High Speed Internet Access (HSIA): Mobile Internet

Apple is conspicuously missing from the netbook market. Steve Jobs dismissed netbooks as a piece of junk a few months ago. He said “We don’t know how to make a $500 computer that’s not a piece of junk”.

Apple CEO Tim Cook more recently repeated the sentiment as reported by CNN. “Netbooks, he said, are “principally based on hardware that’s much less powerful than we think customers want, software technology that is not good, cramped keyboards, small displays.”
“We don’t think people will be pleased with those products,” Cook added. “It’s a category we watch, we’ve got some ideas here, but right now we think the products are inferior and will not provide an experience to customers they’re happy with.”

In spite of the derogatory comments about netbooks, Apple are avoiding dismissing the possibility out of hand. They do concede that consumers want portable, low priced devices to do things like email and web browsing while on the go. Apple’s answer at the moment is that the iPod or iTouch fills this need. In addition, Apple offer an ultra-thin notebook for portability in the form of the MacBook Air.

As far as future product offerings go Apple say that they are working on ideas for a netbook type product. Speculation, based on a patent, is that this could be a touchscreen netbook.

Apple have just posted a 15 per cent increase in quarterly profit. This was primarily driven by iPhone sales that were up 123%. In contrast, Apple Mac sales fell however and this was put down to the poor economy.

Netbooks have made an impact on computer profits industry wide. The profit margins on netbooks are smaller. The success of netbooks has seen a reduction of laptop sales. It has also caused an expectation in the minds of consumers in terms of lower prices.

If it’s true that a good number of people would prefer a product that was bigger than a netbook but in the same price range then the reports that Apple may slash the price of the entry level Mac might provide the answer. There are also bigger netbooks about to come on the market like the Acer Aspire One 751 with a. 11.6″ screen.

However, the small size and weight of netbooks will always be the key selling point for some consumers who want a computer with a bigger keyboard and screen than a smartphone but don’t want to carry around anything bigger than the current crop of netbooks.

One thing’s for sure, the netbook market is gearing up to evolve even more in the coming months and it will be interesting to see how Apple respond.

It seems that the speculation about whether we’ll see netbooks powered by the Google Android operating system is gaining some momentum. A company called Skytone based in China are advertising Android netbooks on their website as reported by techradar.com. Rumours are also hotting up that MSI are about to reveal an Android netbook and certainly other manufacturers have been experimenting with Android.

It makes sense. Android was developed for the mobile environment as it was originally designed for the mobile phone. It’s a Google product hence web centric and optimised for the web. It’s also free and open source. Microsoft’s Windows 7 isn’t scheduled to be launched until later this year or early 2010 so the marketplace is wide open for a better, cheaper, more open solution. A Google product has the advantage of wider customer acceptance than Linux. It’s name that is known and trusted by a broader base.

It will be interesting to see how this develops. It will probably mean even cheaper netbooks optimised for the mobile environment which has to be a good thing.

VentureBeat have an excellent write up on netbooks and Android for anyone wanting to delve a bit deeper into the technical aspects.

Hot on the heels of the Inspiron Mini 9 and the Inspiron Mini 12, Dell have announced their latest offering in the netbooks marketplace, the Inspiron Mini 10.

It’s positioned as a high-spec netbook. The full specs aren’t available yet. Neither are pricing details although it’s likely to be priced competitively with other netbooks.

What we do know at this stage is that it has inbuilt GPS, 3G, HSDPA and 802.11n, a digital TV tuner and trackpad with multi-touch capabilities. The trackpad is one button similar to Macbooks where you press the corners to make selections.

So far the early reviews are very favourable. All the benefits of 10” netbooks are there with what’s becoming an ideal compromise between lightness, compactness and yet a usable screen and keyboard. The keyboard in particular has received praise. It’s not only larger than the Mini 9 but also larger than the Mini 12 with some improvement in design features.

The Inspron Mini 12 runs on the newest Intel Atom platform, 1.6 GHz Intel Atom Z530 processor.

We’ll have an update as soon as the Inspiron Mini 10 is available in Australia.

Not sure what’s the best way to access the Internet with mobile broadband?

There are some great choices in smartphones, netbooks and ultra-portable laptops and of course it’s all a compromise. The more compact and light the device, the less space there is for the screen, keyboard and features.

Dell have bridged the gap between netbooks and ultra-portable laptops like the Macbook Air with their latest product, the Inspiron Mini 12. It’s thin and light but with a 12” screen instead of the typical 10” screen of the popular netbooks and a larger keyboard. It’s also much cheaper than the more fully featured ultra-portable laptops at an online price of $849.

If you want something stylish and very usable to browse the web, check emails and use an entertainment device then the Inspiron Mini 12 might just be the ideal option. Dell have more information and full specs.

The trend towards mini netbooks for mobile computing is continuing and in fact hotting up with the entry of Dell into this growing market.

The Dell Inspiron Mini 9 is now available. It’s very similar in all respects to the competition such as the Asus Eee PC 900, the MSI Wind and the Acer Aspire One. The size is on par 6.8 x 9.2 x1. The keyboard is slightly smaller than the MSI Wind but is well designed and easy to use.

One difference is that there are more options to customise the spec. For example there is a choice of hard drive size and add-ons can be purchased such as an internal Bluetooth antenna.

Reviews have been good. David Flynn from SMH.com.au gives it 4.5 out of 5 and says “If you’re in the market for a netbook, this should be near the top of your list”

Buy directly from Dell at an online price of $599.

See our previous coverage of mini-netbooks.

Dell have launched their much awaited offering in the tiny notebook space. It looks great and has had excellent reviews.

It’s just over 1kg in weight, 9.13 inches wide and a bit thinner than the Asus Eee PC.  It’s available in Australia in black, looks very stylish and most importantly stacks up well against other offerings in terms of usability.

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Tiny laptops, mini-notebooks, ultra-portable laptops, netbooks: These are some of the names given to small, cheap laptops that are all the rage at the moment. We compared three of the leading mini notebooks and the news is that there is soon to be a new offering from Lenovo to add to the list.

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