This 2.1-pound netbook approaches more of a sweet spot in terms of pricing: The Linux version is $329, while the XP model is only $20 more. Acer includes a lite build of Linpus Linux, which I found to be great for quick, out-of-the-box computing, but most people would be better served with the XP edition. The incremental extra price also includes twice the memory (1 GB vs. 512 MB) and a faster 120 GB hard drive instead of the slower 8 GB of flash memory.

It’s pretty, too:

Boing Boing Gadgets’ John Brownlee discovers the coolest $99 watch ever! The Casio G8100A-5 invokes a retro-futuristic aesthetic that Brownlee likens to Star Wars. Others are noticing a steampunk look and feel. Whatever the design influence, it’s a nice looking watch — and I really want one.

The phone will be made by HTC, one of the largest makers of mobile phones in the world, and is expected to go on sale in the United States before Christmas, perhaps as early as October.
T-Mobile will be the first carrier to offer a mobile phone powered by Google’s Android software, according to people briefed on the company’s plans. The phone will be made by HTC, one of the largest makers of mobile phones in the world, and is expected to go on sale in the United States before Christmas, perhaps as early as October.

The high-end phone is expected to match many of the capabilities of Apple’s iPhone and other so-called smartphones that run software from Palm, Research in Motion, Microsoft and Nokia to access the Internet and perform computerlike functions.

The HTC phone, which many gadget sites are calling the “dream,” will have a touch screen, like the iPhone. But the screen also slides out to expose a full five-row keyboard. A video of the phone has been posted recently on YouTube. A person who has seen the HTC device said it matched the one in the video.

The design is more evolutionary than revolutionary, but it’s still a sleek, modern and stylish design with decent technical specs.

Coverage:

• SlashGear
• Crave
• Pocket PC Thoughts
• BrightHand
• WMExperts

The Treo Pro won’t have a revolutionary impact on phones or their users, but it looks like a step in the right direction for the one-time king of smart phones.

Chaos Manor was a monthly column in the print edition of Byte magazine back in the 80’s and 90’s, and the main reason I bought the magazine each month.  Now it’s online and free — although Dr. Pournelle welcomes paid subscribers.

You can get similar functionality, including keyboard shortcuts and two-pane navigating, with the free Windows program Free Commander.

I’ve replaced the “My Computer” link on my desktop with a Free Commander shortcut. The program also allows easy access to network drives and ftp sites, and even integrates file zipping and unzipping.

Download Free Commander

Mine, circa 1988, had a ‘composite’ color monitor that I could toggle to black and white to make 80 column text more readable. Sweet.

The guys at the MIT summit got the idea for a $12 computer from cheap “TV Computers” available in India for under $15. That product, as is, would probably sell well in the U.S. as a kid’s toy and hacker’s play thing. Of course, most of the built in games would have to go — or be licensed.

UPDATE: The technology in the TV Computer is actually based on the Nintendo NES rather than the Apple II.  There’s still the potential there for lots of old-school fun — I wish there was a US source for these devices.

If you buy a lot of content from the Zune marketplace, this may be good news.  For everyone else that’s rocking out to DRM-free MP3s, it’s irrelevant.  My son’s Samsung Beat and my daughter’s T-Mobile SDA play MP3 files just fine — as do most newer handsets.  And with plenty of online outlets for cheap unencumbered MP3 files, the Zune desktop software becomes just another program to load music onto your device.  In that role, it’s sorely lacking; the Zune software is bloated and without any compelling features.  I would much rather use Windows Media Player, or anything else, to load my 30gb Zune. And I really like being able to drag and drop music onto devices, something neither the Zune nor the iPod allow.

The latest victim is the Jointech J-Pro JL7100, which may eventually be available at just $99. At that price, the specs don’t matter much, but the JL7100 rocks WinCE 5.0, a 400mhz processor, a 7-inch 800 x 480 display, 64MB of internal storage, 64MB of RAM, 4 hour battery, VGA out and three USB ports. No mention of WiFi, which is sort of important.

Assuming the price stays at $99 and wireless is available, even as a cheap option (usb dongle, maybe?), this would be a compelling device. Add an 8GB USB drive for storage, a decent browser, and some productivity apps, and you’re in business for not much more than a c note. And the Linux hackers would love this thing.

By the way, Windows CE clamshells were somewhat popular back in the late 90’s — in fact, the J-Pro reminds me a lot of the somewhat larger IBM Z50 I had back in 1999:

On the Web: Roku Netflix Player

Crave reports that the Studio Hybrid will go for $699 with a monitor, and $499 without.

Video teaser courtesy of Dell:

A space solar power system would involve building large solar energy collectors in orbit around the Earth. These panels would collect far more energy than land-based units, which are hampered by weather, low angles of the sun in northern climes and, of course, the darkness of night.

Once collected, the solar energy would be safely beamed to Earth via wireless radio transmission, where it would be received by antennas near cities and other places where large amounts of power are used. The received energy would then be converted to electric power for distribution over the existing grid. Government scientists have projected that the cost of electric power generation from such a system could be as low as 8 to 10 cents per kilowatt-hour, which is within the range of what consumers pay now.

That’s from an Op Ed by Glenn Smith, a “former manager of science and applications experiments for the International Space Station at NASA’s Johnson Space Center.”  The idea of solar power from space dates back at least to the late 1960’s.

One version of the Moblin User Interface:

Ars Technica has more info on OpenTech.

The WiFi driver was my main concern — If you can get online, you can usually find any other drivers needed. However, I went ahead and backed up all my non-Microsoft hardware drivers — even the driver for my never-used soft modem.

The backed up drivers are kept on a separate partition on my hard drive, in a folder synced to Microsoft’s Live Mesh service. The drivers will not only be stored in the cloud, but also on the other PC I synchronize my Mesh folders with. (For more about Live Mesh, check out Surflizard.)

Reinstalling Windows is never fun, but Double Driver can help make it a little less painful. Recommended.

ASUS seems to have confused “innovation” and “repetition”, since they’re apparently committed to churning out every possible combination of Eee PC possible. Latest to clog up comparison charts is the 1000HD, the dreary offspring of the existing 1000H and 904 models.

I would warn Asus about diluting the valuable EEE brand and confusing consumers, but that ship has sailed. Even so, the Asus lineup features some very nice machinery.

1000HD Specs:

The owner of Esquire said Tuesday that it plans to publish the magazine’s October issue using so-called electronic ink to mark the publication’s 75th anniversary.

Hearst said the issue will feature a cover across which various words and images will scroll ” news-ticker style — thanks to technology developed by Cambridge, Mass.-based E Ink.

Print publishing is a content distribution medium on the decline, but this technology could certainly postpone the inevitable.  How long Kindle and kin can be held at bay remains to be seen, but I do think I’ll be buying the October Esquire.