Pegatron Smartbook, another non-x86 netbook

Pegatron is set to release a smartbook before the end of the 2009. This Pegatron Smartbook has a standard 8.9-inch screen and includes a 2 cell battery. Do not underestimate its battery life as it does not run a power hungry processor. It uses ARM 800MHz processor which will be able to give you 8 hours of juice!

Since it uses ARM processor, it won’t be able to run Windows XP, Vista or 7 or any OS made for x86 machinse. However, it will be able to run Linux, Google Android or Windows CE. All this for under 200 pounds

Expect lots of Smartbooks in coming months

Many manufacturers, including Acer, Foxconn, Compal, Pegatron and Inventec will start shipping ARM-based smartbooks. The new ARM-based smartbooks will be smaller in size, and a bit cheaper, contrary to Atom powered netbook. But obviously they won’t be as good, and also won’t be able to run a proper version of Windows. You will stuck with Linux or Win CE, and may see Android in few of them, too.

Asustek, the second biggest netbook maker, is looking to launch its smartbooks later in November or December. Reason? They believe that therer is not enough demand for such devices and would rather wait for the feedbacks of this new product class.

That said, the main advantage of these netbooks will be that it will be very compact. The first models are expected to have 8.9-inch displays and will cost around $200.

Disturbing news: Revenue drops in ASUS, Pegatron and Gigabyte

ASUS has suffered a disturbing 16.15% drop in the month of January and even-more-disturbing 38.91% yearly due to the various disturbances in the Eastern Europe. The ASUS shipped a modest 300,000 unit of Notebooks and Netbooks in the month of January and also shipped 1.3 million motherboards in the same month. Coming to Gigabyte, which [...]