Some inexpensive Intel-based laptops and tablets will come with Google’s operating system, and others with Microsoft’s, according to sources and analysts.

Intel CEO Paul Otellini earlier this week said touch devices could debut at prices as low as $200, as CNET reported. But the cheapest devices may be based on a non-Windows operating system, according to sources — not necessarily Windows 8, as originally reported.

“There are design wins for Android tablets at that $200 price point. Intel will be participating in that market this year,” a source familiar with Intel’s plans told CNET.

A report in Digitimes on Friday said Intel is promoting “Android convertible notebooks” and that Lenovo, Hewlett-Packard, Toshiba, Acer, and Asus will launch products in the coming months.
That said, IDC’s Bob O’Donnell told CNET on Friday that he has heard chatter about upcoming 7-inch Windows 8 tablets using Intel Atom processors priced as low as $299.

And IHS iSuppli’s Craig Stice doesn’t think $200 to $300 Windows 8 devices are out of the question.

“Spending [three times as much] on a PC vs. a $200 tablet is a big barrier that I feel has been a factor in the struggles the PC market endured the last year,” he said.

More: Cheap Intel Devices Will Run Google, Microsoft OSes, Sources Say

What does that mean to consumers? Your next laptop will likely be touch, whether you like it or not.

And based on what I saw at the Intel booth (and other booths, like Samsung’s), this is how it will break down:

Convertible: Convertibles, like the HP EliteBook Revolve and Lenovo Yoga, have swivel touch screens that can’t be detached from the unit.

The important thing to remember here is that the Intel processor and related electronics are still under the keyboard, so these systems will tend to be higher performance because the design affords more opportunity to keep the processor cool.

Detachable: These are essentially tablets with well-integrated keyboard docks. They would include the new Lenovo ThinkPad Helix, HP’s Envy x2, and Samsung ATIV Smart PC.

Detachables put the processor electronics behind the screen. And that usually forces PC makers to use a lower-performance, more power efficient chip like Intel’s “Clover Trail” Atom.

One of the few exceptions to that rule is the ThinkPad Helix, which manages to cram a mainstream Intel Ivy Bridge chip into a tablet.

And, by the way, Intel is now trying to get more PC makers to do this. It has just begun shipping a new Y series Ivy Bridge processor that is more power efficient than the one in the Helix.

Still, battery life won’t be terrific, and Ivy Bridge chips — even the most power-efficient ones — still require fans to keep them cool.

More: CES Postscript: The Touch Laptop, Like It or Not

Amazon has been granted a patent for protecting gadgets from accidents by using tiny airbags and even jets of air.

The patent application made waves immediately after it was published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office last August. Amazon filed for it in February 2010 and was granted it today, Engadget notes.

At its core, the patent details a system that uses your gadget’s built-in gyroscope, accelerometers, camera, and other onboard sensors to figure out if the device has gone airborne. If so, a system can keep the device from getting too badly damaged by changing its fall, and even deploying airbags to lessen the damage.

In practice this means a dropped device might even be able to survive a fall completely unscathed, except for people mistaking the entire episode for your extreme flatulence.

Microsoft and the Launch of Windows 8: Tablets From on High

“IT TRULY is a new era at Microsoft,” gushed Steve Ballmer, the giant software company’s boss, in a letter to shareholders this month. For once, such grandiloquence seems justified. On October 26th Windows 8, the newest version of Microsoft’s operating system for personal computers, is due to be released. It looks very different from past editions; it is designed for touchscreens on both PCs and tablets; and it can run on processors designed by ARM, a British company whose allies dominate mobile devices, as well as chips made by Intel, Microsoft’s long-term partner. Also on sale will be the Surface, a tablet-cum-PC bearing Microsoft’s own brand. A version of Windows 8 for smartphones is due on October 29th.

Whether the new era will be a successful one is an open question. It got off to a stumbling start when the European Commission warned Microsoft not to repeat the sin of steering users away from rivals to its Explorer browser. (The company insisted all would be well before the launch.)

What is not in doubt is how much is at stake for Microsoft. To see that, look at the chart. In its past financial year its Windows division accounted for about a quarter of its revenue of $73.7 billion; three-quarters of that came from sales of Windows to PC-makers for installation on new desk- and laptops. Windows is the dominant system on such devices, with more than 90% of the market despite the growing popularity of Apple’s Macs. But that market has slowed. In the year to the third quarter, shipments of PCs fell by 8.6%, according to IDC, a research firm. However, the drop largely reflected a clear-out of stocks by PC-sellers before Windows 8’s arrival as well as the ropiness of the world economy.

People are doing more and more computing on the go, using tablets and smartphones. Apple rules the tablet market, although devices powered by Google’s Android operating system have been taking a bigger share. On October 23rd Apple unveiled the fourth incarnation of the iPad as well as a smaller version with a screen less than eight inches (20cm) across; Google and Amazon had already launched much cheaper seven-inch tablets. In smartphones, Android devices account for most of the volume; Apple’s iPhone scoops most of the profit. Windows has a tiny share of smartphones; in tablets it is invisible. If you lump these in with PCs, says Frank Gillett of Forrester, another research company, Microsoft’s share of personal-computing devices drops to only 30%.

More

California Governor Vetoes Landmark Location-Privacy Law

California Gov. Jerry Brown has vetoed legislation that would have required the state’s authorities to get a probable-cause warrant signed by a judge to obtain location information from electronic devices such as tablets, mobile phones and laptops.

The measure passed the state Senate in May and the Assembly approved the plan in August.

