If you are looking for another detailed review of the Everex Cloudbook (aka Packard Bell Easynote in the UK), then head over to Meredith Farkas’ website and read all about it.

The Times have covered the Elonex One, which is a £99 laptop due for formal announcement at The Education Show in Birmingham at the end of February. The One will have 1Gb of memory, WiFi, and run Linux (just like the twice as expensive Eee PC and the thrice as expensive Everex Cloudbook), a 7″ screen, although it has no CD drive. It should weigh aound a kilo (2.2 pounds). Pre-installed software will include web browser, email client, mp3 software, and it will feature access to ONEunion, which seems to be some form of content sharing system. Although being targetted at schools (hence the choice of launch venue), it should also be available for general sale.

Alternatively (and unlike the Eee PC), a second version for £120 will feature Bluetooth and 2Gb of memory instead.

Story from Times Online.

It’s amazing what the user community will come up with. Asus Eee PC users have created a version of Fedora that is compatible with the Eee PC. If you are more used to Fedora than Ubuntu and other Debian based systems, then this may well be for you.

More details at Red Hat Magazine [Via EeeUser.com]

If you are a little fed up adding, editing and removing items from the Asus Launcher on your Eee PC, then the recently announced AsusLauncher Advanced Editor maybe for you. It gives you a greater level of control over the “Start Menu”.

More information in the EeeUser Forums [Via EeeUser]

jkkmobile have published a long and detailed comparison between the Eee PC and the Everex Cloudbook (using the UK Packard Bell Easynote variant). The article is well worth a read, and is available here.

The Everex Cloudbook has still not been released, although it should be available in February. Due to that 30Gb Hard Disk, it will be quite easy to install Windows XP, instead of the gOS Linux based OS it ships with. Everex have confirmed that Windows XP drivers will be available for download from their website.

If you want to buy one today, head to PC World and pick up a Packard Bell EasyNote XS, which appears to be the same device. There’s even a review of the Packard Bell here giving more information on these devices.

Fujistu have recently announced their P1620 laptop, which has a 1.2GHz Core 2 Duo processor, upto 2GB RAM, 100GB Hard Disk, an 8.9″ 1280 * 768 display. Although not smaller than the new Apple MacBook Air, it is lighter…

We’ve managed to find some more information on the Everex side panel accessories. These side panel accessories may eventually include:

• Bluetooth VOIP phone
• GPS
• DVB
• 3G / CDMA phone
• World Clock

Picture courtesy of jkOnTheRun.

After the leaks of Asus’ plans for expanding their Eee PC range, information on Everex’s expanding range is now available. Everex will produce a 9″ screen version around June, with a larger keyboard and more memory. It may also feature changeable covers.  Everex are also planning a developer version of the current CloudBook called the DevBook, which will feature a touchscreen and swappable side panel accessories. If true, this may indicate a future CloudBook with similar features…

As we mentioned earlier today, Steve Jobs has announced the ultra-thin MacBook Air just now. The device features an 80Gb 1.8″ hard disk (or an optional 64Gb SSD), 2Gb RAM, a trackpad with multi-gesture support, a 13.3″ widescreen LED backlit screen, 802.11n WiFi, Bluetooth 2.1, and a full sized backlit keyboard.

The laptop thickness (or should we say thinness?) varies from 0.76″ down to 0.16″.

However, the $1799 turns into £1199, which is a premium compared to the US/UK Dollar exchange rate.

In other points, the MacWorld keynote speech also announced iTunes Movies Rentals ($2.99 to $3.99 for a movie, add an extra dollar for HD versions), a major software update (and price drop) for the Apple TV, new applications for the iPhone and iPod Touch (Mail, Maps, Stocks, Notes and Weather) although this will be a chargeable upgrade on the iPod Touch, the iPhone 1.1.3 firmware update that we’ve already mentioned, and native Office Mac 2008.

Carphone Warehouse have launched a new deal. For £35 per month (18 month contract), you get the 3 USB Modem, with 3Gb of data and 200 SMS text messages per month. However, they are also providing a free Dell laptop as part of a complete mobile broadband solution. This compares with paying around £350 for the laptop, and £15 per month for the usb modem. This means at the end of the 18 months, the cost is about the same, but it may be easier for people to finance without the initial cost of the laptop.

