New HP Netbook Offerings - Will sub-niche models drive adaptation?

From Yahoo, HP is offering 3 different iterations of its mini series. (Article below). For specifics on the models directly from HP - click here. This is of interest because I feel that the 1.0 version of netbooks has already become a little stagnant. The upside is that as hardware manufacturers find new and differentiated offerings, the adaptation of the netbook segment will only continue it's exponential growth.

Now the question is - WHO'S NEXT???

ALO ALTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--HP (NYSE:HPQ - News) today expanded the award-winning HP Mini family with three new models, offering customers sleek, lightweight companion PCs that come in a variety of configurations and designs.

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The HP Mini 110 XP Edition and the HP Mini 110 Mobile Internet (Mi) Edition were designed for Internet-centric consumers, while the HP Mini 1101 is ideal as a companion PC for small and medium-size businesses and frequent business travelers.

The Mini 110 is as stylish as it is mobile, providing consumers with a choice of Pink Chic, Black Swirl or White Swirl HP Imprint finishes, while the Mini 1101 offers business users an elegant, sophisticated Black Swirl design.

“With these new HP Minis, we’re enhancing the customer experience by adding compelling features that allow users to interact with their Mini in a fun way,” said Kevin Frost, vice president and general manager, Consumer Notebooks, Personal Systems Group, HP. “Our broad portfolio of mini companion PCs truly offers customers choices to fit every need and every personality.”

With the broad HP Mini portfolio, including the previously introduced Mini 1000 and Mini 2140, customers have a choice of sleek companion PCs that let them stay connected from virtually anywhere. HP Mini PCs are geared toward information “snacking” and content access, versus the rich content-creation capabilities found in fully functional notebook PCs. They are a complement to HP’s award-winning families of notebook and desktop PCs.

The new Mini models are small enough to slip into most purses, backpacks or briefcases, starting at 2.33 pounds and measuring just over 1-inch thick.⁽¹⁾ With a 10.1-inch diagonal standard or optional high-definition LED widescreen display, a keyboard that is 92 percent the size of a standard notebook PC keyboard, and a built-in webcam and microphone, the new HP Minis are designed for consumers and business professionals who surf the web, check email, listen to music and need access to friends, family, co-workers or information while on the go.⁽²⁾

Models offer large hard drive options up to 250 gigabytes (GB), offering plenty of space to store movies, music, applications and files.⁽³⁾ All models support solid-state drives options as well. A convenient built-in VGA port allows users to connect to an external monitor, while a 5-in-1 digital media slot allows users to transfer files easily from various memory formats.

Powered by either an Intel® Atom processor N270 with 1.6-gigahertz (GHz) or an Intel Atom processor N280 at 1.66-GHz, the HP Mini 110/1101 line offers configure-to-order options on a number of its features.⁽⁴⁾

The three series are as follows:

• The HP Mini 110 XP Edition supports up to 1 GB of memory and either a 32 GB solid-state drive or 160 GB hard drive, as well as optional WWAN. An optional Broadcom Crystal HD Enhanced Video Accelerator is expected to be available in July and will allow users to enjoy 1080p high-definition content.^(3,5)
• The HP Mini 110 Mi Edition is a simple-to-use mobile companion with an HP-developed interface. The Mini 110 Mi comes with applications that enable web browsing, email and online video from the Mi dashboard, minimizing startup time.⁽²⁾ Favorite websites, photos and music that are added to the dashboard stay live, and the taskbar makes it easy to switch between programs. The Mini 110 with Mi runs on a Linux operating system and supports up to 2 GB memory and up to 250 GB of hard drive storage.⁽³⁾
• The HP Mini 1101 offers a wide range of operating systems including Windows® XP Home, XP Pro and Windows Vista®. The Mini 1101 offers two optional batteries: a 3-cell option for the lightest weight configuration or a 6-cell option for battery power that lasts up to twice as long.⁽⁶⁾ In addition, the optional integrated HP Mobile Broadband allows users to conveniently access the Internet, corporate intranet, email and mission-critical information around the world.⁽⁷⁾

HP Mini 110 models include the Syncables™ Desktop solution, which provides effortless, automatic synchronization of music, pictures, videos and other files between an HP Mini and a primary notebook or desktop PC.

