Stories by: Dan Nystedt

Two new search engines that have garnered attention in the press as possible Google slayers continue to trail the world's most popular search engine by a long shot.

People in most markets Lenovo serves, including Singapore, China and the UK, will be offered the company's new IdeaPad netbooks with either Microsoft Windows XP or a Linux OS, but users in Australia won't have that option.

Asustek Computer (Asus) plans to launch as many as three new Eee PC netbook models in the next few months as shipments of the popular devices take off.

Multimedia software maker CyberLink sees a lot of opportunities in the fast-growing netbook segment of the computer market, from online access to files stored on home PCs to multimedia software made for Linux OSs.

Taiwanese electronics maker Giga-byte Technology has teamed up with mobile phone service provider Chunghwa Telecom to launch the M528 mobile Internet device in August, a Giga-byte representative said.

Later this year, Asustek will offer a version of its Eee PC mini-laptops with built-in 3G (third generation mobile telecommunications) to compete with rivals that are doing the same, a company representative said.

Asustek Computer's newest Eee PC mini-notebooks with Intel Atom microprocessors will be on store shelves across several countries in Asia this month, including Australia, Japan and South Korea, a company representative said Friday.

Taiwan's Asustek Computer (Asus), the leader of the mini-notebook category due to its early launch of the Eee PC, launched two new models of the family last month, the 901 and 1000, the first Eee PCs that use Intel's Atom microprocessor.

Mobile phones designed around Google's Android software may not be available until the fourth quarter of this year, and some companies are struggling to even meet that deadline, the Wall Street Journal reported Sunday, citing unidentified sources.

Intel plans to establish a new company called SpectraWatt to develop solar energy technology and produce solar cells, the chip giant said Monday.

Asustek Computer plans to offer buyers of its popular Eee PC low-cost laptop additional storage for songs, videos and other data via the Internet.