The AC100 is definitely getting closer. Amazon UK have a pre-order page up, Toshiba UK have product details up, Peter from Netbooknews in Japan says it will launch there next week and there’s now a German retailer showing the product. Although this is probably a UK QWERTY version being sold, it’s the availability figure that’s interesting. 2 weeks!

I’m quite excited about this one. We’ve got one on order and the more I read about it, the more excited I get. Yes, it won’t have any deep and meaningful productivity apps and yes, Android on a netbook style device will feel strange but with 8hrs battery life in a stylish sub-900gm package, a week or more standby power (and an estimated 2-3 days always-connected ) a high brightness display, dual-core ARM Cortex A9 and built-in 3G for 369 Euros (4-week delivery on the 3G version,) it’s something I just have to test out. It’s likely to have some of the issues of the similar Android-powered Airlife 100 [review]but I’m adamant that this concept has legs. As soon as someone brings out an always-on ‘smart’ netbook with the right applications, it will start a new chapter in laptop computing. No more shutdown!