Netbook Review, notebook review, tablet review, PC review » smartbook

Trademark battle won over by Qualcomm for name ”Smartbook”

Paul Merak — Sun, 20 Feb 2011 18:49:32 +0000

Qualcomm coined the term Smartbook a few years ago and this is to describe those mini laptops at the size of a netbook that use smartphone chips and has 3G capabilities. It also offers internet access that is always on and it boasts of an all day battery capacity. Then a company named Smartbook AG [...]

1st smartbook of its kind

Paul Merak — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 18:55:02 +0000

Why first? Well, it’s sort of a cross between a smartphone and a notebook. Compaq Airlife 100 Android powered netbook was first shown in January on Consumer Electronics Show in Vegas. It has a 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, 10.1 inch. 1024 x 600 pixel display, 16GB of flash-based storage, and SD card slot, 3G and [...]

Linkbook – a PowerPC smartbook

Kamal DS — Mon, 17 May 2010 13:55:48 +0000

Vodacom South Africa has introduced a new smartbook in the market which runs on a Motorola PowerPC. The Linkbook features a 16GB flash storage, 256MB RAM, 8.9-inch TFT display (1024x600 pixel display), Wireless LAN and a SIM card slot for on-the-go surfing.

Call us a weird troglodyte, but we would prefer this over the Apple iPad. And why not, after all it has a built-in keyboard and runs Firefox! It is available only in South Africa for R199 ($26) per month with a 2 year contract, which includes 300MB per month data transfer.

Other specifications: Bundled social networking software, Flash support (but Youtube not supported) and runs Ubuntu 8.04.

[vodacom]

Lenovo Smartbook Postponed

Paul Merak — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 18:50:22 +0000

Back in January, Lenovo announced its first Smartbook, the Skylight for the American market. It was said it would be hitting the shelves in the month of April (2010), but now the Fudzilla is reporting that the launch date has been postponed until July (2010).Also, it is has been observed that most of the netbook players don't have their nuts on the smartbooks and are doubtful about the success of these ARM-powered smartbooks.

Lenovo Skylight review

iKendra — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 19:35:35 +0000

Tech correspondent of the Singapore Daily, Darry Kang was lucky enough to get his hands on the impressive Lenovo Skylight Smartbook. According to his initial impressions, the flash is supported by the browser but it is slow as molasses in January. Heck, it could not even playback a YouTube video nicely. This is a shock to us as in our review, the HTC HD2 (also powered by Snapdragon) that we reviewed sometime back did not show any lags when playing back a YouTube video. Let's hope they fix this bug as-soon-as-possible because this smartbook is all about web-browsing.

Click on read more

Quanta Smartbook in the tunnel

iKendra — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 14:01:53 +0000

Quanta Computers, who have earlier worked with O2 Asia to make cellphones for them are going to produce a smartbook under its own brand! Being touted as "computer in an iPhone form factor", this upcoming smartbook from Quanta will sport a 3.5-inch touchscreen display and will posses the ability to make phone calls too.Right now, folks at Quanta are in talks with ARM and Qualcomm about the processor that should be used in it.

Marvell Smartbook packs Armada

Paul Merak — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 21:37:45 +0000

Marvell is showing off its ODM smartbook at the CES 2010. It is powered by an Armada 510 CPU that has the capability to play back your 720p videos smoothly.

Equipped with a 12.1-inch display, this smartbook runs the mighty Ubuntu operating system. But that is not the most interesting part. What made us a fan of it is its $200 price tag. Marvell says that it would run for 4 hours on a single charge.

Lenovo Skylight Smartbook coming in April 2010

Brooke — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 12:10:13 +0000

Lenovo’s first Smartbook, named Skylight will be making its debut in the month of April 2010. It will be available under AT&T’s contract. Terms and conditions of the contract are not yet known.

Learn more about the Lenovo Skylight

Freescale Smartbook prototype announced – can play HD videos!

Kamal DS — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 06:58:23 +0000

Freescale has unveiled its new smartbook prototype design – a tablet with a 7-inch touchscreen display that docs with a keyboard. Since it is a smartbook, it uses Freescale iMX515 processor that is based on ARM-infrastructure.

It runs Debian Linux and weighs less than 2 pounds! Measuring just 200x128x14.9cm, it features a resistive display. While Freescale could have gone with the capacitive one, it restrained itself to resistive to keep the overall cost of the Smartbook as-low-as possible. The price tag of the WiFi only version is going to be $199. Expect a bit higher price for the 3G+WiFi version.

