At FCC, a 8.9-inch smartbook named Mobinnova Beam has been discovered. It is powered by NVidia Tegra chipset and it has been found that AT&T is going to carry it. It will be launched at the CES 2010 event. Specs have not been finalized yet.
So, AT&T will be launching two smartbooks very soon: Lenovo Smartbook and Mobinova Beam Smartbook
EasyPC E790 from Menq is a small tiny smartbook that could be retailing for as-low-as $80 provided folks at Menq sort out their sales channels.
Talking about its features, it has ARM9 processor, a 7-inch 800 x 480 display and runs Windows CE 5.0 as OS. Ports include: audio jacks, SD Card reader, 3 USB 2.0 ports and Ethernet. It even features a removable battery. Soon, it will be available with Android. Though it is a bit slow, but at $80 we are not complaining!
For more details check out MenQ
We mentioned last month that Acer would be launching its first Android netbook in the month of November and according to the latest news bits, Acer India has already rolled out Aspire D250 Android version in India for a fairly low price of $400 (Rs 18599). At this price, you get Windows XP and Android OS, both in one machine.
Specifications have undergone no change at all. It still uses Atom N280, 160GB HDD, 1GB RAM and GMA 950 chipset. It is better to stick with GMA 950 than having something like GMA 500 under the hood which just did not give us good performance while reviewing the VAIO X.
According to netbook india, Android is yet to take off in India, so it may not be considered as the coolest feature on the netbook.
Since Zune HD drive, Tegra attained popularity very fast, and according to fudzilla, some high ranking industry sources has confirmed that after its so much demand and popularity the company has decided to launch a new chip in 2010. The Tegra 2 will be equipped ARM 9 which is a dual core ARM CPU. Smartbook market is the main focus of Tegra 2.
According to ASUS market specialist, Judy Wu, company’s first smartbook which was planned to be launched in Q1 2010 with a price tag of $180, will now be launched in Q2 2010. No reason was given for this delay.
Interestingly, they are now considering Google Chrome as OS too (along with Android OS)
Combo of 11n Wi-Fi with Bluetooth 3.0, the AR6133 module has been announced by Atheros. This integration of bluetooth and Wi-Fi modules would help the OEMs and manufactures to offer smartbooks for much cheaper price than netbooks.
“Combination solutions are growing in popularity among mobile gaming and portable CE, fueled by new entertainment and productivity use cases,” said Amir Faintuch, vice president and general manager of Atheros’ mobile business unit. “With the new AR6133, our customers can easily design a complete turnkey mobile 11n and Bluetooth combination solution into next-generation mobile consumer products, enabling consumers to enjoy the benefits of portable, seamless connectivity.”
With a slew of Android netbooks coming at the end of year, developers out there must gear themselves up with the latest Android 2.0 SDK.
Click on read more to get the download information and to know what is new in the new SDK!
Meet enTourage eDGe, which nicely combines a typical eReader with web browsing functionality. On its eBook side, you get 9.7-inch screen with the resolution of 1200×825 pixels and on its netbook side, you get a 10.1-inch 1024 x 600 display which runs Google Android OS. It has 3G of RAM that can be expanded via SD Card. It is an inch thick and weighs 2.5 pounds. Stated battery life is 6 hours. It also has 1.3MP webcam, 3G via EVDO or HSDPA and Wi-Fi.
February is the month for its shipment and can be pre-ordered at enTourage. Price: $490.
[enTourage Edge]
Acer’s Android netbook is now up at Amazon.com for pre-order. It’s a 10.1” Acer Aspire D250 netbook which comes with two operating systems: Windows XP and Google Android. It comes with Intel Atom N280 processor, 10.1-inch display with 1024×600 resolution, WiFi b/g/n, 160GB HDD, 1GB RAM and 6-cell battery.
[Amazon link]
Made by a Shenzhen company, the Skytone Alpha has been in news on Gadgetmix quite a lot of times. It is one of the first MIDs to use Google Android OS and has a 7-inch touchscreen that swivels around its axis! Finally, we have its complete specs and we must say that it is commendable to see that the Skytone was able to fit in 2 USB ports into such small frame.
7 “TFT LCD (800 * 480)
128MB mDDR Memory
1 GB Nand Flash Memory Hard drive
CPU ARM11 533 MHz 32bit CPU ARM11
10/100Mbps Ethernet ; RJ-45 Network Interface 10/100Mbps Ethernet
Built-in WiFi wireless connectivity
USB 2.0 x 2
SD / MMC card slot (supports SDHC)
MPEG1/2/4,H.263,H.264,WMV9 Supported
WiFi ;(ADSL,GPRS,CDMA,EDGE,WCDMA) Internet access methods (optional)
Standard keyboard input device, touch pad, touch screen
Remember the Skytone Alpha 680 netbook that we mentioned few months back? (see this and this if you have forgotten). Well, we are back with some more news.
According to Le Journal, the device is NOT in any position to hit the market anytime soon as the Android OS, at least on this netbook, is not enough stable. This means that you will have to wait for few more months to get your hands on this Android-based netbook.
On the other hand, Acer is working hard on their Android netbook, which will be out just before the holiday season starts. Acer is the way to go since you get the best of both worlds (it runs both Windows and Android OS underneath).
Acer is going to launch their Acer Android netbook in the month of November. Earlier, we had mentioned that it would be running Windows XP and Android, but since Windows 7 is coming later this month, it be replace the former.
So, now you do know what to buy during Christmas time?
Foxcomm Technology, a popular Taiwanese based company that gets orders for manufacturing netbooks for big computer vendors is now planning to launch Smartbooks next year.
Smartbooks manufactured by Foxconn are expected to cost under $200. Foxconn is anticipating that there is going to be a lot of demand for a sub-$200 device. Foxconn is looking forward to try a few Linux-based distro’s on these machines including Moblin OS and one which they are themselves making. They are also looking forward to use Google’s Android OS in one of their smartbooks as well.
The size of Smartbooks is not going to pocket size. They are going to be as big as the netbooks we see these days (between 7-inch to 10-inch).
The only thing we don’t want to see is Android-driven netbooks/smartbooks. Let’s keep mobile phone OS restricted to mobile phones only!
ASUS has decided to halt the release of their ARM-based Qualcomm Snapdragon smartbook. We mentioned a couple of months about ASUS releasing their Smartbook.
What could be the possible reason for delaying their Smartbook is the fact that ASUS suffered revenue loss which was in the news today.
CEO Jerry Shen doesn’t have high hopes for the smartbook market, he is quoted as saying, ”Currently, I don’t see a clear market for smartbooks.”
So there are two reasons for it. First, lets face it that ACER is kind-of becoming the undisputed leader in the netbook market although it entered after ASUS in the world of netbooks and thus ASUS is not able to sell achive its sales targets. Secondly, demand for Smartbooks is currently unknown. Last month, Acer decided to delay the launch of their netbook. Acer’s Smartbook will be running Android OS and Acer thinks that there is not-enough demand for the Android OS and thus has decided to postpone the release of their Smartbook.
