Well it’s about time!

Garmin-Asus announces today that their nüvifone G60 and M20 handsets will finally go on sale in different parts of Asia shortly. The G60 will be available in Taiwan starting on July 27th, and then in Singapore and Malaysia by the end of August. The M20 will go on sale in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand, and Malaysia in August.

Don’t worry if you don’t exactly remember these handsets – they were delayed to the second half of 2009 back in May after having been announced earlier this year. Here’s a quick rundown on the specs for both models:

nüvifone  G60:

• Quad-band GSM / GPRS / Edge 850/900/1800/1900
• 850/1900/2100 HSDPA 3.6 Mbps
• 802.11 b/g WLAN, Bluetooth, HFP, HSP, AVRCP, A2DP mini-USB 2.0
• Linux OS
• 3MP camera with auto-focus and geo-tagging
• Measures 112 x 58.1 x 14.6 mm
• 3.55″, 65K, anti-glare resistive touchscreen
• POP3 / IMAP4 / SMTP email
• HTML browser based on Webkit platform
• SMS
• 4 hour battery life

nüvifone M20:

• Tri-band GSM / GPRS / Edge 900/1800/1900
• 900/2100 HSPA 7.2 Mbps
• 802.11 b/g WLAN, Bluetooth 2.0+EDR, HFP, HSP, A2DP, AVRCP, mini USB 2.0
• Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional (Upgradeable to WM 6.5)
• Measures 95.3 x 52.5 x 12.8 mm
• 2.8″, 65K, TFT with touch lens
• Push / Enterprise / POP3 / IMAP4 / SMTP email
• OPERA browser, HTML, WAP 1.2.1/2.0
• SMS / MMS / IM
• 3G: Up to 3.5 hours / 2G: Up to 2.8 hours

Other things you need to know about the G60:

• The distribution strategy will differ by country in the Asia-Pacific market. In Asia, the phone will be available through carriers and retail channels
• The G60 will be available in Europe and in the U.S. later on this year – no word on pricing as of yet

As for the M20:

• As with the G60, the M20 will also have a distribution strategy which will differ per Asia country. It will only be available through carriers and retail channels in Asia.
• The M20 will be available in Europe later this year – no word about the U.S. Also no word on pricing.

[Check it out]

Technorati Tags: Garmin-Asus, nüvifone G60, nüvifone M20

What’s a great way to distribute software to the masses? Distribute it with other products. That’s what Super Talent Technology is doing with the Ubuntu Linux OS. The company announced today that for a limited time, their line of MasterDrive MX SSD’s will come with a free CD containing both the Ubuntu Desktop Edition Linux OS and OpenOffice software.

The Ubuntu CD will be included with every MasterDrive MX device shipped from July 1st till September 30th, 2008. Models in the MasterDrive MX lineup include the 15GB FTM15GK18H, 30GB FTM30GK18H, 60GB FTM60GK18H, and 120GB FTM20GK18H.

[Check it out]

Technorati Tags: Super Talent, MasterDrive MX SSD, Ubuntu Destop Edition Linux, OpenOffice

Wal-Mart has announced that they will no longer be selling the Everex Linux-based gPC desktop system in their retail stores with spokeswoman Melissa O’Brien stating “this really wasn’t what our customers were looking for”. Wal-Mart began testing the notion of selling Linux-based systems in retail stores last October by introducing the $199 “Green gPC” in approximately 600 stores.

While the gPC was apparently sold out in retail stores, it wasn’t enough to prevent Wal-Mart from declaring that they would not restock their inventory. The company will instead focus on online sales of the Linux systems which now also include the Everex gPC2 and the Everex CloudBook. The gPC2 also sells for $199 without a monitor while the CloudBook goes for $399.

[Check it out via Daily Tech]

Technorati Tags: Wal-Mart, Everex, gPC, gPC2, CloudBook, Linux

Linspire is also offering a $199 Linux PC system through Sears.com although you’ll need to go through a mail-in rebate to get the deal. The check out price is normally $299 (although Sears is offering $15 dollars off right now for $284.99) but the mail-in rebate will get you back $100 dollars. The system features:

• Intel Celeron D 420 processor running at 1.6GHz
• 1GB RAM
• 80GB HDD
• CDRW
• Freespire Linux OS
• Speakers
• Keyboard
• Mouse
• 56K Modem
• Ethernet
• 15-in-1 memory card reader

[Check it out via News.com]

Technorati Tags: Linspire, 9 Linux PC, PC, Sears

PC Magazine has published a review of the $99 Zonbu PC that we mentioned a few weeks back. The Zonbu is designed to be an easy to use, easy to maintain Linux based PC with just enough horsepower to run everyday applications – just don’t expect the ability to power through games (especially since it just has a VIA C7 processor inside). How is it $99 dollars you might ask? You need to agree to a subscription service that amounts to $12.95 a month that’s how. Here’s the verdict from PC Magazine:

If you have a broadband connection, Zonbu’s $99 PC promises a foolproof managed environment and a complete computing experience. Just don’t expect high-end 3D gaming. About the only thing it doesn’t do competently is play Flash video off the Web, though it will easily play DVDs. It’s also not really a $99 PC: The Zonbu costs $249 if you don’t commit to a two-year, $12.95-a-month contract.

[Check it out]

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