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smartbook posts

ASUS' Android-based 'secret weapon' smartbook launching in Q1

by Thomas Ricker posted Oct 30th 2009 at 2:48AM

We got our first glimpse at a computing future filled with low-cost, ARM-based ASUS smartbooks running Android on a 1GHz Snapdragon processor all the way back on June 1st. Since then, however, the pencil-spinning boys in Taiwan have been poo-pooing plans to launch such a device due to what ASUS called an uncertain market opportunity -- or was it pressure from Wintel, we never can tell? Then yesterday, ASUS' Jerry Shen pulled an about-face at an investor meeting in Taipei with talk of launching a $180 smartbook in Q1 of 2010. Bristling with confidence, Shen goes so far as to call it a "secret weapon" in a category offering potential for huge, Eee PC-like growth. Well, with the first big-name smartbooks just starting to ship, even a dozen or so sales could be considered statistically significant.

[Via Shanzai]

Mobinnova élan renamed Beam, headed for mysterious carrier in January 2010

by Darren Murph posted Oct 14th 2009 at 11:03AM

Mobinnova's élan, or the Beam as it's reportedly known as now, is a curious beast. It runs Windows CE, yet it's packing NVIDIA's Tegra graphics technology. Thus, it's not really a netbook, but calling it a smartbook might be short-changing it. Whatever the case, a recent interview with Mobinnova's CTO Mark Anderson has unearthed plans to launch the machine at CES 2010 with an undisclosed mobile carrier (or more, maybe) in America. We're also told that it should last between five and ten hours when playing back HD video, or up to 24 hours if it's just sitting around looping an iTunes playlist. Needless to say, our interest is definitely piqued -- hit the read link for a gallery of shots, and keep an eye right here for the rest of the story direct from Vegas.

[Via Slashgear]

Sharp's PC-Z1 NetWalker takes the inevitable unboxing journey

by Darren Murph posted Sep 29th 2009 at 9:24PM

Sharp's PC-Z1 NetWalker conjured up all sorts of love and hate-filled emotions when we toyed with it earlier this month, but for fans of unorthodox handhelds, minor details like a wonky optical pad and frail keys aren't apt to put a damper on the excitement found in this moment. The cool kids over at Pocketables were able to procure a unit over the weekend from Japan (right on cue, might we add), and predictably, they've broken out the camera in order to let you relive the unboxing experience and see it side-by-side with a UMID mbook M1. The read link folks, that's where it's at.

NVIDIA: Chrome OS on Tegra is money, not that anyone ever doubted it

by Thomas Ricker posted Sep 25th 2009 at 7:04AM

Kevin C. Tofel certainly knows his way around ultra-portable devices like MIDs, UMPCs, and netbooks. And during a product briefing with NVIDIA, the managing editor behind jkOnTheRun received confirmation from NVIDIA that it's working to deliver Google's Chome OS on the Tegra smartbook platform, eventually. Anyone surprised? Tegra is ARM-based and Google has been perfectly clear that its Chrome OS is targeting ARM and x86 systems ranging in size from netbooks to full-size desktops. But hey, it's Tegra and Google's unproven OS together at last... what could go wrong? Until that day it'll be Windows CE or Android (and maybe a Linux distro or two) when the first Tegra-based Smartbooks begin shipping from carriers, well, right about now.

Qi Smartbook U1000 rolls with WinMo, few buttons

by Darren Murph posted Sep 19th 2009 at 5:21AM

By definition, the Qi Smartbook U1000 isn't a smartbook. It's more like a touchscreen MID, but we'll let the semantics slide (just this once). Based on a 624MHz CPU, Windows Mobile 6.1 and a 5-inch touch panel (800 x 480), this Chinese device is also equipped with WiFi and a mysterious camera 'round back. Sadly, that's about all we know, but those who find themselves in Shenzhen should definitely check it out. Just be wary of those KIRFs -- we hear they're kind of prevalent over there.

[Via GadgetMix]

ARM's Cortex-A9 beats Atom N270: too bad it's not 2008

by Thomas Ricker posted Sep 16th 2009 at 7:18AM

ARM's doing some chest thumping today by revealing a 2GHz clock speed on its dual-core Cortex-A9 processor. The move is meant to remind manufacturers that ARM can scale beyond its traditional smartphone strong-hold and into netbook territories currently dominated by Intel. ARM's even handing out benchmarks showing the Cortex A9 out performing Intel's single-core 1.6GHz Atom N270 -- a processor launched back in 2008. Of course, Intel already ships a dual-core Atom 330 processor with its low-power Pineview processor set to launch on the near-horizon. It's also worth remembering that Windows 7 won't run on ARM so future Cortex A9 smartbooks will have to settle for Windows CE, Android, or perhaps, Google's Chrome OS if you ask politely. ARM is licensing its Cortex A9 speed- and power-optimized technology today with delivery in the fourth quarter of 2009.

