TeK showcase: CeBIT news

CeBIT 2009 is underway. The news and lack of it show that the crisis did not pass by the Hannover exhibition. Fewer exhibitors, fewer visitors and less news announced are signs that leave little doubt. The big names in the sector did not miss the call, but many do not bring news to Germany. They take advantage of the opportunity to show recent news and promote bets, some of which were launched last year.

Asus is an exception and is taking advantage of the fair to show a series of news. Among keyboards for the EeePC line, commands to play, new laptops and even a prototype of the EeePc with two screens. In this whole range of novelties, we highlight the new EeePc and the new series of notebooks, U and UX.

In EeePCs we highlight the 1008HA that innovates in design. With a 10-inch screen and a generous keyboard (92 percent of normal size), the device also has a touchpad and 3G and WiMax connectivity options. The technical specifications were not revealed in the presentation that the company made at the Hannover fair, as well as availability dates.

EeePC

The new U and UX series follow design options relatively identical to the one chosen for the new 1008HA, in the fine lines that characterize them. Both will start to be sold in the second quarter of this year. The U line was chosen by Asus to reveal some details. The new equipment in the series will have a 15.6-inch LED screen, Core 2 Duo processor, NVidia GeForce 105M graphics and a disc up to 500GB.

Asus

In the area of ​​navigation, Garmin is just one of several companies present to show news at the fair in Germany. Also there is the Portuguese NDrive, for example, showing new ways to take advantage of navigation systems on mobile devices and announcing, among other things, a partnership with Navteq that will allow including company maps on all of its devices navigation. The American competitor, however, took advantage of the event for new elements to the Nuvi navigation device line.

The new series (1200 and 1300) bet on a design that removes any dimension from previous models of the company, following the Thin trend that invaded the world of electronics and CeBIT itself. The new models include an option for pedestrian navigation supported by CityXplorer maps, designed mainly to meet the needs of those visiting a city with which they are not familiar.

These new Nuvi series, which include several models, start to be sold during the second quarter of this year. Garmin’s recommended prices range from $ 199.99 to $ 449.99, depending on the model. Pedestrian maps (which can be downloaded as an option) will cost between 9.99 and 14.99 dollars. The new Nuvi series will feature a 4.3-inch touch-screen and text-to-speech features. The 1200 series includes equipment with a 3.5 inch screen and also adopts the remaining features.

Garmin

Fujitsu Siemens is another habitué in Hannover. This year it took to the fair several novelties but the one that is generating the most hum is a technology that allows to reduce to zero the energy consumption of PCs in hibernation or stand-by. Zero-Watt technology will debut this summer in two desktop models of the Esprimo line (E7935 0-Watts and P79350), which according to the company will have the ability to automatically enter a neutral state of energy consumption. The new models, guarantees the manufacturer, can be programmed to also automatically reconnect to receive updates.

I squeeze

Acer chose CeBIT to reiterate the theme of mobile phones. At the Mobile World Congress, the company had shown its first models supported in version 6.1 of Windows Mobile. Now it pre-announces new models to launch in October and November this year. The big news of the announcement is the forecast for launching entry-level smartphones. Two models are planned for this segment, which maintain the option for Windows, and which the manufacturer guarantees to be positioning for prices around 49 euros.

The manufacturer also brings to the fair the first 10-inch netbook in the Aspire One series. The D150 is equipped with an Intel Atom N280 processor at 1.66 GHz and can be purchased with 1 or 2GB of RAM. It offers a battery life of 6 hours that can be consumed in white, blue, red or black, the colors in which the equipment will be made available. It was already known (and is already on sale, for prices around 400 euros) but now goes to the fair as one of the stars of the exhibitor, an example of some novelties that are not completely new.

Aspire

We closed this showcase for CeBIT’s news, stressing that our little trip to Germany is not intended to be exhaustive, but only to note some of the advertisements that have come out of the fair with greater capacity to animate the news world of technology.