Fully Equipped

Concept art for an Apple touch-screen Netbook.

(Credit: Gizmodo)

According to various rumors and reports, Apple's got a new slate-style Netbook in the works that may be announced as soon as next month. While we have no confirmation from Apple--or anybody else--that such a product really exists, that doesn't mean we can't do a little market survey and ask you what the thing should be called.

If the rumors are at all on target, the final product will look something like a jumbo iPod Touch. However, what's interesting is that such a PC would most likely be a crossover product for Apple and straddle several product families, includes iPods, MacBooks, and maybe even Apple TV. So, is it part of one of those families or a whole new category unto itself?

Only time will tell, but for now you can cast your vote in our poll of popular candidates or write in your own choice in the comments section. We strongly doubt we'll have any influence whatsoever over Apple's decision, but, hey, people at Apple do read CNET. At least a couple do anyway.

In a recent MarketWatch article on Microsoft's struggling Zune portable media player, reporter John Letzing got an interesting quote from George Kurian, a vice president at Tradition Capital Management LLC, which owns Microsoft shares.

"Microsoft should abandon Zune and follow Apple's strategy to try to make its presence felt in the high-growth smartphone sector," Kurian said. He then went on to suggest that the easiest way for Microsoft to do that would be to buy Palm.

Palm and Microsoft have hooked up before, so why not quit fooling around and really tie the knot?

(Credit: Sprint)

"Microsoft might pay tens of billions of dollars for Yahoo; it could pick up Palm instead for just $1 billion or $2 billion and then spend several hundred million more on transforming the Pre's user interface into a mobile OS that can run on phones made by multiple vendors," Manjoo wrote. "Microsoft would also gain a loyal Palm audience--and a base of developers looking to create apps for the device. And then Microsoft would have money left over to buy other software companies--start-ups and established firms that power the next generation of devices, or that are pioneers in the selling online software to companies."

More recently, Gary Marshall over at Techradar.com took a whack at why Microsoft should ante up for Palm. He pointed out that buying Palm "would bring the Pre's designers to Windows Phone, and it would annoy Steve Jobs, too" because the Pre team includes Jon Rubenstein, former vice president of Apple's iPod division, and former Apple developers' champion Chuq Von Rospach. Also, in the same article, Andrew Kitson, senior analyst with Juniper Research, said that a WebOS-powered smartphone would be a nice item to sell in Microsoft's forthcoming retail stores.

What's interesting about this growing cry for Microsoft to buy Palm is that a lot of people seem to be rather dismissive of Microsoft's own smartphone operating system, Windows Mobile. ... Read more

The iPod Classic may be an endangered species.

(Credit: Apple)

If you've read the stories on Apple's latest earnings, you may have noticed that Apple Chief Financial Officer Peter Oppenheimer took the time to break out the sales of each model in the iPod franchise, which is seeing year-over-year declines for the first time in its history. In her piece, our own Erica Ogg wrote:

"During the third quarter, Apple sold 10.2 million iPods, compared with 11 million a year ago. It turns out that the shifting appeal of the Shuffle, Nano, and Classic model iPods are to blame. But Apple apparently saw this coming." She then goes on to quote Oppenheimer, who says those declining sales are "the reason we developed the iPod Touch. We expect our traditional MP3 players to decline over time as we cannibalize ourselves with iPod Touch and iPhone."

As rumors continue to circulate that Apple will introduce new iPod models this fall (as it traditionally has), the big question is whether the iPod Classic becomes the odd iPod out. In a recent MP3 Insider podcast, CNET editor Donald Bell points out that orders for new Samsung hard drives that would go into an updated Classic appear to be nonexistent, according to Ars Technica and Apple Insider. And shortly after the earnings were posted, TechCrunch writer MG Seigler asked whether the iPod as we know it is dying.

The prevailing bet among iPod followers is that the Classic may stick around for a little while, but it probably won't be upgraded and will be quietly put out to pasture. ... Read more

The iPhone's new video capture and sharing may be a double-edged sword for YouTube.

(Credit: Apple)

With the introduction of the the new iPhone 3G S, one of the features iPhone aficionados are most excited about is the addition of video recording. Never mind that this feature has been available in a lot of other cell phones for a while; the point is, it's finally here, and that's a good thing, especially when Apple has taken the pocket camcorder concept to a whole new level with the integration of some basic onboard editing tools, geotagging, and, most importantly, a wireless distribution system that allows you to easily share your iPhone clips via e-mail, MMS, or by uploading them directly to YouTube (and MobileMe) with a touch of a button (see Apple's demo).

