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Boingo And Asus Hook Up In Netbook Deal

// January 19th, 2010 // No Comments » // cool

This is really a cool thing – two of my favorite companies have hooked up to help netbook users get the most out of their devices. Today, Asus announced that its new EeePC netbooks will soon be preloaded with Boingo‘s software, which makes it simple and easy to connect to WiFi hotspots around the world. I’ve used Boingo on nearly every one of my laptops and love it – especially while traveling.

In addition to having the Boingo software already ready to roll when you open your new Asus EeePC netbook, Asus owners will also receive 50% off the Boingo service, which makes the deal even sweeter. My Asus 1000HE is getting a bit long in the tooth, so I’m really pleased to find out that I won’t have to download and install Boingo myself when I buy a new netbook.

On a related note, there’s a TON of new netbooks hitting the market really soon – most of them with beefed up processors and that sort of thing. If anyone has a link that can help me make sense of it all, I’d be appreciative. What netbook has caught your eye?

Best Buy Carrying The Nokia Booklet 3G Is Brilliant

// October 1st, 2009 // No Comments » // toys

Today we found out that Best Buy will be the exclusive carrier for the Nokia Booklet 3G in the U.S., offering it with an AT&T contract ($60/month for 5GB of data transfer, unless Nokia somehow convinced AT&T to give a discount with it, which I doubt). There’s no official word on the pricing as of yet, but even so, getting Best Buy to be the exclusive carrier is *HUGE* for Nokia.

Of course, you’re immediately wondering why, given that it’s going to come with an AT&T contract. Why wouldn’t Nokia want the Booklet 3G to be sold in AT&T stores, as there’s surely more of those than there are Best Buy stores, right? Sure, but people go to Best Buy for electronics – such as laptops. In fact, the last 3 laptops I’ve purchased have come from Best Buy. People go to AT&T stores to complain and to buy phones.

Also, Best Buy is quickly becoming *the* destination for netbook shoppers. The last time I was in there, they had over 10 different netbooks, lined up at the ready for users to check out. I’ve seen the Nokia Booklet 3G, and I’ve seen it side-by-side with my beloved Asus 1000HE EeePC. If you have them both lined up next to each other, the Booklet 3G will win every time in the looks department. Throw in the impressive specs (such as the 12-hour battery life) and high resolution display and it quickly becomes a no-brainer.

Unfortunately, we don’t know how much they’re going to want for the Booklet 3G. The announced pricing puts it roughly $800+ without a subsidy, but Nokia is going to have to get it down to around $200-300 with that AT&T contract in order for it to really be a competitor. Time will tell. In any case, I would imagine that this holiday season will be a stellar time for the carriers to hawk their connected netbook offers, and I’m glad to see that Nokia intends to get its piece of that pie in the U.S. I know I’m anxiously awaiting the opportunity to pit the Booklet 3G against my 1000HE to see which one dominates the other.

Hands-On With The Nokia Booklet 3G

// September 2nd, 2009 // 10 Comments » // toys

Last night I had the chance to spend some time with the Nokia Booklet 3G, Nokia’s new netbook, and I have to say – it’s dang impressive. Comparing side-by-side to my trusty Asus 1000HE, the Booklet 3G is smaller, lighter, and built *much* more solidly. It’s also alot sexier, thanks to the aluminum body and glass screen.

The Booklet 3G is powered by the Intel Atom Z530 processor, which is part of the reason it’s able to boast 12 hours of battery life and full HD video (720p) playback, as well as an HDMI-out port, so you can connect it up to your TV, if you wanted. It will run Windows 7 Starter or Windows 7 Home Premium, and will most likely be available through your operator. It will also come with only 1GB of RAM, and that’s *not* user-upgradeable, unfortunately.

In terms of software, they’re really working on bringing it to the consumer with as little bloatware (or crapware, as the Nokia rep last night called it) as possible. It will have a new Nokia Update application that will check that you always have the latest version of Nokia’s Ovi Suite 2.0 (which is currently in beta, but should be ready for the Booklet’s debut) and other Nokia applications.

The keyboard is extremely comfortable – I had no problem touch-typing, similar to my Asus 1000HE. You can see a pic of the keyboard below, to get an idea of the layout and size of the keys. The touchpad is small, and is not currently multi-touch compatible, like the one on my Asus 1000HE. However, I was able to give some feedback to the product manager on that, and he said it’s likely something we’ll see in the future. Also, the keyboard is not currently backlit, and when I brought it up, he reacted as though he simply hadn’t thought about it. He also made a point to write it down, so that he could investigate the possibilities. The battery is a custom-built 16-cell battery (most netbooks come with 6 or 8-cell) and I have no doubts it really will power through the full advertised 12 hours.

