The electronic giants are feeling the crunch! What else would explain the circulation of new UMPC devices at rock bottom prices? Read more on their latest caper.

 The secret behind the price slash is the scraping of windows while throwing in a free Linux. Qualcomm has released its latest mini notebook at $299 produced by Inventec, a Taiwanese manufacturer. Compact and elegant, this notebook packs a neat punch. 3G connectivity makes its presence felt while Linux happens to be the main operating system, at least for the time being. The company is eyeing Windows Mobile 7 as a possibility for its Snap dragon chipsets. Of course, these are still in the blue print phase but it is hinted that similar products would flood the market by this year end. In the meanwhile, the free Linux would leave you far from satisfied. A Windows Mobile device like the HTC Advantage which closely resembles an UMPC would perform a tad better and would be the best alternative.