Kevin recently wondered where the netbook was headed, and a few of you made it clear you were betting on the smartbook to become a player in the small notebook scene. The smartbook is the small notebook pushed by Snapdragon chipmaker Qualcomm, designed to be an instant-on, always connected portable computing solution. We have been following smartbook news for some time, wondering when we would see devices start to appear. That appearance is drawing near, as today Qualcomm announced a new smartbook produced through a partnership with notebook giant Lenovo.

Qualcomm CEO Paul Jacobs showed off a red smartbook at an analyst meeting in New York, and went on to share that the smartbook would be appearing at the CES in January. The small smartbook is to work with the AT&T network in the U. S., and no pricing information was offered by Jacobs.

When questioned if the new smartbook would offer a full Internet experience, Jacobs said Qualcomm worked with Adobe to put a full implementation of Flash on the new device. He also mentioned that the new smartbook, as yet unnamed, will play high definition video.

Liliputing found a fuzzy pic of the new smartbook as pictured above.

Related research: The Future of Netbooks (subscription required)

Mobile devices get smaller, thinner and lighter over time, but one component seems destined to remain roughly the same– the plug. While plugs are not huge in most places, the UK plug is bulky and doesn’t lend itself well to mobility. Our buddy Simon at WebWorkerDaily found a concept UK plug that folds for easy transport. The ability to fold it also opens the possibility for compact power strips that can handle multiple UK plugs in the same space as one conventional plug. Take a look at the video and you’ll see why Simon is willing to open his wallet for one of these.

Yesterday found me in a place where none of us like to be, the car repair shop. My old car was in need of some repairs, and I spent a few hours sitting in one of those comfortable car shop waiting room chairs. I knew I would have plenty of time on my hands so I brought two pieces of gear in my kit, the ThinkPad x200 Tablet PC and the Verizon MiFi.

I brought the x200 because of the flexibility it provides for working extended periods. It is thin and light, and the ability to rotate that screen around into a slate form insures it can be used comfortably, no matter the environment. That flexibility was the call of the day, so the x200 went into the bag.

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Many moons ago I used SPB Wallet on my Pocket PC. And by many moons, I mean not long after Y2K — you kids will have to look that one up on Wikipedia. The application stores passwords, credit card numbers and other personal data in a virtual wallet. There was also a Windows desktop companion program, which made it easier to access and edit information. At long last, SPB announces support for Mac OS X, and it looks pretty slick and just as functional as its venerable Windows counterpart.

“The desktop component, previously available exclusively for Windows, is created to enable Wallet users to easily manage and arrange their sensitive data in a more convenient way, on a bigger screen and with a bigger keyboard. The Mac version of this software provides users with capabilities of editing data, syncing it with an iPhone or an iPod touch over Wi-Fi, as well as syncing every wallet with Google mailbox. It can also be synchronized with Windows Mobile and Symbian versions of SPB Wallet if the devices are connected via USB in Mass Storage mode.”

The OS X version of SPB Wallet is $14.95, but like most all SPB products can be used for a 15-day free trial. This is a bit of software that I used to install on every one of my devices, much like eReader and a few other utilities. If you’re looking for a place to securely store and carry personal info, I recommend taking a look at SPB Wallet.

Image from ZDNet

Remember the Readius, the pocket-friendly e-book reader with the display that rolled out of the device? It interested a lot of enthusiasts with the prospect of the flexible e-Ink screen that folded away when not in use. Then the company behind the Readius, Polymer Vision, went bankrupt before bringing the Readius to market and all hope of seeing the cool reader were dashed. Not so fast, Wistron bought Polymer Vision and the technology behind the Readius and they are now telling folks they will bring a 5 – 6 inch device with Readius-like flexible e-paper display to market in 2010.

(via engadget)

UPDATED: Livestreaming is all the rage today, be it from a handset or a home computer with a webcam. But one of the major challenges to overcome is how to view that live content on a handset without re-encoding it. Vimeo today took the same approach that YouTube did for the iPhone — it went back to certain video content and re-encoded it for mobile handset playback on iPhone and Android devices. While that works, it’s not ideal. Wouldn’t it be nice if a company could provide a method for livestreaming to mobiles without a lengthy re-encoding process?

Lo and behold, enter Livestream and its Procaster beta application for Mac and PC. I just got my hands on the software a short while ago, so I have a “quick and dirty” video — don’t worry, it’s not that kind of dirty — to show you some of the basic capabilities. I was up and running in just a few minutes with Procaster. The application uses any attached webcam and microphone and livestreams from your computer. OK, that sounds like most of the other livestream platforms, right? But here’s the kicker: your live stream from Procaster can be viewed immediately on an iPhone by using the H.264 HTTP streaming built into the handset’s Quicktime application. That’s the bulk of what I show you in my brief video demo because it’s just too cool.