On the surface, this would appear to be excellent news for YouTube and should rather frighten Flip Video, which has seen its YouTube-friendly pocket camcorders take a nice chunk of the camcorder market (recent sales figures indicate that digital pocket models like the Flip, the Creative Vado HD, and the Kodak Zx1, have captured over 25 percent of the camcorder market in the U.S.). ... Read more

I usually follow a simple rule when it comes to consumer electronics: I avoid buying any first-generation products. That doesn't mean I haven't ever done it, but I tend to wait for generation two or three before I plunk down my dough, particularly when it comes to heavily hyped stuff.

As I've written before, I'm a prime candidate to buy the Palm Pre. I'm a Sprint customer who has a contract conveniently expiring in June and I have a phone (the Mogul) that's on its last legs. Ideally, the Pre would cost $50 less and not have a mail-in rebate, but at least Sprint didn't price the thing at a pure $299, as I'm sure it would have preferred to do. Pricing aside, the biggest hurdle I'm facing is the fact that the Palm Pre is a first-gen phone--and platform--and I'm really not a first-gen guy.

By contrast, the iPhone will be on its third generation and its platform is already fairly mature. We'll find out exactly how the new third-generation iPhone specs out at next week's WWDC event, but it's safe to assume that many of the small, nagging kinks that were found in earlier editions of the iPhone will have been ironed out. I don't expect it to be perfect (no phone ever will be, because there's always something better around the corner), but I feel pretty good about getting a lot more iPhone for my $199 than those who purchased the original non-3G model (which was originally $599--with contract!) or even the iPhone 3G.

Sometimes, of course, a brand new product can come along that's so far ahead of the pack that even the introductory version is too tempting to avoid. ... Read more

Laptop Hunter Sheila finds fault with the 15-inch MacBook Pro.

(Credit: Microsoft)

As we all know, Microsoft has been running its Laptop Hunters series of ads knocking Apple for the high price of its laptops and the features you get for the money. Our laptop editor, Dan Ackerman, regularly gives high marks to Apple's wares, and the company's 13-inch MacBook sits at the top of our Best 5 laptops list. In short, we're pretty happy with what Apple has to offer. But as good as its laptops are, Windows-based PCs do have a few leading-edge features not found in MacBooks.

Here's the list we came up with:

• Blu-ray: Whether you think it's a worthwhile feature or not, no Macs currently offer a Blu-ray drive. Last year, Steve Jobs referred to Blu-ray and its licensing process as a "bag of hurt," but recent rumors suggest that Apple may make a Blu-ray announcement at its World Wide Developers Conference next month. We'll have to wait and see whether it applies to notebooks.
• Memory card slots: In our book, being able to toss a memory card from your digital camera or camcorder into your notebook is a big convenience. We're seeing this on more Windows machines and it should be a standard feature across all laptops.
• HDMI out: Apple has gone with a Mini DisplayPort, which doesn't carry sound, instead of standard HDMI. (A Mini DisplayPort-to-HDMI adapter is available for about $20, but that's just another thing you have to carry around). Premium notebooks should feature an HDMI port so you can easily connect to an HDTV sans adapter.
• Biometric security: This is better known as fingerprint recognition. The ThinkPad I'm typing this on has built-in biometric security. No Macs offer this feature.
• WWAN mobile broadband support: A handful but growing number of Windows machines offer built-in connectivity to cellular data networks (naturally, there's a fee involved for service). AT&T and Verizon are offering discounted Netbooks with built-in high-speed data connectivity as those companies try to apply the cell phone model to laptops.
• More USB ports: This one is definitely at the bottom of the list, but it's worth mentioning that many Windows notebooks now come with three USB ports. The MacBook and MacBook Pro only have two, and the Macbook Air only has one. This can become an issue if you opt to use one of the USB ports for a cellular data accessory (no new Macs have a PC card slot, though MacBook Pros do offer the newer and arguably superior ExpressCard slot).

Plastic Logic has be showing off a larger form factor e-reader--but Amazon may get to market first.

(Credit: Plastic Logic)

Rumors have been circulating for a while that Amazon has a larger form factor Kindle in the works--and we may get a first look at it as soon as this week, according to sources who spoke with The New York Times.

