COMPUTER-CHINA

Microsoft has further extended the life of Windows XP so that computer makers can include the operating system on low-cost desktop PCs, the company announced at the Computex trade show on Tuesday.

The Eee PCs 901 is on the market in Taiwan as of Tuesday, while the Eee PCs 1000H will be out on June 13 and the Eee PCs 1000 will come out sometime in early June, according to Asustek. Later this month, the three new Eee PCs will be available in Hong Kong, Japan and Korea as well as other locations in Asia.

Later this year, the new mini-notebook computers will be available in Europe, an Asustek representative said. No time was given for North or South America.

Several new rivals to Asustek Computer's popular Eee PCs low-cost have launched so far at Computex this year, but Asustek fired back on Tuesday with new models based on Intel's Atom microprocessor.

Atom was designed to be a low-cost chip aimed at this growing segment of mini-notebook computers, which have 7-inch to 10-inch screens, weigh less than 1 kilogram (2.2 pounds) and connect wirelessly to the Internet. The microprocessor is also easy on batteries.

Asustek has taken full advantage of Atom's power efficiency in its new Eee PCs 901, Eee PCs 1000 and Eee PCs 1000H mini-notebook computers, putting six-cell batteries in each for eight hours of running time. The company used Intel Celeron M processors in past Eee PCs.

The main difference in the new notebook computers is size. The Eee PCs 901 has an 8.9-inch screen, weighs around 1 kilogram and has a small keypad. The Eee PCs 1000 and Eee PCs 1000H carry 10-inch screens, larger keyboards and weigh between 1.3 to 1.5 kilograms, depending on whether a user chooses an SSD (solid state drive) or HDD (hard disk drive) for storage. The H in Eee PCs 1000H stands for HDD, the 80G byte storage drive inside.

The Eee PCs 1000 and 1000H are also a bit more expensive. While prices will vary by market, in Taiwan, the Eee PCs 1000, which runs on Linux only and carries a 40G byte SDD, costs NT$19,988 (US$662), compared to NT$18,988 (US$628) for the 1000H, which comes with either Linux or Windows XP. The Eee PCs 901 also comes with Linux or Windows XP, carries 1G byte of DRAM and either a 12G byte or 20G byte SSD for storage. It costs NT$16,988 (US$562).

Senior veep of Sandisk's SSD division stated his love for the so-called ultra low-cost PCs (ULCPC) market.

SanDisk Corp, the world's No.1 supplier of flash memory-based data storage cards, said it would target ultra low-cost personal computers and business-use notebook computer PCs to drive demand for its solid-state drives.

Solid-state drives, semiconductor-based memory devices that use NAND flash memory chips, are seen as a promising alternative to hard disk drives used in notebook computer PCs as they are more shock-resistant and consume less power.

But the rising popularity of smaller, cheaper PCs -- designed primarily for accessing the Internet, and which do not require a large memory -- is set to boost the market for flash memory-based drives, SanDisk said.

"There are more and more companies that have joined in to make such notebook computers for a second computer for many people," Doreet Oren, director of SanDisk's product marketing, told Reuters at Computex on Tuesday.

SanDisk plans to launch solid-state drives with 4-, 8-, and 16-gigabyte capacities for ultra-low cost PCs this year. Prices were not available.

Oren said another promising growth area for solid-state drives is business-use notebook computer PCs.

"They don't want high capacity for their employees. They don't want them loading games, movies and their own personal music," Oren said.

"That's why, for them, lower capacity is actually attractive."

However, it will take more time for prices of solid state drive-equipped notebook computer PCs with bigger memory capacity levels to come down to affordable levels for many consumers.

"Based on consumer response to some of the first ULCPCs, these devices are quickly developing a popular following. Our new pSSDs are enablers for manufacturers to create what could become the next wave of personal and portable computing devices."

The drives are expected to roll out in August, when SanDisk will also start talking price. Considering the drives are destined for computers under the $500 range, they shouldn't be breaking the bank.

The SSDs will be available in 4GB, 8GB, and 16GB capacities — certainly not record-breakers, but the case-less memory module is only 3mm tall and has only one-tenth the weight of a typical 1.8" HDD.

Computex, which is being held in Taipei this week, is the world's second-biggest computer show.

"We expect this market is going to take off and be the primary market this year and the next," Oren said.

She declined to give solid-state drive sales targets.

