We’ve been eagerly awaiting the arrival of ASUS’ Eee PC 1201N, the 12.1-inch ultraportable packing Intel’s dual-core Atom 330 processor and NVIDIA Ion graphics, so imagine our jealousy when SlashGear reader Vention got in touch to let us know he’d managed to acquire one.  Rather than gloat, Vention ran the benchmarks we’ve been waiting to see and compared the 1201N with the HP Mini 311.

Unfortunately, if we were hoping the 1201N would show the Mini 311 (which uses Ion LE graphics) its heels and use its processor – which is more regularly to be found in nettops than it is in netbooks – to help whip through the benchmarks, we’d be disappointed.  In fact, the two machines seem reasonably well matched, with the ASUS edging slightly ahead in 3D Mark 2006 but actually behind the HP in 3D Mark 2005 and 2003.

Of course, 3D Mark only really tests graphics performance, and so we’ll have to wait and see how the 1201N does in more all-round benchmarking.  Still, as we learned earlier today, an Ion-based machine can certainly hold its own against Intel’s upcoming Pinetrail CPUs, so the ASUS shouldn’t be instantly outclassed once the next-gen models turn up in early January.

After the niche success of the Superheadz Digital Harinezumi camera, it comes as little surprise that rivals in the “odd photography” segment will emerge.  First up is the Exemode SQ28m, a 21g mini-cam measuring a slimline 53 x 23 x 19 mm and capable of taking some particularly trippy images or videos with its 1.95-megapixel CMOS sensor.

Onboard storage is 64MB – though there’s a microSD slot for up to 2GB cards – and maximum resolution is 1,280 x 1,200 stills or 320 x 240 8fps video in either Motion JPEG or AVI format.  A USB 1.1 connection is used to shuffle footage over to your computer, and the whole thing is designed to dangle from your keychain until it’s needed.

Does anybody else think it’s vaguely ironic that, while we’ve constantly been complaining about camera quality in cellphones over the past few years, pushing for higher-resolution and better color accuracy, now we’re also snapping up bizarre “gimmick” cameras the sole point of which is to deliver skewed colors and fuzzy detail?  The Exemode SQ28m will go on sale in Japan tomorrow, priced at the equivalent of around $70.

Ah, the humble northbridge; neither as earnest as the processor nor as glamourous as the dedicated video card, it works its subtle charms and waits in vain for recognition.  If VIA have their way, though, the northbridge will soon be declared the saviour of the proletariat: the new VIA VN1000 is intended for entry-level all-in-ones, SFF machines and budget desktops, instilling them with DirectX 10.1 support and the ability to play back 1080p Blu-ray content.

There’s also support for DDR3 memory, up to four SATA II hard-drives, a multi-format memory card reader and five PCI card slots, as well as a full twelve USB 2.0 ports.  It’ll also play nicely with the more advanced graphics features of Windows 7 and throws in dual channel support for DisplayPort, HDMI, VGA and others.

At its heart beats the VIA Chrome 520 graphics processor, with OpenGL 3.0 and OpenCL 1.0 compatibility, and the company say that, when you pair the VN1000 with their VT8261 southbridge, total power consumption for the two is 12W under load.  They’re compatible with VIA’s own Nano, C7, C7-M and Eden procesors, and are available to manufacturers now.

It’s fascinating how news can spread so quickly even on a late Saturday afternoon. Earlier today, Google publicly confirmed on their blog that they’ve handed out a new Android 2.1 powered device to employees worldwide. These very phones now have a name – Google Nexus One phone.

Update: Another new in-the-wild photo, courtesy of Twitter user Cory O’Brien. He says “Google Phone = iPhone + a little extra screen and a scroll wheel. Great touch screen, and Android.”

Update 2: More intrigue, as industry insider Eldar Murtazin – who we last heard predicting Foxconn as the supplier for the 4th-gen Apple iPhone – claims the Google Nexus One speculation is off the mark and that the incorrect rumors may initially have been driven by Apple.  Full details after the cut.

The Nexus One phone is unlocked and carrier free. It’ll be sold online starting in early 2010 for an unknown price. Nexus One is purported to have a 3.5-inch super high-resolution OLED touchscreen, is thinner than the iPhone, lacking a physical keyboard, two mics and powered by Snapdragon processor.  According to Techcrunch, the second mic on the back helps Nexus One eliminate background noise, and it also has a “weirdly” large camera for a phone. Anyone not too crazy about touchscreen keyboard might want to try voice-to-text feature – which is suppose to dictate emails and notes by speaking directly into the phone.

The name Nexus One may seem odd but according to BoyGeniusReport, it looks legit. Not to mention WSJ is also reporting the same.

HTC is building the Nexus One phone with lots of input from Google and might be a modified version of the HTC Passion or the HD2.

Update 2 continued: According to Mobile-Review’s Eldar Murtazin, Google Nexus One phone speculation is far off the mark.  Having spoken to a Google team member, he says “Google employees are testing some features of upcoming version of Android 2.1 on HTC Passion which was called Google Phone (=Android phone)” and that “Some rival company used misunderstanding to lauch rumour about Gphone and new business model from Google (which arent true).”  As for the identity of this “rival company”, he goes on to suggest that it’s actually Apple looking to derail future Motorola devices.  No word on who Murtazin’s source is, however, so add this to the speculation pile.