Remember netbooks? Those inexpensive, highly portable, long-battery-life laptops made primarily for lightweight tasks like Web browsing? Netbook sales have declined. In the United States, sales have dropped precipitously since 2010, and the trend in the rest of the world is starting to follow.

A new report from analyst firm, Juniper Research, forecasts that shipments of ultrabooks will grow three times the rate of tablets over the next five years. The initial reception and anticipation of the cadre of ultrabooks announced at CES is impressive, but if we look closer at the stats the tablet really isn't in any danger of being relegated to irrelevance by the new class of laptops any time soon.

At CES 2012, the ultrabook is the new tablet. Of course, there are plenty of new tablets being offered up as well, but 2012 is shaping up to be the year of the ultrabook.

Last December, Google started shipping the Cr-48 -- a lightweight notebook running Chrome OS -- to select people across the U.S. This pilot program was meant to test the experimental "Chromebook" platform under real-world use, helping Google work out any kinks. About 60,000 Cr-48's were given away by the company. Acer and Samsung released their own Chromebook models for sale to the public on June 15.

The rise of tablets has often led to claims that the PC market is on its last legs. But is the traditional personal computer dead? Not yet. In fact, the tablet market may just help shape the future of PCs.

A month from today, the Chromebooks from Samsung and Acer will hit the street. Google hopes to revolutionize mobile computing and free us from the shackles of the traditional PC experience, but the Chromebook is going to fizzle.

One of the problems with the marketability of the Chromebook -- that it only functions when connected to the Internet -- is also a misunderstanding. Google's Chrome OS doesn't have any locally installed apps like a word processor or spreadsheet manager, so many believe that Chromebooks are dependent on and useless without Wi-Fi or cellular data connectivity. But when Chromebooks ship on June 15, they'll come packaged with offline versions of Gmail, Docs, and Google Calendar.

Google spent much of the second day of the Google I/O event focused on the Chrome OS and the unveiling the upcoming Chromebook computers. The Web-centric netbooks are an ambitious attempt to fundamentally change the way people compute, and could possibly replace your traditional laptop...if you let it.

Tablets, netbooks, smartphones--these days, you can't buy a microwave without being upsold on the touchscreen, app-store model. But when you're picking out your preferred mobile tech for work (or even for play), you can't rely on a features chart or a list of specs to tell you what you should buy.

So long, netbooks.

The iPad is gaining traction in just about every market imaginable. MATTHEW SAINSBURY asks whether it's a threat to traditional notebooks.

Here's a rhetorical question: How are netbooks any less attractive to consumers when Intel improves the Atom chips inside them?

Acer has disclosed more details about its upcoming Android-based Liquid smartphone, a thin device with a 3.5-inch touchscreen.

The Nokia Booklet 3G netbook may have some clever innovations, including mobile broadband and a 12-hour battery, but its steep price tag will drive customers away.

Reports that Dell might use Google's Android OS in a netbook raises questions about what the device might look like and whether Android is ready for use beyond smartphones.

It's human nature to get on the bandwagon of a "good thing." Take the screaming hype that is the netbook phenomenon, for example.