Dell, one of the powerhouses in the computing business, gave into the temptation and presented their netbook line a while back, aptly named the Dell Mini.

Our review unit was black in colour and is sturdily built in glossy black case. The exterior design simple, with just the Dell logo protruding in the middle. There is one USB port on the left, along side the power port and on the right lies two more USB ports and usual audio port.

What surprised us was the inclusion of an HDMI port. We don’t recall seeing and HDMI port on a netbook before this. Opening the cover reveals the 10.1 inch display and a keyboard that has keys as large as the ones you find on a normal keyboard. We have to say that enjoyed typing on the Mini 10′s keyboard as it’s large and tactile feedback was good.

The trackpad’s design is very interesting as it combines both left and right click buttons on to the trackpad itself. Most people have a tendency to place their thumb on the trackpad button while tracking.

On the Mini 10, when you place your thumb and track at the same time, its multi touch feature kicks in ans it’ll either be rotate or scroll. You can turn multi touch off but what’s the point of having multi touch and switching it off?

The Mini 10 is powered by Intel’s Atom Z530 processor, coupled with 1GB of memory and Windows XP.

Although it uses a different Atom processor compared to the usual N270 that most netbooks use, its bechmark performance are roughly the same.

Info: www.dell.com

It took some time, but Dell has finally created a netbook of its own by means of the Dell Inspiron Mini 9. The 8.9″, a couple of.3lb subnotebook carries a 1.6GHz Intel® Atom Processor® N270, and our model came with 1GB RAM and an 8GB SSD.

The first word that comes to mind when you consider the Inspiron Mini is glossy. The screen is glossy, the lid is glossy, as well as the plam rest and also the silver border surrounding the keyboard and display on either side is glossy. Whilst this all looks really good, it signifies just concerning the only things that will not track fingerprints within the very first ten minutes of use are the computer keyboard and also the trackpad (even though the silver borders don’t track nearly around the lid, that is entirely black but for a grey Dell logo at its center). Much better glossy rim of silver, the LCD has an interior border of black when the integrated webcam is housed above and two speaker bays on possibly side of a shiny Dell logo are housed below.

It wouldn’t be a netbook without having a miniscule size, and also the Inspiron Mini fits right in with the remainder from the class. Having a pounds of 2.3lbs and dimensions of just 9.1″x6.8″x1.3″, the Mini feels comfortable in your lap, if the warm underbody doesn’t bother you the laptop will never be a distraction there. Placing both hands on possibly side of the laptop’s keyboard we could actually balance it conveniently on 1 knee, although for obvious reasons we suggest scrunching those legs together to balance it on both legs when not typing. The AC adapter does not add a lot pounds either, for a combined weight of 2.6lbs that’s easy to throw into a little bag or case.

If the size and weight are the primary attraction of the netbook, the computer keyboard is almost by necessity among the main minuses. Dell really does an very decent job of fitting as a computer keyboard as it can certainly into this kind of a little area, but it is far from ideal. All keys above the numbers have been removed, with F1-F10 still accessible by pressing function and the middle row of keys. But some keys are just gone, such as F11, F12, and scroll/num lock. We do not really miss scroll lock and we can realize not having a number pad or num lock, but F11 is really a helpful key for putting browser windows into full display.

The trackpad leaves less to complain about. The left-click is about the same dimension since the right-click and neither make an annoying sound when you press them, which is nice. The trackpad itself is really a decent size, and our only complaint is the horizontal scroll is really a bit sensitive.

With an 8.9″ LCD along with a resolution of 1024×600, the Dell Mini includes a reasonable quantity of screen real estate for such a small unit, with just enough room to view the webpages or documents you need.

The Dell Inspiron Mini 9 really functions a good amount of connectivity to get a unit so little, even though you won’t find any HD ports this kind of as DisplayPort or HDMI. Like with most netbooks, you also won’t find an optical drive. Nevertheless, it is around you can expect from a netbook, if not a little bit more.

The LCD pivots not just above but behind the computer keyboard, which signifies the power cord, generally located on the back, is pushed to the left side instead. Also about the left side are 2 USB ports in addition to a multicard reader.

The correct side contains headphone/microphone jacks, a third USB port, VGA out and Ethernet. There is a tiny and relatively ineffective exhaust between the microphone jack and also the USB port.

No ports about the front, even though we do have a power indicator light in addition to a battery indicator light.

