COMPUTER-CHINA

The new Aspire one is priced beginning at $379, although Acer did not release additional details on whether or not a premium would be charged for Windows. The device can be configured with either Windows XP Home or Linux, and rival Asus has penalized consumers for choosing Windows by forcing them to buy an Eee PC with a less sophisticated hard drive.

Buyers will also have a choice of battery. The standard battery on Aspire one can run for about three hours, but an optional six-cell battery can give up to eight hours of power.

The Aspire one is equipped with the Intel Atom processor, Linpus Linux Lite or Windows XP Home, and comes with 512 Mbytes or 1 Gbyte of RAM memory installed. Storage options include either an 8-Gbyte SSD or an 80-Gbyte internal hard drive. The Aspire one includes an 8.9-inch CrystalBrite LED backlit display.

It measures 9.8 inches x 6.7 inches x 1.14 inches and weighs a little more than two pounds, Acer said.

For communication, Acer said that the mininote comes standard with 802.11b/g WiFi, but will also be configured with 3G connectivity and and WiMAX later this year, most likely after the delayed "Montevina" Centrino platform hits the streets. The Aspire one also includes a Webcam. A 5-in-1 card reader is included, with a technology that apparently turns a memory card into an additional memory cache.

The Aspire one will be released in sapphire blue, seashell white, golden brown and coral pink.

Beware, however, for the Aspire one also comes with shovelware: dditional software such as OpenOffice 2.3, one Mail, Messenger, Acer eRecovery Management, Acer Launch Manager, Adobe Reader, McAfee Internet Security Suite, and Microsoft Office Trial 2007 are also preinstalled, Acer said.

The Aspire one joins the Acer's upgraded Eee PCs and the MSI Wind as new notebooks announced at this year's Computex. Aspire one will ship globally and hit store shelves in July.

The Fusion chips will be made using SOI, Bergman said.

Much speculation has surrounded Advanced Micro Devices' manufacturing plans for its upcoming Fusion family of processors and whether these chips could be produced under contract. But a senior executive said on Tuesday that AMD plans to manufacture the first chips itself.

The first Fusion processors will be made at AMD's chip plant in Dresden, Germany, said Rick Bergman, senior vice president and general manager of AMD's Graphics Products Group, during an interview.

"There are some lower-end models that we're considering that we might use the fabless model for," Bergman said, indicating the production of these chips would be outsourced.

Due in late 2009, Fusion chips will combine processor cores, a memory controller and graphics cores on a single piece of silicon. Current AMD processors have the processor cores and memory controller on the same chip. Adding a graphics core to these chips is technically challenging, in part because AMD's existing microprocessors and graphics chips are made using different technology.

AMD's graphics chips are made by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. using a bulk CMOS (complementary metal oxide semiconductor) process, while the processors are made by AMD and Chartered Semiconductor using SOI (silicon-on-insulator) technology.

These systems should start appearing in the second half of 2008 and will be priced between approximately $300 and $400, matching the cost of most lower-priced micro laptop computers. Whether any such systems will be available in the US is unknown, as most major PC makers including Acer, ASUS, Dell, and HP are all using either Intel or VIA processors.

AMD is working with PC builders to offer its own answer to a slew of micro laptop computers based on Intel chips, visitors to AMD's booth at Computex have found today. While specifications are unclear, a number of companies are building systems using low-power Turion 64 processors as well as AMD's integrated ATI Radeon for graphics. Systems will follow a similar pattern and use Linux with lower-end systems and Windows on some higher-end models. One company, Malata, has been identified as making one system and will include an unknown AMD chip as well as 1GB of memory, an 8.9-inch screen and Linux. A high-end system from an unspecified manufacturer shrinks the screen to seven inches but boosts the resolution to 1024x600 (incorrectly identified as 1280x600), uses a 60GB or 80GB hard drive, and runs Windows XP.

Acer is in weekly talks with Intel about the shortage, Wong said.

"If Intel can solve it by October, then no problem," Shen said.

The Intel Centrino Atom Processor Technology, which Intel launched Tuesday at the Computex exhibition in Taipei, is designed for low-cost laptops and desktops. Encouraged by the success of Asustek's Eee PC, more hardware makers have designed new products based on the chips.

The Windows version features XP Home, a 1.6GHz Intel Intel Centrino Atom Processor Technology CPU on the Intel 945GMS chipset, 1GB of 667MHz memory, and an 80GB hard drive. The laptop weighs 2.6 pounds and has a 10-inch display, which is LED backlit with a 1024x600 resolution. Bluetooth and 802.11b/g Wi-Fi are onboard, as is a 1.3-megapixel Webcam, three USB ports, and a 4-in-1 media card reader. The 6-cell battery is rated to run for 5.5 hours.

On Monday, Asustek Computer CEO Jerry Shen said shortages and delays of Intel Centrino Atom Processor Technology will not seriously affect Eee PC shipments, but warned that the issue could grow more serious as the important pre-holiday shipment season starts later in the year.

The current shortage of Intel Centrino Atom Processor Technology processors did not hurt the launch of Acer's Aspire one laptop, but the company is watching developments closely, said Jim Wong, senior corporate vice president at the Taiwanese computer vendor.

The Intel Centrino Atom Processor Technology shortage was caused by this high level of demand for the chips from hardware makers, said Sean Maloney, executive vice president and general manager of Intel's Sales and Marketing Group, in an interview.

"We've got four 300-millimeter fabs, so we can really hose this stuff out," Maloney said, referring to Intel manufacturing plants that use 300mm silicon wafers to make chips. Around 2,500 Intel Centrino Atom Processor Technology processors can be made on a single 300mm wafer.