It has a 4-16GB SSD, single USB port, micro-SD slot, webcam and headphone jack. There are two buttons – Back and Menu on the left of its display.

The Freescale Smartbook, which has not been given any name yet, worked with the Canonical – the people behind Ubuntu and ThunderSoft to create a widget environment so that people find Linux easier to use. The Smartbook includes ATi’s HD decoder. Since there is no mention of HDMI port on it, it makes less sense to play HD movies on a small screen.

Freescale is also considering Google Android for their Smartbook.

Meet the Lenovo Skylight Smartbook

Paul Merak — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 04:41:59 +0000

Who better than Lenovo to start the Smartbook revolution? The Lenovo Smartbook, destined to make debut in April 2010, will be launched at the CES 2010.This smartbook is not just any ARM powered netbook. It is powered by the 1GHz Snapdragon CPU from Qualcomm that is already being used in high end HTC and Toshiba Windows Phones and we have heard that it is mighty fast. It has a vivid 10.6-inch display and runs Linux. Let’s hope that it means Chrome Linux because that is exactly what we have been hearing about the Skylight from the past few months – see this and thisIt has 20GB of solid state storage and 2GB of cloud storage which is meant for storing the data online. Also bundled is a 8GB miniSD card. There are 2 USB ports too for pluging-in your peripherals.Update: Now confirmed that it is using Lenovo's customized version of Linux, not Chrome OS.Update2: resolution is 1280x720 and comes pre-loaded with mountain of widgets including Amazon MP3, Gmail,It packs Wi-Fi and 3G (via AT&T) to make sure you are always connected while on-the-go. Battery is internal and will be priced at $499. A bit too expensive for a Smartbook, if you ask us.[Learn more about HTC TOUCH HD 2 1GHZ phone at Windows Phone Mix]

Netbook that costs 86 Euros (Smartbook)

Paul Merak — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 00:22:46 +0000

Here is a netbook, a bit weirdly named though – SMQ4012, that is powered by a VIA VT8500 400MHz processor and 128MB RAM. It runs Windows CE 5.0 operating system which is fabricated for devices like these – underpowered, low on memory and storage.You get paltry 2GB for storage that can be expanded via SD card. Comes with a 1800mAh battery which offers 3 hours of runtime.This puppy has 7-inch WVGA display and packs the same amount of ports that you would find in a usual netbook – 3 USB 2.0 ports, VGA, LAN, microphone and headphone port.Available in two colors – black, white and pink. Weighs 650gm, just as much as VAIO X, but much smaller and of course, much much cheaperUnderpowered? Yes, but not too bad for sofa surfingNote: Although it is being sold as a netbook, it is not actually one. It is a smartbook

A netbook/smartbook for just $73 – by Singworld Windows CE netbook

Twinkle — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 12:06:54 +0000

Boy! These smartbooks are turning out be really cheap. Here is a 7-inch smartbook from Sungworld priced ridiculously low at $73. Of course, at $73, you cannot expect a netbook running XP. It has a ARM processor running at 300MHz clock speed, made by VIA. It has a 7-inch WVGA (800x480) display and comes with 1GB of storage. It runs Windows CE and comes with a built-in 1800mAh batteryFew days back, we mentioned a netbook/smartbook that costs $50 and is able to run Linux. Now, we have a slightly higher priced smartbook by Singworld that runs Windows CE OS. How low can they go?! Anyday, I would choose the one running Linux though over the Windows CE

HP Snapdragon Smartbook exposed – made by Qualcomm

Twinkle — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 17:06:01 +0000

At an event in China, PT & Network Comm China 2009, Qualcomm displayed an 7-inch snapdragon smartbook which will be sold by HP, perhaps in few months from now. This smartboook runs Linux and has HSDPA radio so that you can always remain connected wherever you go. It has an antenna which should increase the signal, if extended.Snapdragon, Qualcomm's 1GHz processor for mobile devices should be mighty fast on this Linux machine. Nothing is known is about its and availability