Mini accessories⁽⁸⁾

With up to six hours of battery life, the HP BX06 Mini Battery allows users to maintain an ultra-mobile lifestyle and work, play and surf longer without losing power. The battery is expected to be available as a $40 upgrade option while configuring on www.hpdirect.com starting June 10.⁽⁶⁾

Protective and stylish Mini Series Sleeves in Pink Chic and Black Swirl protect the Mini from dust. The slim design allows easy transport by hand and can fit nicely into a bag. The black Mini Series Sleeve is currently available for purchase; the Pink Chic sleeve is expected to be available on June 30. Both Mini Series Sleeves are priced at $19.99.

The HP Essential USB Port Replicator allows customers to attach external PC devices with a single connection and is expected to be available in the United States this summer for $79.99.

Pricing and availability⁽⁸⁾

• The HP Mini 110 XP Edition and the Mini 110 with Mi are expected to be available in Black Swirl in the United States on June 10 via www.hpdirect.com/go/mini with a starting price of $329.99 and 279.99, respectively.
• The HP Mini 110 XP is expected to be available in Pink Chic and White Swirl in the United States on July 8 via www.hpdirect.com/go/mini, pricing to be determined.
• The HP Mini 1101 in high-gloss black starts at $329 and is expected to be available June 1.

Local WRAL Story on Netbooks!

Making it to the local news stations - below is an article from WRAL (hope to post video segment when avail online). Nice to see the local guys (even if it is just consumer reports story)...

Consumer Reports tests tiny computer notebooks

Posted: Today at 1:00 p.m.

The smallest laptop computers have usually been the most costly.

Now, in the nick of time for cash-strapped consumers, even smaller netbooks are coming to the rescue, with even lower prices.

The typical netbook weighs about 3 pounds, has a 9- to 10-inch screen and costs $300 to $400.

But which ones truly rate? Consumer Reports tested six netbooks to find out.

"All of them performed well enough at Web surfing and e-mail, but there are some major differences in areas such as ergonomics and battery life," said Paul Reynolds, with Consumer Reports.

Testers top-rated a 10-inch Samsung NC10-14GB, which has a 160GB hard drive and an impressive 7-hour battery life, and offers the fewest compromises. But at $450, it was the most expensive netbook tested.

Looking to spend less?

Consumer Reports recommends two that go for around $350.

The 10-inch Acer Aspire One AOD-150-1165 has a long battery life, but the keyboard is a little cramped. On the flip side, the 10-inch Asus Eee PC 1000H has a roomier keyboard but a shorter battery life.

"Regardless of the model you choose, none has a built-in DVD or CD drive," Reynolds said. "And forget about demanding tasks such as 3-D gaming or video-editing. For those, you'll need a full-powered machine."

The key to finding happiness with a netbook is deciding which compromises you can live with, in order to get the benefits of a truly tiny laptop.

When you're shopping for a netbook, Consumer Reports warns that they tend to work best as a second computer, in addition to a home- or business-based system.

Apple Tablet = Touch or Netbook??

According to several different sources (article below) - Apple is coming out with an "iPod touch on steroids" sometime in '10. Could be a very interesting play but I am not convinced it is a netbook. A lot of this will boil down to size and OS capabilities. Large size and stronger OS is more inline with an offering in the netbook category. Medium size and Touch OS is more inline with a beefed up Touch. Either way, I am sure the conjecture and pontification will continue as Apple plays the media like a fiddle. Certainly I am interested in seeing what they come up with...

Apple is likely to launch a tablet similar to the iPod touch, but larger in the first half of 2010. This tablet would then be Apple’s entry into the netbook race, according to Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster.