Initially, a lot of the chatter around a new jumbo Kindle was focused on the textbook market. But in recent months, as more newspapers and magazines have become threatened with extinction, these larger e-readers--which also include models from Plastic Logic and News Corp.--have increasingly been pitched as digital saviors for old-media companies looking for what the Times calls "electronic life preservers."

The Times didn't specifically refer to itself as one of the companies requiring such a preserver, but it is expected to be featured in the introduction of the new Amazon device along with other major newspapers and magazines that are already available on the Kindle e-readers for a monthly fee.

Clearly, it's that ability to charge a fee and the potential cost savings of a paperless platform that makes digital readers so attractive to newspapers and magazines. As the Times and other have pointed out, publishers could "save millions on the cost of printing and distributing their publications, at precisely a time when their businesses are under historic levels of pressure."

But there are some inherent problems with shifting paper readers over to e-readers. ... Read more

Sprint's service plans for the Pre appear to be very similar to those of the iPhone, which means it's highly likely Sprint will release the Pre at $199 ($299 would be suicide). Sprint has already announced that individual Pre plans will come in three flavors: you'll pay $69.99 per month for 450 minutes, $89.99 per month for 900 minutes, or $99.99 per month for unlimited talk, with each plan including unlimited data. Meanwhile, the iPhone's base plan currently starts at $69.99 with 450 minutes and unlimited data. AT&T's 900-minute plan goes for $89.99. Where you save with Sprint is if you go with the unlimited plan, which currently costs $30 more with AT&T. (None of these prices includes taxes, of course).

Personally, that doesn't sound all that enticing. As I wrote recently, I'm a Sprint customer who owns a Windows Mobile phone (the Mogul) and has a two-year contract that expires in June. I should also point out that my current service plan (with unlimited data) is about $15 less than what a new plan with the Pre would cost me.

Call me crazy, but I actually like Sprint and would prefer not to switch because I think it's a better carrier than people give it credit for (and there's no great love out there for AT&T). I also appreciate that I don't have to worry--at least not yet--about restrictions on tethering (using my Mogul as a modem) or streaming my Slingbox to the phone using Sprint's 3G (and soon 4G) network.

But facts are facts and numbers are numbers. Why would I buy a first-gen Pre over a third-gen iPhone with a huge, mature App Store if their prices and cost of ownership were identical outside the "unlimited" plan? I don't hate AT&T that much (my wife actually has a BlackBerry Curve from AT&T) and while I've been a loyal Sprint subscriber for more than 10 years, I'm not that loyal.

Nobody is. Which is why Sprint will get some switchers during the period (through 2009) that it has an exclusive on the Pre. There are still hardcore Palm fans out there and lots of iPhone haters. But at $199, I don't think you're looking at game-changing numbers, especially if AT&T counters by lowering the price on the 16GB iPhone--or lowering the price for its unlimited plan.

The Pre at $149.99 may not be a game changer for Sprint either. But at least $149.99 gives it a fighting chance.

What do you think?

On Thursday, Microsoft started running new anti-Mac ads that are designed to take a serious poke at the one spot where Apple has traditionally been vulnerable: pricing.

All you have to do is shop for a computer to know that Macs are more expensive than Windows machines on a spec-by-spec basis. But when you buy an Apple PC, you willfully know you're paying a little extra--or sometimes a lot extra--for an Apple-designed product.

Apple fans will tell you that Apple PCs are not only slicker-looking but that they're also built better, last longer, and run a better operating system. In other words, you're not just paying the Apple premium for looks, but also for brains and brawn.

If you're a Windows fan, it's nice to see that Microsoft is finally fighting back with an effective argument after getting shoved around badly in Apple ads in recent years. But there's some interesting subtext to the ad, which follows Lauren, a very Apple-looking gal (not to stereotype or anything, but she's got that whole artsy thing going on) as she tries to buy a 17-inch laptop for less than a grand and ends up with a Hewlett-Packard PC for $699 (good luck carrying that thing around).

The key point for me in the ad is when she says, "I'm just not cool enough to be a Mac person." Perhaps I'm reading too much into it, but I get the feeling that Microsoft is trying to to tap into this wider notion that it's uncool to be ostentatious these days.

In other words, if you're buying a Mac, you have too much money on your hands (i.e., you got a bonus while everybody else didn't). In fact, you should feel a little guilty for overspending--and buying from Apple--in these tough times.

Translation: It's no longer cool to be cool for the sake of being cool. But it's cool to be cheap and utilitarian.

Comments?