Big Blue Stops Building PCs
The Buzz: With IBM selling its PC business to China's Lenovo Group, Big Blue boosters are gnashing their teeth in dismay. But think about it: When was the last time you actually saw an IBM-branded desktop? The real prize here is the corporate fave ThinkPad notebook line, known for its reliability and sturdy support. Both parties insist product availability and customer support will be unaffected. We'll see.
Bottom Line: Customers paid a premium for the IBM name; Lenovo sounds more like a drug you hear about in those oddly worded ads during football games. "If you experience boot times lasting longer than 4 hours, consult your IT specialist immediately."
New Netscape
The Buzz: The Netscape browser, which for years had been moldering in the Old Age Home for Neglected Apps, is back. AOL's "prototype 0.5.6+"--put into limited beta release at the end of last yeara--is chock-full of navigational goodies, customization options, site-by-site security controls, and a user interface that preserves Netscape's traditional soothing green facade. Built on Firefox's Gecko engine, the reborn Netscape handles tabs nimbly and includes a two-click option for displaying pages in Internet Explorer (for sites that insist on that kind of thing). Public betas will follow, with a full release expected later this year.
Bottom Line: As leaky IE continues to shed users, Netscape just might click for folks who want security but would rather not tinker with the modular flyweight Firefox. Still, do we really need another browser?
A Neo Clio
The Buzz: The stylish sub-3-pound Clio NXT-8.75 by 11.25 inches by 1 inch thick-is a Windows CE device that feels like a notebook. Data Evolution's latest entry (due out in April) runs on Intel's 400-MHz XScale chip, sports an 85-percent-of-full-size keyboard, and has a swivel screen that doubles as a tablet. The 802.11b-enabled wireless device supports various plug-in slots and connectors, audio in and out, video out, handwriting recognition, and a slate of clone apps that read and edit Excel, PowerPoint, and Word files.
Bottom Line: Nestled between high-end PDAs and low-end laptops, the $999 Clio remains an enterprise play. But some users will be tempted by its instant-on ease and its purported 8-hour battery life.
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