The Proliferation of Linux

The first public release of Ubuntu Mobile Internet Device (MID) Edition 8.04 is now available for download.  Ubuntu MID Edition 8.04 is based on Ubuntu Desktop Edition 8.04 and is being built by the Ubuntu Mobile and Embedded community (sponsored by Canonical) in cooperation with Intel’s Moblin.org community.

The new release is designed to take advantage of Intel’s Atom CPU and has applications which have been modified in order to make them touch screen friendly.

Canonical [via Computer World]

About two weeks ago we got a small sneak preview of Dell’s own sub-notebook.  At that time we got almost no details except for what could be seen in a few photographs but now Dell has more for us.

Known as Dell E and Dell E Slim they are going to have 8.9″ and 12.1″ screens, respectively.

There will be five different configurations available (three for the E plus two for the E Slim).  More details on the configurations and a gallery after the break.

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Sandisk is lanching a new line of PATA SSDs aimed at UMPCs or sub-notebooks.  No pricing information is available yet, but the will be available in capacities of 4GB, 8GB and 16GB with a read speed of 39 MB/s and a write speed of 17MB/s.  Both Linux and Windows XP are supported.

Full press release after the break.
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Asus have given some vague hints that it is considering other form factors for the Eee PC other than simple laptops.

“Speaking exclusively to Current.com.au, Asus Australia national retail manager, Emmanuele Silanesu, said the company’s Eee PC division was “obviously looking at other form factors rather than just a clamshell.”"

Mr.Silanesu also indicated that the new device (UMPC?) would have a touchscreen, but might not carry the Eee PC branding.  Expectations are that more light will be shed on this matter at the Taipei Computex Show, where the original Eee PC was unveiled.

Oh, and that’s an Asus R50 in the photo above, not a new Eee PC.

[ Current.com.au via Engadget via UMPC Portal]

The Guardian has an interview with Jeongseon Euh, Principal R&D Engineer in Samsung’s Computer System.  According to Jeongseon Euh Samsung is adopting a ‘wait and see’ approach to the sub-notebook market.

[ The Guardian]