Shuttle is rumoured to be mulling a jump into notebook waters, and the recruitment of ECS's former notebook business president gives some credence to the rumours.

However, Shuttle points out that hiring a notebook expert doesn't have to mean the company will enter the market, as notebooks, motherboards and PCs are all tightly connected. Shuttle says it will continue developing niche products to reduce the impact of the economic crisis.

Still, the rumoured entry into the notebook market sounds plausible. Shuttle has made quite a name for itself in the SFF PC business, and we're believe the brand could do well in the notebook market as well.

Shuttle is conspicuously absent from the nettop market as well. Recently it has launched an Atom-based all-in-one, but it still has no Atom nettops or barebones to offer.

More here.