With the netbook market booming and almost every major PC manufacturer offering at least one model, it would take a lot of innovation for a new netbook to stand out in the crowd. That or at least the balls swagga jack a Nintendo DS and slap on an LCD track pad like Sharp did with its new Mebius PC-NJ70A.
Sharp is a relative newcomer on the netbook scene despite having a reputation for their long line of portable electronics. The Mebius PC-NJ70A marks their official entry into the netbook market and the addition of the LCD trackpad will hopefully solidify their place. The 4 inch 854 x 480 LCD adjusts automatically with ambient lighting and doubles as a touchpad mouse and an app launcher. The 2nd screen can also be used as a game controller and even supports the use of a stylus – sound familiar?
Based off the press release, we know it looks cool and it can do neat Nintendo-like things but aside from the “Ooooo” factor, the Mebius grand innovation ends with the tiny LCD. In fact, the hardware is pretty much the standard netbook affair with a 10.1-inch display, 1.6GHz Atom N270 processor, 1GB of RAM, a 160GB HDD, three USB 2.0 ports, Ethernet, 3hr battery life, WiFi, Bluetooth and a multicard reader.
The Mebius is set to drop in Japan for a cool 80,000 yen, or $817 which places it on the pricier side for netbooks. If Sharp does plan to launch the Mebius in the US, expect a 3rd quarter release.
