O2 launches into growing laptop market
O2 today unveiled its plans to enter the laptop market with a promise to couple market-leading home and mobile broadband with impressive devices and excellent customer service. With laptop sales expected to reach 9-10 million devices in 2009, O2 is ranging Samsung laptops to create exclusive packages that will give customers everything they need to be more connected, with minimum fuss and hassle.
O2 will introduce three new Pay Monthly deals, available online and at its 490 stores nationwide, on 27 February 2009. With broadband bundles set to take a large proportion of the overall laptop market within three years, O2 is entering this market in a strong position with an all-round package that will meet the consumer needs of style, substance, staying power, service and security head-on.
O2 CEO, Ronan Dunne, highlighted the great opportunity presented by the market today: "We all want to be better connected at all times and the substantial and continued growth in the laptop market is symptomatic of this desire. Laptops are rapidly eroding the desktop PC market and at the same time, the emergence of the mini-laptop has opened up a whole new market for ultra-portable devices – one that is expected to more than double in size in 2009 alone. To date, the subsidised laptop market has received some bad press due to poor equipment and frustrating customer service experiences. O2 is stepping into the market with a promise to turn this around by taking a holistic approach to the product offer. Our package ticks every box when it comes to the main purchase drivers in the market, which in turn means we are taking away the 'worry-factor' involved in buying a laptop."
O2's laptop package is designed to give customers everything they want at a price that they will love:
Style – Samsung's NC10 mini-laptop and R510 laptop models combine great design with looks for the ultimate in laptop style.
Substance – with strong specifications and great performance, Samsung's NC10 mini-laptop and R510 model deliver on functionality too.
Staying Power – Samsung's solid specifications deliver staying power and assure customers that their choice of device will meet their computing needs for years to come, rather than just months.
Service – Recognising the 'worry factor' that many consumers have when looking to buy a laptop, O2 will offer customers expert sales advice to meet their needs. This includes O2 Laptop Support at no additional cost for a limited period to help get them up and running, with a chargeable option to extend this cover, O2 Assistant software to allow computers to be fixed remotely and award-winning UK based customer service. In addition O2 is offering a 30-day Happiness Guarantee on all laptops and an extended two-year warranty on all devices at no extra cost.
Security – McAfee software to ensure customers feel secure online.
"The growth in the laptop market is clear to see and we want to be a part of it. But we want to ensure that our customers get a better experience, not just when they buy the package but throughout the duration of their contract with us. Our two year warranty and 30-day Happiness Guarantee are market leading and show our continued commitment to providing great service," adds Dunne.
"Our bundle packages, unique amongst those currently on the market, provide customers with everything they need and we are confident they will move people away from traditional laptop providers and into our stores."
Customers can purchase O2's new laptop packages at any of the 490 stores across the UK or by visiting our online shop at
www.o2.co.uk from 27 February 2009.
Labels: laptop, mobile broadband, netbook, o2
New laptops from Orange mobile broadband
Orange has announced new products in its mobile broadband portfolio, with two new laptops in its consumer "connected" range and a new dongle with data storage capacity.
The new devices are the HP Compaq Mini 700 and the Toshiba L300 that will both be available on 24 month contracts. The HP Compaq Mini 700 is a 10.1-inch netbook and will cost £30 per month whilst the Toshiba L300, a 15.4-inch full size laptop, will be available at £35 per month.
Both the HP Compaq Mini 700 and the Toshiba L300 come with Orange's "Internet Everywhere" mobile broadband service and dongle, as well as a 3GB monthly data allowance and 24 month manufacturer warranty.
In addition, Orange has announced the availability of the Huawei E160e dongle in black, white and pink that offers support for an 8GB microSD card.
As soon as these deals are available we'll
bring you details here.
Labels: dongle, laptop, mobile broadband, netbook, offers, Orange
Asus reveals EeePC with 9.5Hr battery life
Asustek on Monday introduced an Eee PC netbook that the company claims offers a faster Intel Atom processor with the ability to run 9.5 hours on a single battery charge.
According to Asustek's promo site, the 1000HE is powered by an Intel Atom N280, which has slightly better performance than the previous N270 chip. In addition, the chip consumes a maximum of 2.5 watts, which contributes to the longer battery along with an LED backlit LCD screen.
