Moblin v2 Beta Screenshot

So with all the hype about Google’s Chrome OS, it got me to thinking about the future of the Netbook OS market space. With a glorified calculator and a 9″ to 10″ display, what is it going to take to bring real value to these little computers? As the form factor is appealing enough for Paris Hilton and her chihuahua, running Windows XP or Windows 7 may be enough to slow the system down to a bore. We can all agree that the world runs Windows, but if Microsoft is only willing to license a cheaper copy of it’s OS as long as  netbooks keep the slower Atom CPU, and no more than a gigabyte of RAM, then we may need a savior.

Since Google’s Chrome OS wont be in our laps until next year, I decided to try Moblin last night. Moblin is short for Mobile Linux and was developed by The Linux Foundation and Intel in 2007 to run on MIDs, (Mobile Internet devices). It is a sleek FAST Linux based OS that runs a monolithic kernel. A monolithic kernel is a kernel architecture where the entire operating system is working in the kernel space and alone as supervisor mode. What does that mean for security, and stability? I wont get into that now, but if you’re curious here’s a good read on Monolithic and Mico kernels.

Moblin v2 Beta Screenshot MyZones

My first impression of Moblin was Wow! After a quick 10 min install on my HP Mini 1030NR netbook, I was up and running! The interface is very sleek and simplistic and not bloated with a bunch of “stuff” that I had to wrap my little brain around. The boot time was truly amazing! A cold boot brought the little netbook up in less than 8 seconds. That’s right I’m not kidding! 8 freaking seconds! I was ready to start surfing the web and checking my email!

… or was I?

First things first. There was no built in broadcom driver for my WiFi card. Thanks to Glen Gray at Slain.org, I was able to follow his guide for the Dell Mini 9 to get my WiFi up in running in about 15 mins. I know that the official Broadcom driver is not Open Source, but come on Moblin. Every possible WiFi driver should be available from the get go.

After getting WiFi up and running, I was ready to start surfing the web and… wait, gotta install flash so I can watch the YouTubes.. WHAT? Adobe flash player is already installed? Okay, so this part was a little confusing. According to Moblin.org, it’s ALL OPEN SOURCE.

That's what they said

Don’t get me wrong, I’m totally cool with the fact that flash is there. I mean really. I was on my way to install it. I’m just a little confused by their FAQ. This was the official Moblin v2 Beta that I downloaded from their site.

So… annnywhooo. I got straight to “work”. I plugged in my Twitter, and Last.fm info and started to see what tis little OS could do. I was very impressed with it’s easy of use, and elegance. Check out this quick video below to see how it works.

I must admit I still haven’t spent as much time with it yet to do a proper  review, but I have got to say it is worth a look if you have a netbook. It may even run in a VM. Don’t know. Haven’t tried yet.

That said, I am curious if this is the right way to go with netbooks. Do we just want a full featured mini laptop at $200-$300, or a slimed down Mobile Internet Device? If it’s the latter, then Moblin may be a serious contender. But if we want a full powered laptop with a cheap price that runs Windows and has the support for all of our hardware and software, then we may be waiting quite a while for a “decent” $200 laptop.

Download Moblin

We’ve selected the five phones that most feel like modern handsets to us—the iPhone 3G, iPhone 3G S, the Palm Pre, the HTC Magic (or, as we soon expect, the T-Mobile G2) and the BlackBerry Storm—and broken them down by hardware, software and cost. This is a guide in the strictest sense, meaning we aren’t declaring winners or losers, just giving you the information you need to make your own choice. So! On with the matrices.

Phones’ hardware specs tend to dominate carriers’ marketing, but in many cases they just don’t mean much, with a few exceptions: screens, storage, graphics performance and input.

The iPhones and Pre hold a sizable advantage in the screen department, trumping the G2, which doesn’t have multitouch, and the Storm, which has an ill-conceived pseudo-multitouch clickscreen that left most reviewers at best underwhelmed, and at worst downright frustrated.

In terms of storage, our phones take two fundamentally different approaches. The iPhone and Pre include healthy amounts of nonremovable storage—in the case of the iPhone 3G S, up to 32GB—which makes sense: if we’re going to use our phones as they’re marketed (as multimedia devices), we need space. The G2, like the G1 before it, depends on a removable microSD card for file storage, since its inbuilt memory is measured in megabytes. So does the Storm. This is fine if the carrier bundles the handset with a capacious card; Verizon is good about this. T-Mobile, on the other hand, shipped the G1 with a pitifully small 1GB card, so we’ll just have to hope they’re more generous with the G2.

Technical 3D ability is actually fairly uniform across this hardware, with the exception of the iPhone 3G S, which is, in this area, a next-gen product. Only Apple and HTC, though, give developers any meaningful kind of access to their handsets’ graphics accelerators, meaning the G2 and iPhones (particularly the bulked-up 3G S) will be the sole options for would-be gamers. And of the two platforms, iPhone OS has amassed plenty of serious gaming titles, while Android, let’s be honest, hasn’t.

The Pre is an obvious standout in that it has a hardware keyboard in addition to its touchscreen. The hardware QWERTY/onscreen keyboard debate is all about personal preference, so whether this is a boon or a burden is up to you. Typing on a screen is an acquired skill—but much more so on the Storm than the iPhone or G2.

Battery life would seem to be a valuable metric; it’s not. The differences in capacity and claimed endurance don’t really matter much, since realistically, they all need to be charged nightly.

Note: the Storm is due a minor hardware refresh, possibly quite soon. The main change, it’s been rumored, is a different touchscreen.

