Mobile and Wireless

Netbooks Topic Center

Get the latest news, reviews and more about netbooks

Tablets Will Be Preferred Devices by 2016

Tablets will become most users' main computing devices within the next four years, Forrester Research analyst Frank Gillett has predicted.
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The essential strategy guide on the consumerization of IT

Consumer tech is now part of most companies' technology portfolios, raising questions for both IT and management. Here's a guide for making it all work. Insider (registration required)

School system adopts Windows 7 tablets over iPad

A U.S. school district Thursday said it was handing students 2,000 Fujitsu tablets with the Windows 7 OS, and selected it over the iPad because of durability and security concerns.

Google looks for fix to Chromebook Wi-Fi 'disconnect bugs'

Google is making changes to its Chrome OS to reduce the number of times that Chromebooks drop their connections to Wi-Fi networks, an issue some users have complained about for months.

Dell announces XPS 13, its first ultrabook

Dell on Tuesday announced its first ultrabook, the XPS 13, making some noise amid a smaller presence at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas compared to previous years.

Ultrabooks, expected to be hot at CES, could be boon for enterprise IT

With ultrabooks poised to be the hottest devices to come out of this year's Consumer Electronics Show, analysts say the new hardware should be a boon for enterprise IT shops.

Dell pulls back from netbook market

Dell has confirmed that it has ceased production of its Inspiron Mini netbook computer, in effect ending its pursuit of the receding netbook market, at least for consumer sales.

Apple yanks iPhone tethering app from App Store

Apple has removed a tethering app for the iPhone that let users share the smartphone's cellular connection to the Internet with a Mac or Windows notebook.

Larger 15-in. MacBook Air 'makes sense' for Apple, say analysts

Apple will launch a 15-in. MacBook Air in the first quarter of 2012, according to a report from a Taiwanese publication that cited unnamed sources in the component supply channel.

Sprint cutting unlimited 4G data plans

Sprint Nextel is ending unlimited data plans for all devices except smartphones, bringing the era of all-you-can-eat mobile data in the U.S. nearer to a close.

Asus Transformer Pad Comparisons

How do they stack up against each other?

Ultrabooks to get the CES spotlight, netbooks get the knife

With ultrabook announcements expected to get all the attention at next week's CES, it's important to lament the ill-fated netbook -- left for dead by a callous and capricious tech industry. Patrick Thobodeau explains.

iPad printing to an unsupported printer

A reader who wishes to remain unnamed shouldn't be so shy, as this is a perfectly lovely question. He or she writes:

Making iPads enterprise ready

CIOs continue to test the popular iPad tablet for enterprise applications. These pilots show potential, but the devices still have lots of limitations. Insider (registration required)

Bring Your Own Tech: 9 Things IT Needs To Know

Kraft, Whirlpool, Motorola Solutions and other employers are pioneering BYOT policies to drive productivity and reduce costs. Here's why your employees want this and what you need to do to make it happen. Insider (registration required)

Dell Latitude 2120: Slightly rugged, wildly overpriced

Dell touts the Latitude 2120 as the ideal netbook for business. That engenders the question: is an old-school, underperforming, under-screened netbook can really be an ideal solution for business computing?

Lenovo IdeaPad S205: A more stylish netbook

The Lenovo IdeaPad S205 shapes up as a very appealing, somewhat consumer-oriented alternative to the ThinkPad X120e.

So long, netbook. Hello, media tablet.

The netbook's day in the sun was short-lived, and it took Apple to show the way with 'tweener devices.

Samsung NC110 Netbook: Slow but Stylin'

Netbooks are so formulaic these days, it's difficult to stand out from the crowd. Samsung, in a small way, has managed that with the $330 (price as of May 11, 2011) NC110. With only the standard netbook 10.1-inch display, the typical 250GB hard drive, and the usual accoutrements, the NC110 instead makes an impression through a combination of styling, battery life, and software. Unfortunately, it also stands out as a slow performer.

Toshiba Mini NB305-N600: Style Over Substance

The Toshiba Mini NB305-N600 ($380 as of April 5, 2011) comes from the higher end of Toshiba's two-part netbook family. Nothing if not eager to meet your netbook needs, Toshiba offers its two basic models--the Mini NB300 and NB500 series--in a total of 11 configurations, and figuring out how they differ requires going through spec sheets with a magnifying glass. Of course, specs don't tell the whole story, anyway--and overall, the story isn't that compelling.