Now Qualcomm hit with cease & desist over smartbook term

Over the weekend we learned that German bloggers are being targeted by German company Smartbook AG who says that the ‘smartbook’ term is trademarked by them. At the time, we weren’t sure whether this trademark only applied to Germany but now we know that this is the case.

JKOnTheRun received a press release that says that the company that came up with the smartbook term as we know it, Qualcomm, has been hit with a restraining order. The order says that Qualcomm cannot use the ‘smartbook’ term in Germany or risk facing a €250k fine.

The smartbook term describes a family of devices that are based on ARM chips, are always connected to the internet and have all day battery life. Smartbook AG makes traditional notebooks. Excerpts of the press release are attached after the break. Read more

Bloggers can’t use trademarked smartbook term claims company

Well it was probably a matter of time, but Germany company Smartbook AG has claimed that they own the ‘smartbook’ term and is requesting bloggers to remove this term from their websites. Sascha from NetbookNews received a letter from the company asking them to do exactly that.

If this sounds familiar, then the same thing happened when Psion was disputing the ‘netbook’ trademark with Intel. That particular dispute ended amicably, when Psion voluntarily withdrawn all of its trademark registrations for the ‘netbook’ term. Read more

More smartbook promo videos

Following on from the last humorous smartbook promo video, we’ve come across a couple of more that focus on the functionality aspect of smartbook devices. This includes the always-on environment and all day battery life.

We also get an idea of the type of devices that Qualcomm has in mind for the smartbook segment, this includes a number of tablet devices. Check out both vids after the break. Read more

Nokia ARM-based smartbook planned for mid-2010

Whilst Nokia’s Wintel-based Booklet 3G certainly took us by surprise, it looks like the device we always expected from them i.e. an ARM-powered smartbook is on the agenda after all. Digitimes is reporting that Nokia is planning to offer a smartbook, in addition to the Booklet 3G netbook, although it won’t hit the market before mid-2010.

Nokia is expected to outsource production of the smartbook to either Compal (who is producing the company’s Booklet 3G) or Foxconn (Hon Hai Precision Industry). It will be interesting to see exactly what chips Nokia uses to power such a device. Some suggest that Nokia won’t launch a smartbook device until they have the powerful chips to do it justice.

Lanyu LY-EB01: 7-inch $98 smartbook tested [Video]

The guys over at Shanzai have reviewed what must be one of the cheapest smartbooks on the market. The Lanyu LY-EB01 can be bought for just 666 RMB (US$98) in China, although this is directly from Lanyu rather than direct retail channels.

As you can expect for the price, the specs are nothing to get too excited about. It comes with a 7-inch (800 x 600) display, powered by an unspecified ARM processor and Windows XE operating system. It does manage to pack three USB ports, a couple of audio jacks and a card reader too.

Shanzai found that whilst the Windows CE OS marred the overall experience, it is a well-built smartbook (for the price), although it does have a non-removable battery. Boot times were pretty good, taking 28 seconds to start and just 3 seconds to shut down. Check out some video impressions of the device after the jump. Read more

Humorous Smartbook promo video

Qualcomm is looking to push the new category of smartbook devices when they launch later this year. Part of this push will be educating the market on exactly what a smartbook is, especially against the number of different devices out there including netbooks, ultra-thins, notebooks, laptops etc.

A new viral video has been released to help on this education process for the masses. It highlights the smartbooks all day computing & social networking benefits. Check it out for yourself after the jump. Read more

Sony Ericsson planning smartbook move?

Whilst the speculation continues to swirl around one of the largest mobile manufacturers in the world, Nokia, entering the netbook/smartbook segment, we are hearing similar news regarding another mobile heavyweight. Sony Ericsson is considering developing its own smartbook according to a “reliable Taiwanese source” of Sascha Pallenberg from NetbookNews.com.

Apparently, Sony Ericsson is working on a new device that will hit the market soon. The exact ARM-based processor is not known at this stage, but they seem confident that it will indeed by a non-x86 chip. Any idea of form-factor is also not known. This could simply be a powerful smartphone sporting a high-end ARM chip, much like the Toshiba TG01 that has a Qualcomm Snapdragon chip. We also know that Samsung is planning to incorporate Nvidia’s Tegra platform into a future mobile handset too, so this could simply be Sony Ericsson keeping up with the Joneses.

Inventec Rainbow / Mobinnova N910 Tegra smartbooks hands-on

Computex 2009 saw the launch of a number of Nvidia Tegra-based smartbooks. 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). Nvidia has once again been doing the rounds in Taiwan to further promote its Tegra platform and did so via two smartbook devices.

The first, the Inventec Rainbow, was announced at Computex but we didn’t hear too much detailed information at the time. It has a 10.1-inch (1024 x 576) LED backlit display and is powered by the Tegra 600 platform (600MHz, ARM 11). It comes with 256MB RAM and just 256MB of flash memory. The Rainbow also has a choice of EVDO Rev.A or HSPA radios. Read more

MSI and ECS cautious over ARM smartbooks

A big smartbook push is expected by a number of manufacturers towards the end of the year. This includes netbook heavyweights such as Asustek and Acer. However, another heavyweight in the industry, Micro-Star International (MSI) will not be following suit according to Digitimes.

