Stan Beer
Monday, 27 April 2009 15:08
Business IT -
Technology
Page 1 of 3
Inexpensive
Android netbooks running the same low-powered ARM processor found in
the iPhone will be on the market within three months. The question on
the lips of many is can they break the strangle-hold of Microsoft
Windows and Intel Atom on the netbook and wider PC market?
According to a
report in Computerworld,
the Alpha 680, a tiny entry level netbook from equally tiny Chinese
firm Guangzhou Skytone, will hit the market in July or August.
The Alpha 680, which was displayed at a trade show in Hong Kong last
week, is smaller and lighter than the Eee PC 701 and has a 7-inch 800 x
400 display. Like the 701, the Alpha 680 is the quintessential netbook,
powered by an ARM 533 MHz processor, with 128MB RAM and a 1GB SSD. This
is no grunt box but at around US$200-250 it will be cheap.
Aside from being cheap, the new Android netbook is likely to appeal to
green IT advocates, with battery life pushing toward and perhaps beyond
the range of smartphones.
It's pretty clear that 2009 is going to be the year of ARM Android netbooks.
Will these new smaller ARM Android netbooks pose a serious threat to
the Atom netbook space where Windows XP currently dominates and Linux
has gained a respectable toehold? Could they even encroach upon the
notebooks and desktop market?
While everybody has hot flushes of excitement at the prospect of this
new generation of netbook, a cold hard clinical look at the state of
play tells us a few things that are somewhat sobering.
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