ASUS puts Snapdragon smartbook on hold, breaks hearts of Androids everywhere
By Tim Stevens 
posted Aug 25th 2009 7:47AM
posted Aug 25th 2009 7:47AM
posted Aug 25th 2009 7:47AM
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This isn't surprising. Where's the market for these things outside of a few lonely Windows haters?
Exactly, even if you purchase a standard notebook with linux, you've still got an option to switch to windows if you change your mind. With this you don't!
Agreed.
A dual-boot netbook with Windows 7 and Android would have been nice.
Exactly. It must hurt when the cold fist of reality smacks them hard in the face.
haha, yeah, there are so few windows haters out there LOL, mindless corporate drone.
I don't think that's the issue. I think it's a question of whether or not they wanted to wait for the Chrome OS to arrive, or stick with Android. With the bigger screen, I'd suspect that Chrome OS is more appropriate.
Aww, poor Downsy got his heart-shaped cookie broken.
"I don't see a clear market for smartbooks,"
I disagree.
With the advent of cloud computing, the use of 'thin clients' makes perfect sense. Smartphones are paving the way, but smartphones can't cover all usage cases. A 10-11" smartbook, with a thin/trim/light design and battery life comparable to smartphones, coupled with cloud computing (see ChromeOS, Jolicloud, etc. I'm sure Microsoft will have a solution here as well, maybe AppOne could be a start) is a valuable proposition.
The vendors (hardware and software in case of Microsoft) might not like the idea due to low profit margins. To me, the market is there waiting to explode. I for one am waiting for a Tegra based 10", sub-inch profile smartbook with WiFi/3G at a ~$200 price point.
I see this market exploding only when 4G comes out. 3G doesn't seem to cut it in some cases, yet there isn't even 3G in my town, but all around my towns. Even with worldwide 3G it still seems like cloud computing isn't taking off as they had hoped. Faster access speeds are, in my opinion, the barrier for now. When we have the infrastructure, the cloud will come.
Is this a deal with Microsoft? Since they're using it a lot in their new products (new snapdragon based phones etc?).
Seems so. They apologised for showing a linux based snapdragon on computex. Shortly after they announced going windows only on the eee. Now they cancel the snapdragon smartbooks alltogether...
It would seem many people dont care, but this would have been innovative. Which is more than can be said for the rest of the run of the mill plethora of eee models they spew out each other day. I want something ARM-based, that windows chooses not to support it with their desktop line doesn't bother me the slightest.
I can see a market for Smartbooks, but only if the manufacturer goes through the trouble of customizing their Android build for a netbook-specific UI and design philosophy. Vanilla Android just wouldn't work on a netbook formfactor because it's meant for a handheld screen. Similarly, I think a full-blown Windows or Ubuntu install is total overkill for that kind of platform.
Somebody really needs to go full steam ahead with the netbook OS idea. I know there are a few major players trying their hand at it, but nobody has quite nailed it yet.
At the end of the day, I think it was the announcement of Chrome OS that put a halt to this thing. All of a sudden everybody trying to put Android onto a netbook felt stupid when Google had a totally separate netbook OS in the works.
It seems to me that a "smartbook" could be viewed as a Foleo without the Treo. Granted, Android would be a better OS than that thing Palm cooked up for the Foleo.
I don't think there will really be a strong market for stuff like this until wireless data access improves dramatically, either through better cellular networks or through more ubiquitous and freely available WiFi. You can't use "the cloud" unless you've got access to it.
I live in the 3rd largest city in this state, and wireless data access stinks. There's no way I could count on accessing remote files to do anything useful.
he he is it owensboro , its hardly a town!
I can't say that I've ever been to Owensboro. I can say that one shouldn't assume that all UK graduates remain within the state.
guess who will be releasing it? Pegatron!
And guess who belongs to the ASUStek group? Pegatron!
I know it. Believe me :)
P.S. Android was never more than just a hack on a netbook
Ubuntu ARM, Fedora ARM, Debian ARM... Plenty of Linux distributions with lightweight desktops available. No need to wait for an Android spin or Chrome OS Linux.
I want one because it's lower cost than a netbook, has longer battery life, has WiFi, BT, GPS standard. The 3G/4G issue is really secondary to me - I have a cell phone for that.
I heard that ASUS abandoned the project to focus strictly on figuring out how they get cheese in aerosol cans. I promise this is true and completely accurate, it was leaked.
So now you see how anti-competitive monopolistic practices hurt users and the market place.
Netbooks started life loaded with Linux, then Microsoft came rushing in and twisted manufactuers' arms into adopting Windows. Now that yet another emerging platform tries to set root, the great Microsoft pest descends and suffocates any emerging competition.
This has happened many times before with prominent examples as IBM's OS/2, and in the app arena, like WordPerfect, Netscape, etc. Fortunately the giant monopolizer is on its way down now as exemplified in the mobile OS market:
iPhone outsold all Windows Mobile phones in Q2 2009. World wide, the iPhone climbed to 3rd place behind Nokia and RIM while WinMo fell, and continues falling, to an increasingly distant 4th place.
I am not sure whether it is acceptable if there is no Android Market on smartbook? Google limits the Android license and it maybe limit some device using Android.