[Via PC World, thanks Ian]

Sharp PC-Z1 NetWalker hands-on: Ubuntu like you've never seen it before

by Paul Miller posted Sep 3rd 2009 at 3:14PM

We're having a hard time deciding whether Sharp's Ubuntu-running PC-Z1 NetWalker "smartbook" is a total tragedy or total triumph of technology. On one hand, it's running a full Ubuntu install at a relatively high resolution and a rather snappy pace. On the other hand it's nearly impossible to use, with a too small optical track pad and a too high pixel density -- combined they make hunting down just about everything in the OS a painful affair. The QWERTY keys are also astonishingly bad for their size, spongy and brittle all at the same time... but, somehow, we're still fond of this device. Perhaps it's just that unrequited Zaurus love rearing its long-repressed head. Video is after the break.

Gallery: Sharp PC-Z1 hands on

Continue reading Sharp PC-Z1 NetWalker hands-on: Ubuntu like you've never seen it before

Qualcomm forbidden to use "smartbook" by order of German court

by Thomas Ricker posted Sep 1st 2009 at 5:21AM

And so it goes. In similar fashion to the psion "netbook" debacle, the German entity of Qualcomm was just hit with a restraining order for its use of the term "smartbook" as followup to the smackdown issued on a German blogging site over the weekend. The preliminary injunction issued by a German court comes at the request of Germany-based Smartbook AG that claims it is being confronted with an "absurd" and "bold attack" on its brand name. The decision calls for a €250,000 fine in case of non-compliance with risk of arrest for contempt. Really Smartbook AG, arrest? We imagine a number of vendors are frantically scribbling out the term "smartbook" from its placards that will be on display at the big IFA show in Berlin later this week.

Smartbook AG (the company) follows in Psion's footsteps, issues cease and desist letter to website using the term 'smartbook'

by Ross Miller posted Aug 30th 2009 at 2:09PM

Looks like smartbooks really are the new netbooks, after all. Aptly exemplifying déjà vu, German company Smartbook AG has issued a cease-and-desist to Netbooknews.de, claiming it owns the trademark and copyright on the term "smartbook" and that its use on the news site is damaging to the company's reputation and credibility. The letter demands that within two weeks all instances of the word be stricken from both the German and English-language versions, despite the latter being hosted in the US, outside of German jurisdiction. Of course, the logical thing would be to go after a company like Qualcomm who's been using the designation all along, and not the outlets who report on it, but why let a little common sense get in the way of some good ol' fashioned internet drama, eh Smartbook? By our count, it was almost exactly six months between Psion sending out its first cease-and-desist on "netbook" to media outlets and its eventual acquiescence and settlement with Intel, so consider the clock here officially ticking.

[Via jkOnTheRun]

Sharp's 5-inch PC-Z1 NetWalker honors Zaurus legacy with touchscreen Ubuntu

by Thomas Ricker posted Aug 27th 2009 at 3:51AM

Fanboys have been running Ubuntu on Sharp's deceased Zaurus lineup of PDAs for years. Now Sharp makes it official with the launch of this 5-inch, 1024 x600 TFT LCD touchscreen NetWalker smartbook, aka the PC-Z1. It's not a Zaurus per se, but the compact 161.4 x 108.7 x 19.7 ~ 24.8mm / 409g device certainly resurrects its ghost. Underpinning the device is an 800MHz Freescale i.MX515 CPU built around the ARM Cortex-A8 architecture, 512MB of memory, 4GB of on-board flash storage (with microSDHC expansion for another 16GB), 802.11b/g WiFi, 2x USB, and QWERTY keyboard going 68 percent of full-size. Sorry, no 3G data. The PC-Z1 features a 3-second quick launch, non-removable 10-hour battery, and is purposely positioned by Sharp as a taint -- it ain't quite a smartphone and 't ain't quite a laptop. Good luck with that Sharp. The device is expected to hit Japan on September 25th for ¥44,800. That's about $479 whenever it might come Stateside.

It's worth noting that the current US ban on the import of BGA-packaged products like Freescale's i.MX processors should not affect the import of the PC-Z1 as Akihabara News contends. As we understand it, that ban affects the import of the chips, not the systems using them and assembled elsewhere. Otherwise, Amazon wouldn't be selling its Kindle, dig?

