Mobinnova élan smartbook powered by NVIDIA Tegra
By Nilay Patel 
posted Jun 2nd 2009 2:01AM
posted Jun 2nd 2009 2:01AM
A NEW ERA IN MOBILE COMPUTING
MOBINNOVA UNVEILS THE "élan" WITH HOURS OF HD MULTIMEDIA AND INTERNET POWER "ON THE GO"---COMPUTEX
The Book-Size élan Powers Up Easily, Provides 5-10 Hours Continuous HD Video Playback, 24 Days Audio Playback, Internet Browsing And Graphics Never Seen On A Mobile Computing Device
June 2009, Taipei, Taiwan-A mobile computing revolution arrives June 2, at the Computex 2009 show in Taipei, where content providers, carriers and consumers get their first look at what may be a whole new category of high performance communication devices. The élan is first in Mobinnova's line of ultra-portable computing devices powered by the NVIDIA® Tegra™ Computer-on-a-Chip. The 2 lb. élan is like a netbook in that it's small, has a keyboard, and offers easy access to the Internet. However that's where the similarities end. The élan powers up instantly, connects directly to a 3G wireless network, offers hours of continuous use, full page web browsing, and delivers graphics performance never seen before on a mobile computing device--all packaged in Mobinnova's stylishly thin design. "This truly portable device is a pleasure to hold and to use. It offers 720p high-definition video playback, full Internet browsing and an impressive battery life," says KC Kuo, Chairman and CEO of Mobinnova. "We like to say it 'runs on fun'. It's a real game changer."
The size of a hardback book and weighing less than 2 lbs., the Mobinnova élan is compact, quiet and cool. "It's the most powerful mobile Internet device you can easily pack in your purse, backpack or briefcase. You can use the élan for hours, even days between charges," says Mike Holland, Vice President of Business Development for Mobinnova. You can also use it anywhere--on a plane to Nepal, at a café in Paris, on the sidelines of a soccer game, in a college dorm room, or sitting in bed. "The élan's advanced power management means hours of viewing pictures, HD videos, Internet browsing, and reading and responding to email," says Holland. The Mobinnova élan offers:
- 5-10 hours of continuous HD video playback on a single charge (dependent on screen usage).
- Up to 24 days of continuous audio playback on a single charge (if screen not in use while listening to audio).
- 8.9 inch screen size provides a rich viewing experience and full page web browsing.
- Ultra-light, compact design at 1.84 lbs (836g), 9.1 inches (232mm) x 7.3 inches (186 mm) x .8 inches (20.5 mm).
- NVIDIA Tegra-based platform that supports accelerated Adobe® Flash® animations and 720p high-definition video playback.
- Both Wi-Fi and 3G wireless connectivity, enabling you to check your email, social networking accounts, and do internet searches wherever you are.
- An innovative 3D graphical user interface.
- QWERTY keyboard and touchpad.
- Ability to view Microsoft® Office® and Adobe® documents.
- A webcam for sharing video.
- Fast, high resolution photo rendering, upload, and download.
- Fanless operation for a quite, cool experience.
- Advanced power management, allowing the élan to draw as little as 50mW during typical operation and 150mW during video playback, a fraction of most devices on the market today.
Wow... this actually looks pretty cool :P
But come on I thought we got past this whole "8.9 inch" screen :(
Battery life looks lovely
Improve Flash is amazing
Keyboard looks spacious
I think... Im inlove... well almost :P
I love the 8.9" models. Its only the resolution that needs to be bumped up, not the screen size. 12" Netbooks make me cringe.
If the Vaio P can have some crazy resolution on a smaller 8" panel so can other netbooks.
Netbooks are great because they are so portable..yet they are getting bigger?? it makes no sense.
lol not 12" but 10.1/10.2" is the best.
Whoa.
Tegra's in a smartbook before Ion is in a netbook? :\ Damn.