Last Saturday, one of our lucky staff members won the prize of coming in to the office to pick up our new toy: Apple’s® new iPad™.  We opted for all the bells and whistles, so that we can use it for testing and developing applications.

We are pretty excited, and have been working on app development for the iPad since the developer kit was released.  The media is abuzz about the new device and next few weeks will be an iPad frenzy as they begin to arrive.

The iPad is a great new device that takes mobile computing and application development to a whole new level by being ultra portable, mobile and convenient.  However, there are many other tablet devices set to come out this year that are really amazing as well, and definitely deserve some attention.

For this week’s column, we’ve decided to tell you about some of the other tablet options and why we are pretty excited about them too.

WePad

German Company Neofonie™ announced a new entry to the the tablet market: the WePad™.  Not to be confused with the iPad, the WePad has a very impressive arsenal of features and hardware.  Based around Google’s open Android operating system, the WePad boasts a 11.6″ display, a 1.66GHz Intel Atom N450 processor, a webcam, USB sockets, a flash card reader, and many other impressive features.

With the Android operating system, it will be able to download and run apps from the Android Marketplace, as well as its own WePad AppStore, which means that current android apps should be able to run fine on the WePad, or have WePad specific applications.  Also, unlike the iPad, the Android OS allows multitasking which creates a much better user experience.

Even though Neofonie has a working prototype that they showcased last week, they have yet to announce a release date or purchase price.  But even so, if it can do everything they say it can, it is going to be one of the most impressive tablets on the market, and it provides encouragement to those looking to build apps for android phones since they will also get to play with tablet devices.

However, the WePad isn’t the only upcoming Android-based tablet.

ARCHOS Home Tablets

Announced earlier this month by the French company Archos™, the ARCHOS 7 Home Tablet and ARCHOS 8 Home Tablet are the latest in their mobile computing options.  The Archos Home Tablets are each designed for specific applications, and each targets a different market.

The Archos 7 is the smaller of the two, sporting a 7″ touch screen, but it comes packed with power, and is probably the least expensive of all the tablets listed here, at just $200.  The Archos 8 Home Tablet is larger and is intended to display like a picture frame, which is meant for the home or kitchen.

For example, you could prop it up in the kitchen and use it when preparing a meal to access the Internet, pull up recipes and cooking instructions or chat with people online. Then when it’s not in use, you could it could just display pictures or video.

That’s not to diminish the power or portability of the device, however it is meant as a compact stand-alone computer that can be displayed in any room in the house.  But for a more mobile and portable device, the Home 7 tablet may be a better fit.

Both of these devices run on Google’s Android™, and they each reach a very specific audience.  As a software developer, we definitely see the potential for developing custom apps for these devices, especially since the apps would be available to all Android devices as well.

Archos is also expected to release yet another mobile internet tablet later this summer, called Archos 9, which will also be powered by the Android OS, be slightly larger than the Archos Home 7 and include improved web connectivity.

Notion Ink: Adam

Based out of India, Notion Ink™ was founded with the express purpose of creating tablet computers.  Notion Ink has cutely called their first creation Adam™, a very impressive tablet that runs on the Android OS.

Among its features is that it runs Adobe Flash to leverage the best of rich internet applications, has a 180 degree swivel camera for video chart or taking front-facing pictures, multi-touch support and 3G and Wi-Fi connectivity.  In addition, Adam also features a Pixel QI transflective screen. What is that?  It is a 10.1 inch screen that can switch between backlit LCD mode like on other tablets, and a low-power electrophoretic reflective mode, which looks more or less like e-ink, making it a great solution for switching between video and ebooks and greatly extending battery life while reading.

Expected to be released this June, Adam claims to have up to 16 hours of HD video playback, supporting 1080p video, all powered by a dual-core ARM processor and an NVidia GPU.

Adam really opens up the door to future application development possibilities for mobile and portable devices.  Needless to say, we can’t wait to get our hands on one.

Microsoft Courier (Rumored)

Jumping back to the US, Microsoft™ has a “secret” upcoming product called the Courier.  It still has not been officially announced by Microsoft, but the web is full of demo videos and pictures all showing prototypes of the device.  Does that make it true? No, not necessarily.  But the rumors are so juicy and the Courier looks so good that we can hardly resist.

What makes the Courier especially unique is that it is actually not a tablet—it’s a booklet.  It has dual 7-inch multi-touch screens, which means that you get a lot of screen space, but it folds down into a very compact size.