Sharp PC-Z1 MID/Smartbook – Not that impressive after all – Quick Look

Kamal DS — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 14:10:58 +0000

At the IFA, Sharp unveiled a small Smartbook that is much smaller than the regular netbooks that we usually see in the market. The Sharp PC-Z1 is very small, even more compact than the now obsolete, EEE 701. Not only its dimensions are smaller than the EEE 701, but it's much lighter too (just 400gm).Hardware-wise, the Sharp PC-Z1 does not has good keyboard. Well, you cannot have a compact device with touch-type-able keyboard. Can you? Moving ahead, the screen is great. It packs a lot of pixels (1024x600) into its 5-inch display, which is at par with the Fujitsu U810/U1010 that was released a couple of years back. However, unlike Fujitsu, this does not run Vista or Windows XP. In fact, it cannot even run one even if you wish to as it is not an x86 device.Ubuntu is there to save us, but given the unpleasant fact that it took 10 seconds just to launch Firefox, it is disheartening for many of us. Openoffice writer took 40 seconds to load! So, although you will be able to enjoy great battery life (Sharp claims 10 hours), you will have to adapt yourself to slow performance.It will be on sale in Japan later this month for the price of 350 Euros.Commentary: From the looks of it, I'm sure, it is gratifying, but once you start using the device, it is then you realize the mistake you did when buying such a slow piece of hardware. I confess, I'll call this device a pass

Lenovo to enter the Smartbook market! – Runs Google Chrome OS

Jane — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 12:01:22 +0000

According to Commercial Times (China), Lenovo is planning to launch a smartbook by the end of September 2009. The smartbook is rumored to use the Nvidia's Tegra chipset and will use Google's Chrome OS.It is nice to see Lenovo using Chrome OS for their smartbook and not Google's mobile phone OS, Android. After all, it does not makes any sense of using a mobile phone OS on a netbook.

ASUS Snapdragon Smartbook – Launch postponed

Twinkle — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 18:48:56 +0000

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.

Pegatron Smartbook, another non-x86 netbook

Brooke — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 09:42:56 +0000

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

Nvidia Tegra-Powered Netbook to be launched later this year

Paul Merak — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 07:24:08 +0000

We are finally going to see a sub-$200 netbook soon as Nvidia's Tegra Netbook is finally going to be launched at the end of this year. It will come with the new Tegra chip which also going to be used in the upcoming Microsoft Zune HD. This chip lets you enjoy full HD and Flash videos.Nvidia has not unveiled the full specs yet, but they do have a prototype on display that features an 8.9-inch screen, Wi-Fi, 3G, and webcam. It does run Windows OS, but it is not Windows XP. Instead, it runs Microsoft CE OS. Nvidia also mentioned that the final product could be loaded with the Google Android OS.Take a look at its picture, it is still using the small right shift key. It spoils the overall typing experience. They should better fix this before releasing the final product.

CONFIRMED: Qualcomm will launch Smartbooks at the end of this year

Paul Merak — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 19:25:32 +0000

Qualcomm has confirmed that they will be launching 'smartbooks' at the end of this year. Qualcomm will be using their fast Snapdragon processor in their smartbooks as-well-as in their upcoming mobile phones. Qualcomm is pretty sure that it will be able to sell 2.5 billion units by the end of year 2011.So what makes Smartbooks better than the existing cellphones and MIDs (Mobile Internet Devices)? Smartbooks will give you a very powerful smartphone in your hand and will come with both voice and data capabilities. Unlike netbooks and MIDs, the smartbooks can remain connected all the time. No need of shutting your device down or putting your device into hibernation. All that will all day battery-life and integrated GPS.Also, we are happy to know that smartbooks will cost less than the existing netbooks. This indicates that the smartbooks should cost less than $400. If they are able to do that, it will be a huge hit among the consumers.

NVIDIA prefers Windows CE over Android for smartbooks

Paul Merak — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 19:55:04 +0000

While some folks have been quite happy with Android as an OS for smartbooks, but General Manager of NVIDIA is certainly NOT one of them. NVIDIA's general manager, Mike Rayfield says that he prefers Windows CE over Android OS in the case of smartbooks. Reason: Windows CE's maturity and lack of a "rough user interface". According to him, NVIDIA and Microsoft both are working together on Windows CE for Tegra-based systems.I also personally feel that there is no point of running Android or Symbian OS on netbooks. Windows CE is way better than Android in terms of corporate acceptability and support. Having said that, I would still prefer to run Windows XP or Windows 7 on any of my netbooks. Why go for something inferior (Android) when you can run something much better (Windows)?