One of the first batch of companies to come out with a netbook was HP. The HP Mini note 2133 was pricier compared to others, and it was underpowered, thanks to a Via processor. However, it did have its share of fans, mainly due to its well-built hardware. The successor to the Mini Note is the HP Mini 1000.

The Mini 1000 has a more “standard” netbook specification, with the Intel Atom Processor (N270 1.60GHz) and 1GB DDR2 RAM. It has also received more positive reviews.

Computer Shopper
(8.4 / 10 – “Superb keyboard feel, size, layout; very good audio; thin; lightweight; bright screen” )
Laptop Magazine
(3.5 / 5)
PC World
(77 – “fantastic keyboard, surprisingly good sound”)
CNET
(4 / 5 – “Best Netbook keyboard we’ve seen; thinner and lighter than HP’s previous Netbook; ditches slow Via processor for faster Intel Atom.”)

I’ve always meant to write about the netbook phenomenon — after all, this site is about all things mobility. Netbooks are low cost (typically $300-400) and highly portable. Expect more coverage from us in the near future. I don’t have my hands on a netbook yet, but I’m interested to get one.

Most netbooks run a version of Linux, or Windows XP. Linux isn’t the best operating system for newbies (especially those who are buying netbooks as their first computer). Now a new company by the founder of Netvibes is putting its hat into the ring as one of the contenders to make the netbook computing experience easier. Jolicloud is meant to be a replacement OS for netbooks. It has an iPhone-like user interface that is designed to take advantage of the limited screen size of netbooks, as well as the always-on Internet connection.

[ via TechCrunch ]

If Green or Rose (a deep pink) rock your boat, expect to get these Centro smartphones from Sprint sometime in October.

Meanwhile, in Australia, Telstra has given the new Treo Pro their Blue Tick of approval. This is not a blue insect, but rather an accreditation and recommendation for use in metro, rural and regional areas. Telstra will offer the Treo Pro for use on their 3G network (called Next G) soon, with unlocked versions to be made available in November.

One undeniably positive thing that the iPhone has done for the smartphone industry, is to raise the bar in terms of feature integration, ease of use, and now price. As a result, we now have a choice of better, lower cost phones which are frequently compared to the iPhone. Since Apple has not produced a CDMA/EVDO version of the iPhone, many other phone makers are rushing to fill up the void. One of the most talked about “iPhone killer” for EVDO is the Samsung Instinct.

The Samsung Instinct (also known as also called Samsung SPH M800) packs a lot of features for just US$129:
- touch screen with haptics
- GPS
- voice dialling
- 2 megapixel camera
- EVDO
- microSD expansion slot

As expected, iPhone fans like Walt Mossberg of WSJ are just not that impressed with the Instinct. Gizmodo calls the Instinct “the best phone ever” to come out from Samsung or Sprint. So, while the Instinct stands on its own as a good (even great) phone, it still doesn’t hold up well against the iPhone. Nevertheless, since it is the closest thing to the iPhone on EVDO, it has sold well. Sprint has announced “record sales” during the Instinct’s first release, although there are currently no official figures.

Here’s a video comparison by The iPhone Blog:

I think the Instinct is a sign of better things to come. While Apple has nothing to fear right now, this will force them to continue to innovate — which means a win for customers.

Just a few days ago we saw photos of the Treo 800, Palm’s upcoming Windows Mobile phone. It turns out that the 800 has a brother, the Treo 850. The Treo 800 runs on EVDO (Sprint and Verizon in the US), while the 850 is for GSM networks (i.e. just about everyone else, the rest of the world). Boy Genius Report has the exclusive first photo of the Treo 850.

We don’t have a lot of details on this one, other than it has a 400 MHz processor and 100 MB of RAM — pretty standard for a Windows Mobile phone. I have to say the 850 looks a lot better than the 800. It’s still not a “wow” phone, though, and is unlikely to push Palm to the top.

Will we ever see new PDAs from Palm? It seems unlikely now, since they are firmly on the smartphone track. All Palm smartphones are also PDAs, so I guess Palm wants everyone to transition to Centro and Treo devices. Palm’s last PDAs, the Palm TX and E2 are quite good in their own right, albeit two years behind in terms of features now.

If you really want a dedicated PDA, now’s a great time to pick one up. Palm is having a Black Friday sale early. A Palm TX Handheld“>Tungsten TX is now $200 and a Palm E2 is $150.

The TX is a great deal; it has WiFi and Bluetooth, plus 128MB RAM, large screen (320×480) and decent battery life. It certainly makes a better ebook reader than the Amazon Kindle!

[ via CNET Crave ]

That was interesting. I thought that my Treo 680 had a problem with the battery callibration (since I spent two days at 99% battery capacity). Well, it died again upon a reset today. On a hunch, I put my Treo 650 battery in there. It started up with no problems.

So now my Treo 680 is on my Treo 650’s battery. The good news is that I have 50% more battery life (1800mAh compared to 1200mAh). The bad news is the battery sticks out at the back, so I can’t put in my battery cover. I solved that by shoving the entire thing into my Vaja case. It fits snugly.

Obviously this is a temporary solution to get me through the day. I ordered a Seidio battery (1600mAh, fits in the slot with no special battery cover needed) which should arrive next week. In the meantime, I have asked a friend to lend me his spare Treo 680 battery.

Overall, not a smooth experience in my first few days with my Treo 680.

When the battery is inserted, the Palm screen would appear with the black bar at the bottom. When the black bar goes all the way to the right, the Treo switches off. Basically I never get to the home screen.

Any ideas, anyone?

Hey Palm, how about passing a spare unit in this direction?

Palm Treo 500v Smartphone

Another day, another leak from Palm. We can only wish that this was done deliberately to reduce the criticism of the ugliness of the new low-end smartphone, the Palm Centro. Citing an “anonymous poster” as the source, MobilityToday has published a slick photo of the Palm Centro, complete with a trendy upside-down reflection.

I have to admit, the Palm Centro in silver and black looks much better than the previous versions that we saw in Zire-white. It certainly looks less like a toy. However, the photo doesn’t give us a clue of the size of the device. The Centro in the photo doesn’t have the Centro brand on it, just the Sprint logo on the top right side, and the Palm logo at the centre of the DPAD.

[ via MobilityToday ]

Palm Centro Smartphone