Thanks to SMS Text News.

Pictures of an 8″ Eee PC (on the right) compared to the existing 7″ screen (on the left) have been found. The above shows that the screen will fit into the existing unit. Right now, the pictures show the same 800×600 resolution, although it’s not 100% sure whether the 8″ or 8.9″ screen versions will get higher resolutions or not.

Pictures courtesy of EeePCNews.de [Via JKKMobile]

Asus have announced at CES a range of extensions to the Eee PC range. For the US, the big announcement is an Eee PC with built in WiMax (in conjunction with Sprint and Intel). Also, they will be expanding the range of screens available, with multiple screen sizes from the current 7″ to 8″ and 8.9″. Asus have also stated Windows XP will become an officially supported OS on the devices too.

On another note, Asus also launched a UMPC device, the R50A, which will include built in GPS, a 5.6″ 1024 x 600 screen, integrated dual webcam and digital TV tuner. Asus claim this is “WiMax ready” too.

No news on UK availability on any of these devices, although Asus have pledged to make the Eee PCs available worldwide when they start shipping.

Garmin have released information on a whole range of new devices in advance of CES…

More details in the rest of the article

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Although the main sales of the Eee PC are the 4Gb, and whilst the 8Gb version has also been discussed, Japan is now getting a 16Gb version, which is rumoured to also have the option of Windows XP pre-installed to the device. No word on whether this version will be available in the UK, but we suspect it will be at some point during 2008.

Andrew Flegg has written a good review of the Asus Eee PC, which he has compared to the Nokia N810 and the Psion netBook. He finishes the article with a list of reasons as to why you would choose the Asus Eee PC over the Nokia N810, and vice versa.

Over at AutomatedHome, Keith has been using the 3 USB Modem for some while now, and has written a lengthy review. It’s well worth a read, especially in light of 3’s plans to have a PAYG (Pay As You Go) USB modem option in the future.

Thoughtfix, who runs the popular Tabletblog, also runs a UMPC blog. Yesterday he released a long review comparing the Nokia N810 with the small Asus Eee PC. Read the article to see which may be best for you.

If you look at the CD that comes with the 3 SkypePhone, you’ll discover you can install USB drivers that allow you to use the phone as a modem via usb. This will result in you getting a nice fast internet connection wherever you can get a 3G signal. You can also connect via Bluetooth to achieve the same thing.

There are a number of payments options open you to for Internet access. If, for example, you have chosen the PAYG 3 SkypePhone, then you can use your £10 topup (which is needed every 30 days to keep Skype working) for the Internet Add-ons, which are:

• £5 per month if you are a regular user
• £2.50 for a week
• 50p for a day

Now, 50p is nothing compared the charges for WiFi, unless you are a regular traveller, in which case you will either have an unlimited WiFi package, or a 3 USB modem already. Any spare credit you have, you can use to make calls (12p/min) or send SMS texts (12p/text).

Remember, without the Internet Add-On, Internet Access is £1 per Mb, so even the 50p per day is very worthwhile.

However, despite the fact that people are using their 3 SkypePhones this way, and despite the fact that people have mentioned this in the 3 SkypePhone forums, we should point out that the conditions attached to the Internet Add-Ons state you cannot use it as a way of getting Internet access on a laptop (ie another device tethered to the phone, whether via a wired or wireless connection). As such, please be aware this method is likely to be against 3’s T&Cs.

Update: Having said that, if you buy the 3 SkypePhone on contract, you can add X-Series or Broadband Add-Ons to the service, of which some of these options seem to allow use of a tethered device. Please confirm this directly with 3 though, as we have been unable to confirm this so far.

Thanks to Chris at Tamebay for the inspiration for this article.

Asus have confirmed that they will be shipping an 8Gb, 10-inch screen version of the Eee PC during 2008, which is a higher spec than the currently shipping Eee PC recently mentioned here.

Update: Asus are now claiming that although there are plans for an 8Gb version, they do not currently plan to release a version with a 10-inch screen.  The general consensus in the gadget world is that they will, however, release it at some point, just not yet.