There’s no doubt that the low-cost netbook trend will affect pro-mobile sales. It’s likely to affect laptop sales too. People in the industry are already hinting to me that they have problems. OEMS can’t price and position pro-mobile devices with confidence and specialist resellers have problems choosing which devices to stock. They don’t want to be left with a shelf full of out-of-fashion netbooks. There are still a few areas where netbooks can’t compete with UMPCs; built-in 3G, size and weight advantages, touchscreens, alternative form factors and rugged builds which can drive some good high-margin sales but when a well known brand comes along and offers a device with reasonable mobility advantages, a known quality-level, huge battery life, built-in 3G and a great price, you have to wonder how customers, OEMs and resellers in the mobile PC market will respond. [More of my thoughts about netbooks causing industry problems in this article.]

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Thanks to tipster, Quodo, we have some info about the ECS G10 netbook in retail form. Airis, who have other netbooks on the market, are branding this one an selling it through The Phone House for 499 Euros. It sounds a lot but you’re getting a 6-cell battery and an integrated 3G module which is why I’ve been following the news on it. Its also quite a stylish number so if The Phone House apply the standard 3G data contract discounts that we see on other devices, this should be a 299 Euro + 30 per month purchase. Well find put for sure in a few weeks when it goes on sale.

 
Specification and more news links in the database.

Source: Clubic.com (French)

Before I give you an update on some other netbook news happening this morning, allow me to highlight the LG X110 that has been given an outing in Berlin at the IFA today.

Its all pretty standard HDD/XP Netbook stuff here with the exception of the built-in 3G module and the price.

When the HTC Shift and Q1b came out in 2007, they were two of the cheapest 3G-enabled PCs available at around 1200 Euro. Previous to those two, you’d have to look at the LG C1, P1610 and Flybook V5 for 3G and think about dropping 2K for the privilege. Today, with the X110 it looks like you’ll be getting 3G capability for just 399 Euro which I personally find too cheap to believe.

The information comes from The Register who also report that the X110 has a 10″ screen, 160GB of HDD (nice for media storage) and will be available in October.

However..

Eee PC news also reports that a ‘top model’ will be available for 499 and may have GPS and Engadget report prices between 399 and 499 with 120GB, 6GB SSD, GPS and HSDPA options.

Before you make those 1000H vs MSI Wind decisions people, you need to wait for final specs and price confirmation on this one. Check our X110 product page for details as we update them.

Source: The Register.

As Joanna mentions in her article at Laptop Magazine, it takes a lot to stand out in the netbook market right now. Yesterday I went through my own thoughts on the top netbook devices and had to leave out the Dell E, Gigabyte M912X and ECS G10L. In the last 24-hours we’ve had the final specs and EU pricing for the M912X and see that its differentiating itself with the addition of a hi-res touchscreen, ExpressCard slot and large HDD. Today, we have the information that the ECS G10L will try and differentiate itself by having two screen sizes and 3G options. On first glance, it looks like a copy of the Dell and Acer strategy. Even MSI will have a second screen-size soon but there’s something else that’s significant here.

ECS are a contract manufacturer and can offer mobile data carriers their own branded editions. With Linpus Lite as the OS (their second OS win along with the Acer Aspire) carriers can put their brand on the OS and even get some control of the application build. The big differentiator with the G10L is probably not in the specifications but in the final-product package. Expect it to be subsidised heavily to get people into their second 2-year carrier contract and expect it to be marketed heavily too.

Laptop magazine have interviewed ECS and provide some new information about pricing, availability and territorial builds. Its an interesting read.

Laptop Magazine. Interview with ECS vice president of sales, Henry Kwan.

More details and links for the ECS G10L.

Jumping on the jolly 3G Bandwagon (the more the merrier) along with ECS and Asus are Acer. A positive review at Chip.de mentions the following.

Im dritten Quartal folgen weitere Modelle mit UMTS/3G-Modul und den Farben Pink und Braun.

My translation: In the third quarter follow further models with UMTS/3G and Pink and Brown colours.