Not much is known about the exact specs on this device, but we can be pretty sure that it will involve Microsoft’s new Windows Phone 7 operating system, which should provide plenty of power and diversity to the device.  Also, the Windows Phone OS app development uses XNA, .NET and Silverlight, which are used in the development of Windows and gaming software, which should make courier apps very powerful and versatile.

HP Slate Windows 7 Tablet

Another US contender, Hewlett Packard™ announced their Slate™ tablet set to be released as early as June.  This one also comes with an estimated price of $540, which is right in line with the iPad.  However, the HP slate also boasts Flash capability, a faster processor, and runs on a Windows 7 Platform, meaning that it should be able to run anything that you can run on Windows 7, including any internet browser, Photoshop and games.

However, managing traditional Windows applications with only a multi-touch screen may not be the best solution in all cases, and so it also has Bluetooth capability and USB ports for easy attachment of a keyboard or mouse.

We are slightly surprised that HP went for Windows 7 instead of the Windows 7 Phone OS, but in either case it presents some exciting capabilities and considering it comes from an already well known brand and beats the iPad on specs, it could become a very popular platform.

Dell Mini 5 Android Tablet

Unveiled at CES earlier this year, Dell® announced a concept 5″ tablet that runs on the Anroid OS.  It also comes with 3G, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity and is a mix between a large phone and a tablet.  Or in other words, it is a really very smart phone.

Dell is also running with Android, which makes it another platform for Android apps and those that develop for them.    The Dell Mini 5 also boasts a 1GHz Snapdragon processor that should give it plenty of power without sacrificing batter life.

Spring Design Alex Ebook Reader

Spring Design™ combines a traditional E-reader with a second LCD screen, based off of Android OS.  This beats out other dedicated E-readers because it has a web browser and provides the best of both worlds.  It also comes with Wi-Fi connectivity and Ebooks from Borders bookstore.

The combination between and E-reader and  LCD provides for some cool combination applications as well as improved battery life and better readability of web page content.

Once again, the Android OS means some compatibility between other Android powered devices, which provides even better distribution for Android applications.

JooJoo

Singapore based company, Fusion Garage™, announced the JooJoo™ late last year.  According to their website, JooJoo is based off of the African word “joujou,” meaning magical device.  And this device is magical.

With a 12-inch LCD screen, the JooJoo boasts the ability to play HD videos and has Wi-Fi capability.  This product is currently available for pre-order, for around $500.  One thing that makes the JooJoo different is that it runs apps completely through the Web and runs on its own proprietary  operating system.

Fusion Garage announced their tablet just before the iPad and so has become an underdog in the news.  However, according to Fusion Garage, orders have actually increased since the iPad announcement.  In either case, this probably will not become a mainstream device, but it is an alternative option that may be worth consideration.

Lenovo U1 Hybrid Notebook

Lenovo® has been working with small netbooks and tablet PCs for some time, but the U1 hybrid™ notebook represents a shift in their tablet technology.

The unique feature is that it is essentially a netbook – small portable and similar to a laptop, but then the screen can detach and function like an independent slate tablet.  This literally puts two PCs into one device, and each has its own processor and operating system, but work together as a clamshell laptop or a multitouch slate tablet.

In this way, the base serves as a hop and docking station, whereas the tablet can be used in very mobile instances.  The two processors also use Lenovo’s Hybrid Switch technology which allows seamless toggling between the two processors.

The U1 runs on the Skylight Linux operating system, designed specifically for small devices, and has a user-facing camera and a wealth of features, including 3G connectivity, multi-touch, and long batter life.  Unfortunately all these features cost a bit more than other slate tablets, pricing it at $1000, but still within the range for new laptops.  It should be available by June of this year.

Lenovo also has a few other small notebooks coming out this year, including the Skylight Smartbook.  Lenovo still pairs their slate tablets with a keyboard, but that may prove to be a positive bonus to those who are dissatisfied with touch-screen typing.

As a developer, we look forward to continuing Linux-based development, and it will be exciting to see if mobile application development takes off on this type of platform.

Conclusion

If you noticed, there are a whole bunch of Android powered devices.  Market studies show Android taking over Apple’s iPhone OS as soon as 2013, and you can see with so many devices running on Android that the market for Android application is only going to get larger.

We are currently working clients to develop applications the iPhone/iPad operating system, as well as the Android OS, and have achieved remarkable results for our clients.  This market is only going to grow, and even though we are excited about our new iPad, and even our Microsoft Surface (a giant tablet?), custom software development for these new devices is something that can help businesses reach and engage users in ways that have never before been possible.