In a research note, Munster handicaps the gaps in Apple’s product lineup. The gaping hole: There’s nothing between the iPod touch and the MacBook. Enter this iPod touch on steroids for $500 to $700. Meanwhile, Apple operating chief Tim Cook called netbooks junky, but never dismissed the consumer demand for them.

Munster writes:

Between indications from our component contacts in Asia, recent patents relating to multi-touch sensitivity for more complex computing devices, comments from Tim Cook on the April 22nd conference call, and Apple’s acquisition of P.A. Semi along with other recent chip-related hires, it is increasingly clear that Apple is investing more in its mobile computing franchise. Specifically, we expect this to result in a larger (7″-10″) touchscreen tablet that will launch in 1H CY10. Additionally, Apple’s consistent message that it refuses to launch a “cheap” portable netbook, and its desire to differentiate itself in a maturing market before it’s too late (similar to the timing of iPod and iPhone), plus its gradual addition of multi-touch technology to all of its core products (iPhones, iPods and Macs) leads us to conclude this product will be a touchscreen tablet (not a netbook).

Also see: Are netbooks really junky?

Apple’s game plan will revolve around its multi-touch patents to cook up something different from your generic netbook. Munster’s theory makes a lot of sense. A netbook would tarnish the Mac’s average selling price and potentially cheapen the Apple brand. A tablet wouldn’t. Double bonus: A Mac tablet would compete with the Kindle.

What’s the OS look like? Munster has an answer for that too:

We are anticipating a new category of Apple products with an operating system more robust than the iPhone’s but optimized for multi-touch, unlike Mac OS X. The device’s OS could bear a close resemblance to Apple’s mobile OS and run App Store apps, or it could be a modified version of Mac OS X. We expect the development of such an OS to be underway currently, but its complexity, along with our conversations with a key company in the mobile space, leads us to believe it will not launch until CY10.

Is Apple late to the game? Not really. Apple was late with the iPod and we saw how that turned out. Ditto for the iPhone, which came five years after the first BlackBerry. Relatively speaking Apple’s netbook killer would be a fast follow.

Here’s a look at Munster’s argument for a Mac tablet and not a netbook.

Netbook performance (albeit a little unfairly stacked) review from ZD. Nothing new in the performance results but again the apples vs oranges debate is at hand. A net-b is not a full laptop replacement. It is a lightweight, ultra-portable (and green - due to low power usage) take anywhere device. Play in those guidlines and you will be extremely happy. Try to pit it against your 8lb laptop (at 2x to 3X the cost) and you will be UNhappy. Click here for the story - THE MOST INTERESTING READ IS IN THE TALKBACKS.

No one claims that netbooks can match the performance of laptops that cost hundreds or even thousands more. The real question is whether the performance of a netbook is good enough.

Over the past few weeks, I’ve been doing some testing on five netbooks with 10-inch displays: the Acer Aspire One, HP Mini 2140, Lenovo IdeaPad S10, and Samsung N110 and N120. These five netbooks have nearly identical specs–1.6GHz Intel Atom N270, 1GB of memory, Windows XP–and consequently they turned in nearly identical performance scores.

It’s no surprise that they can’t match the performance of a premium thin-and-light such as the Lenovo ThinkPad X301. But I also wondered how they would stack up against more direct competitors such as the HP Pavilion dv6 series, a mainstream laptop, and especially the Pavilion dv3, a low-cost 13-inch thin-and-light. Though these both cost more than netbooks, they still come in well under $1,000 and offer significantly more features.

There are several reasons why netbooks don’t perform like notebooks. First, the Atom chip has a single processing core and it runs at a slower frequency (1.6GHz) than most mobile processors. (The exception would be some of Intel’s low-voltage and ultra low-voltage chips, such as the 1.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo SU9400, used in relatively-expensive ultraportables.) Atom is also based on a simpler microarchitecture–it has about the same number of transistors as the Pentium 4 circa 2001–so it lacks many of the enhancements in later designs such as the Core microarchitecure. Second, netbooks top out at 1GB of memory, while the average PC has around 2.3GB of memory, and even low-priced laptops often include 3GB.

