January 9th, 2008
Everex debuts $399 ultramobile PC
At CES, Everex is launching a $399 ultramobile that will be sold through Walmart.com starting January 25. The low-cost Everex CloudBook uses the open source gOS V2 Rocket operating system and VIA 1.2GHz C7-M ULV processor, same as the $199 Everex gPC.
The Cloudbook is designed for Internet usage, not for heavy duty graphics applications. Like the gPC, it will come with software or links to FireFox, gMail, Meebo, Skype, Google Documents & Spreadsheets, Google Calendar, Google News, Google Maps, Wikipedia, Google Product Search, GIMP, Blogger, YouTube, Xine Movie Player, RhythmBox, Faqly, Facebook and OpenOffice.org 2.3.
The unit weighs 2 pounds and is 9.06 x 6.73 x 1.16 inches. It has a 7-inch TFT screen with 800 x 480 native resolution, and has a 30 GB drive and 512 MB of DDR2 533MHz SDRAM. The Cloudbook averages averages 5 hours of battery life with its lithium-ion battery, according to the company, and also includes a 1.3-megapixel Webcam.
For input and output, the Cloudbook includes a DVI-I port, 2 USB 2.0 ports, a RJ45 Ethernet port, headphone/line out jack, microphone/line in jack and 4-in-1 media card reader. For connectivity it offers 802.11b/g and Ethernet.
The gOS is based on the Ubuntu 7.1 Linux desktop developed by an open source startup of the same name. “The gOS is an alternative operating system that makes it apparent that Google is your entire computing experience,” said gOS founder David Liu regarding the release of the gPC in October 2007. “When you make Linux look pretty and put ton of Google apps on it, you pacify it for consumer. You could say gOS is Google inspired but not official stamped.” gOS uses the Enlightenment window manager and has taken cues from Apple in designing the interface.
See also: CNET.com ultramobile reviews
Dan Farber, editor-in-chief of CNET News.com, has more than 20 years of experience as an editor and journalist covering technology. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
