Notebook sales increase

Notebooks are still gathering momentum across Western Europe, which contributed to an 'outstanding' 2007 performance, according to analyst firm IDC.

Vnunet says overall PC shipments in the region reached over 88 million units, an increase of 15.9% year on year. Overall growth increased by 36.4% across EMEA.

Notebook growth was attributed to an increasing vendor push and intensifying competitive and pricing pressure driving renewal rates. Consumer notebook sales rocketed by 46% year-on-year, overtaking demand for desktop PCs for the first time in the EMEA market.

It was reported in late January that ASUS was hard at work on a desktop variant of its popular Eee PC sub-notebook, says DailyTech.

The original Eee PC turned out to be the surprise hit of 2007 and the company has already announced its Eee PC 900 successor.

ASUS is looking to cash in on that success with its new desktop PC called the "Digital Home System EP20". However, right below the name of the device on the ASUS placard is the familiar "Easy to Play, Easy to Learn, Easy to Work" catchphrase which places the EP20 squarely in Eee PC territory.

Shifting from PCs to thin clients can save a company upwards of 25% in power savings, according to a new report from Forrester.

InfoWorld says the potential energy savings is driving IT execs to reconsider moving from trading in users' thick clients for thin ones.

The lower power bills can be attributed to the fact that thin clients "consume anywhere from 6 to 50 watts - far less than the 150 to 350 watts used by typical PCs," according to a Forrester report, titled "Green Benefits Put Thin-Client Computing Back On The Desktop Hardware Agenda". Less energy consumption, of course, also means fewer carbon emissions, which is becoming a greater selling point for eco-conscious companies.