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Smartbook

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Wistron Pursebook, 1GHz Snapdragon ARM CPU (April 2009).

A smartbook is a class of mobile device that combines the features of both a smartphone and netbook.[1]

Smartbooks deliver features including always on, all-day battery life, 3G connectivity and GPS (all typically found in smartphones) in a laptop-style body with a screen size of 5 to 10 inches and a QWERTY keyboard. Smartbooks are powered by ARM processors and do not run traditional x86 flavours of Microsoft Windows in favour of custom Linux operating systems (like Google's Android or Chrome OS).[2][3]

Smartbooks tend to be designed to work with online applications[4] and are likely to be also sold subsidized through mobile network operators, like mobile phones, along with a wireless data plan.[5] The concept of smartbooks was firstly published by Qualcomm in the first half of 2009[2] and devices were expected to hit market as early as in the last quarter of the year, but due to difficulties in adapting some key software (most likely Adobe Flash Player) to ARM platform a delay occurred.[3] About 20 devices are expected to roll out in the first quarter of 2010.[6][7]

A German company Smartbook AG sells laptops with the same name. The company holds a trademark for the word Smartbook in a number of countries besides some big markets like United States, China, Japan or India.

Designs

Always Innovating Touch Book

Always Innovating is shipping beta units of the Touch Book.[8] This device is based on the Texas Instruments OMAP3530 which implements the ARM Cortex-A8 architecture. It was originally developed from the Texas Instruments Beagle Board. It has a touchscreen and a novel detachable keyboard which contains a second battery. The device comes with a Linux operating system and the company offers to share their hardware designs with other "parties that show strong commitment to the open source movement".[9][10][11]

Sharp Netwalker

The Sharp PC-Z1 as seen on IFA 2009

Sharp Electronics, introduced their PC-Z1 "Netwalker" device in August 2009 with a promised ship date of October 2009. This device features a 5.5" touchscreen, runs Ubuntu on an ARM Cortex-A8 based Freescale i.MX515 and is packaged in a small clamshell design. Sharp reports that the device weighs less than 500 grams and will run 10 hours on one battery charge. The device is said to run 720p video, and have both 2D and 3D graphics acceleration. It comes with Adobe Flash Lite 3.1 installed.[12][13]

Mio

Haleron Technologies has started to sell a smartbook, the Mio. It is 7 inches wide and it runs Windows CE 6.0 The device has a 266MHz ARM-based processor from VIA and supports 128MB to 256MB of memory. It has 1GB of flash storage space and supports up to 4GB. There is also an SD card slot and 3 USB ports for adding additional storage or peripherals.[14]

Pegatron prototype

Pegatron, an Asus company, has shown a working prototype of a smartbook back in August 2009. It consisted of an ARM Cortex-A8 based Freescale i.MX515 supports 2D/3D graphics as well as 720p HD video, 512MB DDR2 RAM, 1024x600 8.9" LCD screen, Bluetooth 2.0, 802.11g and run off a SD card. It also featured one USB and one micro USB port, a VGA port as well as a card reader. The smartbook ran Ubuntu Netbook 9.04 and contained a version of Adobe Flash Player which was out of date. The bill of material for the Pegatron smartbook prototype was $120.[15]

In November 2009 Pegatron said it has received a large number of orders for smartbooks that will launch in early 2010. The devices should sell for about $200 when subsidized.[16] Furthermore, Asus themselves announced plans to release their own smartbook in the first quater of 2010.[17][18] However. Asus later postponed the smartbook launch to the second quarter of 2010.[19]

Lenovo Skylight

Qualcomm was expected to announce a smartbook on November 12, 2009.[20] Later it turned out a Lenovo device concept was meant and was really shown on that date, and will be reportedly officially announced on the CES 2010.[21][22][23][24] The Lenovo device will be sold through AT&T carrier in the US.[25] Later in November, a Quanta pre-production, Snapdragon powered sample smartbook device that ran Google Android OS was unveiled.[26][27] A Lenovo device hit FCC earlier in October, which is rumored to be the smartbook in question.[28][29] In early January 2010, it was announced that the Lenovo smartbook's name will be "Skylight" and more detailed specifications were made public.[30][31][32][33][34][35]

Others

In September 2009, Foxconn announced it is working on smartbook development.[36] Beginning December, Acer announced it wants to be the first to launch a Chrome OS netbook,[37] but it is believed it will be a smartbook actually since Chrome OS as a Linux flavour can run on ARM too. In late December, a Google Chrome OS netbook specifications with ARM processor reportedly leaked.[38]

