8.9in display and more connectivity options than the elfin Asus machine currently offers.

So says Engadget, which has posted some pics and a very basic spec….

It’s interesting to see what ASUS started. Also interesting to find that you can’t buy an ASUS machine anywhere in the UK just now — they’re selling like the Nintendo Wii.

If HP is really entering this market, that’s good news because (a) the company makes nice kit, and (b) it further increases the penetration of Linux in new markets.

This morning’s Observer column…

An interesting package arrived in my household the other day: a small bright green-and-white laptop with a built-in carrying handle. It looks as if it has been designed by Fisher-Price, an impression reinforced by two little ‘ears’ which, when unclipped, double as wi-fi antennae. The 7.5in screen rotates and folds back on itself to form a kind of tablet, rather like those pricey Toshiba laptops only Microsoft salespeople can afford…

From Tech News on ZDNet

Microsoft claims that free and open-source software violates 235 of its patents, according to a magazine report published Sunday.

In an interview with Fortune, Microsoft top lawyer Brad Smith alleges that the Linux kernel violates 42 Microsoft patents, while its user interface and other design elements infringe on a further 65. OpenOffice.org is accused of infringing 45, along with 83 more in other free and open-source programs, according to Fortune.

It is not entirely clear how Microsoft might proceed in enforcing these patents, but the company has been encouraging large tech companies that depend on Linux to ink patent deals, starting with its controversial pact with Novell last November. Microsoft has also cited Linux protection playing a role in recent patent swap deals with Samsung and Fuji Xerox. Microsoft has also had discussions but not reached a deal with Red Hat, as noted in the Fortune article.

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer is also quoted in the article as saying Microsoft’s open-source competitors need to “play by the same rules as the rest of the business.”

“What’s fair is fair,” Ballmer told Fortune. “We live in a world where we honor, and support the honoring of, intellectual property.”

The story notes that some big tech proponents of open source have been stockpiling intellectual property as part of the Open Invention Network, set up in 2005 by folks like Sony, Red Hat, IBM, NEC and Philips. The article surmises that if Microsoft were to go after open source, these companies’ combined know-how might give it some patent weapons to go after Windows…

Well, well… Looks like I was wrong to be sceptical about Dell’s attitude to Linux. At any rate, the BBC is reporting that the company has decided to ship desktop and laptop machines with Linux pre-installed.

Computer giant Dell will start to sell PCs preinstalled with open source Linux operating systems, the firm has said.

The second largest computer maker in the world said it had chosen to offer Linux in response to customer demand.

Earlier this year, 100,000 people took part in a Dell survey. More than 70% of respondents said they would use Linux.

Dell has not released details of which versions of Linux it will use or which computers it will run on, but promised an update in the coming weeks.

“Dell has heard you,” said a statement on the firm’s website. “Our first step in this effort is offering Linux preinstalled on select desktop and notebook systems.”

In mitigation, I plead that I was just going on what Dell said at the time — i.e. “There is no single customer preference for a distribution of Linux. We don’t want to pick one distribution and alienate users with a preference for another.”