John O Connell’s Blog

In July google announced that they were working on Google Chrome OS, an open source operating system for people who spend most of their time on the web.

Google are open-sourcing the project as Chromium OS. They are doing this early, a year before Google Chrome OS will be ready for users, because they are eager to engage with partners, the open source community and developers. As with the Google Chrome browser, development will be done in the open from this point on. This means the code is free, accessible to anyone and open for contributions. The Chromium OS project includes current code base, user interface experiments and some initial designs for ongoing development. This is the initial sketch and we will color it in over the course of the next year.

via Official Google Blog: Releasing the Chromium OS open source project.

The emergence of ultracheap netbook computers has been one of a few bright spots for the PC industry over recent months. Last year, some 14 million netbooks were sold against forecasts of 5.3 million, according to research company Gartner. And at this week’s Computex industry conference in Taipei, Taiwan, computer makers and hardware manufacturers will demonstrate a host of new models and netbook-specific hardware.

Home free: The main interface for Moblin is clean and basic: it shows recent activity in the OS and upcoming appointments.

via Technology Review: Moblin: A Netbook OS to Watch.

Psion have announced that other companies are free to use the netbook name, reaching an “amicable agreement” with Intel and ending their lengthy legal battle. While the full details of that agreement are unknown, Psion have confirmed that they will be voluntarily withdrawing their “netbook” trademark registrations.

via Psion-Intel Netbook trademark fight settled – SlashGear.

When Acer announced their 11.6-inch Aspire One netbook last month, they were pretty loose on the ultraportable’s full specifications. Now the largest netbook the company offers has been listed on their German site, as the Acer Aspire One 751, confirming that Acer have used the Intel Atom Z520 processor paired with the US15W Express Chipset and up to 2GB of RAM.

via Acer Aspire One 751: 11.6-inches, Atom Z520 & May launch – SlashGear.