Compare this typical netbook configuration to a mainstream notebook such as the Pavilion dv6. You can get the dv6 for as little as $580 with an AMD Athlon X2 dual-core processor, but the retail model I used for comparison, the Pavilion dv6-1030us, has a 16-inch (1366×768) display, 2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T6400, 4GB of memory, Intel GMA 4500MHD integrated graphics and a 320GB hard drive. At $750, it costs significantly more than a netbook, but it also offers a lot more. The Pavilion dv3z, a 13-inch thin-and-light, is closer to the netbooks in terms of portability, if not price. The $980 configuration used here included a 2.3GHz AMD Turion 64 X2 ZM-84, 4GB of memory, ATI Radeon HD3200 graphics and a 320GB hard drive. Recently HP seems to have shifted to an Intel-based configuration of the Pavilion dv3 which currently starts at $650 (after rebates) with a 2.0GHz Pentium T4200, 2GB of memory and a 250GB hard drive.

My first set of tests involved relatively large Excel 2007 spreadsheets performing tasks such as Monte Carlo simulations (used to determine pricing of stock options), pivot tables (for visualizing data), and other common arithmetic and statistical analysis functions. Some of them are custom tests and others were provided by Intel for use in benchmarking processors. On most tests, the netbooks took more than twice as long as the dv6-1030us and dv3z to complete the same calculations.

Multitasking is another area where the performance of netbooks pales next to notebooks. In this basic test, Word 2007 compares two versions of a large document in the background while PowerPoint 2007 saves a presentation as an XPS file, a Microsoft Office 2007 file format similar to Adobe’s PDF. I’ve also run this test with other tasks, such as image editing and audio encoding, going on in the background, but in this case, it’s unnecessary. The difference is already pretty clear. This lends some support to Microsoft’s assertion that Windows 7 Starter Edition will only run three concurrent apps because netbooks don’t have the muscle for heavy multitasking.

Finally I compared the audio encoding performance of netbooks to a premium ultraportable, the ThinkPad X301. The simple test measures the time it takes for iTunes to convert 20 audio files (a total of 527MB) from MP3 to AAC format. Despite its relatively high price ($2,000 and up), the ThinkPad X301 isn’t an especially powerful laptop because of its low-voltage processor, the 1.4GHz Core 2 Duo SU9400 and integrated graphics, but it still handily beats netbooks on this test. (By the way, the fastest system I’ve tested, a $999 Dell Studio XPS desktop with a Core i7 processor, was able to encode all 20 files in less than 10 minutes, compared with more than an hour for a netbook.)

In the past, I’ve also run some tests using Adobe Photoshop CS3 to auto-correct a batch of high-resolution images and convert them for use on the Web, as well as benchmarks such as CINEBENCH and POV-Ray that take advantage of multi-core processors and discrete GPUs. Netbooks aren’t designed for these applications, of course, and I didn’t even attempt to run these tests, but this gives you an idea of some of the limitations. Then again, you may be able to find workarounds for some tasks. For example, you can run Adobe Photoshop Elements on a netbook, or use an online photo editing package such as Picasa, Picnik or Photoshop Express, and these probably meet the needs of most users. But anything involving real 3D graphics or gaming is pretty much out.

Granted, these are all fairly intensive tasks, but they illustrate the real performance difference. More anecdotal testing is probably closer to typical netbook usage. I’m sure that all of these netbooks are a bit slower to boot up, shut down, and open and close applications, but not to the extent that I really noticed it during weeks of regular usage. I did, however, notice that it took netbooks longer to open large spreadsheets or Word documents. Aside from that, all of these netbooks felt sufficiently responsive on basic productivity tasks using Office 2007, as well as e-mail and Web browsing. They also handled standard-definition video using both Adobe Flash (YouTube, Hulu.com) and Microsoft Silverlight (CBS Sports, NBC Olympics) just fine, but immediately choked on high-definition video. As far as editing video, technically netbooks can run entry-level editing packages such as Windows Movie Maker (included in Windows XP), Corel VideoStudio and Pinnacle Studio, but I wouldn’t recommend it.

