Why Would AT&T Want Dell's Android Phone?

AT&T takes plenty of criticism for its aching wireless network, but it's rarely accused of lacking a stable of solid smartphones. So, the reports (from the Wall Street Journal's anonymous sources) that AT&T will offer an Android-powered smartphone from Dell, are a bit of a head-scratcher. But, when you really think about it, it makes plenty of sense for AT&T to be interested in this Android phone.

The clearest motive, as my colleague JR Raphael points out, is AT&T's need to join the Android party, as all three other major carriers have already shacked up with Google's operating system, or at least plan to. With one analyst from Gartner expecting Android to overtake the iPhone in global market share in 2012, AT&T could be planning ahead.

Moreover, AT&T needs to prepare for the day when the iPhone is no longer exclusive. Even AT&T says that's inevitable, so the carrier will want another exclusive touch screen phone to fill the void. Sure, the carrier has a nice line-up of Blackberry and Windows Mobile phones, but those lend themselves best to business uses, while the iPhone does not.

It's possible that the Dell smartphone could even look like the iPhone. Depending on who you believe, AT&T's Dell phone will either be similar to the Mini 3i Dell is introducing in China (that's the Journal's take) or basically the same phone with a few enhancements (says CrunchGear). While AT&T won't want an iPhone clone, some similarities could be helpful, as customers would see Dell's phone as a clear alternative to the iPhone.

If I'm right about all this, then there's just one snag: AT&T would be putting its faith in a computer maker that, before the Mini 3i, had no experience with smartphones. Dell is an unproven manufacturer, so this rumored deal is riskier than going with, say, HTC.

Then again, rolling the dice on a computer company with no smartphone experience worked out swimmingly for AT&T last time around.

Verizon Users: iPhone or Android?

We learned during the week that Verizon had made a deal with Google to start to provide Google Android powered handsets, the first is to be in partnership with Motorola. This is great news for fans who like the Android OS, but where does this leave Verizon Wireless users who long for the Apple iPhone?

Both companies announced that two Android based phones will be launched before the end of the year, with many more planned for 2010. Although the deal was only announced last week, they have both been in talks about a possible coming together for more than a year-and-half.

Verizon customers hope that this latest announcement will not affect Verizon’s desire to try to make a deal with Apple over the iPhone. We mentioned in a recent post that this would not happen in 2010, as Apple does not like the restrictions that Verizon have made.

The Google Verizon phone will come with Google’s standard app market preloaded, not Verizon’s VCast Store, which is what will happen if we have a Verizon iPhone.

The Google OS is becoming very popular and there is even talk that the mobile operating system will become even more popular than the iPhone OS. Apple has had a good run with its Apple OS, but it is limited to just one handset, not great for growth potential. Google Android is on a range of handsets on a range of networks in most countries.

Which of the two cell phone operating systems do you prefer?

Netbook Gets Speed Boost From Dual Atom Chips

A Colombian computer maker has designed a netbook that aims to provide the performance of a standard laptop at a lower price.

Haleron combined two of Intel's Atom processors in its new netbook, which it says provides better performance than existing models. Most netbooks today use a single Atom chip.

The Swordfish Net N102 includes two Atom N270 processors running at 1.6GHz. It is designed to provide the power of a standard laptop at a price most Latin Americans can afford, the company wrote on its Web site.

"The standard notebook or laptop computer, although an industry standard around the world, was out of reach for many Latin Americans," the company said.

A netbook with a single Atom chip "just could not support the multi-tasking needs of students and professionals," it said. So it set out to build its own. It modified Intel's 945 chipset to run the two processors, which took it about six months. The processors divide the workload, much like a dual-core processor does, the company said.

But running two processors took its toll on the netbook's battery life. A three-cell battery provides only two-and-a-half hours of run time, so the company offers an additional six-cell battery that adds up to four-and-a-half hours of use.

"We have developed what we feel is the best solution for a load sharing dual Atom processor netbook," the company said.

The netbook is priced at US$449, and the optional six-cell battery adds another $29. It comes with 2GB of RAM and a 160GB hard drive. It also includes a Web cam, a 4-in-1 card reader and built-in WCDMA (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access) 3G broadband module and 802.11b/g wireless networking.

The netbook comes with Windows XP Home Edition. "We found that it works best on the Windows XP operating system. Both Windows Vista and the new Windows 7 performed below Windows XP in the load sharing department," the company said.

Weibu N10A netbook now out Japan

Japanese will be able to get their hands on the Weibu N10A netbook that comes with a 10.1" display, albeit running on NVIDIA’s ION chipset that will make portable graphical capability a snap on this diminutive device. Retailing for approximately $556 after conversion, it sounds rather expensive to us living Stateside but one must take into consideration that netbooks tend to cost a wee bit more in Japan compared to other countries around the world. The Weibu N10A will be running on an Intel Atom 230 processor, featuring 2GB RAM, a 160GB hard drive, HDMI connectivity and a 10.1" display at 1,024 x 600 resolution.

