Sources sugggest Apple launching netbook after all

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After months of will-they, won’t-they action on the subject of an Apple netbook, the latest reports suggest that they-will is winning out. Apple is apparently working with a Taiwanese corporation, Wintek, to produce 10″ touchscreens for such a device.

The launch could be as soon as the second half of the year, and it would likely be packing a stripped-down OS, somewhere in between standard OS X and the iPhone OS. The touchscreen is almost a given, after how well multi-touch on the iPhone has gone down.

One thing that remains under question – will Apple drop the specs to match other netbook manufacturers? Or will they try and cram high-end components into a tiny shell? Apple’s never been one for making budget models of its computers, and there’s no reason why it might start now.

(via CNN Money)

RUMOUR: PSP2 won't use UMDs, and will be out in the Autumn

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Didn’t Acclaim’s chief creative officer, David Perry, pay any attention to the World War II aphorism “Loose Lips Sink Ships”? He’s been mouthing off about the PSP. He reckons it’ll come out in the autumn:

“I spoke to a developer who is working on it right now, I know this developer is already working on it, so that means they have a prototype. That would sound like a fall release to me.”

Also of interest is that the device would be free of the PSP’s proprietary UMD disc format, and would instead rely on digital downloads and connectivity with your PC for games. There’ll be space for a memory card, though, so retailers could sell games pre-loaded onto those.

It’s expected that all current PSP titles would appear on an online store, much like Nintendo’s download channel. The idea makes a lot of sense, but consoles are primarily marketed by their games. What will happen if Sony lose all the shelf space currently dedicated to the PSP?

(via Kotaku)

Dell to release smartphone, bored analysts suggest

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Let’s face it, it’s all a bit quiet in the technology world after the shock of running around Macworld and CES so soon after the festive overeating, so it’s not surprising that a few new speculations are surfacing.

Take the possibility of Dell making its own smartphone. That notion’s been around since almost the same time last year and has now resurfaced.

An analyst with Kaufman Brothers, Shaw Wu, says sources indicate that a Dell smartphone “is closer to reality than before”…

Samsung to launch second 8MP Omnia-like camera phone: the M8800?

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There’s a bit of online speculation over one of Samsung’s next mobile phones. Its model number is the M8800, but as to its actual name (the one people might more easily remember than a few letters and numbers cobbled together) — well that could be Bresson, or it could be Pixon.

With that in mind, take these specifications as tentative. The handset could have a large touchscreen (3.2-inch with 240 x 400 resolution) like the Omnia, but with an eight megapixel camera like the INNOV8