If you’ve already decided on a netbook, performance is a non-issue. Since nearly all netbooks use the same Intel platform, there is virtually no difference in performance. But if you are choosing between a netbook and a laptop–even a budget laptop–you should know there’s a significant performance penalty. That’s on top of all the other differences such as display size and other features.

Having said that, it’s overstating the case to argue–as Intel does–that netbooks are for viewing and sharing content, while notebooks are for creating content. The reality is that the performance of netbooks is “good enough” for the documents, spreadsheets, blog posts and even standard YouTube clips that most users need to create or upload. That’s one big reason for their surprising popularity.

Living with a netbook: Toy or tiny notebook?

Very good points discussed in this article (be sure to check out the talkback discussion from users). I don't agree with everything but do agree that a definition of "What a netbook is/is not" needs to be defined. Misconceptions are everywhere as well as mis-categorization (under powered laptop, toy, laptop/desktop replacement).

There is no denying the popularity of netbooks, but there’s still much debate about who’s buying them and for what purpose. Netbooks were conceived for emerging markets–along the lines of the OLPC’s XO laptop and Intel’s Classmate PC–but they turned out to be more popular in developed countries. More recently, Intel has downplayed them as “toys” that may complement, but won’t cannibalize, real PCs. Still, as netbooks become more capable, it’s almost certain that some consumers are choosing them over pricier ultraportables.

Over the past few weeks, I’ve been trying out five netbooks with 10-inch displays, the Acer Aspire One, HP Mini 2140, Lenovo IdeaPad S10, and Samsung N110 and N120. Some of these have been available for some time; others such as the Samsung N110 and N120 are new. Lenovo just announced an updated IdeaPad S10-2, which is thinner and has a slightly larger keyboard, but has the same basic specs.

I’m not going to write separate reviews of each netbook–most of them have been widely reviewed and I’ll include links to some of these. I’m more interested in how netbooks compare to notebooks in real-world use. What’s it like to use them for extended periods? How much performance do you give up? And what features are missing? Over the next couple of days, I’ll post my thoughts on the design, performance and features of these netbooks.

Though netbooks have only been around for a little more than a year, they’ve changed drastically since Asus announced the Eee PC in June 2007. The original Eee PC had a 7-inch display, a low-voltage Intel Celeron M processor, 512MB of memory, 2GB of flash storage and Linux. Asus planned to sell it for $199, but the final version ended up costing significantly more.

Nowadays nearly all netbooks use Intel’s 1.6GHz Atom N270 paired with Intel’s 945GSE Express Chipset with integrated graphics. Some notable exceptions include the Samsung NC20, the only netbook from a major computer company that uses Via’s Nano chip, and the Sony VAIO P series and Dell Inspiron Mini 10, which use Atom Z-series chips (this week Dell released an updated Mini 10 with the Atom N270). Most netbooks come 1GB of memory and the tiny SSDs have been replaced by more practical 120- or 160GB hard drives.

While Linux is still an option on many netbooks, the market has settled on Windows (Microsoft says more than 96 percent of netbooks now use Windows). There are a couple of reasons for this. First, customers had trouble adjusting to Linux and return rates were high. Second, when Microsoft realized Vista was a poor fit for netbooks, it dusted off Windows XP and made it available at a very low price–as low as $15 according to one report–eliminating one of the big advantages of Linux.

All of these changes have resulted in netbooks that look and act a lot more like notebooks than the original Eee PC. The large displays have sufficient resolution to properly display Web pages and productivity applications. The keyboards are nearly full-size and most companies have done away with the tiny, odd-shaped keys that made them frustrating to use. The hard drives provide room for most digital photo and music collections. And Windows XP is compatible with most software and peripherals.

