Netbooks are well known for having exceptional battery life, with many topping the 8 hour mark, but with the new MSI Wind U160DX, MSI have pushed the boundaries even more with a battery life of 15 hours!

The U160 DX is an updated model of the popular U160 and Whilst it's outer appearance remains mostly the same, the netbook's internals have been upgraded across the board, including a new Atom N455 processor, some DDR3 memory, MSI's own "Turbo Drive Engine" and, last but not least, a 15-hour battery.

The 15 hour battery is a result of partly being assisted by by MSI's ECO power management system which helps to reduce power usage throughout the netbook.

Still no word on pricing or availability for this netbook just yet, but we should be hearing more about it soon, so keep an eye on your news or Twitter feed for updates!

Asus is taking the cover off the next big release in its popular line of Eee PCs, the 1005PR, which resides in the same family as the company's excellent The new machine boasts a 10.1 inch LED backlit display that — with the 1005PR's onboard HD decoder — is capable of displaying HD content in 720p. The 1005PR also takes advantage of Intel's newer Pineview-M N450 processor that the CPU maker released late last year, which is geared toward netbooks and helps improve battery life.

The 1005PR will include Windows 7 Starter Edition, which is a slightly scaled-down version of Microsoft's popular OS, made specifically for netbooks. With all that in mind, you'd expect Asus to try to ship the 1005PR has some kind of fancy high-end netbook, but not so: the company wants to see it on shelves for around £300.00. We expect this product to appear in Q2 of this year, so be sure to check back as you will be able to find it shortly on Netbook Comparison!

If your looking for something similar, we have recently added the new Asus EeepC 1008P, which also features Windows 7 and a very attractive Dark Brown casing.

Apple shares have jumped another 1% as speculation grows that a new touch-screen computer is due for release in January.

Over the past two weeks Apple's share price has been pushed up steadily by the rumours.

Apple has booked San Francisco's Yerba Buena Centre on 26 January for a "major product announcement" without giving any further details.

The company has previously used January launches to unveil products including the iPhone and the MacBook Air. The venue is the same used by Apple's chief executive Steve Jobs when he made his return earlier this year following a liver transplant.

Touch-screen rumours

Blogs and analysts have fuelled rumours that Apple will launch a new touch-screen "tablet" computer - resembling a larger version of the iPhone and variously dubbed the iSlate or the iTablet.

The rumours have already helped Apple shares rise by more than 11% since early December. Rumors of the Tablet/Netbook sized Apple computer have been around for quite some time, but with no changes due to the iPhone or iPod range due, its likely that there may be some substance in these rumors - all will be revealed on January the 26th!