This is quite possibly a better
Vaio P... you know, if it actually worked. This non-functional stunner of a prototype is sitting pretty at Computex, an event where OEMs (like Sony, HP, and Dell) shop from the latest ODM (like Foxconn and Compal) designs before tweaking for retail launch. Instead of taking chances with
Vista overpowering an Intel Atom processor, however, the ECS T800 on display at Computex is destined to run Android on your choice of 800MHz OMAP3 3440 or 1GHz OMAP3 3450 TI processors. It measures in at 246 x 121 x 20-mm / 800-grams (1.76-pounds) and packs an 8.1-inch display, 512MB of memory, a 2.5-inch hard disk or SSD, and a pair of internal Mini-PCIe slots for WWAN cards. Regarding ports, we're looking at 2x USB 2.0, a 4-in-1 card reader, and an audio jack for your headset. Hey ODMs, we're interested (even if the case for Android on a netbook hasn't been clearly defined) especially if it can be offered for $99 or less through a subsidized carrier agreement. So who's going to bite first, huh? Maybe you Dell now that your
Mini 9 netbook has been discontinued. Video after the break.
posted Jun 2nd 2009 8:17AM
Android on anything other than a phone = POS
How do you know this?
Its a linux kernel based OS. It has the potential to be anything really.
Agreed.
I just don't see a market for these things. People expect/want to be able to run Windows on anything with a laptop form factor, not Android, not Windows Mobile, not Linux. We've already seen this with Netbooks so why would these "smartbooks" be any different?
"I just don't see a market for these things. People expect/want to be able to run Windows on anything with a laptop form factor, not Android, not Windows Mobile, not Linux. We've already seen this with Netbooks so why would these "smartbooks" be any different?"
If that was the case, then why are so many hardware manufacturers building these devices?
You would think they'd know more about the market they built than some guys commenting on a blog post...
Oh, I'm sorry Theli. Should I ask for your permission before voicing my opinion next time?
Besides, your logic is totally flawed. Just because a company produces somthing doesn't mean that people will flock to it. Plenty of companies were producing UMPCs a couple of years ago and look how well they did. Was there a market for UMPCs? As I mentioned above, companies tried selling cheap netbooks running Linux and soon found that nobody wanted them. What sort of a market would you say existed for them?
You need to get over yourself.
Point of Sale?
@ Theli "You would think they'd know more about the market they built than some guys commenting on a blog post..."
Not necessarily. When netbooks first came out, it was all about Linux, but the MARKET decided overwhelmingly that it wanted Windows (just saying that the proof is in the sales).
Eh... sorry, my post got misplaced. When, oh when will Engadget allow editing/deleting posts?
To me... the fact that they are willing to 'try this again' suggests that they see a difference. I mean, one would think that they would all be discouraged from trailing outside the Wintel comfort zone, given their recent lack of success. Unless there's some killer feature that will make all the difference.
Or, it may not. I'm just saying... we don't know.
Sold!
I have a Wind running OSX, sure its handy. But I always grab my old Powerbook G4 instead. OSX just is not comfortable on the Wind.
If android has applications like word processing, powerpoint viewing, detail oriented email client, and a decent web browser that runs most web apps (please put flash and java into this browser.) I will def buy a android based netbook
Looks good.
It better have an ethernet port, though.
Ethernet ports are hardly necessary in the age of WiFi, I haven't touched one for a while now.
If you don't wish to irradiate yourself the whole time, it's quite useful - I don't really fancy nuking my knackers if I'm working with it on my lap.
When absolute reliability of connection is paramount, it's also vital.
Has there ever been any proof that WiFi causes harmful radiation to humans? Didn't think so.
I would think being Google that the browser would be Chrome.
No if it's running Android, the browser can't be Chrome. Unfortunately.
Android is not made for netbooks.... I want a netbook that does the basic functions my PC can do.
@ Freehunter.
Use your brain ... Do you seriously think that the microwave radiation does us no harm?
Try looking at some of the research done by the Soviets (or some newer stuff by contemporary Russian sources). It paints a starkly different picture to the propaganda which passes for scientific research elsewhere ....
Word Processing = Open Office
PowerPoint = Open Office
EMail Client = umm, why not use GMail or Google Apps? (or hell, I'm sure Android will fully support Wave when they release it)
Web Browser = Google Chrome
...
flash for android should be out before the end of 2009 (if it isn't already out, cause i have no clue)
and
java? well, lets wait and see what happens with that. hopefully also before 2009 ends.
i cant hear the guy talking
flash for android is already out kind of (im running the leaked hero rom and it has a pre release version of flash) :)
@Ernesttechuser Ya comrade Erne, we know how the ruskies have never used propaganda like the evil west.
I'll definitely buy one of this when it comes out! I believe in Taiwanese product qualities.
@Ernesttechuser: Do you honestly believe you're NOT surrounded by a wide spectrum of electromagnetic radiation every day, all day long?
Engadget, While your on your knees...
Boom!...Headshot?
That Android phone is big enough to be a netbook.
Damn, that thing is sleek. But to be honest, I have no interest in Android. So no go for me if it ever came out.
An inch smaller, you could put this thing in your pocket. Frankly, it's not small enough to use as a phone, and it's too small to use as a net book.
I disagree. I could definitely see using this as a phone.