This is excellent news because, apart from a lack of Bluetooth and touchscreen, the device is shaping up nicely as an Ultra Mobile solution. With the 6-cell battery you’ll reach 6 hours battery life (possibly more when Linpus switch over to the Moblin core) in a smaller package and 30% lighter weight than the MSI Wind with 6-cells. Chip.de are reporting a bright screen and quiet fan too. If the 3G version comes with 8Gb of fast flash then it’s even better!

Via EeePC News.

ECS, the people that made one of the first Origami UMPCs, the Tablet Kiosk i7209, will be bringing their netbook to the European market via a different route to many of the other big netbook brands. An article in PC World today describes how the ECS G10L will include a 3G module and that deals with carriers in Europe have already been made.

The high-end ‘G-series’ model includes a 6-cell battery, a 10.2" screen, Windows XP, an 80GB drive and will cost $500. It’s not clear if this is the cost to the reseller or the RRP. Either way, end-users are likely to be encouraged to buy a data contract which will subsidise the cost depending on the data plan. We say, expect sub 300 Euro prices and the possibility of subsidies taking the price down below 100 Euro.

ECS also said in the interview that a smaller-screened ‘J-Series’ version will also be produced.

More details and news links available on the G10L product page.

Someone should start a website that databases all the mobile Internet tariff’s because it’s getting very hard, even as a knowledgeable customer, to see what the latest deals are.

There are three types of deal in Europe that are common.

• Add-on packages to voice contracts.
• Pay as you go options
• SIM-only data contracts

Add-on packages tend to be the cheapest if all you need is mobile Internet on your handset. You can add a flat-rate proxied HTTP service for as little as 10-euro. In some countries the service isn’t even proxied and with 3UK I’ve found that it’s open-port access with very little restriction although reports of backbone overload seem to be appearing more and more with this network. This sort of service is ideal for a mobile phone and, if you use a fairly open smartphone, you can generally find an application suite that works over HTTP. Although the T&C’s disallow it, you can probably get away with short-term PC connectivity through the mobile phone. You just need to remember to configure the proxy settings in your browser and it works well. Be careful to use the correct APN though as it can cost a bomb if you get it wrong!

Pay-as-You-Go options vary between day-flat and per-MB costs. Day-flat is very useful if you’re away for a weekend at a conference or exhibition. 5 Euro per day usually nets you a full, open, business class Internet service. Per-MB pre-pay data rates with voice are down to $0.24 in Germany with the initial SIM card cost starting at around 7.50 with no contract.

SIM-only data contracts are the ones too look for if you need to add a SIM card to your UMPC or MID. I currently pay a fairly hefty 20-euro per month for a business-class (non-proxied, most ports open) 200MB per month on a 7.2mbps network from Vodafone but there are some new deals around that are better. This deal from virtual service provider MoobiAir is particularly interesting. You get a 6-month contract on the T-Mobile backbone in Germany (widely considered to be the best here) for just 34Euro per month. That’s un-proxied, no-limits, 7.2mbps Internet access.

There are other deals too and if I had time I’d love to create a list of the best deals in some of the bigger countries. U.S. Canada, UK, Germany, Italy, Holland, France. If you can help me though by putting information in the comment here though i’ll probably be able to find time to collate it into a post for other readers. What deals are going on in your area?

This is the best deal I’ve heard of yet for unlimited 3G in the U.S. $20 per month through a pay-as-you-go add-on.

Similar to PAYG packages you can buy in Europe (3 UK being one I use regularly when I travel) the AT&T MEdiaNet GoPhone now allows you to add unlimited data for just $20 per month. It seems you have to actually buy a phone too but there are some subsidy deals that effectively give you the phone for free.

I suspect that its a typical budget Internet package which means that you get HTTP only and some restrictive T&C’s that say ‘no PC usage’ but as long as you’re sensible with data usage, I doubt anyone is going to clamp down on you. As for being restricted to HTTP, it shouldn’t impact most people.

What happens when voice-enabled MIDs come along. The T&C’s will have to be re-written I guess! Is it a phone? Is it a PC?

Get the full how-to at Pocketables.