NetbookTech

You’ve seen mobile broadband/netbook packages, but how about content/netbook packages instead?

That’s exactly what the New York Times is doing with their newly announced Times Reader 2.0/Samsung Go netbook bundle. New subscribers to the Times Reader 2.0 can order a one year agreement to the Times Reader 2.0 and receive a $100 dollar discount towards the purchase of a Samsung Go netbook. The special edition Samsung Go will come with the Times Reader 2.0 application pre-installed. The offer is available exclusively through J&R Music and Computer World.

To purchase the one year-subscription to Times Reader 2.0 (which will cost you $179.40) and redeem the $100 dollar off Samsung Go netbook, go to http://www.nytimes.com/TRNB. This offer will be good until March of 2010 and is available only to new subscribers of the Times Reader. J&R Music and Computer World currently offers the Samsung Go for $339.99

For those of you unfamiliar with the Times Reader 2.0 app, it’s an Adobe AIR application which delivers the New York Times in a new exciting way. “Dive into sections or browse the headlines and even pictures easily. Connect to the Web to get the latest news throughout the day, and watch our exclusive videos.” Key features of the Times Reader 2.0 include:

• Parallels printed news with columns of high-quality text, combined with the dynamic flexibility of the Web, including search, links and up-to-the minute headlines.
• Downloads the Latest News section every five minutes from NYTimes.com. Users can customize how often the Latest News is updated.
• Online/offline reading capabilities, allowing readers to sync content via internet connection and then read 7 days worth of content offline.
• Integrates interactive version of The New York Times premium crossword puzzle.

This is certainly a good deal for frequent readers of the New York Times (like myself). About the only thing missing from this deal would be a bundled mobile broadband package allowing users to access the New York Times content anywhere they take their netbook. Seems like there’s an opportunity for further subsidization around here..

AT&T announces two new mobile broadband-enabled netbooks into the mix – the Samsung Go and Acer Aspire One – both of which feature the new Windows 7 OS. The new netbooks will be available for $199 after a mail-in rebate via an AT&T promotion card as well as a new two year DataConnect service contract with AT&T.

The Samsung Go weighs in at around 2.8 pounds and features the Intel Atom N270 processor, 1GB of RAM, a 160GB HDD, a 4 cell battery, 3 USB 2.0 ports, external VGA port, 802.11 b/g Wi-Fi, Ethernet connectivity, 3 in 1 media card reader, 1.3 megapixel camera, and a 10.1 inch 1024 x 600 resolution display. Even better, the Go will come with Windows 7 Starter Edition vs the more common (and older Windows XP Home Edition).

The Acer Aspire One is even lighter than the Go, weighing in at a mere 2.2 pounds. Features include an Intel Atom processor, 160GB HDD, 1GB of RAM, HD audio support, two built-in speakers, three USB 2.0 ports, and a built-in webcam.

AT&T offers two DataConnect plans to choose from for netbook systems – a 200MB plan for $35 dollars per month and a 5GB plan for $60 dollars a month. Customers will also get free use of AT&T’s Wi-Fi service available in more than 200,000 hotspots around the country.  Both netbooks come equipped with AT&T’s Communication Manager (ACM) 7.0 software package to help manage and use their wireless connections.

Here are a couple of new netbook reviews for all of you to check out as you begin your new work week. Both reviews are from PC World – one on the education oriented Dell Latitude 2100 and the other for the curvy Samsung Go.

Here’s an excerpt of the Dell Latitude 2100 review:

“Does the Dell Latitude 2100 jump to the head of its class? Well, it’s certainly the most mature (and the beefiest) take on a netbook in recent memory. And, yeah, if you can look past the price it’s a good option for your young scholar–and then when he or she brings it home at the end of the day, maybe Dad can borrow it to tinker in an Ubuntu partition.”

And here’s an excerpt of the Samsung Go review:

“The colorful coated shell of the Samsung Go is certainly not subtle, but this netbook is a stylish–and potentially kid-friendly–computer.”

I’ve actually grown to appreciate the look of the Samsung Go – it’s certainly a nice change from the rest of the netbook lot – if only because of the rounded corners I tell ya..

Here’s some interesting Samsung related netbook news for today. First off – there’s more N510 talk floating around the net.. though nothing really concrete or different from last week. According to a posting at the end of June over at LaptopMag, the N510 isn’t expected here in the U.S. until the Fall or Q3 to Q4 timeframe. That flies in the face of other rumors placing the N510 at around the end of July timeframe.

Interestingly enough, DigiTimes reports that Intel has “cancelled [Lenovo and Samsung’s] preferential pricing for Intel Atom N270 CPUs” as a result of both companies opting for the NVIDIA ION platform. Of course that’s not confirmed but it wouldn’t be too surprising if that happened.

The other Samsung news-bit has to do with the current Samsung N310 netbook (which is readily available online at Amazon.com and at retailers like Best Buy). The N310 has been relabeled as the Samsung Go and will now be featuring a larger 8800 mAH battery pack which Samsung expects will deliver over 10 hours of power.