AMD Deal Brings Android Apps to Windows 8

Some Windows 8 laptops and PCs could end up running more Android apps than ones written for Microsoft’s software.

Gadgets built around chips made by AMD will come optimised to run the Android apps.

A collaboration between AMD and software firm Bluestacks lets the devices run the 500,000 apps more usually found on Android phones.

By contrast, Microsoft reportedly only has a few thousand apps written specifically for Windows 8 at launch.

The Android apps will be available on Windows 8 devices via AMD’s AppZone player. Inside this is code from Bluestacks that acts as a wrapper around the mobile phone programs so they can run on desktops, laptops and tablets.

AMD has made changes to the core code that runs its processors and graphics cards to ensure apps built for the small screens on mobile phones look good and run well on larger displays.

usatoday.com

The DEA accused Walgreens on Friday of endangering public safety and barred the company from shipping oxycodone and other controlled drugs from its Jupiter, Fla., distribution center.

The move is the latest action by the Drug Enforcement Agency in a crackdown on pharmaceutical companies, drug distributors and drugstore chains that sell large amounts of highly addictive narcotics. Earlier this week, the DEA revoked the controlled substances licenses for two CVS pharmacies in Sanford, Fla., accused of dispensing excessive amounts of OxyContin.

Abuse of prescription narcotics is an epidemic, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Overdose deaths from opiod pain relievers account for more deaths than heroin and cocaine combined.

The DEA says Walgreens failed to maintain proper controls to ensure it didn’t dispense drugs to addicts and drug dealers. Large increases in narcotic sales could be a sign that drug addicts and dealers are using fake prescriptions to purchase the drugs, the agency says. The addicts and dealers often get the prescriptions from clinics, known as “pill mills,” where doctors prescribe the drugs after only cursory examinations.

Six of Walgreens’ Florida pharmacies ordered more than a million pills a year, the DEA said. In 2011, the average pharmacy in the U.S. ordered 73,000 oxycodone tablets a year.

One pharmacy in Fort Myers went from ordering 95,800 pills in 2009 to 2.2 million pills in 2011, the DEA said. Another pharmacy in Hudson, a town of 34,000 people near Clearwater, purchased 2.2 million pills in 2011, the DEA said.

wired.com

California lawmakers have approved legislation that would require the state’s authorities to get a probable-cause warrant signed by a judge to obtain location information from electronic devices such as tablets, mobile phones to laptops.

The measure, sponsored by Sen. Mark Leno (D-San Francisco), passed the Senate in May and the Assembly approved the plan late Wednesday.

The Assembly added in language that, if there is insufficient time to obtain a warrant due to a threat of serious danger or bodily harm — for example in the case of a missing child — no warrant is required.

Procedurally, the bill must again be approved by the Senate to work out those wording changes, which is expected to happen as early as this week or next.

Still, the bill, SB 1434, faces an uncertain future.

Gov. Jerry Brown, a Democrat, vetoed last year a measure requiring police officers to obtain a warrant before searching someone’s cellphone after being arrested. Brown’s office hasn’t made any official announcement about where he stands on the bill.

computerworld.com

Most tablets in use today are iPad sized. That’s because most tablets in use are iPads.

This reality has led pundits to believe that iPad size is the right size for a touch tablet. But I’ve come to believe that in just two years, iPad-sized tablets will represent a small minority of the market.

It’s hard to believe now, but experts used to argue about whether there was room in the space between a phone and a laptop for any kind of consumer electronics device.

Now it has become clear that there are major markets for two sizes: An iPad size in the 10-inch diagonal range, and a smaller size in the 7-inch diagonal range.

Why small tablets will dominate the tablet market

A smaller-screen iPad could disrupt tablet market

Iconia Tab A700 review: Acer’s terrific 10.1-in. tablet

Kai design keeps Google’s Nexus 7 tablet fast and priced at $199

Google launches Nexus 7 tablet, Jelly Bean and spherical Nexus Q device for home use

Does Google’s $199 tablet target $499 iPad or Kindle Fire?

Kai design may help Google keep Nexus 7 tablet costs low

Google’s Nexus 7 tablet move could be costly

Google readies $199 Nexus 7 tablet, report says

FAQ: What we don’t know about Microsoft’s Surface tablet

More about tablets

Not only should these two form factors be considered distinct, but in many ways they should be considered opposites. The big one is portable (home, office, coffee shop) and the other is mobile (absolutely everywhere).

Why little tablets will rule the consumer market

The key attribute of small tablets that will drive them into mainstream use is low cost. But the implications of why that will prove to be the case are under-appreciated as a driver of massive adoption.

How low will they go? I think that over the next two years, the “sweet spot” range for 7-inch tablets is between $100 and $200.

eweek.com

Microsoft gave its longtime hardware partners a poke in the eye when it introduced two Surface tablets at an invitation-only event in Los Angeles June 18. While a risky move, it was a necessary one, say analysts. Microsoft needs a device that can effectively compete against the Apple iPad—and so critically so that it can’t trust its OEM partners to deliver on one.

‘The iPad terrifies Microsoft,’ Avi Greengart, an analyst with Current Analysis wrote in a June 19 report.
[…]

I have to admit, I love were Apple (beginning with my ][+ adventures) has taken me, but most of my client’s iPad use is web surfing and email reading…little more serious, and they still break out a laptop regularly for “work” of consequence. I make more money working for the “Dark Side” than for Mac users, but I can help them a lot, too…just not as many of them round my parts who call me.

I’m sure the midnight, battery powered from solar energy lights (no oil powered lights!) are burning 24/7 at Cupertino now as a result. As a consumer, i like it!