Toshiba Corp plans to launch a notebook computer equipped with a 128-gigabyte solid-state drive this month. The electronics maker expects the notebook computer PC to sell for about 400,000 yen ($3,830), compared with an estimated 300,000 yen for a comparable hard disk drive model.

SanDisk's pSSD offering (the 'p' stands for a PATA interface) will use Flash multi-level and single-level cell technology, with sustained read speeds up to 39MB/s and write speeds up to 17MB/s. The pSSDs support both Linux and Windows XP operating systems.

A move toward solid-state drives poses a threat to hard drive makers such as Seagate Technology.

The high cost of solid-state drives compared to hard disk drives with the same memory capacity has until now hindered PC makers' shift to the flash-based drives.

The drives are being fabbed at plants in Yokkaichi, Japan, with partner Toshiba sharing the output. Both companies have co-developed the designs for their NAND flash products.

buy computer


Description:

Intel Celeron D 347, 3.06GHz, 64bit, 533MHz FSB, 256K L2 Cache
512M DDR
80G 7200RPM SATA
128M single VGA card
16xDVD
Integrated network card /Optical mouse
19" wide LCD monitor (5ms response time)
2.0 multimedia speaker Computer

Contact Information
Founder Technology Group Corp.
Founder Technology Group Corporation, listing on the mainland stock market (600601) is one of the most influential listing hi-tech enterprises in China.

Founder Technology Group, with our specialized manufacturing production base, efficient enterprise management platform and strong R&D institutions, has successfully maintained a good tendency of development relying on our strategies of steady operation, moderate expansion and stable growth. As our leading products, Founder computers have been honored by our government as "Chinese Famous Brands" and "National Inspection-Free Product" and ranked as the top two PC products for six years on Chinese market. Our annual output of PC in 2006 reached 3,000,000 sets and ranked the fourth in Asia-Pacific Area.

Founder Technology Group has many factories in China, including two large PC and one large monitor production bases. Our PC factories are in Dongguan and Suzhou cities, producing PCs, notebooks and servers. A workshop of 170,000 square meters, 18 assembly lines with annual production capacity of 8,000,000 pieces, modern and advanced production facilities and rigorous quality-inspecting system make it the biggest PC manufacturer in China. Our monitor factory is in Shenzhen City, producing CRT monitors, LCD monitors/wide screen LCD monitors and LCD TVs.

With all these advantages, we can supply you all superior PC products under ODM or OEM. Besides, all types of motherboards, RAM, CD-RAM, FDD, HDD, LAN cards and modem cards, cases, keyboards, mice and power supply are available, and PC parts are for our client's different requirements.

Founder, the world's Founder, is your best choice in China!

more

China is the largest 3G mobile phone market in the world, with 583.5 million users at the end of April, according to figures from the Ministry of Industry and Information.

Benjamin Tan, director of Microsoft’s Mobile Communications Business in China, said the company is also teaming up with local retailer D.Phone to open retail stores in China selling various phones using the Windows Mobile software.

Microsoft has opened nine such stores with D.Phone since October 2007 and plans to open a total of 50 by July of 2009.

In addition, Microsoft has opened 21 retail outlets selling 3G mobile phones with electronics distributor Digital China Holdings Ltd.

The retail stores represent a new sales model tailored to the China market, where most consumers buy their phones and operator subscriptions separately.

“Greater China is different from North U.S and Europe. Operators are not as involved in promoting phones to consumers,” Tan said.

Demand for advanced smartphones that carry the Windows Mobile operating system will be boosted in China by the introduction of third-generation wireless services, which allow a higher-speed mobile connection, Tan said.

The Internet habits of China consumers show they are particularly well-suited to take advantage of the faster connection speeds that a 3G phone would provide.

For instance, 80 percent of China consumers use the Internet for streaming media, the highest percentage in the world, while less than 50 percent use the Internet for email, Tan said.

“The China do not have the same legacy that almost holds back other markets from broad adoption of the latest technology, and we believe that when fast connections are available on 3G mobile phones this will carry over very naturally,” Tan said.

Over the weekend, China announced a restructuring of its telecommunications industry that will merge six telecom companies into three. Once the restructuring is complete, the government will issue licenses for 3G services.

MICROSOFT Corp. expects sales of 3G mobile phones with its software in China boom up in the next fiscal year beginning July from close to 2 million units estimated for the year ending June 30, a company executive said yesterday.

more COMPUTER information