Mini Laptop

Orange runs out of laptops, now offers free broadband deal

Paul Rasmussen — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 12:37:37 -0400

Mobile broadband would appear to be the technology of choice given that Orange, along with other mobile operators, has sold out of the laptops they are bundling with the deal.

Orange says the Asus and HP laptops should become available when new stock arrives next week, with new and upgraded models becoming available at the same time. The UK director of retail sales said she had been amazed at the demand for the service, which included a 3GB data allowance and 100 texts per month from the laptop.

Looking to further capitalise on this business opportunity, and to compete with BT's newly launched free mobile broadband offer, Orange is now also offering free mobile broadband access to small businesses who sign up for the company's Solo service.

Last week, France Telecom Orange said it was looking to sign a strategic agreement with HP early next year that would see Orange offering laptops with mobile broadband in certain countries in Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

To add more flames to this fire, LG is expected to unveil its low-cost netbook next month, and there are widespread rumours that Apple will launch a netbook in the near future.

For more on this story:
- go to Mobile News and Tech Watch

Related articles:
Orange subsidizes HSDPA-embedded notebook from HP. Orange laptop story
Acer in talks with Europe's operators for 3G mini laptop. Acer story
Nokia and Intel notably absent from US$1bn mobile broadband push. Broadband story

Vodafone gains Dell mini-laptop exclusivity, but subsidies in question

Paul Rasmussen — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 14:48:59 -0400

Vodafone will be the only European operator able to sell the new Dell Inspiron Mini 9 laptop, which includes a solid-state drive and inbuilt HSDPA modem. The announcement, which will also see Dell selling the new Mini 9 laptop (presumably with Vodafone airtime), said pricing would become available within 'weeks', with speculation that Vodafone will partly, or wholly, subsidise the €380 Dell wants to charge for the new device.

Speaking at a Citigroup Technology Conference last week, Dell CEO Michael Dell said he expected mobile operators to subsidise these new low-cost laptops -- now being labelled netbooks. "Telcos will embrace these netbooks in order to sell 3G and, later, 4G services. It's the type of product that could easily take advantage of data," said Dell. Observers read this as Dell intending to follow the well-used model of cell phone subsidies to launch its range of netbook devices

For more on this story:
- go to Register Hardware and Seeking Alpha

Related articles:
Acer in talks with Europe's operators for 3G mini laptop. Acer laptop story
Gartner: 3G laptops to become enterprise must-have. Gartner report

T-Mobile joins 'free laptop' parade

Paul Rasmussen — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 11:30:01 -0400

Having seen Orange and 3 launch ‘free' laptops configured for 3G usage, T-Mobile has responded with its own offering using an Asus Eee PC 901 netbook. The deal, which was launched late last week at the giant IFA trade show in Berlin, calls for subscribers to sign a 24-month contract--however, pricing has not been announced, although is expected to be below existing offerings from other operators.

The laptop includes an integrated 3G module specifically designed for T-Mobile's network (said to log on within seconds of booting up the laptop) and connection manager software that was jointly developed by the two companies.

For more on this story:
- go to ZDnet

Related articles:
Vodafone signs with Lenovo for 3G laptop deal. Laptop story
Acer in talks with Europe's operators for 3G mini laptop. Acer story