[Via Akihabara News and Engadget Japanese]

Read [warning: Japanese PDF]

Video: Lanyu's $98 LY-EB01 smartbook reviewed, disliked

by Tim Stevens posted Aug 26th 2009 at 8:19AM

It wouldn't have taken a gadget guru to see this one coming: the first review of the Lanyu LY-EB01, the $98 smartbook with a 266MHz (yes, one-quarter of one GHz) ARM processor, is not especially positive, scoring 15 points out of a possible 30 at Shanzai.com. Build quality is actually reasonably highly rated, with the machine having a solid feel and, impressively, not a single moving part (unless you count electrons). After that everything goes downhill, with the keyboard said to be cramped, that tiny screen too tiny, and its Windows CE 5.0 operating system described as "Win 98 with a hangover." Having spent a few too many nights up late cleaning up after that animal, we're not particularly inclined to show up for this party. CE is apparently the biggest killer here, with minimal support for multimedia content, productivity apps, and even web surfing. An Android install would have made this thing into something of an interesting commodity, but as-is it seems less functional than your average smartphone. See for yourself in the video review after the break.

Continue reading Video: Lanyu's $98 LY-EB01 smartbook reviewed, disliked

Nokia following Booklet 3G with ARM-based smartbook in mid-2010?

by Ross Miller posted Aug 26th 2009 at 1:31AM

Those semiconductor semi-gossipers at DigiTimes want you to know that Nokia's not stopping with the Booklet 3G and in fact has an ARM-based smartbook set for mass consumption in the middle of 2010. According to its sources, Espoo's in the process of settling with ODMs now, and the speculation is that it'll go to either Compal or Foxconn (a.k.a. Hon Hai Precision Industry). If all of this sounds familiar, that's because it is: we've heard multiple reports this year that suggested a smartbook / MID with either a multicore ARM Cortex A9 Sparrow chip or Qualcomm's Snapdragon processor. We're not discounting it, especially considering that netbook bit panned out, but mid-2010 is quite a ways off -- no telling when we'll be hearing anything else on the matter.

ASUS puts Snapdragon smartbook on hold, breaks hearts of Androids everywhere

by Tim Stevens posted Aug 25th 2009 at 7:47AM

It was but a few months ago that we were lusting after a svelte little fanless Snapdragon Eee PC running Android and being demo'd at Computex. Now, ASUS is letting us all down softly, saying that project has been put on the shelf -- presumably to make room for another string of cookie-cutter netbooks. CEO Jerry Shen says "I don't see a clear market for smartbooks," which is true enough, but we're guessing the big laptop players didn't see a clear market for netbooks at first, either. So, not exactly great news for those looking for even cheaper and even more portable portables, but don't lose all hope: it wasn't that long ago that Western Digital said the SSD market didn't exist, and now look at 'em.

Inventec Rainbow marries traditional good looks with a Tegra heart of gold

by Paul Miller posted Aug 7th 2009 at 11:30AM

Unlike Mobinnova's slightly "edgier" take on the "smartbook," Inventec's new Rainbow device is decidedly more netbook-ey in the looks department. Specs are nothing new, of course, with an NVIDIA Tegra 600 chip, 256MB of RAM, 256MB of flash memory, 10-inch 1024 x 576 screen and Windows CE 6.0 (which has been outfitted with Firefox for the occasion, along with other NVIDIA-prepped apps). We're happy to see an edge to edge keyboard here, and despite the low-end specs, it's still nice to know this little number will be capable of nabbing 3G data (HSPA or EV-DO), GPS and DTV. Rainbow can purportedly handle 6 hours of continuous 720p playback, stream video over 3G for 4 hours, and is rated at a rather silly 240 hours of "standby." We're not exactly sure when the Rainbow is supposed to start shipping, but if none of this is striking your fancy, there's always Rainbow 2, which is supposed to hit in the first half of next year.

[Via Engadget Spanish]

Snapdragon and Tegra smartbook rumors swirl before likely year end push

by Vladislav Savov posted Aug 3rd 2009 at 9:51AM

DigiTimes is reporting -- in its usual sourceless, rumorific way -- that a slew of Taiwanese manufacturers are set to deliver smartbooks based on the Snapdragon and Tegra chipsets by the fourth quarter of this year. Acer is leading the charge with an Android-sporting device, adding to its push of the Google mobile OS, while Mobinnova has confirmed US and European orders for its 8.9-inch élan, shipments of which might top half a million units in 2009. In the meantime, Inventec is expected to launch a 10-inch Tegra smartbook entitled Rainbow, which is probably set for a prompt rebadge. On the other hand, citing what it sees as weak demand, ASUS is holding back and won't launch anything until November at the earliest. While none of these rumors are massively surprising, and given the source could be downright erroneous, they do hint at a wild, industry-wide synergy of smartbook rollout for the holiday period. And we all love synergy.