Well, with Tegra, nVidia controls the whole system, whereas with Ion they're just providing the chipset for Atom, so it sort of makes sense.
And as for the OS, it has to be Linux because obviously they aren't running Windows Mobile and getting 720p video, and nothing else worth mentioning runs on ARM.
WAIT!!!! forgot something =[ how good is this "Tegra" processor? better than the atom? whats the GHZ on it?
don't worry, just know that its super fast, and yet uses very low power :)
Lovely :D The main problem i had with netbooks was that they couldn't watch HD flash videos (Youtube/Hulu) It seems this will be perfect :D As long as it can also give good web browsing
noice.
But, will it blend?
WHYYYYY?!!
Ushering in a whole new processor like Tegra should wipe out netbooks, even fields of current laptops which I've avoided like the plague knowing battery life plus processor speed could never be suffiicient or efficient enough apparently till now.
Avoiding the inevidable like this progress leap would be like financially stepping out between two parked cars on an insanely dangerous Italian street!
Wait awhile before you make a buy is my advice even a long while to save on idiotic incrimentalism in the computer market & save big time as reasonable high tech computing rolls out & takes over for good forever leaving many so called inovations for today's older processor bound computers in the dust!
I ought to know. I made the mistake over the years upgrading Macs to the next newest model level & often lost revenue more than needed! Never again.
Smart book is a Smart_Buy!
--e
Is that yet another dumb-ass glossy screen?
They never learn. Pathetic.
Glossy screens are great for watching movies in the dark.
If you watch movies on your netbook on the subway or in class, you're an idiot.
I hope the 'smartbooks' get down to the 6" x 9" form factor size with 1/4" screen bezels max.
A 16x9 ratio screen would be nice too, as most movies look better in widescreen.
A video out (or at least some type of dongle) for S-video would be appreciated too, as these machines
can serve to provide media content without lugging around larger laptops.
S-Video? This ain't 1993 anymore...
S-Video is what is in front of the TV's I see. Composite is there too. The dongle can have a VGA & HDMI too, but what I see the most is S-video & composite inputs.
Why all the preoccupation with HD on a netbook? I hope that you realise how close you actually need to sit to the screen to beenfit from a HD image?
@CJ: You can't just compare two processors using two completely different architecture to one another. ARM processors tend to have a lower clock speed than x86 type chips which perform at the same relative speed.
@iofthestorm Windows CE runs perfectly fine on ARM processors. CE would be a good choice for a netbook, small and light. Most applications can either be ported or run on top of a virtual machine.
According to Wikipedia the best Tegra has a 750MHz ARM11 core... this will not be a match for an Atom... this is just an enormous cell phone... I'll keep my netbook, thanks.
ARM11 is going to be plenty powerful to compete with Atom, even though they aren't even competitors in a true sense. Atom is X86, designed to take advantage of the vast existing base of software available for that platform, tried and true. ARM has run times in measured in days not hours but not much of a choice in OSes and therefore available applications.
ARM will dominate the MID market being that mobile vendors will be pushing these devices due to their always on capabilities and their existing deals with ARM vendors for cell phones. It's a natural evolution really, phones are just scaling up to be portable media kiosks for consuming online content.
Check out youtube for the Tegra devices @ Computex. They are running mostly Android, Ubuntu and WinCE and really well I might add. 1080p video was flawless on an external monitor and they claim upwards of ~14-15 hours runtime on a 3 cell battery; Atom can't achieve this even with a 6 cell. The flash acceleration in-hardware will give them a much needed boost over other ARM competitors without such graphics prowess as nVidia harnesses.
I for one can't wait to get ahold of a Tegra now, I was on the fence between Snapdragon and Freescale, but the videos I mentioned sealed the deal. The mobinnova is the particular smartbook that made up my mind, but I would prefer an Android option.
it runs Windows CE
http://money.cnn.com/2009/06/30/technology/nvidia_tegra_mobile_smartbook.fortune/index.htm?postversion=2009063010