14 DAY TRIAL // Netbooks have been on the market for quite some time now, and they have managed to leverage the shipments in the mobile PC market well above those in the desktop area. Netbooks are small, power efficient and prove to be the perfect choice for users who only need machines that can perform basic tasks such as web browsing or playing music.
Since these affordable low power machines have seen such a great adoption in the market, PC makers worked on offering them with new enhancements, meant to make them even more appealing. Some of them, including ASUS, Intel and Gigabyte, already unveiled their plans. It seems that at CES 2009, we will see new netbook additions, this time, mobile PCs that will feature touchscreens, as well as some that would come with twistable screens allowing to be used in tablet or notebook style.
According to the news, Intel plans to introduce a fresh Classmate netbook, which comes with a twistable screen and touchscreen. In addition, ASUS is also expected to unveil its Asus Eee Touch at the show, or even earlier, at the CES unveiled pre-show held on January 6th. The two companies were left behind by Gigabyte, which has already unveiled its Intel Atom powered M912V machine.
Netbooks will certainly be a hot topic at CES 2009, which starts on January 8th. Besides the great penetration of the market the small machines have seen so far, the new additions are also expected to stir people's interest. Perhaps other PC vendors like Acer, MSI or Samsung will also bring more innovation to the netbook area.
The touchscreen is a great thing for the small machines, yet it remains to be seen whether the makers will also be able to deliver a proper user interface to facilitate the use of the feature. There are some voices that see the implementation of the touchscreen as a rather simple action, the software development being a little more difficult.