Intel’s new dual-core Atom processors may have been in the headlines for the past couple weeks, but it appears netbook manufacturers aren’t in a rush ship refreshed products just yet.

It appears the low cost computer market is in a bit of flux right now, with the tablet craze stirred up by Apple’s iPad. A variety of tablets running Google’s Android with either Qualcomm or NVIDIA chips inside are scheduled to hit the market this fall.

Many of the manufacturers that have popular netbook lineups, including Lenovo, also have tablet products in the pipeline. This conflict of interest is likely pushing back the availability of dual-core Atom products to later this year.

Another pressure in the low cost computer market is AMD’s refreshed low power platform, which is supposed to be a stronger competitor to Intel’s Atom and also planned to emerge later this year.

Source: [The Inquirer]

The chip that has taken smartphones, and eventually tablets & smartbooks, by storm is getting ready for a powerful refresh. Qualcomm expects to start shipping their new dual-core, 1.5GHz version of the Snapdragon processor.

Lenovo utilizes the current single-core, 1GHz Snapdragon in the Google Android-powered LePhone smartphone and intended to use it in the now delayed Skylight smartbook and IdeaPad U1 hybrid. Hopefully by the time Lenovo is ready to ship an Android-based, Snapdragon powered mobile internet device, the dual core Snapdragon will be available.

With the recent explosion of Google Android-powered competitors to Apple’s iPad slate tablet, it is no surprise that Qualcomm is moving aggressively with their competing chip. Android-powered phones are already selling more than Apple and will overtake RIM’s Blackberry in no time. There has also been a recent influx of low cost, low frills Android-based tablets and the fuller featured, iPad competitors will likely appear with Qualcomm’s new top chip.

Source: [ComputerWorld] via [Lilliputing]

Apple’s refreshed 27-inch monster LCD monitor is now 16:9 aspect ratio. If “large-margin” Apple switches to 16:9, it must not be all that bad right?

Though with 2560 x 1440 pixels, you aren’t exactly wanting for desktop real estate. And I imagine that if our 16:9 displays were IPS as well, we’d all be a lot happier.

Source: [Apple] via [DailyTech]

In a recent post on the Windows Team Blog, Microsoft announced that a whopping 46% of PCs running Windows 7 were doing so with the 64-bit version. As shown in the table above, this is a huge proportion compared to Vista, and especially XP which had a very limited release of a 64-bit version.

While most processors have been able to support a 64-bit OS since even the Windows XP days, only recently have we seen the increased 64-bit market share. The relative drop in memory prices helped with this, making 4GB installed RAM from the manufacturer cheaper and necessitating a 64-bit OS.

With Windows 7, Microsoft also started requiring OEMs to develop 64-bit drivers. Accordingly, OEMs are offering 64-bit Windows on nearly every product and some have switched to 64-bit all together. Heck, even Intel is solely using 64-bit Win7 within their organization.

And 64-bit is only going to gain steam. 77% of PCs sold at retail stores in April 2010 had 64-bit Windows 7 preloaded. Analyst firm Gartner predicts that by 2014, 75% of all business PCs will be running 64-bit Windows.

What is 64-bit again?

For those who missed out on the 64-bit train, here’s a snippet from the Windows blog with a high level description:

A primary benefit of 64-bit Windows is the increase in addressable memory. This makes more “bits” available to Windows (the OS), which means more information can be “addressed” at once. 32-bit architectures have a memory ceiling of 4GB while the 64-bit architecture increases the memory ceiling to approximately 17.2 billion GB or RAM! Windows 7 is designed to use up to 192 GB of RAM (see SKU and OS comparisons here), a huge jump compared to limits with all 32-bit systems.

How has 64-bit worked out for you?

Like most people shown in the stats above, I didn’t bother with 64-bit until Windows 7. My ThinkPad X61 has supported 64-bit since its launch years ago and I always need more RAM, so 64-bit made perfect sense.

Perhaps it was just the feel of a fresh OS, but the 64-bit version of Windows 7 Ultimate just felt a bit faster in general. The extra memory from my 4GB installed RAM was very nice as well. Perhaps the largest boost in performance I’ve seen is with the 64-bit version of Adobe Photoshop. The 64-bit version leaves the 32-bit in its dust, which is easily verifiable since they can both be run back to back.

I’m also rather lucky that I’ve had no driver issues moving to 64-bit either. My quite old Samsung laser printer had 64-bit drivers available (thanks Samsung!) and of course Lenovo stepped up and had me taken care of as well. That, ladies and gents, is what you get from a business laptop line that you won’t see with a consumer PC.

Source: [Windows Team Blog] via [ITBusinessEdge]

Source: dchurbuck on Flickr

Word comes from DigiTimes that a number of laptop vendors and manufacturers are planning to get behind a laptop new power supply standardization initiative led by the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers).

The companies in support include vendors Acer and Asustek and manufacturers Quanta, Compal, Wistron, Pegatron and Inventec. Such a standard is still a long ways off, as the IEEE has just established a team for this project.

DigiTimes notes that power supply manufacturers will likely opposite such a move, as their business is in manufacturing a variety of different adapters. While a unified power supply would reduce their costs, it would also likely reduce their margins.

Opinion

This is an interesting initiative with great long term implications: less electronics waste, more common parts and lower costs. It is not surprising to see two of the consumer only manufacturers on board, as their models are generally less specialized and far more commoditized (yes, that is my own word) than business class laptops like Lenovo ThinkPads, Dell Latitudes and HP EliteBooks.

If such a standardization were to come about, it would take years upon years for large IT departments to make the switch; just think about how many brand-specific adapters an IT shop could have. But in the end, the simplicity and cost savings would be a good move even for a large IT department.

Source: [DigiTimes]

Research firm iSuppli is warning that a series of critical electronic component shortages could lead to price increases in the near future.

The bits that make up most any modern electronic device, and are especially crucial in all PCs, are pushing into the 20 week lead time range. Various MOSFETs and transistors are the subject of this constraint and normally have a 10-12 week lead time.

“When lead times enter the 20 week range, they indicate a major schism between component supply and demand,” said Rick Pierson, senior analyst for semiconductors and component price tracking at iSuppli. “Supply constraints for electronics and semiconductor components might not come as a big surprise amid the present market rebound. However, specific market and pricing trends are spurring varying degrees of short supply depending on the component market.”

Limited component price increases, particularly over the short term, shouldn’t have an appreciable effect on prices of electronics like PCs. However if suppliers are unable to replenish stock and continue to meet manufacturer demand, a prolonged shortage could lead to reduced inventory or higher prices.

Source: [iSuppli] via [The Inq]

Just a couple weeks ago Intel officially announced their first dual core netbook processor and now one group got their hands on an upcoming model with the new chip.

The dual core Intel Atom N550 was tested inside an Asus netbook and found to have significantly improved multitasking performance. While its single-threaded performance will likely be a hair less than the usual 1.66GHz Atom N455, the overall “experience” for users should be improved.

The biggest complaint I have over netbook performance is that loading multiple web pages or even switching between multiple apps is a bit of a chore. Between the dual core chip and a healthy 2GB RAM, netbooks should become a bit more livable now.

Source: [NotebookItalia] via [Lilliputing]