Skytone
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Alpha 680 Android netbook spotted, still unavailable
While all the other kids on the block are letting themselves become duly distracted by Google Chrome OS, at least Skytone is still out there in the trenches, fighting to get its Android-powered Alpha 680 netbook to market. Initially it looked like this one would be making the scene sometime this summer, and although this has not come to pass, the OEM (Airis) is still strutting it in front of vendors and threatening us with an eventual release. According to Le Journal du Geek, who managed to get its hands on one and snap plenty of pics, the device is still "not really stable." (Take your time, guys...) Hit that read link for plenty of glamor shots of the this stark white, 7-inch resistive touchscreen wonder -- you'll be glad you did.
Android-based Alpha 680 netbook spotted in the wild
Still think an Android-based netbook is in your future? If the abysmal performance on video hasn't turned you off yet, maybe the fire-engine red paint job coupled with 90s-era carbon fiber accents will. What you see above is the first legitimate in the wild shot of Skytone's Alpha 680, and at a glance, we're marginally excited about the sizable trackpad and roomy keyboard. Oh, and the swiveling screen is a plus, too. Check the read link for a few more looks.[Thanks, Neerhaj]
Skytone's Alpha 680 tablet, Android interface gets underwhelming hands-on treatment
We're still not sold on the $250 price tag for Skytone's Android-powered Alpha 680, and these video hands-on of the tablet / netbook from netbooknews.de don't help. While the apps shown off run smoothly -- browser, Maps, Skype, Office, etc. -- they also serve as painful reminders that multitasking's just not gonna work when each app takes up the full screen and can only be opened one at a time. Not that we necessarily expected to do nine things at once with an ARM-based processor, but something tells us we'd be reaching for the Jaunty Jackalope before too long. See for yourself in the two-part video series after the break.
Skytone's Android-powered netbook to cost around $250
Guangzhou Skytone Transmission Technologies Company, which we will absolutely never call by its full name again, has just dropped a juicy nugget about its forthcoming netbook. If you'll recall, we recently caught wind of the ARM-based, Android-powered rig (the Alpha 680), which is expected to be a stripped down portable useful for web surfing and light duty Office use. Nixon Wu, Skytone's co-founder, recently confessed that it's aiming to sell the machine for around $250, and if all goes well, it should have prototypes ready by June and final products ready for consumption a month or two after that. Call us crazy (or just greedy, really), but we were totally hoping for this to ring up at $199 or less.
Skytone debuts ARM-based, Android-powered netbook / tablet
Well, after months of nothing but hacks and proof of concepts, we now have not one but two Android-powered netbooks -- neither of which are actually available just yet, of course. This latest one comes from Chinese firm Skytone and, unlike the I-Buddie, boasts a slightly more unique convertible tablet design, which the company was apparently able to make happen by cutting corners in every other area. That includes a slightly underwhelming 533MHz ARM processor, a 7-inch 800 x 480 touchscreen, a mere 128MB of RAM, 1GB of storage, an SD card slot for expansion, and even optional 3G (although that could just be a dongle). What's more, it looks like Skytone is saying that the netbook, dubbed the Alpha-680, could sell for as little as $100 if and when it's actually released -- which, as far as we can tell, could happen next week or never.[Via The Inquirer]