Priced at 575EUR (US$820) it’s certainly quite pricey, though Nokia was pretty clear that they don’t believe most consumers will purchase the Booklet 3G alone – it’ll usually come subsidized through a carrier or something like that, which would be good.

I’m Traveling Again

// August 31st, 2009 // 2 Comments » // Uncategorized

I’m traveling again, this time to Stuttgart, Germany, for Nokia World 2009. Normally, Nokia World takes place in December, so the earlier event dates will definitely make the weather a bit more bearable. I’m traveling quite gadget-heavy, as well, which is nothing unusual. For starters, I’m bringing 2 laptops. I realize that might be a mistake, but theoretically it will offer a great experience. Last year, I attempted to cover Nokia World with only the Fujitsu P1610, and it was a horrid experience. Managing massive high-resolution photos, including editing and uploading, simply wasn’t feasible with the weak processor, unfortunately.

This trip, I’ll have both my Dell XPS M1330 and my Asus 1000HE along for the ride. The XPS M1330 will likely stay in my bag most of the time, and will be extremely beneficial to edit videos and photos at the event, rather than having to wait until I get home. Conversely, the Asus 1000HE, while a powerful machine for its size, will be much better suited to taking notes during interviews and putting together quick blog posts on the go. Its extended battery – further extended by cranking down the display brightness and other factors – will also make it ideal to cover an event from.

I’m also bringing a borrowed Nokia N810 Internet Tablet, for two reasons – first, the Nokia N900 was recently announced, and it’ll be great to be able to get some side-by-side comparison photos of the long-lost brothers. Second, the N810 will make it even easier to liveblog a keynote speech or do other text-oriented tasks, in a handheld form factor.

As for phones, I’m bringing along the N86 8MP, E63 NAM, 5800 Euro, and an LG KT610. The LG will be given to Rita el Khoury, my editor who lives in Paris, France. Its tri-band GSM is of limited use to me in the U.S., so I figure she’ll be able to put it to good use. The N86 8MP will be my workhorse – performing the function of connectivity, as well as digital camera and video camera. It’s no easy task, but the last few weeks with this phone suggest that it’s definitely up to the task. The E63 NAM is only here as a charging device – it uses the same 1500mAh battery as the N810, and the 5800 Euro is only around in case the N86 8MP bites the dust (knock on wood).

You can follow the fun on twitter at @rcadden, or on Symbian-Guru.com.

New EeePC 1000HE Skin From 3acp

// July 7th, 2009 // No Comments » // toys

While I really love the deep blue color that I picked out for my Asus EeePC 1000HE, unfortunately, the finish is super-high-gloss, and is a terrible fingerprint magnet. Also, while the 10.1-inch display is matte, the 1-inch thick bezel around it is high-gloss, which defeats the purpose of a matte display entirely. As such, I have explored a few different solutions that I had hoped would keep the blue color shining through, while breaking up the smooth surface where fingerprints hide. I was unsuccessful, and finally broke down and ordered a skin from 3acp .

I have also purchased laptop skins from SkinIt and DecalGirl in the past for other machines, so I was keen to check out 3acp’s offering. SkinIt’s skin is nice, but was insanely expensive compared to the other two, and only includes the top cover – there are no separate pieces included for the wristrest. DecalGirl was awesome for my Dell Mini 9, but didn’t really have anything that I liked for the 1000HE, unfortunately.

Buying from 3acp is great – they take Paypal, which makes things easy, and I was pleased to discover that they’re based right here in Dallas/Fort Worth, though a nasty surprise is the sales tax – only charged to orders shipped in Texas. A range of shipping options is offered, and I chose USPS Priority. I placed the order on Thursday of last week, and even with Saturday being a national holiday, received the skin today in a stiff cardboard envelope that protected it from being bent or creased.

Application is really simple. First, you should wipe the surface down with a cleaning agent. Rubbing alcohol is preferred, but I used Windex, and it seems to have worked just fine. The skin comes with a clear overlay, so that you can easily make sure that you’ve got things lined up properly. You just use your hand or a credit card to make sure all the air bubbles are out and it’s applied firmly, then lift the clear plastic part off, and wa-la! My Asus EeePC 1000HE is no longer a fingerprint magnet, and the border around the display no longer blinds me in sunlight. All for $30.