The answer just landed in my inbox courtesy of a representative of Hard Candy Cases who alerted me on the company’s cool cases for netbooks and select MacBooks.

They claim to be “The first company to design fashionable snap-on protective cases for the top-selling Asus and Acer netbook models” and whether that’s true or not (I don’t have the time nor inclination to  verify and legitimize the claim), the bubble shell netbook cases that they have for sale are kinda sexy and useful.

If you remember, in previous posts I once asked about the usefulness of netbook bags but I am more in favor of netbook cases because they accomplish two tasks beautifully: protect your baby and make it look hot!

About Hard Candy Cases:
Founded in 2009, Danville, CA-based Hard Candy Cases is a new company from computer accessory veteran, Tim Hickman, who started and ran Speck Products. The company merges fashion and function to distinguish and protect mobile computers from the wear and tear of daily use.  Additional information can be found at http://www.hardcandycases.com.

I find it ironic that a netbook for children is seeing the light of day in the Asus Disney Netpal. If I am not mistaken, netbooks were initially said to be kiddies’ laptops but adults in great majority worldwide voted other wise.

What’s the deal with Disney’s Asus Netpal? It’s really a netbook with a Disney logo on it to make all 6-12 year olds feel cool. Parents will have to cough up $350 for the privilege .

See: Disney teams up with ASUS to make a special netbook for kids! – NETPAL

Another week, another Acer vs Asus netbook battle analysis… 

It really has nothing to do with quality, performance, price or raving reviews. The simple reason why the Acer Aspire One is the most popular netbook over Asus’, its’ chief contender, is because Acer has one netbook in the race for market dominance while Asus has three or more netbooks.

Of course, there are some variations of the Acer Aspire One netbook out there but the model is pretty much the same. Also, in recent time, a new Aspire One was announced and rumour had it that the previous model would be phased out which in my opinion is a brilliant decision.

What happens if you use all your resources to market one product while your competitor uses more or less equal resources to market three or four? Well, it goes without saying that the most popular netbook will be the one that comes in one model.

Notice however that in the Acer vs Asus battle, no one ever tells us who has the most popular netbook brand. I am sure that numbers on this one, would be completely different.

It seems that the crown goes to Asus, one of the leading netbook brands. The ultra small, thin, light Shell is its’ new offering. Officially called the Asus Eee PC 1008HA, this feather-like netbook is a sure sign of good things to come. After all, isn’t the point of netbooks to be light and thin so that they are ultraportable? Let’s just hope that it won’t come loaded with a high price tag which would be a “no, no” in netbook land.

Read: Super-slim Asus Eee PC “Shell” unveiled

Asus, the mini laptop pioneer, has announced the availability of the Eee 1000HE which is an actual upgrade of the existing models. What’s different about the Asus Eee 1000HE? For one, longer battery life at 9.5 hours. Secondly, the Intel N280 Atom CPU, a first in netbooks. The Asus ultra portable notebook is now available for pre-order at $399.

See: ASUS Unveils Upgraded Eee 1000HE

I am no expert but even I can spot a marketing disaster when I see one. The Asus S121 netbook is such a blunder. It’s a netbook with laptop features: size and costs. It has a 12’1 inch display (hence the name I guess) and is priced at around $800. Asus calls the S121 netbook, a luxury netbook but I am betting that the market will call it an overpriced and oversized laptop. Besides, when thinking luxury, computer shoppers don’t even think about Asus but are more likely to think Apple, Sony and even Dell.

Netbooks are supposed to small and cheap. A big and expensive netbook is called a laptop. And nowadays, laptops are even priced lower than $800. Good luck with the S121 netbook Asus!

You hear that Sony and Apple? Your other computer products will not be cannibalized. 