A Netbook/UMPC hybrid from Sharp

CHIBA, Japan--Part Eee PC, part Samsung Q1, the Sharp NetWalker comes off like a computer with an identity crisis.

It's also a little bit puzzling. The NetWalker is dressed up like a super-petite Netbook, weighing less than a pound, with a 5-inch touchscreen and a measly 512 MB of memory and wireless LAN. It's got a pretty robust battery life--up to 10 hours, according to Sharp--and runs Ubuntu. There's a Firefox browser, Thunderbird for e-mail, a Twitter app, and some open-source programs for word processing and reviewing spreadsheets, so you can perform some normal PC functions on a screen larger than an iPhone or Blackberry, but smaller than the increasingly standard 10-inch Netbook display.

The way you use it though, is more like a UMPC. Holding the NetWalker with two hands, you type with your thumbs. And on the right side above the keyboard is an optical pointer that, when you run a finger over it, functions as a mouse.

The price is a more Netbook-like $500, but it's unclear how consumers will respond. It's only been available here in Japan for a couple weeks, so there aren't any solid sales numbers yet to offer any picture of how customers are reacting to it. But history shows that just hovering somewhere in between two established categories of computing is an easy way to turn off a lot of potential buyers.

Windows 7: Can Your Netbook Handle It?

Most netbooks available as of this writing ship with Windows XP. The few models that offer Windows Vista have performed sluggishly in our tests.

Microsoft, however, stresses that Windows 7 will run perfectly fine on netbooks. In fact, Microsoft now gears Windows 7 Starter Edition toward netbooks (Windows Vista Starter was available in only "emerging" markets). Though Windows 7 Starter Edition isn't quite as crippled as its Vista counterpart was--hooray, no more pesky three-application limit!--it still arbitrarily disables certain features. (No ability to change the desktop background? Lame!) If you own a netbook, you might want to consider purchasing a less-hamstrung (translation: more expensive) edition of Windows 7 instead.

In our tests using a Lenovo IdeaPad S10-2, we looked at how the performance of three different Windows 7 editions compared with that of Windows XP.>On the other hand, you may want to stand pat with Windows XP. For our "Windows 7 Performance Tests" article, we tested Windows XP Home Edition and three editions of Windows 7 (Starter, Home Basic, and Home Premium) on a Lenovo IdeaPad S10-2 netbook with a 1.6GHz Intel Atom processor, and we discovered that Windows 7 ran slightly slower than XP did. Windows 7 Starter, intended for use on netbooks (or as Microsoft puts it, "low-cost small notebook PCs"), managed to reach a score of 31 in our WorldBench 6 test suite, while the other two Windows 7 editions topped out at a mark of 30. By comparison, Windows XP on the Lenovo earned a score of 33.

A three-point decline in WorldBench 6 score on a normal laptop isn't much of a drop, but on a netbook it represents a difference of roughly 10 percent. So while it looks as though Windows 7 will run on a netbook, you may want to take the OS for a spin on a demo netbook at a store before you decide to upgrade.

Netbook Gets Speed Boost From Dual Atom Chips

A Colombian computer maker has designed a netbook that aims to provide the performance of a standard laptop at a lower price.

Haleron combined two of Intel's Atom processors in its new netbook, which it says provides better performance than existing models. Most netbooks today use a single Atom chip.

The Swordfish Net N102 includes two Atom N270 processors running at 1.6GHz. It is designed to provide the power of a standard laptop at a price most Latin Americans can afford, the company wrote on its Web site.

"The standard notebook or laptop computer, although an industry standard around the world, was out of reach for many Latin Americans," the company said.

A netbook with a single Atom chip "just could not support the multi-tasking needs of students and professionals," it said. So it set out to build its own. It modified Intel's 945 chipset to run the two processors, which took it about six months. The processors divide the workload, much like a dual-core processor does, the company said.

But running two processors took its toll on the netbook's battery life. A three-cell battery provides only two-and-a-half hours of run time, so the company offers an additional six-cell battery that adds up to four-and-a-half hours of use.

"We have developed what we feel is the best solution for a load sharing dual Atom processor netbook," the company said.

The netbook is priced at US$449, and the optional six-cell battery adds another $29. It comes with 2GB of RAM and a 160GB hard drive. It also includes a Web cam, a 4-in-1 card reader and built-in WCDMA (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access) 3G broadband module and 802.11b/g wireless networking.

The netbook comes with Windows XP Home Edition. "We found that it works best on the Windows XP operating system. Both Windows Vista and the new Windows 7 performed below Windows XP in the load sharing department," the company said.