Some time in the last twelve months, netbooks moved from the  geek and blogger realm to the mainstream. How do I know? I’ve been tallying up the netbook product launches from Vegas. So far I’ve counted new netbooks from Lenovo, Asus, Acer, Samsung, HP, Toshiba, Frontier, Haleron, and BenQ, and I could very well be missing others. Know what they all have in common? Intel Atom chipsets from the new Pine Trail platform.

Intel sewed up the netbook market early on with its Atom processors, and it appears to be retaining its hold as we move in to 2010. (Though AMD may be moving downstream) Personally, I’ve been waiting for the Pine Trail chipsets in order to plan my own netbook upgrade. The Asus Eee 1000HA is my primary computing machine, and I wouldn’t mind a bit more horsepower. I considered springing early for a new netbook with a NVIDIA ION graphics processor to supplement the old-style Atom CPU. However, I’m glad I waited. Brad Linder’s hands-on experience suggests the NVIDIA ION GPU helps out with video processing, but may not make up for the extra processing power consumed by higher resolution netbook screens hitting the market. The jury’s still out on Pine Trail plus NVIDIA ION, but with all the new netbooks being announced, we should have word soon. In the meantime, I’ll start my own hands-on testing when I hit CES later today.

Since we all know by now that I don’t have the best track record in personal data recovery, I’ve decided to kick myself into gear in 2010 and test out a few different backup technologies. First in line, the Clickfree C2.

I acquired a Clickfree Transformer Cable last year at CES, and true to its word, the pretty purple cable automated everything after I plugged it in to my computer and my external hard drive.  I’ve decided, however, that I prefer an all-in-one solution like the Seagate Replica, and so I’ve now moved on to the Clickfree C2. Determined to have all my data backed up before heading to Vegas, I hooked up the Clickfree C2 a few days ago and ran it through its paces.

Getting started was a little rocky. Windows made me reboot after “installing” the new hardware, and powering on again with the Clickfree C2 still plugged in brought up an error message. Once I unplugged, restarted, and plugged back in again, though, everything went swimmingly. Full-backup (only about 7 GB) took a scant few minutes, and I didn’t have to touch a thing. More importantly, the restore options turned out to be both simple and highly flexible. Under the advanced restore menu, you can restore everything back to its original location, or select individual files and manually set their destinations. Very useful.

Meanwhile, the Clickfree C2 hardware itself is a cute little box with a bendy USB connector attached. It’s available at retail for $139.99 or $189.99 for the 250 GB and 500 GB versions respectively. Or you can pick one up for free from ZNF when we give away the review unit in a few weeks. Sorry, my data not included. I’ll be wiping the drive once I return from Vegas.

Lenovo queued up a slew of announcements for CES this year, but while the press releases were scheduled for January 4th and 5th, Lenovo news was leaked all over the Net this weekend. For the ThinkPad line, Engadget reported first on a new X100e ultraportable netbook with an 11.6″ display and an AMD processor. Then our friend Brad Linder over at Liliputing posted complete specs along with a note that the AMD processor can be, optionally, one of three CPUs from the Neo platform. The Neo platform is designed for high-performance video, but may negatively impact battery life.

Also in the ThinkPad line is the new ThinkPad Edge. The Edge, according to the now-live product page, includes a dual-core CPU, Windows 7, Bluetooth, and optional 3G and WiMAX connectivity, among other features.

There are further rumors circulating of a new Lenovo smartbook, the Skylight. Stay tuned for details as they emerge, and some hands-on reporting from CES. I am planning to upgrade my Asus Eee 1000HA later in the year. And primary research is necessary.

The Griffin Technology folks as pictured on the CES blog

Not making the trek out to Vegas this year for CES? You’re not alone. Here’s a list of five things missing from CES 2010.

Cablecos and Telcos
Despite the fact that we now live in a connected world, many of the providers that make our gadget connections possible are, by and large, missing from the CES show floor. Two years ago Comcast made a big splash with the launch of tru2way, and AT&T once had a booth in Central Hall to promote its U-verse service. This year the big guys won’t be around much at all. The one exception is Clearwire. With a booth in the South Hall, and Clear WiMAX service blanketing Las Vegas (WiMAX rentals available for $12.50/day), Clearwire will be representin’ for its broadband brethren this year.

GiNii
Remember GiiNii? I got pretty excited about the company last year when it was sporting Wi-Fi photo frames and prototype Android tablet devices. Sadly, I heard back in October that GiiNii has suspended development on both its PixPlus frames and the prototype Movit Mini and Movit Max – despite the fact that both product lines are still listed on the company site. There’s no evidence that GiiNii will be at CES this year either.

Long Cab Lines
The best thing about an economic recession? Short cab lines at CES. The long lines were missing last year, and I expect more of the same in 2010. It’s quite a relief after waiting for more than an hour for transportation in previous years.

Apple (officially)

Macworld may no longer have the star power to rival CES, but that doesn’t mean Apple has given in and joined the CEA’s annual gadget fest. In a change this year, however, Apple will have more of an unofficial presence at the show. A new iLounge Pavilion in the North Hall will feature iPod and iPhone accessories, upping the CES Apple quotient for the year. Exhibitors include makers of cases, speakers, apps, and more.