The system has a keyboard that's 92% the size of a standard keyboard and sports a 10-inch display. The machine weighs 1.4Kg and ships with Bluetooth, 802.11n Wi-Fi support and a 160GB hard disk drive.
The new mini-laptop includes Asus' Super Hybrid Engine, which allows people to control the CPU to lower performance to conserve power. To achieve 9.5 hours of battery life, the user would likely have to lower CPU performance, dim the screen, and turn off the system's Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and camera, according to the gadget blog Gizmodo.
Labels: netbook, quick-news
New Acer Aspire 10" Netbook
Acer announced details of their new 10-inch Aspire One on Friday; a netbook that has Windows XP as the operating system and a 160GB hard disk drive (HDD) for storage. The original Aspire One, which had an 8.9-inch screen, comes with a choice of XP or a Linux distribution called Linpus, and the option of a solid-state drive (SSD) or an HDD and Acer have confirmed that similar choice of OS will be offered on the new version. The netbook, which will launch in mid-February and cost around £299.
Labels: acer, netbook, quick-news
Netbook sales to reach 139 million units
Shipments of mini-laptops are expected to quadruple over the next four years, luring users with the right combination of size, price, and functionality, a research firm said Monday.
Mini-laptops, also called netbooks, are expected to grow in popularity mostly because of the failure of smaller mobile Internet devices (MIDs) and smartphones to deliver sufficient functionality to satisfy computer users on the road.
"In recent years, the industry still expected the smartphones to be more than they turned out to be, and most recently, MIDs were thought to be the next big mobile devices segment, but an unclear usage model continues to confuse the market," ABI analyst Kevin Burden said in a statement. "So today, netbooks' time has come, and ABI Research expects them to enjoy very strong market growth."
Smartphones, however, did a lot to pave the way for netbooks. The devices, which began as a convergence of personal digital assistants and cellular phones, introduced consumers to what was possible in mobile communications and Web access, ABI said.
ABI isn't alone in projecting strong growth in the netbook market, joining Gartner and IDC. However, the mini-laptops, which sell for as little as £180, have also had their problems with consumers. The rate of return for the devices has been higher than standard notebooks, primarily because of a failure to meet performance expectations.
Biz360, a market intelligence firm, found that netbooks get a 40% lower rating from consumers than other laptops. The findings were based on an analysis of 20,000 online opinions culled from consumer reviews on retail sites between May 15 and Nov. 15.
While vendors often portray netbooks as offering strong performance, the systems' low-power processors are best suited for basic computing needs, such as e-mail and Web browsing.
This report contradicts the
views of AMD that we reported last week. Honestly, we believe AMD are more accurate in their predictions.
See the full range of netbook and notebook deals currently available with mobile brodband.
Labels: industry insight, laptop, mobile broadband, netbook
Netbooks - Notebooks, Netbooks - Notebooks, Netbooks - Notebooks
Advanced Micro Devices' (AMD) chief executive predicts that Netbooks will eventually disappear.
"The distinction between what is a Netbook and what is a notebook is going to go away," AMD CEO Dirk Meyer said on Thursday in the company's earnings conference call.
"Given the way Netbooks are configured today, consumers who want a notebook at those kind of (low) price points have to compromise and as a result don't enjoy a full PC experience, particularly around the graphics and media capability of the machine," Meyer said. "And likewise people who wanted a thin and light machine had to pay a lot of money, typically well over a thousand dollars."
Upcoming inexpensive ultra-thin notebooks will meet the need for a small, thin, lightweight laptop that is more powerful than a Netbook, Meyer said.
See the full range of netbook and notebook deals currently available with mobile brodband.
Labels: laptop, mobile broadband, netbook, quick-news
12 great Vodafone mobile broadband bargains!
Vodafone have just released a range of 12 fantastic mobile broadband offers - some including a Dell Netbook into the bargain! There's some really good discounts available so don't miss out:
Deal 1: USB Modem Stick Pro£10 for the first 3 months, £15 thereafter
3 GB of data
24 month agreement
Buy or find out more...
Deal 2: USB Modem Stick Pro£15 for the first 3 months, £25 thereafter
5 GB of data
24 month agreement
Buy or find out more...
