ARM blames Flash, netbooks and tablets for smartbook delay, oh my
By Sean Hollister 
posted May 6th 2010 2:42AM
posted May 6th 2010 2:42AM
It's not easy to launch a new product category, especially if devices don't have a magically-delicious hook, but that's not why ARM thinks it's taken so long to deliver the smartbook. In an interview with ZDNet UK, VP Ian Drew said Adobe's blame was undeniable -- Flash didn't deliver ARM optimization in time for subnetbooks to be viable. Compounding the issue, the tablet craze has manufacturers all atwitter, he said, diverting smartbook resources to the iPad party instead. As far as netbooks are concerned, Drew cited poor adoption of Linux; he reminded us ARM smartbooks can't do x86. Asked if Atom (which can) might be the real reason for delay, he said absolutely, positively no way. The executive said manufacturers apparently hadn't brought up that idea even once. Guess we'll have to take his word on that one.
Sounds about right, flash was their hook and it is soon becoming a moot point.
@Scrtcwlvl
I don't think that's it actually...
According to Anand's benchmarks, and personal experience...even the most cutting edge ARM cores can't match an Atom in terms of rendering speed and versatility...And going back to 2008, when the term smartbooks were first coined...there was no ARM architecture available to the consumers in a device capable of doing anything similar to an Asus Eee for example...So ARM is just bringing excuses...
@kapanak not sure what benchmarks you were looking at, as hard as it was to find a good comparison (being two separate architectures makes finding fair ground difficult) in every single one I've seen, Atom was very comparable to Snapdragon, with the atom pulling 4-5 times more power.
Now with the dual-core 1.5ghz Snapdragons on the horizon, performance never really was the issue.
@Scrtcwlvl
I was referring to the iPad review, which compared Nexus One, iPad, and Asus Eee 1005p in terms of internet performance...
And I don't see how battery life comes into play when referring to Smartbooks, as most will have batteries around 3000-5000 mAh.
Snapdragons at 1.5 Ghz are quite a bit away...ARM is whining about the market's lack of interest in Smartbooks in the past, and near future...where there existed no equivalent to Atom from ARM. By the time new dual core snapdragons come out, Mooretown will be out as well, are they are both comparable and competitive in terms of power consumption, with Intel's offering having a bit of advantage in terms of performance...
@Scrtcwlvl What the hell is Flash got to do with it?
So if I create a processor, where by current programs can not run on, do I expect software developers to get on their knees and make their software run on my processor ASAP? NO!
Adobe Flash just follow where the browser market goes.
I reckon ARM is being used as a Proxy for Apple.
@Scrtcwlvl ARM, bandwagon, hop on.
@kapanak Oh yeah you think netbooks (aka Atombooks) can handle flash very well...I don't think so.
Demonstrations of flash on prototype smartbooks have shown the performance to be far superior with Arm chips.
This is besides the point of this article anyway, the topic is the huge delays that Arm has created.
The 2 main smartbooks already released - The Sharp Netwalker and the HP Compaq Airlife 100, have to make use of flash lite and the same goes for a few smartphones.
@kapanak
Yeah high-powered ARM's actually eat Atom's for breakfast
See this cool illustration
http://img21.imageshack.us/img21/1518/73554987.png
@Scrtcwlvl BUT ITS TEH YEAR OF TEH LENNOX...er LINUX!
@Scrtcwlvl
My wife cheated on me and my kids hate me. This is all flash's fault.
@mrpixel
> So if I create a processor, where by current programs can not run
> on, do I expect software developers to get on their knees and make
> their software run on my processor ASAP? NO!
It's Unix.
./configure
make
make install
That's why there's even an OS available to run on these things in the first place. If Adobe weren't idiots that can't be bothered to develop for the single most used option and then whine about the most obscure tertiary abstraction layers they can think of perhaps they could keep up with the rest of the Linux development community.
The main hurdle is driver support for specialized decoders and the associated programming framework.
Point the mplayer guys in the right direction and it will just get done.
Adobe will do nothing but make excuses.
I'll still take a Macbook Pro. The Smartbook's corners are too rounded for my likings.
@Jake Root The smartbook? You realize that there isn't only one option and it'd be whatever form, size and shape the manufacturer would decide.
@juanvaldez No, I had no clue. I haven't exactly been following this story a bunch, just sort of reading what I saw (okay, skimming) and what I saw was this. I still like Macbook Pros though. I'll have to mess with some smartbooks first before I can decide whether or not I like it.
@Jake Root
You'd have to actually FIND a smartbook first...I have never seen one...in the flesh...
@kapanak Well, as this post says, it looks as though it may be quite a while before I'll ever be able to see one. I'll still stick with an OS I know and love, Snow Leopard.
@Jake Root
I prefer Hondas myself. They are reliable and often look very nice. They are also quite efficient, so I think I will leave this smart book and get a honda instead.
