the Dell Observer » Netbook

Sprint To Offer Subsidized Dell Mini 10

Admin — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 20:12:41 +0000

Following Verizon’s and AT&T’s lead, Sprint seems to be ready to launch the Dell Mini 10 with integrated 3G wireless through its sales channels. The Mini 10, sporting a 1.6GHz Atom processor, 1GB of RAM and 160GB hard drive will be offered for $199 after a $100 mail in rebate.

We here at Observer Publishing are excited about Netbook rollouts with the major carriers. However, this is just the first step. T-Mobile is hinting at selling smartphones with the option to finance the purchase price as part of the monthly fee. We hope that the carriers will quickly consider this pricing structure for their netbook & notebook offerings. That’s when we expect to see a bigger pop in sales.

Dell to offer Intel App Store on Consumer Netbooks

Admin — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 23:27:25 +0000

Apple’s iPhone app store has driven legions of me-too offerings across the industry. The smartphone industry is rushing to emulate Apple’s success.

Microsoft is launching an app store this October as part of its Windows Mobile 6.5 launch, Samsung, Nokia and Blackberry already have device specific stores as well. Durham, NC based PocketGear is a company that specializes in creating web-based application stores for device manufacturers.

Now the PC gang is getting on the bandwagon. Intel has announced the creation of custom-branded application stores for its OEM partners for their Intel Atom powered devices. These stores will offer software applications compatible with both Windows and Linux.

Dell introduces Lattitude 2100; Netbook for the .EDU set

Admin — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 02:21:45 +0000

Photo: Dell.com

Dell usually positions its corporate products to the education buyer, but this product is a bit interesting. First of all, its interesting to think that corporate buyers would purchase something as limited as a netbook. Secondly, the bright green cover and other consumer features are somewhat surprising to creep over from the Global Consumer side of the business to the often stodgy Lattitude brand. That said, the system reeks of the Lattitude brand from 2003 – is pretty square and uninspiring.

What’s next – corporate buyers purchasing netbooks as a low cost alternative to notebook PC’s for their employees?

Reviews worth checking out;

Dell getting Linux right?

Admin — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 11:16:07 +0000

The PC industry struggles with the while Linux vs. Windows thing. An OEM license that comes with your PC is not cheap – often referred to as the Microsoft tax. Now let’s say a PC manufacturer pays $60 to Microsoft – on a $800 system, that’s not much. On a $300 netbook, that’s 20% of the total and a pretty big deal. The industry has been looking for ways to provide alternative OS’. While Ubuntu or these other distributions are “free”, there’s still cost involved vs. Microsoft – but getting down to $10-$15 is very meaningful in generating profit on the smartbook/netbook segment. Interesting read how Dell is getting 1/3rd of their netbooks with Linux and possibility of launching ARM based “Smartbooks” in the near future