DELL LEAVES NETBOOKS BEHIND

Dell confirmed that it is no longer making consumer netbooks. Not only are the Inspiron Minis being put in the grave, but the company confirmed for us that it will not be releasing new netbooks based on Intel's forthcoming Cedar Trail platform. In other words, it is done with the category.

That said, it did clarify that its netbook / tablet hybrid — the Inspiron Duo — continues to sell well, and although it isn't in stock on Dell.com right now, it would available again before the holidays are over. Of course, Dell is still planning on being a lead player in the mobile laptop space and stressed that it has been spending time developing higher-end, premium laptops like the XPS 14z. Dell's Marketing Director Alison Gardner was very clear about the strategy: "Thin and powerful is where it is at for us." Seems like ultrabooks are indeed the new netbooks

TABLET SHIPMENTS EXCEED NETBOOKS FOR FIRST TIME; NETBOOK SLIDE EXPECTED TO CONTINUE

Global tablet sales into channels exploded in the second quarter of 2011 to surpass netbooks for the first time in the emerging category’s young history. Market research and intelligence firm ABI Research determined that shipments of media tablets ballooned 112.5% in the second quarter to reach 13.6 million units, up from 6.4 million tablets in the first quarter this year. Netbook shipments declined from 8.4 million units to 7.3 million over the same period, just over half the number of media tablets shipped in the quarter. ”This is a trend that we do not expect will reverse,” said ABI’s group director, mobile devices Jeff Orr in a statement. “As they are different segments, this is not a direct replacement behavior, but a changing of leadership for the most interesting device type.” ABI says Apple’s iPad line was responsible for 68% of tablets shipped globally in the second quarter, and the firm expects 60 million media tablets to ship globally in 2011.

GOOGLE OUT OF CR-48 LAPTOPS; CHROME OS TO DEBUT THIS SUMMER

Google has sent out all 60,000 of the CR-48 netbooks it ordered to testers. The CR-48 is a test netbook Google had manufactured to test their cloud Chrome OS. With 60,000 potential testers the OS should be solid when it arrives this summer.

It is rumored that Google will be releasing the master to its manufacturing partners mid-summer for an early fall release on devices. This comes just in time for some publicity for the important holiday shopping season.

GOOGLE CHROME OS EVENT CONFIRMED

Google just announced an event in San Francisco for December 7th, which promises "exciting news about Chrome." Naturally, we're expecting that to be the announcement of a Google-branded netbook that runs the Chrome OS, in addition to the launch of the Chrome Web / App Store. Interestingly, it's pretty short notice for this sort of announcement, and it's also conflicting with the D: Dive into Mobile conference which is happening a few miles north on the same day. We don't know if that's poor planning on Google's part, a sign of last minute adjustments in the product, both, or neither, but either way it's going to be a pretty exciting week!

RUMOR: GOOGLE TO LAUNCH BRANDED NETBOOK WITH CHROME OS DECEMBER 7TH

Rumor has it Google will be holding an event on December 7th to announce a Google branded netbook running the hotly anticipated Google Chrome OS. The netbook is rumored to be an Atom-powered laptop that isn't going to be a mass market device -- there will only be around 65,000 units available to Google's closest "friends and family" -- and that the Cloud-based OS is still very much in a beta, non-consumer-friendly state.

This all lines up with TechCrunch's report that Google will be launching its Chrome Web / App Store very soon, as well as yesterday's launch of Chrome 8, which supports those aforementioned Chrome apps. (Companies like TweetDeck have already started demoing their browser apps.) Don't forget that those apps are going to be a large part of the OS, so it would make sense for Google to talk about 'em in tandem. The pieces sure do seem to be fitting together quite well, and while we still have lots of unanswered questions, we're feeling confident that we'll be getting some official answers on all this Chrome-ness very soon. [Engadget]

TOYS R US BLACK FRIDAY DEALS

Toys R Us isn't going to wait for you to digest that Thanksgiving meal before opening for their Black "Friday" free for all. The doors will open at 10pm on Thursday and people will be lining up for two items in particular. The first is an unnamed 7" netbook, complete with WiFi, three USB sockets, a sub-two pound weight, a red chassis and a mind-scrambling $79.99 price tag. The second is a 7-inch Sylvania tablet, sporting Android 2.1, WiFi and an SD card slot; we're assuming it's the same unit Kmart is hawking for $180, but Toys R Us will have it for the low, low price of $139.99. Other hidden treasures include a Vivitar point-and-shoot for $39.99, 7-inch Coby digiframe for $24.99 and a Vivitar pocket camcorder for just $19.99. [Engadget]

RUMOR: GOOGLE BRANDED CHROME OS NOTEBOOK LAUNCHING SOON

DigiTimes, the Taiwanese rumor rag, has cited sources claiming Google will be releasing a self-branded notebook computer running their Chrome OS operating system at the end of the month.  Supposedly, Google will be going the same way as they did with the Nexus One smartphone and will not be selling them via "normal" retail channels.  The notebook will be manufactured by Inventec and is expected to ship a very low 60,000 - 70,000 units.

Acer and HP are rumored to be launching their Chrome OS tablets in early December, while ASUS is holding out to gauge market reaction. [Engadget]