Laptop makers and GSM Association team on Mobile Broadband branding plan

September 30th, 2008 by

Laptops with built-in WWAN modems aren’t anything new, but there’s a hodgepodge of hardware and services available — a situaton the GSM Association is trying to simplify with the new Mobile Broadband standardization initiative. Sure, it’s mostly an excuse to get another sticker on your gear, but companies like Microsoft, Dell, Lenovo, ASUS, Toshiba, Qualcomm and a bunch of carriers are on board to ensure that Mobile Broadband-certified machines will be ready and able to connect in some 91 countries around the world — and what’s more, they’re committed to spending a cool billion dollars in the next year promoting MB as a “compelling alternative” to WiFi and WiMAX. That should be an interesting dilemma for the carriers that also run hotspot networks, but we’ve got a feeling everyone’s happy as long as the sub fees keep rolling in.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Posted in Microsoft, t-mobile, toshiba, dell, asus, gsm, qualcomm, wwan, mobile broadband, MobileBroadband, orange, 3g, 3, ericsson, vodafone, lenovo, GSM Association, GsmAssociation, Telecom Italia, TelecomItalia, ECS, teliasonera, Gemalto, 3 Group, 3Group, Telefonica Europe | No Comments »

ECS G10IL: Stateside September for $399

July 9th, 2008 by

Filed under: Laptops

ECS has been teasing the netbook market for months now with its G10IL — meticulously surveying the competition and batting its eyelashes at US consumers. Fortunately, LAPTOP was able to sit down with Henry Kwan of ECS to help bring the flirtatious cycle to a satisfying end. Accordingly, we now know that the G10IL will ship in 8.9- and 10-inch models with the latter most likely shipping to US soils. It’ll be available at an entry-level price of $399 in September running Linpus Lite 9.4 Linux off an 8GB SSD. It’ll also be configurable with XP on an 80GB disk and EDGE/HSDPA/HSUPA data for much more. No sentimental delusions of educating the world’s children here, the G10IL is meant for serious business use only. How refreshingly direct ECS.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Posted in linux, ECS, G10IL, netbook | No Comments »

ECS’ Atom-based G10IL gets more attractive by the minute

March 20th, 2008 by

Filed under: Laptops

Upon initial inspection, we had a hunch the ECS G10IL would emerge as one of the most desirable of the low-cost lappies. Now that ECS has filled us all in on a few more pertinent details, we’re feeling all the more sure of that assertion. According to new specifications loosed on the outfit’s own website, we can look forward to a Diamondville, er, Atom CPU, Windows XP or Linux under the hood, a single RAM slot (up to 2GB), an HDD or SSD, 1.3-megapixel webcam, 4-in-1 multicard reader, a 8.2- / 10.2-inch glossy display and a 4- / 6-cell battery for good measure. Oh, and if you were wondering if Bluetooth and WiFi would tag along with the built-in HSDPA / HSUPA, the answer’s yes (at least on the big fellow). So, does the G10IL have your attention now, or what?

[Via DailyTech]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments