New GBM Team member, Truc Bui, is revving up to produce some great content here for GottaBeMobile.com (not to put any pressure on or anything) and I’m excited to see what he comes up with. I’m especially excited to see his Back To School InkShows. Want to know what he’s thinking? Give a listen to GBM Podcast #57 and you’ll get a sneak preview. We also talk about a range of other topics as well, including EverNote, Truc’s initial impressions of the HP tx2051 (can it give you a headache?), what we’re thinking might come out of IDF, HP’s new 2730p Tablet PC, and why I returned the Acer Aspire One, among other topics.

• Download GBMPodcast #57 here. (44.6MB 48.45 minutes)
• Minimalist Mobile Computing
• Returning the Acer Aspire One
• HP’s new 2730P Tablet PC
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OQO users got excited yesterday when word came from IDF that Intel was showing off an OQO running the Atom processor, but hang on just a second. OQO’s Dennis Moore is saying in the OQO forums that this isn’t a product announcment.

Folks --

Yes, indeed, that is an OQO prototype shown with an Intel(r) Atom(r) processor.  Intel is showcasing the OQO prototype in a couple of their keynotes and elsewhere at IDF because we have achieved by far the best performance with their processor in our technology demonstration.

Note that this is not a product launch or announcement, but is a demonstration of what we think an Intel Atom processor should do in a product targeting users who need the ultimate in mobile productivity, and demonstrates all the areas where OQO has led the market for years -- performance, battery life, thermals, usability, design, and form factor.  While there are other small and light devices using Intel's Atom processor, none of them comes close to the performance and productivity we are showing with this technology demonstration.

Intel selected OQO to collaborate on developing technologies that will further enhance the productivity of enterprise mobile workers and individual mobile professionals, and did so due to OQO's longstanding leadership in ultra-mobile computing.  OQO is participating in this technology demonstration to showcase leading-edge advances in ultra-mobile computing and to reinforce OQO’s leadership position in this growing market.

I hope this helps explain today's news -- a technology showcase, not an impending product announcement.

Thanks for being our customers!

-- Dennis Moore, OQO

I’m wondering if that means something else is coming down the pike?

Hat tip to jkOnTheRun

Good friend Kevin Tofel is offering a good hypothesis in his thinking about the land of NetBooks (or whatever you want to call them.) Simply put Kevin thinks that the hoops a typical out-of-the-box user has to jump through to install additional applications other than what is included by the OEM might be a big differentiator when it comes to sorting out which NetBook(s) might become popular with users. I think he’s right.

I haven’t had as much hands on time with the Acer Aspire One as Kevin has. My wife won’t let it go and our schedules are at cross purposes these days as we have two shows running in two different theatres. But, Kevin’s point is a real one for users such as my wife. While she can unbox the device, get connected and create some documents, what happens when she (or any other user) wants to add an application to the device?

I’m guessing this is going to be a boon for Microsoft once general knowledge of this starts getting around as folks will opt for the more familiar XP options. I’m also guessing that perhaps this might be some hidden subtext in Intel’s Paul Otellini’s recent comments that “you’re dealing with something that most of us wouldn't want to use.”

Here is one possible way I can see this playing out. Not only could this situation be a differentiator between different NetBooks, but it could become a key differentiator between NetBooks and the more traditional Notebook. The inclusion of XP on NetBooks could certainly mitigate that, but I can see a marketing argument being made that if you want to easily install your own apps like you can on a desktop it will cost you a little more. That would be an interesting upsell. That said, if the recent predictions of 50 million units on the market in 2012 are to be believed, I would assume that all kinds of things will be different if we are to see those kinds of numbers become real. Ease of use would certainly be one of them.

Well, this one has a few folks excited. The GigaByte M528 now has a real price of $684.99 and looks to be shipping soon from Expansys for US customers. The site says it can be ordered on request which I take to mean you plunk down your cash and you’ll get your hands on the GigaByte after Expansys does the dirty work of importing it for you. Ship date is listed on the UK site as September 17.

The price on this in early speculation has been all over the map (as high as $1131) so the below $700 price point is good news, given that last we heard was around $750. 

Via UMPCPortal

Well, I haven’t seen the Acer Aspire One since my wife unboxed it as she’s using it constantly but I doubt she’ll go as far as tnkrl who is already deep into modding Acer’s NetBook (or whatever you want to call them.)

If you want to see how to pop the Aspire One open and add a BlueTooth Module and upgrade the RAM, check out tnkgrl Mobile for pictures and video. She promises more to come, so for those of you who just drool over these sort of naked innards pics enjoy.