Showing posts with label Smartbook. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Smartbook. Show all posts
Saturday, June 06, 2009
Nothing like a new niche to get the concept artists salivating, but this time it’s Freescale Semiconductor who are working on possible Smartbook designs. The company has commissioned six prototypes, ranging from the touchscreen-slate-with-QWERTY-ears you see here to a modular mini-notebook and a leather-clad clamshell.
The concepts are the work of industrial design specialists SCAD, and don’t appear to have reached hardware stage yet. Instead, the renders suggest the different directions the Smartbook platform - which uses ARM-based processors and boast super-long battery life - might go in, to cater for different usage patterns.
In terms of working hardware, the prototypes are slightly less impressive. Freescale have been demonstrating the Wistron N900z, a more traditional netbook-style design in which the most exciting aspect is perhaps its tipped sub-$200 price.
The concepts are the work of industrial design specialists SCAD, and don’t appear to have reached hardware stage yet. Instead, the renders suggest the different directions the Smartbook platform - which uses ARM-based processors and boast super-long battery life - might go in, to cater for different usage patterns.
In terms of working hardware, the prototypes are slightly less impressive. Freescale have been demonstrating the Wistron N900z, a more traditional netbook-style design in which the most exciting aspect is perhaps its tipped sub-$200 price.
Wednesday, June 03, 2009
Wistron’s most endearing Smartbook machine may be the compact VAIO P-lookalike that has been floating around tradeshows for a few months now, but it’s not their only offering with ARM under the hood. Freescale Semiconductors are showing the Wistron N900z at their Computex 2009 stand, a more traditionally designed 10-inch netbook, and LaptopMag shot some hands-on video.
The design is relatively basic, with a rubberized keyboard (that LaptopMag compare to that of the OLPC XO-1, but we can’t avoid thinking about the Spectrum ZX) and “almost unusable” touchpad. Inside, though, is the real draw: Freescale’s i.MX515 platform, with an 800MHz processor and 4GB SSD.
The N900z runs Ubuntu, and loaded OpenOffice Writer in around fifteen seconds; Firefox, even when opened simultaneously, didn’t present any performance issues, though attempting to then play a video clip resulted in sluggishness. When the video was played on its own, though, it ran fine; Wistron expect the N900z to manage in excess of 10hrs runtime from a single charge, and be priced at under $200 when it eventually launches.
The design is relatively basic, with a rubberized keyboard (that LaptopMag compare to that of the OLPC XO-1, but we can’t avoid thinking about the Spectrum ZX) and “almost unusable” touchpad. Inside, though, is the real draw: Freescale’s i.MX515 platform, with an 800MHz processor and 4GB SSD.
The N900z runs Ubuntu, and loaded OpenOffice Writer in around fifteen seconds; Firefox, even when opened simultaneously, didn’t present any performance issues, though attempting to then play a video clip resulted in sluggishness. When the video was played on its own, though, it ran fine; Wistron expect the N900z to manage in excess of 10hrs runtime from a single charge, and be priced at under $200 when it eventually launches.
Tuesday, June 02, 2009
Hot from the “hang on, why haven’t I seen that before?” department comes ARM’s video demo of what a Mobile Computer Concept should be. Based on ARM’s Cortex A9 processor with the ARM Mali 400 chipset providing graphics, the most obviously unfeasible part of the concept is the pull-out, flexible touchscreen.The demo has become topical (again) what with the ARM-powered Qualcomm Smartbook platform, officially launched at Computex 2009 this week. Intended to slot in-between smartphones and netbooks, but offering various degrees of functionality from each, Smartbooks would package 3G WWAN connectivity, GPS and other wireless technologies with a usably-large display, all-day battery life and HD playback.
At the company’s Computex keynote this morning, ARM CEO Warren East described the current iteration of netbooks as actually offering too much power for what most users demand of them. Instead, Smartbooks would offer tailored power - suited to HD media playback and internet access - with lengthy battery life.
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