Toshiba AC100 to be shipped without Flash Support

Looks like, Toshiba is going to have a tough time selling AC100 – their first smartbook. This smartbook -  Toshiba AC100 – will be shipping with the Android 2.1 OS which currently does not support Flash.

Interestingly, even though Android 2.2 has full-Flash support, Adobe and Nvidia are still working on a plugin that works flawlessly on a Tegra chip.

Lenovo Skylight to sport dual-core CPU

Qualcomm 1GHz Snapdragon processor is powerful enough for the Smartbooks, right? Lenovo begs to differ and that is why they have decided to equip this much-awaited smartbook with 1.5GHz dual-core Snapdragon processor. An year ago, the 1GHz Snapdragon processor was the most powerful ARM processor around, but a lot of things have changed now. New, more powerful processors have surfaced and it is important to keep-up with the latest technology and trend.

The Lenovo Skylight Smartbook runs Android OS and will be released in Q4 2010.

Pioneer DreamBook Lite E10 Smartbook

Pioneer Computers Australia unveiled a VIA-powered Smartbook in the market. Unlike similar products in the market that run Windows 7 Starter, this smartbook comes with Windows CE (or Android OS).

Specifications: 10.1-inch 1024×600 display, VIA-8505 533MHz processor, 128MB RAM, upto 4GB RAM, 0.3MP webcam, LAN, SD slot, 3x USB 2.0 ports, 1800mAh battery, Windows CE or Android and optional 3G

God, what would one do on a Android machine with 4GB RAM, when even 512MB RAM is more than enough for a mobile OS! We would rather like to see Chromium running on that.

Android 3 supports ARM Cortex A9 processors = Bright Smartbook future

Jen Hsun, CEO of Nvidia told the theinquirer that Tegra and Android 3 are going to complete change the way people use high-resolution phones. He emphasized on the fact that smooth graphics on high-resolution displays require powerful chipsets like Tegra that can handle even HD videos with ease. 

This may be the breakthrough Smartbook manufactures have been waiting for – powerful performance and a good customizable OS like Android 3.

Cherrypal netbook runs Android

Cherrypal has announced its first two netbooks, both of which run Android OS. The two netbooks are 7-inch and 10.1-inch displays respectively and run Android 1.6 OS on their ARM9-based Via VT 8505 processor clocked at 533MHz, and offer 256MB of RAM, 2GB of flash storage, Ethernet, WiFi, and USB.

Differences between the 7-inch and 10.1-inch models are as follows:

• 800×480 on 7-incher versus 1024×600 pixel resolution on the 10.1-incher
• chiclet keyboard on the 10.1-incher
• 7-incher costs $99, while the 10.1-incher retails at $148

Sharp IS01 Smartbook

How about a Smartbook that looks like those cheap digital dictionaries? Well, Sharp IS01 dons Android OS and Qualcomm Snapdragon processor. This little Smartbook is equipped with a 5-inch multitouch display with a kooky 960×480 pixel resolution. And, whats up with that Android 1.6 OS that it comes with?

Other specs – 4GB flash storage, Wi-Fi b/g, Bluetooth 2.1, TV tuner, IR port, 3G, micro-SD card, webcam, 227gm.

Hivision Smartbook – breaks $200 Smartbook barrier

“How low is too low?” That is something we are asking ourselves as these notorious smartbooks are hitting the market. One of them is the $149 Hivision Android Smartbook that is powered by an 500MHz ARM 9 processor and 7-inch screen.

True, not a lot of horsepower under the bonnet, but enough to run the Android OS smoothly.

HP Mini Smartbook

HP has unveiled a new Smartbook running Android OS. Powered by 1GHz Snapdragon processor, it comes with a 10-inch resistive touchcreen display. The display does NOT supports multi-touch gestures.

Although the touchscreen can be used to control the mouse pointer on the display, but it has not done away with the trackpad. It is still there with left and right click buttons on its sides.

The keyboard looks very comfortable to type upon and sports a full size right shift key.

ICD VEGA tablet – packs Tegra+HDMI!

Remember the ICD VEGA tablet that we talked about a month back? Well, this little sleek piece of technology is finally here. Equipped with a flushed 7-inch display and integrated 3G and WiFi+BT radios, it is one of the first devices out there  to use the Tegra T20 CPU

It is pretty slim too – just 20mm thick and is able to deliver nearly 4 hours of run time on a single charge. Believe it or not, it somehow packs in a mini-HDMI port too to let you connect it to the HDTV.

You have the choice to choose resistive or capacitive display with either 800×480 or 1024×600 resolution.

Sony Ericsson to enter into Smartbook market

Interestingly, another company is entering in the smartbook market and it is THE Sony Ericsson. Sony Ericsson, after having a not-so-great journey with their Windows Mobile smartphones (Sony Ericsson Xperia X1) have now started to concentrate towards smartbooks. According to the information given by a reliable Taiwanese source, the company is now working on a smartbook that will be released at the end of this year. No details about the specs have been made clear, what kind of specs it will have, but we suspect it to be a non-x86 device and will use ARM processors to run some mobile OS, possibly Android.

It will receive some quite healthy competitions as netbooks from other manufactures will be coming in galore too around that time period.