Android netbooks to strong ARM and smash Wintel Atom?

Stan Beer
Monday, 27 April 2009 14:08

Business IT - Technology

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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