Not surprisingly, sales of netbooks have grown fast. Here’s a slide from Intel CEO Paul Otellini’s presentation yesterday at the company’s annual Investor Meeting that puts netbook growth in perspective:

But just because a netbook looks like a notebook, doesn’t mean it performs like one. Even when compared to relatively inexpensive laptops, netbooks pale in terms of performance. For example, Excel tasks that typically took 30 seconds to about 1 minute on the mainstream HP Pavilion dv6t took 2.5 to 3.5 times longer on the netbooks. (The dv6t starts at $650 with a 16-inch display, 2.0GHz Core2 Duo T6400, 2GB, Intel GMA 4500MHD and 160GB hard drive.) Even the HP Pavilion dv3z, a 13-inch thin-and-light that costs about $730 with a 2.3GHz AMD Turion X2, finished these tasks in about half the time.

The differences are even more dramatic when multi-tasking, and highly-intensive tasks such as huge spreadsheets, HD video playback and video editing, and 3D gaming are not feasible at all. Incidentally there’s virtually no difference in performance among netbooks, which is what you’d expect since they share the same components. I’ll post more details on my test results separately. The point is that netbooks are fine for basic communications and productivity tasks, but there’s a real difference in performance versus a true notebook.

Though most netbooks share the same specs and performance today, that will soon change. Intel will reportedly release a new Atom processor and chipset in September. Acer, HP, Dell and others are experimenting with netbooks based on ARM processors using Linux-based operating systems such as Google’s Android. Despite Intel’s insistence that netbooks have 10-inch or smaller displays, Dell already sells a 12-inch netbook, and Acer and Asus have plans to offer 11.6-inch models. These will compete with new, low-cost 12- and 13-inch laptops using AMD’s Athlon Neo or Intel’s CULV (Consumer Ultra Low-Voltage) chips. Finally, before year-end, Microsoft will release Windows 7, which includes a version for netbooks. The result of all of this will be more choice in terms of price, features and performance in both netbooks and ultraportables in the second half of this year.

Wi-Max built in - for 2 Dell machines - hmmm

According to the dell blog, they are now offering wi-max built in for 2 models. The entire story is below:

Recently, we began offering WiMAX as an option on three two laptops that we sell to consumers in the United States:

Correction: The correct details are that we are offering WiMAX as an option on two laptops, not three like I originally had stated. I should not have included the Studio 15. My apologies for any inconvenience.

• Studio 15
• Studio 17
• Studio XPS 16

WiMAX is a wireless technology that’s built to deliver wireless broadband for notebooks and mobile devices. The biggest benefit compared to Wi-Fi is range. WiMAX can provide access over much further distances comparatively. We’re working with Clearwire to provide WiMAX service to customers in the United States. Currently, WiMAX is supported in areas within two states: Portand or Atlanta (Update from Lionel: Doh! Neither Portland or Atlanta's a state) and areas within the city Baltimore. Click on those links to check if WiMAX is supported there. Clearwire also has plans to expand to several more cities throughout 2009 and beyond.

Once it’s available in more cities, you won’t have to spend time looking for hotspots. Compared to mobile broadband, WiMAX offers flexible service offerings. You can get a day pass or go month-to-month with no long-term contracts required. WiMAX is fast too—it offers peak download rates of about 13Mbps and up to 3Mbps upload speeds. Beyond that, our internal WiMAX options all support 802.11n. For more background on how WiMAX technology works, take a look at this Intel demo video.

US customers who order a Studio 15, 17 or Studio XPS 16 will see a WiMAX/ Wireless-N combo card option for a $60 upgrade price from the 802.11g default wireless option. Click on the screenshot below to see a larger version.

WiMAX is not the only option for future connectivity. We're also looking at a technology called Long Term Evolution (or LTE). Expect to read more about these technologies in the future. Either way, we're going to have more wireless options for customers moving forward.

It's definitely getting more interesting and as Wi-Max roll outs continue, there will be a scramble to provide more hardware for connectivity. It is always a good sign when hardware manufacturers are adding the functionality BEFORE the roll out is complete... That equals by in and a call to action for faster roll out...