See: Acer and Asustek gain more than they lose from netbooks, says Digitimes Research

The eye-catching piece of news this morning is that netbooks preloaded with Windows are outselling, sorry killing, those with Linux. That’s according to Asus (and later on by Acer and Toshiba: 90% of netbooks sold use Windows XP say Acer & Toshiba). See: Asus confirms Linux netbooks market decline

My reaction to this is that it’s pretty normal given the fact that early netbooks were only used by so called geeks who were comfortable with complex Linux as opposed to friendlier Linux OS à la Ubuntu Remix. The mainstream tried its teeth at Linux and failed returning the netbooks en masse. Another good reason is simply that most users are familiar with Windows anyway so naturally, they will gravitate towards it. After all, when laptops became the rage, Linux did not take over then either.

But with the rise of cloud operating systems, Windows should enjoy the top spot while it lasts because ultimetly, netbooks will run on something completely new and different.

For fun, read a prediction that now seems improbable: Will Netbooks Destroy Microsoft in 2009?  or better yet 100 Million Netbooks to Be Sold in 2009?

Asus netbooks have won all sorts of awards as of late but not the one that really matters: the best selling netbook. Nevertheless, it’s a good day for Asus, the company that took a chance on an unproven category and made it huge. 

See: Eee PC™ Is Forbes Asia’s Product of the Year for 2008

Even if you’re not interested in this model, you will see how netbooks gets reviewed. I will keep a permanent bookmark on Tech Report and hotlink to their next reviews. So what was the verdict on the Asus N10Jc-A1 netbook? Find out: So what happens when you apply a GeForce to an Atom? 

For now, Acer has a powerful marketing weapon as the company can go out there yelling: “We’re the most popular netbook on the market”, a bragging right that consumers seem to seriously consider during the shopping process. 

See how everyone else such as Dell and HP fared: Acer beats arch-rival Asus in Q3 netbook match

“The Asus Eee PC 1002HA is a strong netbook entry that improves on its predecessor (the very good 1000HA) in a number of ways. It’s slimmer, lighter, offers improved battery life, and looks great, too. Two months ago, we would have crowned this king among 10-inch netbooks, but the recent arrival of the Samsung NC10 puts the 1002HA in a very close second-place position behind the Samsung” - Asus Eee PC 1002HA review

"Netbooks" by Dell (from left), Asus, Acer, MSI and Lenovo. (By Rob Pegoraro -- The Washington Post)

This cool pic was taken from a Washing Post article on netbooks. It answers two questions: How little laptop is enough? And how few dollars will it cost you? 

“Setting up the Eee to be a good companion to my Mac systems proved to be trivially easy. I simply downloaded Apple’s MobileMe control panel for Windows, which enabled me to synchronize my address book contacts and calendar information to the Eee. I also configured the Windows Mail client to connect to my MobileMe e-mail account via IMAP, so all of my mail settings are the same between systems.” - Hands on with an Eee PC netbook

“Asus calls its N10Jc mini-notebook a “corporate netbook”–which presumably has better connotations than “corporate slaptop.” The question is: When does a jumbo mini-notebook officially become an ultraportable laptop?” - Review Asus N10JC Mini-Notebook

The Original Eee Surf Netbook

“Asustek Computer plans to unveil a new Eee PC netbook that costs just US$200 in the first quarter of next year, a company representative said Thursday.” - Asustek to Unveil US$200 Eee PC Netbook Next Year

“ But the ability to do some casual gaming makes the Asus N10J an almost irresistible travel companion if you’re a PC game addict and can live with the limitations of a very low screen resolution and the low-power CPU. ” - Asus N10J A1 – Atom N270 1.6 GHz – 10.2

“Just a size comparison between a Dell Inspiron 700M 12.1 inch subnotebook and the (ASUS) Eee PC 1000H, Medion Akoya Mini E1210 [Jay's note: a rebadged MSI WInd really], HP 2133 Mini-Note, Acer Aspire One, [ASUS] Eee PC 900 and [ASUS] Eee PC 701 netbooks”

Is it just me or is this all-in-one a look alike to earlier iMacs? Nevertheless, it looks good and I like its portability aspect. Did I mention that it’s a touch screen too?

Update: these types of computers, seem to belong to a category called all-in-one nettop! So the Eee Top is no netbook but an all-in-one nettop (the larger versions are called all-in-one PCs such as the iMac or the Dell XPS One).