The report says that both MSI and Elitegroup Computer Systems (ECS) will watch the launch round from the sidelines, to determine exactly what the market response will be for these new devices. ECS was planning on entering the smartbook segment, through orders from Chinese vendors. However, these orders were cancelled and now ECS will wait until early next year before making another move in this new area.

Snapdragon & Tegra smartbook push for Q4 2009

A number of manufacturers are preparing ARM-based smartbooks based on Snapdragon and Tegra processors to launch during the fourth quarter according to Taiwanese industry sources. Smartbooks are expected from the likes of netbook heavyweights such as Asus and Acer along with Mobinnova, Inventec and ODMs such as Foxconn, Pegatron and Compal.

These units will launch at a similar time to new netbooks using Intel’s next-gen Pineview processors. However, the smartbooks are likely to be cheaper and smaller devices than netbooks. They are also more likely to be sold through contracts from telecom providers rather than on a standalone basis. Read more

Nvidia Firefly smartbook to launch in September?

Rumours of an Nvidia-branded Tegra netbook/smartbook launching later this year surfaced late last month. These rumours were quickly squashed by the company, denying any plans to sell its own brand of smartbooks. However, according to ODM sources, Nvidia will be releasing a Tegra-based device under the ‘Firefly’ name and it will launch in September.

Nvidia is already showing off a Firefly prototype to ODMs according to SemiAccurate. This device will come with the Tegra platform and Windows CE operating system. 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).

There’s little other information than that. The previous rumours talked of a Black Friday release in the United States, along with the device launching with a wireless carrier. I’d take all of this news with a pinch of salt, however it certainly seems like Nvidia is up to something. Whether this prototype sees the light of day is another thing.

Nvidia-branded Tegra smartbook to launch by year-end

Nvidia will launch its own Tegra-powered smartbook by the end of the year according to Pocket Lint. Whilst details are scant, the model is expected to launch around “Black Friday” and cost around the $200 mark. Black Friday is normally one of the busiest shopping periods of the year and is the time that Americans start their Christmas shopping.

The technical specifications have yet to be finalised. Nvidia is expecting mobile phone operators to offer the smartbook on a two-year contract for no upfront cost. This particular device is likely to be just one of a number of smartbooks to launch by the time the year is out.

Update: Nvidia has denied plans to sell its own branded smartbooks according to Wired.

Nokia orders Quanta netbooks & Compal smartbooks, Q3 launch

Some of you may have been expecting some more substantial news to come out of Intel’s and Nokia’s partnership, instead of the wishy-washy commitment we got instead. However, it looks like Nokia IS planning to enter the netbook and smartbook segment according to a Commercial Times report.

The report claims that Nokia has ordered netbooks from ODM Quanta Computer which will use an Intel Atom processor and go on sale as early as the third quarter this year. Even more interesting is that, it says it has also ordered smartbook devices from Compal Electronics that will be powered by an ARM-based Qualcomm Snapdragon processor. No muted release date was given for the smartbook. There’s no other details for now, but we’ll keep you posted with further developments.

Via Bloomberg.

Android on smartbooks is snappier than Windows 7 says Gartner

Smartbook devices are set to become much more commonplace as we reach the end of the year. They run on ARM-based processors and as such feature integrated 3G, GPS, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth on the chip itself. They differ from netbooks in that they are ‘always connected’ to the Internet and are meant to have battery lives lasting between 8 to 10 hours.

As they these chips are not x86, it means running Windows XP, Vista or Windows 7 is not an option. What manufacturers will be able to choose from is a growing stable of netbook-centric Linux distributions (including Android) or Windows CE. Some Gartner analysts have given their own thoughts after checking out a number of smartbook devices running Google’s Android operating system at Computex. Read more

HP planning to release a smartbook later this year?

The smartbook term has quickly caught on, despite only being conceived a matter of weeks ago. It refers to a new breed of ultraportables powered by ARM-based chips that are always connected to the internet and have long battery lives. We saw a number of smartbooks at Computex but most were from ODMs, apart from a Snapdragon-powered Eee PC.

Now, according to Collins Stewart analyst Ashok Kumar, Hewlett-Packard is looking to launch a smartbook later this year powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon chip. The report claims that this will be manufactured by Foxconn Electronics. In response to this rumour, HP told TheStreet.com: “We don’t comment on rumours or products that may or may not be under way.”

If true, HP would be the first major vendor to embrace smartbooks. This segment could become very big and may become a thorn in Intel’s side. I can’t see these big players selling smartbooks exclusively, but they may start to cannibalise netbook sales just as netbooks did to laptops. My view is that smartbooks will be offered more by telecom operators on subsidised contracts, rather than sold directly to the end-consumer. Despite this I can’t see Intel being happy by such a move and it would be interesting to see how they respond.

Via Liliputing.

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