You mean putting this thing next to your ear? Wow.
I kid.
I'd be interested to see what kind of customizations they plan to do to the user interface. The hardware is really nice. Makes much more sense than Acer's supposed Atom-based Android netbook (smartbook?).
nice girl behind the camera
Like the way she's playing to her own camera in that mirror-like screen?
She looks pretty and the netbook too (oversized iPhone 2G?!) but yeah, a lean version of Ubuntu please!
Looks good, but how's about that tiny trackpad?
This is actually the first good-looking netbook ever built. At least what I've seen so far on this blog.
Let's just hope the build quality is as good as it looks (not the case with Vaio P and the other crap gadgets).
Damn, just saw the video. Bottom is still plastic... :-(
For me, android on a netbook wouldn't cut it. I'd rather prefer a lean, streamlined version of ubuntu.
Does this thing have Bluetooth?
Maybe I do Dell now...but what about you? Do you Dell now?
It is a mock-up. We will wait and see.
RESOLUTION???
@ Freehunter.
Use your brain ... Do you seriously think that the microwave radiation does us no harm?
Try looking at some of the research done by the Soviets (or some newer stuff by contemporary Russian sources). It paints a starkly different picture to the propaganda which passes for scientific research elsewhere ....
Me too, can't understand this boom with Android or in some cases even S60 trying to put on the netbooks or whatever the hell they are being called. Who wants a laptop that small anyway??? what do you do with it??? Browse the internet? Common! Write a document? Common!
I just hope this shit will hit back soon all of the manufacturers of this crap!
I use one about this size: an NEC MobilePro 900 running CE. 1 second from power button to desktop, another second to an open Word document. I write pretty big Word docs on it (92% keyboard), and send and receive email; browsing isn't good cuz of the ear the 900 was built in. All these netbooks are way too big for me. And I don't want to put a P or this or my 900 in my pocket, it goes in my briefcase. With my Kindle and Archos.
I want one! With my choice of a lightweight linux distro...
"Oh, I'm sorry Theli. Should I ask for your permission before voicing my opinion next time?"
No, I'm just saying that you might be wrong and that you probably know far less about this market than the companies who sell the products. Is that really so insulting?
"As I mentioned above, companies tried selling cheap netbooks running Linux and soon found that nobody wanted them. What sort of a market would you say existed for them?"
What I was suggesting is that the hardware manufacturers clearly see this as different from their earlier attempts with Linux netbooks, otherwise they wouldn't do it.
Stunning
Where are arrow keys?!?
This thing = Epic fail!!!
Linux failed on Netbooks, Android would also fail on "Smartbooks"
I have said this earlier... simply make a product with the form factor and looks of the N97, a tegra chip, load android on it and problem solved. No need for netbooks, smartbooks or nettops running android.
wow, a video featuring a mockup and 'android' written on a placard... FFS engagdet, a photo would have done the job
why is it using DDR??
Last nail in the coffin of MSFT (and the first one of many in te coffin of AAPL, all you worshippers)!
I liked the look of the girl doing the filming...
It looks like a unibody macbook, shame they flatten it and make it really flashy and ugly.
Ok. Just for the hell of it - let's run the numbers and compare this to a proper netbook.
Same storage. Same memory. Same audio. Same USB. Same WAN and ethernet. Similar display, keyboard and chassis. So no real savings there.
Different CPU, but we're talking maybe.. let's be generous... $50 difference taking you from a 1.6GHz Atom (that can run anything) to a 1GHz ARM (that can't). Microsoft tax? Nuh uh - you can get netbooks with Linux (and thus theoretically with Android) on them.
So the cost to manufacture will probably be not a whole lot less than an equivalent X86 based netbook.
So what does this buy us?
Well, battery life - I hear you say.
Yes and no. If you took a netbook and downclocked its Atom to 800Mhz, the battery won't last twice as long, although obviously it will run longer (at the cost of being significantly slower), so the notion that just sticking an ARM processor into a netbook will magically give you days of continuous use is kind of wishful thinking.
Will the battery last longer for intermittent use? Probably - but what gets missed is that really the goal isn't '24/7' - it's 16 hours. Expecting a user to plug the netbook in overnight isn't unreasonable... and the ARM based devices will also have to be plugged in regularly as well. In this case, 36 hours is actually *worse* than 16 because you'll end up with oddball recharging patterns.
Add WWAN/3G? Now you've made it *more* expensive than a netbook. Subsidise through a carrier? Sure - but then you add on the cost of the plan. And you'll STILL need to buy a phone because very few WWAN cards support voice services (not to mention - if you thought the Nokia HeadTaco was hilarious - try using your netbook as a phone... unless you're one of those dweebs who walks around with a bluetooth headset in their ear all the time.)
That leaves software. People who use the "OpenOffice is as good as Office" argument (other than being - well - wrong), miss the bigger point. You're asking people to give up using the software they're used to and are good at using in order to use a device which otherwise doesn't really give them any obvious benefits. This is the exact same problem Linux has on netbooks and why the return rate on Linux netbooks is so much higher than for Windows ones.
In the end, there really is no logical benefit in an ARM based netbook-device running Android. I'm willing to bet money that the ARM/Android experience will make the Linux one look like a huge success by comparison.
she's hot