2009 was a busy year for netbooks. According to Display Search worldwide shipments are expected to hit 33 million units, that is a 103% jump from 2008. Even the very definition of a netbook is jumping around with each manufacturer molding the netbook in its own way. LG, for example, is differentiating itself through software: The LG X-120, one of the first netbooks to boast 3G cellular connectivity, includes Smart ON that’s powered by Splashtop. Engadget did a great review of it and ended up calling Splashtop “LG’s biggest asset” – we were proud to say the least.

Thanks to AT&T and Radio Shack (The Shack), the X-120 is now available in the U.S. for the first time for $179.99 with a 2-year contract. For those not interested in a subsidized netbook, I picked mine up today for $399 off contract.

If you want to learn more about the X-120 you can take a virtual demo of it on LG’s site.  I’ll leave you with this video I took of Splashtop booting up for the first time on the X-120.

LG X-120 booting Splashtop

I have a tech job. And, like the throngs of other people in Silicon Valley we all have parents who don’t even try to understand what we do because, you know…it’s technical. “Oh he works in technology,” my Mom would say to friends and family at holidays. No other details. She never tried to understand. Well all that changed last week when NBC came into the DeviceVM office to do an interview. I’ve tried to explain a thousand times what Splashtop does because I think it’s easy enough to understand. But, my mother just says, “that sounds real nice honey.” I know she doesn’t get it.

Why is it, then, that when Scott Budman, NBC news correspondent, talks about Splashtop it suddenly makes sense? I guess that’s why he’s on TV and I write a blog. After this aired last week, my Mom called me excitedly, “Scott Budman says that Splashtop can get you online in seconds!” Thanks, Scott, for giving my Mom something to talk about at Maj Jong next week.

Here’s a link to the article.

Here’s the video…

CES allowed us to continue to demonstrate the power of our fast booting, web-centric operating environment. There were a couple videos that we wanted to share with you. The first is Sergei’s incredible appearance on “Into Tomorrow” with Dave Graveline. Check it out…

Next, we have a “Death Match” between a bunch of Splashtop enabled machines hosted by GottaBeMobile, who stopped by our booth. As you’ll see every Splashtop device runs very quickly. The difference is often the components used in the machines. You might expect a less expensive netbook to run a bit slower than a super high end, more expensive device. In my opinion, the real “death match” occurs between Splashtop and a traditional OS (check out the video on this NY Times article to see what I’m talking about). Here’s a link to the full GottaBeMobile article.

So, we’re here at CES getting things all ready for an awesome show. We’ve got a whole crew of people including myself, Kevin T, Sergei, Kevin H, Cleo and Speiser. We’ll get a few fun days with Mark and Alex too. CES is all about finding out about what’s new, what’s exciting and long nights of partying whose got the coolest booths. Here’s a few highlights from our setup day.

CES Splashtop Setup Day from Sol Lipman on Vimeo.

Don’t forget to come visit us as IP200 (we’re in the innovation pods).

We just picked this up off the wire. Here’s a great demo of Splashtop (as the Voodoo IOS) given by HP CTO Rahul Sood. Not only does he give a great demo of the product, he also talks about why IOS is important. It’s not a very long video because our system boots so fast! Check it out: