GNB’s GL-750 Android smartbook gets video hands-on

In what is probably our last story relating to this week’s Computex show in Taiwan, GNB unveiled a 7-inch smartbook running on Google Android. The GNB GL-750 was running a port of Android v1.5 powered by Freescale’s 533MHz ARM 11 iMX31 processor.

As the device only has a 7-inch screen, it was very small in the hand, weighing just 680g. The matte screen has a thick bezel surrounding it and runs at an 800 x 480 resolution. Storage is catered for by an 8GB SSD with RAM of 256MB. In terms of ports, it comes with three USB ports, a pair of audio jacks, Ethernet and a multi-card reader.

While the keyboard certainly is small, it does seem usable. The touchpad has mouse buttons on the left and right hand side of it. Given those specs, I imagine it won’t cost too much, although it’s likely to be bundled on a service contract through a mobile phone operator. Check out a hands-on video from NetbookNews after the break. Read more

Freescale demonstrates future smartbook concepts & form factors

Whilst the smartbook category is still very new, that hasn’t stopped Freescale Semiconductors to team up with the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) to come with some real ‘out-of-the-box’ ideas on what the future smartbook concepts may look like.

Smartbooks are based on ARM chips and have been introduced to fill a gap between smartphone and notebook products. Typically, they will be an always connected device via 3G, have instant-on functionality and have much longer battery life than your typical netbook. Freescale has its own ARM-designed chip in the form of the i.MX515.

“This initiative has given Freescale valuable insight into how end-users prefer to interact with smartbooks, and this knowledge will be fed back into our chip design processes, ultimately resulting in future i.MX processors that enable compelling consumer experiences and entirely new classes of consumer devices,” said Glen Burchers, Consumer Segment marketing director for Freescale.

A number of designs were shown including a modular smartbook as well as ones that feature sliding keypads, vertical displays and also one with leather-based casing. See all of the prototypes after the break. Read more

Video: Pegatron smartbook with Freescale CPU hands-on

Pegatron first showed off this very thin and lightweight smartbook back at CES in January. This particular model reappeared at Computex and NetbookNews.de managed to get hands-on with the unit. The 10-inch netbook was running on a Freescale IMX51 800MHz ARM-based CPU and Xandros Linux. The most notable aspects appear to be a very lightweight, fanless glossy model with 8 hours of battery life.

Storage is catered for by a 4GB SSD meaning that the weight doesn’t creep above 800g. The Pegatron netbook includes a 4-in-1 card reader, USB 2.0 ports and a VGA out. As you would expect with an ARM-based chip, wireless connectivity includes 3G, GPS, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi.

Build quality was found to be good, despite some flex in the palm rest area. The keyboard had good feedback but only had a small right shift key. Interestingly, a second model (with the same hardware) was shown running the Movial OS, which I’ve not heard of before. It was similar to Asus’ Easy Mode OS. There is no idea on cost right now, but hopefully it won’t be too far off the Wistron N900z’s predicted $200 price tag. Check out the video after the jump. Read more

Video: Wistron N900z smartbook hands-on

Computex has been a revelation for the new type of smartbook devices that have emerged. Whilst some may view these devices as underpowered, they will only get stronger as time goes on in our view. Freescale showcased some smartbooks of its own, including the 10-inch Wistron N900z.

The N900z uses an 800MHz Freescale ARM-based CPU, runs Ubuntu and has a 4GB flash drive. Battery life is very good at around 10 hours of life. Laptop Mag went hands-on with the bland-looking device. They liked the rubberised keys on the keyboard but found the touchpad to be unusable. Performance wasn’t that great though, with some hiccups when trying to play a video whilst having two applications open. With the applications closed, the video played fine.

There is no timeline as to when this device might launch, but Freescale expects it to cost around the $200 mark when it does. NetbookNews also went hands-on with the device and we’ve attached a video of it after the break. Read more

Qualcomm announces 1.3GHz Snapdragon 45nm CPU

Qualcomm already has a 1GHz Snapdragon processor that is found in the Toshiba TG01 smartphone along with the recently spotted Asus Eee PC prototype smartbook. Qualcomm has now announced a new 1.3GHz QSD8650A chipset that will use 30 percent less power than its 1GHz equivalent, whilst running 30 percent faster.

The low power draw is down to the 45nm manufacturing process, with the chip drawing just 10 milliwatts in standby. This chip will include integrated 3G connectivity, GPS, 3D graphics and HD video playback. Other features will include support for 1280 x 800 resolution displays, Bluetooth 2.1 and Wi-Fi.
This new chipset will sit between the 1GHz (QSD8x50 ) CPU and its 1.5GHz dual core offering (QSD8672). Read more

Computex: Nvidia Tegra netbooks to debut with Windows CE

Nvidia will be showing off the first netbooks that run on the Tegra platform at the Computex show, which kicks off on Tuesday in Taiwan. The Tegra platform is different to ION in that it pairs an ARM-based processor with an Nvidia GeForce GPU (ION pairs an Intel Atom CPU with the Nvidia 9400M graphics).

The lack of an x86 processor, means that Windows XP/Windows 7 is not an option. Instead, these netbooks will be running the Windows CE operating system. Nvidia says that at some point down the road, it hopes to use Google Android instead. Read more

HP considering ARM chips in future netbooks

Whilst this shouldn’t be too much of a surprise to many people, Hewlett-Packard is considering the use of ARM-based processors in upcoming netbooks. ARM processors from the likes of Qualcomm and Freescale are set to be used in smartbook devices from the end of this year and a number of manufacturers are considering its use in their netbook lines.

“We look at ARM quite a bit. The mini category is one that plays closely to ARM,” said Todd Bradley who oversees the PC unit. ARM produces chip designs and then licenses them to other companies such as Qualcomm, Texas Instruments and Freescale. These chips are found in many mobile phones, iPods, video-game consoles and even cameras.

Companies such as Acer and Asustek are already rumoured to be working on Snapdragon products. Qualcomm hasn’t said whether the products are netbooks or smaller mobile devices. I would imagine that HP are looking to compliment their existing lines with these new chips are perhaps to enter the smartbook segment themselves.

First pictures of Skytone’s Alpha 680 Android netbook

Skytone’s Alpha 680 7-inch netbook with 800 x 480 resolution screen won’t get too many people excited, especially with its anaemic specifications, its appearance is more symbolic than anything. It is the first known Android netbook and also one of the first ARM-powered netbooks we’ve seen.

We have already seen a video demo of the Alpha 680’s Android OS in action and we now have some pictures of the netbook in the flesh. These particular photos show a bright red 680 complete with swivelling screen as well as game controls mounted on the screen.

The Alpha 680 is powered by an ARM 11 533MHz processor, 128MB RAM and 1GB of flash storage as standard. An optional upgrade to 256MB RAM and 4GB flash storage is possible. For those that want more, a SDHC slot is also supported. The unit is expected to launch within the next three months for around $250. Click through for some photos of the Alpha 680. Read more

Pegatron prepping ARM-based netbooks for Asus

Asus’ CEO, Jerry Shen, recently confirmed that it was unlikely to adopt ARM/Android netbooks this year. Part of his reasoning was that most consumers are still used to Windows and that the first quarter of 2010 would provide more of an opportunity for alternative processors.

Well it looks like ODM Pegatron Technology is preparing to manufacture these ARM-based netbooks, but is waiting for the green light from Asustek. Pegatron has not received a schedule to mass produce these ARM netbooks as Asus is still apparently monitoring trends in the market place.

Pegatron also has a 7-inch ARM-based netbook and recently received orders from Chinese white-box vendors to sell the device for under $200. It seems, however, that there is low demand for Linux based products in Asia, therefore Pegatron plans to concentrate on the European and American markets.

Via Digitimes.

Novell collaborates with Intel to push Moblin netbook OS

Intel and Novell have today announced a deal to push Moblin, the open source Linux platform designed for netbooks using the Intel Atom processor. As part of the deal, Novell will help to create a Moblin-based OS targeted for netbooks. It will also create an open lab in Taiwan to push Moblin adoption to the main netbook vendors i.e. Taiwanese based Asustek, Acer and MSI. The Novell distribution will be based on Moblin v2 for Netbooks.

If you remember, Moblin was originally created by Intel, but it recently handed over control to the Linux Foundation. The move was viewed as an attempt to attract more interest from netbook vendors who are currently steadfastly sticking with Windows XP. Judging from the Novell announcement, Intel still appears to be actively promoting the technology. Read more

ARM CEO hints at possible Windows 7 support

We should start to see a number of ARM-powered netbooks hit retail as the year ends. As ARM chips are not x86 (unlike Intel Atom), it means currently they cannot support Windows XP, Vista or Windows 7. More than likely we’ll see these ARM netbooks running on Linux-variants such as Google’s Android OS. However, ARM’s CEO is hinting that Windows 7 support may be on the cards at some point in the future.

ARM recently reported its first quarter results and during the analyst conference call, ARM’s CEO, Warren East, said “Microsoft will continue to play an important part in this [netbook] space. If there was Windows support for the ARM processor today clearly it would be a very different marketplace. Perhaps there will be support in future but that’s really for Microsoft to comment on and not for us to comment on, I’m afraid.” Read more

ASUS: No ARM/Android netbooks until Q1 2010 at the earliest

Asustek reported its first quarter results today and some interesting news came out from the investor conference. According to Asus CEO, Jerry Shen, it will continue to use Microsoft Windows in its Eee PC netbook line in 2009. The CEO also confirmed that there are no plans to adopt ARM-based processors for its netbooks this year.

“Windows is what most consumers are used to,” said Shen. He then went on to say that the first quarter of 2010 will provide “more of an opportunity” for rival operating software as well as alternative processors. Read more

ARM netbooks to start shipping from August

ARM is looking to be the leader when it comes to netbooks priced in the sub-$200 price range. ARM’s Director of Mobile Computing. Bob Morris, believes that its chips could even usher an era of netbooks for as low as $110. This would place them in “impulse buy” territory, he believes, rather than one that needs considerable thought.

Morris also said that he expects to see five or six such ARM netbooks from “several major OEMs” coming out around August or September, just in time for the Christmas shopping season. Asked to describe what an ARM–powered netbook will look like , Morris talked of something similar to a portable DVD player with enough battery life to watch three entire HD films, back to back. Read more

AT&T to offer ARM netbooks

AT&T is putting its weight behind netbooks using ARM processors, calling them the “next big step,” according to EE Times. Glenn Lurie, president of emerging devices for AT&T’s wireless group, said that he expects AT&T to offer ARM/Linux netbooks in addition to present-day x86 devices. Lurie claims that a wide variety of netbooks are on the way.

“There are a lot of people who will dive in and build netbooks, including folks like cellular or wireless OEMs who never built a computer before. There will be a lot of innovation around what a netbook looks like and what the use cases are, and we will see this evolve very quickly,” he added.

AT&T has signalled its support for any netbook CPU that will come to the wireless broadband party. At the beginning of this month, the carrier rolled out four subsidized netbooks – Acer’s Aspire One, Dell’s Mini 9 and 12 and LG’s X110. Currently available only to shoppers in Atlanta and Philadelphia, the netbooks will be available nationwide later this year, the carrier says.

Always Innovating’s Touch Book tablet priced

Back in early March, Always Innovating announced a unique portable device called the Touch Book. It is unique in a number of ways, first of all it is designed as an 8.9-inch tablet with a sliding keyboard dock so that it can be used in a more traditional netbook form-factor. The tablet is also magnetic so that it can be mounted on a fridge and the unit also supports internal USB slots so no more dongle mess.

This unique ‘netbook’ will also be one of the first to come with an ARM processor (using the Texas Instruments OMAP3 chip) whilst the OS is built from OpenEmbedded, a Linux variant. ARM processors promise increased power efficiency over their x86 equivalents and this can be seen in the quoted 10-15 hours of battery life. It offers all of this in a package that weighs less than 2lbs (0.9kg), including both battery and keyboard!

It will only come with 8GB of flash storage but despite this it is certainly one of the most interesting developments due this year in our eyes. According to the official site, pre-orders are now open and will set you back $299 for the tablet or $399 which will include the keyboard dock. Personally, I think it would have made sense to sell this as 1 SKU as the keyboard dock is part of the experience. However, by splitting the price, it means it may make this within the reach of those who are just after a tablet experience. Click through for a full list of specifications. Read more

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