@coolblue2000
Thats idiotic. You're comparing apples and oranges.
Humanoid robots surely are the future, but a smartbooks much more practical in the present day.
@DrDr
Mr. DrDr, I
regret to inform you that the poster that you were mocking was in fact being sarcastic. After hours of careful joke analysis i have discovered that the suspect, a certain coolblue2000, was implying that comparing a macbook pro to a smartbook was like comparing a car to a smartbook. I believe but cannot be certain that this is a result of a massive price discrepency and different intended uses.
@Eal I hate to mention it everyone, as I can tell nobody likes my comments, but is there a problem stating I prefer that other computer I mentioned? To be blatantly honest, I haven't the SLIGHTEST clue what a smartbook is. It appears to be a laptop, or so I think. Please inform me if I am wrong.
@Jake Root
then please read before you post.
I'll stick with windows on my netbook...thank you very much.
@kapanak Good for you :) Enjoy, your 'up to 5 hours' batterylife on your underpowered windows-machine.
Adobe Flash? More like Adobe Never.
@zeal Or how about Adobe Next Month at Google I/O?
@Charbax very much looking forward to it!, it's just right arround the corner, midiclorians don't lie...i feel a great disturbance in the Apple force ;)
It's funny how he forgot to mention lack of demand, yes it's somewhat implied by saying resources are diverted, but there's a reason for that. People want other things first. It's hard for smartbooks to even compete with netbooks and the OEMs are willing to say that with their production models while ARM just makes excuses. Pathetic, misinformation or ignorance?
@juanvaldez There is hugest demand for cheaper computers. ARM enables cheaper netbooks.
@Charbax
If you make a netbook/smartbook out of ARM parts that would be comparable to an Atombook, it would actually cost...MORE!
And it's a war....
noone cares... we already have laptops and phones, we dont need anything else
@Natal
Steve Jobs begs to differ...
Freaking Tablets...
@Natal Did you notice Apple shifting over a million iPad tablets? Apparently people are more than happy to have other types of devices.
@kapanak
steve jobs doesnt care, he just wants to make money
@Natal .. You're prime A-grade moron.
The overwhelming success of the Netbook, Kindle and iPad shows that there is definitely markets for products other than laptop/phone.
@Natal Actually I would absolutely love a Lenovo Skylight smartbook. It's looks great, seems easy enough to use, and shouldn't cost me a bunch.
@Natal About 5.5 Billion people haven't yet got a Laptop nor a smart phone. Why wouldn't all those people not be allowed to get access to cheaper Laptops and Phones? ARM enables that.
I do think it's wrong from a marketing standpoint for ARM to call those Smartbooks, those are simply ARM powered laptops.
Adobe just can't catch a break, huh?
@TrdFerguson
They had about 8 years to fix flash. People are, justifiably, tired of Adobe's lies.
Adobe is getting thrown under the bus these days.
@Oghowie ... They are finally getting what they deserve.
If they wanted Flash to be on these devices they should have either (a) properly optimised it and not create a cripped Flash Lite or (b) open sourced the plugins so other companies could optimise it.
This is madness.
*Waits....*
@Teslanaut THIS IS SMARTA!
@RincewindWiz
WIN!
it does seems that ARM has trouble moving up from Phones. Apart from the iPad, most top-market tablets are x86; smartbooks are elusive, and nettops turn out more expensive than Atoms once you put them in similar configs.
I for once would be delighted to see ARM emerge as a credible competitor in the netbook and nettop segments. It is not, right now. In the tablet space, we'll need things to settle a bit to know, too.
@obarthelemy
I actually do want to see some ARM offering in that space too...specifically SoCs like Tegra 2...
Have anyone heard there will be more floods and earthquake coming this year? I think it's Flash fault. The economy is going down the toilet and it's Flash fault too.
@cdf74dc9 No you got it wrong!... It's Goldman Sachs fault.. For everything! The economy, the earthquakes, the oil spill, my ice cream melting! /s
Adobe's enjoying the rotten fruits of past(or lack thereof) labours.
Adobe has become a real sleazeball company, at least at the management level. Instead of fixing Dreamweaver, and putting massive amounts of resources into HTML5 authoring, they're busy trying to milk every last cent from a dying IDE that is Flash.
The massive developer drain has been underway and it's only accelerating. Every new site that's lauded for inventiveness and usability is built using open standards like JS/CSS/AJAX/JSON, etc.
The new wave of web designers are already gaining competitive edge using HTML5/Canvas, while Adobe is pushing last decade's technology because of greed.
HTML5 means true cross compatibility that cannot be regulated by any arbitrary gatekeeper. A web app that works on Android or iPhone, will instantly work across every platform, no plugin necessary. Plus you don't get to sacrifice your sanity and battery life just so an idiot like Shantanu Narayen can offer empty platitudes and coast for couple more years on past accomplishments of others.
Get bent, Adobe.