Cntrstg
Dave gave a massive shout-out to Cntrstg last year for the venue it provided tech bloggers at CES. The organizers offered us a fabulous work space, complete with food and Wi-Fi, and brought vendors in to share their wares. Sadly, there will be no Cntrstg lounge in 2010 due to sponsors pulling out at the last minute. There are some dinners and meet-ups planned, however, so we’ll hope for the best this year, and a return to form in 2011.

While Dave’s been lazing around collecting TiVo and Clear QAM scoops this week , I’ve been recovering from two weeks of travel and preparing for next week’s trip out to Vegas. All the travel, however, has given me time to test out some new on-the-road tech. A trip to North Carolina proved fortuitous in light of the latest Clearwire WiMAX market launches. Both Raleigh/Durham and Charlotte North Carolina gained Clear service as of December 1.

I’ve been using Clear in Philly since October, but in my daily routine I rarely venture outside of free Wi-Fi range. Using WiMAX has been fun, but not strictly necessary. On the other hand,while visiting friends (and hotels) in North Carolina, it definitely came in handy. I avoided having to pay for Wi-Fi and  hooked into Clear service several times while riding down Interstate 95 (in the passenger seat). The signal remained relatively strong throughout the Durham and Charlotte metro areas, which means I got work done in the car instead of taking time out from visits with friends. Score 1 for WiMAX.

I also tried out Xfinity during my end-of-year travels. Unlike Ryan Lawler over at NewTeeVee, I had no problems with the Comcast authentication software and was up and running on Xfinity pretty quickly. However, like Ryan, my first TV Everywhere experience still came up short. The way Comcast has the service set up, it’s hard to tell what new content is available through Xfinity that wasn’t already available on Fancast. That’s not a big deal except for those of us trying to document what’s changed. However, searching for content I actually wanted to watch also didn’t produce much of interest. I don’t subscribe to any premium channels (no HBO for me), and my vision of catching old episodes of AMC’s Mad Men quickly faded when I saw that Comcast actually has zero episodes of the show online. I did tune into Men of a Certain Age for a while, but quickly turned to more interesting fare in my email inbox. Xfinity needs more content. Score pending.

More stories from the road next week when Dave and I head to Sin City.

As anyone who’s read my posts in previous years knows, gadget giving in my family is practically a competitive sport, especially around Christmas. While I don’t think we topped last year, 2009 definitely brought in some great loot. My household landed a new Roku box, and I personally snagged a Kodak Zi8 video camera and a Droid Eris smartphone. The Zi8 replaces my defunct Flip Ultra, which was relegated to the closet when the mic started picking up static with every recording session. I know I’ll miss the ability to charge up with AA batteries, but HD will have to make up for it, along with working audio input. I’ll put the Zi8 through its paces in a couple of weeks at CES.

Meanwhile, the Droid Eris marks my first foray into the world of smartphones. Yes, I know that sounds pathetic, but I’ve always resisted paying for a data plan, and my netbook has (until recently) served me quite well. My early impressions of life with an Eris are quite good. I love the smooth feel of the hardware, and the app store is much better than I expected it to be. I also like the interface so far, except for the fact that the touch controls sometimes lock up as the device tries to complete too many tasks at once. More to come on that issue in the weeks ahead. In the meantime, I’m just enjoying mobile phone access to email, Twitter, and loads of free games.

There’s one final gift particularly worth noting: my new Skooba netbook messenger bag. This thing has pockets inside its pockets, with enough gadget sleeves to cover my Zi8, Eris, and Canon, on top of the main compartment for my Eee PC, and pockets for all the necessary power cords. I’ll be sporting this thing all over Vegas.

Anyone else get any good gadget gifts this year?

That’s right, today is the day that Comcast officially launches it’s version of TV Everywhere, not quite in time for Hanukkah. While the Xfinity name is somewhat unfortunate, it appears we’re supposed to think of the service as the next generation of Project Infinity. For those of you paying attention, Comcast launched Project Infinity back at CES 2008 in an effort to beef  up its on-demand library. Xfinity goes to the next level by taking on-demand online, a phrase which was, incidentally, the original name for the new service. But I digress.

Comcast has now made Xfinity available to all subscribers of both its broadband and cable TV services. For authentication purposes, users must download software at the Fancast Xfinity site before being able to access content online, but once the Move Networks Abode Air video player is downloaded, subscribers are free to browse cable TV content online at will. Keep in mind that, yes, Xfinity viewing does count toward the Comcast bandwidth cap, but at 250 GB, there seems to be quite a bit of wiggle room. And for bandwidth monitoring, Comcast has promised to release a new Web-based meter in the first quarter of next year.

On the content front, Xfinity service includes shows from AMC, A&E, BBC America, Time Warner, CBS, and a dozen or so other programmers. Premium subscribers to Starz, HBO, and Cinemax can also access shows from those networks online.

To supplement your Xfinity viewing, you can surf on over to Hulu for more content. With the new Comcast/NBCU deal in the works, however, I can only assume that Hulu will, as Ryan Lawler predicts, become something of a lame duck in the next year. In fact, Comcast’s COO Stephen Burke just this week stated that the deal with NBCU lets Comcast create its own hybrid of the Hulu model – part free content and part premium television online.

There’s plenty more to say on the topic of Xfinity, but for now it’s worth it just to sit back and see how consumers react. If you’re a subscriber, please add your thoughts in the comments below. I’ll be putting Xfinity through its paces over the next few weeks as well, so expect to hear more about the service soon.