Verizon Wireless and Samsung have teamed up to release the N150 netbook with built-in Verizon mobile broadband network connectivity. Boosted by Intel Atom N450 processor, the N150 packs 1GB of RAM, integrated GMA 3150 graphics, 150GB hard drive and a 10.1-inch LED-backlit 1024×600 display.

Verizon’s Samsung N150 supports not only CDMA/1X/EV-DO Rev. A: 800/1900 MHz network but also tri-band UMTS/HSPA: 850/1900/2100 MHz and quad-band GSM/EDGE networks, making it Global Ready. It also supports WIFi 802.11b/g/n and Bluetooth.

A 6-cell battery is included for up to 7 hours of use. This Global 3G-ready Samsung N150 is available in Verizon Wireless for $49.99 after a $100 mail-in rebate with a new two-year customer agreement.[samsung]

In anticipation of the Thursday’s launch, the crazy kids at Gigabyte Japan have refreshed two of their netbook lineup to include Windows 7 Starter. Unfortunately for the T1028X tablet we’ve been tracking for a while now, this flavor of the OS doesn’t support multitouch. While that makes a touchscreen far less attractive in our eyes, maybe you’re into that sort of thing. Who knows? More of this gadget »

We’ve already seen plenty of Windows 7 laptops and desktops up for order, but it looks like we’re now finally starting to see how things will shake out on netbooks as well. After much confusion in the early days of Windows 7, it appears that Windows 7 Starter edition will indeed be the standard issue offering on the majority of netbooks, and it looks like it’ll also demand a slight premium over otherwise comparable XP-based systems. More of this gadget »

Hey, this is probably surprising to no one, but here we go. A new market research report from DisplaySearch says that the overall mobile PC market is down about 5 percent over last year. The main reason cited for this decline? The increasing popularity of netbooks, which average around $300, and are much, much cheaper than traditional laptops. Netbook revenue is up 264 percent from last year, and have contributed to an overall lowering of the average PC cost by 19 percent. While this is certainly bad news for the PC industry itself, hooray for all of us, right?!

If you’ve ever had a yearning for a slime covered netbook, today’s your lucky day. Dell’s Inspiron Mini Nickelodeon Edition — which is absolutely SpongeBob-approved — is now up for order starting at $329. As for specs, it’s pretty much a standard Mini 10v underneath, with a 10.1-inch (1,024 x 600 resolution) display, Windows XP Home, 1GB of DDR2 RAM, a GMA950 graphics set, WiFi, 3-cell battery, 1.3 megapixel webcam and a totally played 1.6GHz Atom processor. Oh, and a slimed lid and palm rest, which are likely the one two aspects that truly matter here.