As cloud spending goes up, SaaS adoption soars, netbook sales explode, we have 2/3 of the trifecta in place. Now we just need omnipresent wi-fi and BOO-YAH - It's all deadly...

With cloud computing in the enterprise we tend to think of it as being conceptual and experimental. Besides Salesforce.com they aren’t a lot of popular examples of business apps in the cloud. However, a new Gartner report says that business spending on software as a service (SaaS) will rise 22% in 2009 to $9.6 billion.

This is up from $6.6 billion spent on SaaS in 2008 and it comes in a year when overall IT spending is down 3.8% according to Gartner estimates.

See also: Why corporate IT will eventually embrace cloud computing

Sharon Mertz, research director at Gartner, said,

“The adoption of SaaS continues to grow and evolve within the enterprise application markets as tighter capital budgets in the current economic environment demand leaner alternatives … and interest for platform as a service and cloud computing grows. Adoption of the on-demand deployment model has grown for nearly a decade, but its popularity has increased significantly within the last five years. Initial concerns about security response time and service availability have diminished for many organizations. As SaaS business and computing models have matured, adoption has become more widespread.”

As the chart below from Gartner’s report shows, the most popular SaaS applications in the enterprise are content management, CRM, and ERP.

One of the fastest growing segments of the SaaS market is Office Suites, which is growing from $136 million in 2008 to $512 million in 2009. This means more companies are experimenting with solutions such as Google Apps and Zoho rather than using the standard Microsoft Office suite.

Mertz said,

“Many factors are driving adoption of SaaS, including the benefits of rapid deployment and rapid ROI, less upfront capital investment, and a decreased reliance on limited implementation resources. Greater market competition and increased focus by the ‘megavendors’ is reinforcing the legitimacy of on-demand solutions. Many enterprises are further encouraged by the fact that with SaaS, responsibility for continuous operation, backups, updates and infrastructure maintenance shifts risk and resource requirements from internal IT to vendors or service providers.”

Of course, the thing to keep in perspective is that the total 2009 IT software market is $222.6 billion (according to Gartner), so SaaS is only 4.3% of the total software market. Gartner anticipates steady — but not spectacular — growth for SaaS through 2013, when it sees the SaaS market rising to $16 billion.

Sub $250 Netbook action

Just received an email from TigerDirect offering a $239 Netbook (refurb). Just an fyi...

12" Netbooks???

Acer/Asustek are rolling out 12" "netbooks" Although the similarity is in the processor and HD size, there isn't much differentiating these offerings from small laptops and may be just a ploy to capitalize on the buzz around the term "netbooks" Thoughts???

Two major netbook players appear set to release new models with larger displays that will further blur the lines with traditional laptops.

Later this month Acer will release an Aspire One netbook with an 11.6-inch widescreen display. Acer currently sells Aspire One models with either an 8.9-inch or 10.1-inch display. A general manager for Acer in the UK described the new model in a YouTube video posted by The Register, a hardware site. The Aspire One 751 will be thinner than the current models and it will have a full-size laptop keyboard. It will start at about $560 with an Intel Atom 5-series processor, 1GB of memory, 160GB hard drive and Windows XP.

(Related: The Boy Genius Report says Acer and AT&T have struck a deal to sell the Aspire One 10-inch with a 3G data contract through Costco starting May 11–presumably at a subsidized price.)

Meanwhile, the Asia-based newswire DigiTimes reported that Asustek president Jerry Shen said his company will launch an Eee PC netbook with an 11.6-inch display later this month. Dell already sells a netbook with a 12.1-inch display, the Inspiron Mini 12.

While 10-inch netbooks have found themselves a nice niche, these larger netbooks are likely to run into stiff competition from a new class of less-costly, ultra-thin laptops based on the AMD Athlon Neo, such as the HP Pavilion dv2z, or the upcoming Intel CULV processors, such as MSI’s X-Slim series.