With Livestream Procaster, you can set up your own channel and chatroom to go with your video. I see a multitude of uses for this as I allude to in my short video demo: I’m thinking of trying this out at the Consumer Electronics Show to give you some show floor experience in real time, for example. And this solution could come in handy for tips and tricks because you can easily switch between the webcam view and a screen sharing view. Or you can display both in real time to an iPhone. The possibilities are endless and with the H.264 HTTP streaming, it opens up the floodgates to mobile viewing as well. Livestream’s full press release follows and you can find their beta application right here. Livestream will be using the new Procaster features at our NewTeeVee Live event tomorrow, so you can follow along on your iPhone! It is, after all, NewTeeVee Live, not NewTeeVee Recorded.

Update: After my post went live, I realized that I had an early look, so check out Procaster starting tomorrow.

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Here’s a handy Ubuntu tweak that simulates one of my favorite Windows 7 features: Aero Snap. This is the user interface feature that automatically resizes application windows when you drag an app to edge of your workspace. Drag a window to the top and it snaps into a maximized view. Move an app to the left or right edge and it automatically resizes to take up half of your space. It’s one of those features that I originally thought I wouldn’t use, but I find that I hit a several times a day when using Windows 7. Like registry bloat, it grows on you.

Besides having a killer name, OMG! UBUNTU! has the specifics on how to enable this feature in Ubuntu. The directions look pretty straight-forward — you essentially need to enable Compiz and then tweak a few commands in the Compiz Config Settings Manager. The downsides? Lifehacker says you won’t be able to drag windows into other workspaces, which sort of makes sense since you’d be dragging beyond the edge of your primary workspace. And windows might get fluky on a secondary monitor. Neither of these would keep me from making the mod, but I don’t have Ubuntu on anything at the moment. My poor netbook is already dealing with a triple-boot environment with Windows XP, Windows 7 and Moblin. Adding Ubuntu would probably blow up the device.

Yesterday, I took a look at Amazon’s Kindle for PC software on my netbook. The beta software is missing a few features just yet — search, note-taking and highlighting passages — but for reading Kindle content, it’s quite good. You gain the benefit of a color screen and the ability to tweak fonts and line spacing to a greater degree. All in all, the experience is enjoyable. But will it be so good that it actually kills off Amazon’s Kindle hardware products? I don’t think so.

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Google is making it easier to retrace your steps and to find nearby friends with new beta features in Latitude. The location service already meshed with Google Maps but gets more useful — if you opt in. First up is the new Location History that only you can see. Enabling the feature will log your history so you can view where you’ve been using Latitude. I could see this come in handy if I forgot where a store, restaurant or other venue was that I really enjoyed — with Location History, I wouldn’t have to remember the exact name.

The other piece to this puzzle is Location Alerts, which require Location History to be active. Using your history, Google will establish the places you visit every now and again. When your Latitude friends are nearby, Google can either email or SMS you to let you know that friends are nearby. The reason Google needs to learn your history is so that it doesn’t alert you when you’re at home or work:

“After working on this for a while, we realized it wasn’t as straightforward as sending a notification every time Latitude friends were near each other. Imagine that you’re Latitude friends with your roommate or co-workers. It would get pretty annoying to get a text message every single time you walked in the door at home or pulled into work. To avoid this, we decided to make Location Alerts smarter by requiring that you also enable Location History. Using your past location history, Location Alerts can recognize your regular, routine locations and not create alerts when you’re at places like home or work. Alerts will only be sent to you and any nearby friends when you’re either at an unusual place or at a routine place at an unusual time.”

I foresee two cut-and-dry camps on this. One group will like the service that Google is providing, while the other will feel that the company already has enough personal data. I’m more in the former camp, rather than the latter because I’m generally willing to give up some data for a useful service. In fact, I’ve already enabled both services. But I respect the privacy and opinions of others; I suspect that some of you won’t ever go near this service. Which camp are you in?

It is an ages old marketing technique when a new OS is soon to ship — offer free (or cheap) upgrades to the new OS when it launches to prevent buyers from waiting. There are not enough computer buying dollars going around as it is, and the free upgrade ploy keeps systems going out the door. We are heading into a month after the launch of Windows 7, and both HP and Dell customers are up in arms that their Windows 7 upgrades are not available yet.

Customers are frequenting forums run by both companies, detailing their horror stories of difficulty not only getting the upgrade, but in cases even getting an acknowledgment that one will be forthcoming. While it is not surprising to hear these tales of woe, you would think these companies, who have been doing this upgrade bit for years now, would have their ducks in a row. You’d think.

So did you purchase a system entitled to an OS upgrade? Did you get it yet, or at least hear when you might?