The greatest hardware in the world couldn’t save a phone with shitty software, and your handset’s OS is the single largest determining factor in how you’ll enjoy your phone. We’ve explored the differences between the major smartphone platforms at length here, and there’s no point getting too far into the specific differences right now.

To summarize: iPhone OS claims advantages in ease of use, its burgeoning App Store, and a respectable core feature set, but falters on multitasking and its lack of ability to install unsanctioned apps. The Pre’s WebOS is extremely slick and friendly to multitasking, but its App Catalog is light on content, and its development SDK is somewhat restrictive. Android and BlackBerry OS are both more laissez-faire, letting users install apps from whatever source they choose. Neither of their app stores is spectacular, but Android’s is markedly less anemic.

Carrier preferences will often override prices, but here they are anyway. The Pre and G2 are the most economic options, and the Storm roughly ties the 3G S as the most expensive. (It’s easy to underestimate how much a small monthly cost difference can add up over two years.) But again, carrier loyalty (or more likely, disloyalty) and coverage quality is as important as cost. If Sprint’s killing your Pre buzz, it could be worth waiting until next year, when Verizon is rumored to pick it up. Likewise, if T-Mobile coverage in your area is patchy, don’t worry: by the time T-Mobile actually offers the G2, we’ll probably have at least another functionally identical handset lined up for release elsewhere.
So there you have it: everything you need to know about the latest crop of consumer smartphones. Go forth, and be gouged.

After you install it, it will ask you setup a FREE screencast.com account. (Don’t worry it walks you through the process). After you’re logged in, you click the glowing orb and select Capture. Show Granny how to use facebook, and record instructions if you have a mic. When you’re done give it a name and share it!

The FREE version only lets you export to flash, and upload to screencast.com. If you decide to drop $14.95 a year and Go Pro, you can export to other file formats and upload to youtube.

Pros:
This software is so easy to use! It’s light weight, and FREE!

Cons:
Honestly, I can’t think of one. Go get it!

http://www.jingproject.com/

This is a what you call “More bang for your buck”! This system is very fast and very affordable. Bought this with lower expectations for Gateway products, and immediately fell in love with this “power house”. Setup your Satellite or Cable with it and start recording live TV. Drop in a new 3d-Game and start “fragging”, or just get straight to work. This system is great! My only complaint was that it uses DDR2 instead of DDR3 Memory, but they made up for it by dropping in 8GBs. It runs Microsoft® Windows Vista x64 bit Edition.

This is a Gateway/Best Buy exclusive, and is unavailable on Gateways web site. So rush on down to your Casa Grande Best Buy to get yours now, and tell them you read about it on our blog!

[via CNET]
Product summary

The good:
Includes discreet graphics card; configuration includes TV tuner and remote control; chassis offers ample room for expansion; inexpensive.

The bad:
No Wi-Fi; smaller hard drive than the competition.

The bottom line:
The affordable Gateway LX6810-01 scores high points for offering high-end components right off the shelf. We recommend this system for multimedia editors and light gamers who can make use of its hard-working Nvidia 3D card and full 8GB of RAM. However, if you’re looking more at straightforward performance, Dell offers a system with a faster CPU and a similar feature set for about the same price.

Specifications:
Processor: Intel Core 2 Quad Q8200 (2.33 GHz) ; RAM installed: 8 GB DDR2 SDRAM ; Hard drive: 640 GB Standard ; See full specs

First of all, let me start by saying that unless is a Mac, I never buy computers from the store. You always get a better deal by ordering online and the ability to customize your order. That being said, I bought the new HP Mini 1030 NR Netbook from the Casa Grande Best Buy last week. Why? Well I have been eyeing the netbook market for a few months now and as soon as Best Buy brought in their first batch, I decided to take a look.

They had four brands/models to choose from, Acer or HP. After seeing them in action and getting the specs, I went home to do my homework. Turns out that the HP Mini was exactly what I wanted. The online price was about $60 cheaper with the option for a few customizations.

My goal was to find a lightweight “cheap” netbook to be able to run the most common web apps. You know Gmail, Google Docs, and web conferencing. It only comes with a 16GB solid state Drive. No biggie since I don’t plan on installing many programs, or storing files directly on the computer.

At first glance, this netbook has a very sleek design. Thinner than it’s competitors. It has a nice design on the top cover to give it a nice polished look. Open it up, and there’s a bright 10.2” inch LCD staring back at you that makes you wonder how HP got so much screen into the little netbook. Enough screen real estate for your most common web sites and more. Not to mention the built in webcam above the screen.

General speed is average compared to a regular notebook. Not bad at all to work with. There are times when it seems to run slow but it’s only using a 1.6GHz Intel ATOM CPU, and 1GB of RAM. I use Skype a lot for my business, and in my testing I found my video conferences to work great… for a while. It seemed that after a good 30-60 mins of video chat, the HP Mini seemed to be a little sluggish. After every call, I would have to reboot to get my speed back. It comes with Windows XP Home Edition, but the first thing I did was install a dual boot Ubuntu Linux setup on it. (By the way Linux runs much faster than Windows on it.)

After using it for the last 5 days I have to say it’s a perfect solution for anyone that needs a computer to surf the web, check their email, and do a little video chatting. I anticipate these things to be selling like hot-cakes this year while everyone is looking to spend less on a computer. At $399, I didn’t even get an extended warranty. It comes with a standard manufacturer 1 year warranty. If it breaks after a year, you will be able to get a faster one for the same or cheaper price.

If you decide to get a netbook this year, or already have one, let me know what you think. I’d love to hear your thoughts on it.