Deal 3: USB Modem Stick£15 a month
3 GB of data
12 month agreement
Buy or find out more...
Deal 4: Dell Netbook£15 a month for the first 3 months, £30 thereafter
3 GB of data
24 month agreement
Buy or find out more...
Deal 5: USB Modem Stick£25 a month
5 GB of data
18 month agreement
Buy or find out more...
Deal 6: USB Modem Stick£15
3 GB of data
18 month agreement
Buy or find out more...
Deal 7: USB Modem Stick£25 a month
5 GB of data
24 month agreement
Buy or find out more...
Deal 8: USB Modem Stick£15 amonth
3 GB of data
24 month agreement
Buy or find out more...
Deal 9: USB Modem Stick£25 a month
5 GB of data
24 month agreement
Buy or find out more...
Deal 10: USB Modem Stick Pro£15
3 GB of data
12 month agreement
Buy or find out more...
Deal 11: USB Modem Stick Pro£15
3 GB of data
18 month agreement
Buy or find out more...
Deal 12: Dell Netbook£12.50 a month for the first 3 months, £25 thereafter
1 GB of data
24 month agreement
Buy or find out more...
Click here for more great Vodafone mobile broadband deals.
Labels: mobile broadband, netbook, offers, Vodafone
Dell offer 256GB Solid State Drives
Dell is doing its part to usher in the age of the super-sized solid-state drive. For the first time, Dell laptops can be configured with the newest large-capacity SSDs from Samsung. A year ago laptop buyers were stuck with 64GB maximum if they wanted SDD.
What a difference a year makes. On Friday, Dell quadrupled this to 256GB. The Samsung SSD is now available as an option on Dell's XPS M1330 and M1730 laptop lines. Apple announced a 256GB SSD option on its MacBook Pro on 6th January.
Labels: industry insight, laptop, netbook, quick-news
Ericsson and Intel to bring theft protection to Mobile Broadband laptops
Ericsson announced that it is collaborating with Intel to ensure that Ericsson's Mobile Broadband Modules are interoperable with Intel® Anti-Theft PC Protection Technology for notebooks to offer a secure and reliable anti-theft solution for mobile broadband users.
A theft management service residing in the network can send a message via SMS to the mobile broadband module inside the notebook, which securely transfers the message to Intel's Anti-Theft function inside the processor platform, which takes appropriate actions, such as completely locking the computer, making it unusable. When the notebook is located and recovered, an unlock message can be sent to the notebook that makes the data accessible again.
Intel Anti-Theft Technology provides an intelligent mechanism built into the processor platform that detects potential theft situations and responds according to IT policies. Anti-Theft PC Protection technology can be programmed to respond to repeated login failures and expiration of a timer that requires regularly scheduled connection to a central server. The theft management service can also take advantage of built-in Global Positioning System (GPS) technology in the Ericsson mobile broadband module, which can send location data to a central server. The location function can be utilized to determine a theft situation when the notebook is moved outside a pre-defined area - a so called geo-fence - to locate a lost notebook.
The solution will be available in commercial data protection products starting second half of 2009.
Labels: laptop, mobile broadband, netbook, quick-news
Sony Vaio P series netbook - only for the wealthy!
Sony have joined the 'netbook' market with their new Vaio P series announced at
CES this week.
A nice looking machine but we've just discovered that the UK version of Sony's baby Vaio will be £849 with VAT for the base 1.33GHz Atom and 60GB HDD spec P11Z/Q.
If you want SSD then it'll be a staggering £969 after tax. And that's just for the P19WN/Q Vaio with the same 1.33GHz Atom Z520 processor and a 60GB SSD. If you want to move up to the premium P19VN/Q with a 1.6GHz Atom Z530 inside and a larger 128GB SSD, you'll have to fork out an incredible £1,368.99, with the VAT.
Many loyal 'Sony-ites' will be used to paying a premium for Sony products, but close to a grand for a 1.3GHz Atom netbook and £400 more to move up to a processor that's now standard on virtually every other £300 netbook - too expensive surely!?
Someone has already had a look inside one of these things!
Click here for alternative netbook deals.
Labels: laptop, netbook
