Will HTC follow the lead of fellow handset maker Nokia and dive into the netbook market? Definitely maybe, at least according to James Kendrick of jkOnTheRun.

At the HD2 launch this week, CEO Peter Chou let slip that the company is “carefully looking into [the netbook] category and how it can be part of that.”

Question is, what lessons did the handset maker learn from it’s cool-on-paper but underwhelming HTC Shift? Also, will its Android love turn into hardware for Chrome OS?

The mind boggles…

Did you install Apple OS X on a lowly Intel Atom-based netbook? Proud of your tech-fu?

If you answered yes, then be sure to skip the next Snow Leopard update from Apple. According to reports, Mac OS X Leopard 10.6.2 is incompatible with Intel’s netbook powerhouse, the Atom processor, delivering a blow to folks that want to (unofficially) rock some ultra-portable OS X computing and keep current with the latest OS updates.

Source: Wired

Nvidia is in a bit of a bind. The GPU maker is all but being shut out of the CPU chipset business by Intel with their next series of CPUs and compelling chipset offerings from AMD are making it difficult for them to focus on a losing battle.

So they decided quite a while ago that they’d create their own system on a chip and dubbed it Tegra. It’s no wonder then that the company’s CEO, Jen-Hsun Huang, sees a bright future for its chips in a category of gadgetry they like to call Smartbooks.

It’s your run of the mill Netbook style device but instead of relying on "power hungry" X86 chips the company envisions their Tegra processor doing the heavy lifting. Given its processing capability, which is soon to be shown off on Microsoft’s upcoming Zune HD, you can’t help but indulge them in their new found sense of bravado.

Things are going to get mighty interesting over the next few months.

Source: Reuters

Google’s Chrome browser has been a decent attempt at getting themselves a chunk of the web browser market but, apparently, the company isn’t satisfied with just a small chunk and is going to some lengths to increase their share.

The company has announced their Google Chrome Operating System which is designed for netbooks. The OS itself is only able to run the Chrome browser but it’s purpose is to get users web browsing in a matter of seconds.

Since it’s not a full-on OS you can expect it to be popular with those that do most of their work in the web browser possibly relying heavily on the company’s freely available services. It’ll be interesting to see how good their support for the various new netbook platforms that will be showing up is given the wide range of wireless options out there.

Information overload is the name of the game when it comes to Computex. So many new goodies from so many manufacturers it’s hard to keep up with it all.

Here are some of the interesting products from the show:

Cases
Thermaltake Level 10 Compartment Case – HiTechLegion

CPUs
Intel’s Lynnfield, Clarkfield, Nehalem Shown Off – The Tech Report
New ULV and Mobile chips from Intel – Intel
Nvidia Tegra gets noticed – bit-tech

Graphics Cards
Asus Demos Far Cry 2 @ 3840×2160 resolution – bit-tech
Asus Mars is terrifyingly large – engadget

Motherboards
Asus’ New Motherboards – VR-Zone
J&W P55 Board sports SLI – bit-tech

Netbooks and Laptops
ECS preps Google Android netbook – Computerworld
Intel Demoes Clarksfield Quad Core Laptop – bit-tech
Intel Pine Trail hits netbooks – The Tech Report

Power
Enermax Preps 80 Plus mainstream PSUs – bit-tech

Storage
OCZ Colussus large SSD – engadget

Misc
Computex Picture Collection – VR-Zone
Marvell PCI-E SSD Touts 2GB/s storage speeds – bit-tech

HP today rolled out new netbooks, or “companion PC’s.” The new machines are largely similar under the hood: just over 2.3 lbs; 1-inch thickness; choice of Intel Atom 1.6 GHz N270 or 1.66 GHz N280 processors; a 10.1″ screen (LED optional); and hard drive or SSD options.

Things get interesting, however, with the the HP Mini 110 Mobile Internet (Mi) Edition. This model runs on Linux. The distro is unknown at this point, but they make mention of the HP-developed Mi interface.

In July, the XP edition will be getting a graphics upgrade courtesy of Broadcom Crystal HD Enhanced Video Accelerator circuitry for watching HD videos on the go.

Expect to pay $329 and up when they start rolling out in June and July.

Source

It’s not an easy task tracking down a netbook preloaded with Linux on it, and while you may be technically savvy enough to load it yourself there’s just something nice about a computer working right out of the box.

The TechZone has a look at the Acer Aspire One Linux netbook preloaded with the Linpus Linux Lite distribution. Here’s a look at their thoughts:

The Acer Aspire One comes with a nearly full complement of connectivity options. You get a trio of USB ports for various accessories, a multi-card reader to expand on that paltry 8GB of internal NAND flash (no hard drive in this netbook), and even VGA output if you want to use an external monitor.

It’s a little lite on the spec sheet but for its budget price one can’t argue too much.