Smartbook AG

The word Smartbook is a international trademark registered by Smartbook AG, Germany[39], Products under the trademark had been reportedly sold since 2001.[40] Examples of the company's Smartbook products: i-1100Z (2006),[41] i-1500C (2006),[42] i-2500V (2006),[43] i-3900Y (2006),[44] i-7500N (2007),[45] Predator (2008),[46] Heaven XTC (2008),[47] ZENiD (2008),[48] Hornet (2008)[49] and ZENiD GC CRYSTAL & Smartbook Heaven Puro (2009).[50]

Trademark

In Germany, Austria, Australia, Benelux, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Denmark, Spain, Finland, France, United Kingdom, Italy, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Republic of Korea, Monaco, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russian Federation, Sweden, Singapore, Turkey and Ukraine the word Smartbook is a trademark registered by Smartbook AG.[51] Therefore, in these countries the word may not be used in the sense described in this article.[52] In accordance to German court ruling, Qualcomm has to block access from Germany to all its webpages containing the word Smartbook unless Smartbook AG is mentioned.[53] The company has announced it will protect its trademark, but is willing to sell it.[40]

See also

References

  1. ^ Scott Stein (10 January 2010). "CES: What, exactly, is a smartbook? Highlights from the show floor". cnet. Retrieved 2010-01-11.
  2. ^ a b http://www.eetimes.eu/design/217700855
  3. ^ a b http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704234304574626541267909328.html
  4. ^ http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/jul/29/smartbooks-netbooks
  5. ^ Ganapat, Priya (2008-12-15). “The Next Netbook Trend: Cellphone-Like Contract Deals” – Wired News.
  6. ^ http://www.liliputing.com/2009/12/ready-or-not-2010-could-be-the-year-of-the-smartbooks.html
  7. ^ http://english.etnews.co.kr/news/detail.html?id=200912280010
  8. ^ http://www.alwaysinnovating.com/touchbook
  9. ^ http://www.alwaysinnovating.com/company/design.htm
  10. ^ http://www.tomshardware.com/news/netbook-tablet-touch-book-always,7143.html
  11. ^ http://www.slashgear.com/always-innovating-touch-book-gets-unboxed-first-impressions-mixed-2052980/
  12. ^ http://www.liliputing.com/2009/08/sharp-netwalker-pc-z1-what-you-get-when-you-shrink-a-netbook.html
  13. ^ http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/171090/sharp_to_launch_ultramobile_device_with_arm_chip.html?loomia_ow=t0:s0:a41:g26:r31:c0.001256:b27454802:z0
  14. ^ http://haleron.com/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage.tpl&product_id=11&category_id=2&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=27&vmcchk=1&Itemid=27
  15. ^ http://www.itproportal.com/portal/reviews/article/2009/8/19/uk-exclusive-preview-pink-pegatron-smartbook/showall/
  16. ^ http://www.liliputing.com/2009/11/the-smartbooks-are-coming-in-2010.html
  17. ^ http://www.liliputing.com/2009/10/asus-to-launch-a-180-smartbook-in-early-2010.html
  18. ^ http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2009/10/30/asus_likes_arm_after_all/
  19. ^ http://www.liliputing.com/2009/11/asus-pushes-back-smartbook-launch.html
  20. ^ http://www.forbes.com/2009/11/10/smartbook-netbook-chips-technology-personal-qualcomm.html
  21. ^ http://www.pcworld.com/article/182044/qualcomm_shows_lenovo_smartbook.html
  22. ^ http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2355837,00.asp
  23. ^ http://www.netbookchoice.com/2010/01/03/lenovo-skylight-smartbook-lands-in-april-for-499-with-att/
  24. ^ http://www.informationweek.com/news/hardware/handheld/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=221700059
  25. ^ http://www.liliputing.com/2009/11/qualcomm-shows-first-smartbook-announces-att-as-carrier.html
  26. ^ http://www.netbooknews.com/1152/quanta-unveils-android-smartbook-running-snapdragon/
  27. ^ http://www.silicon.com/technology/mobile/2009/11/20/photos-the-android-smartbook-fired-up-by-qualcomms-snapdragon-39658903/
  28. ^ http://www.wirelessgoodness.com/?p=1093
  29. ^ http://www.thinkpads.com/2009/11/02/lenovo-prototype-laptop-submitted-to-fcc/
  30. ^ http://www.thetechherald.com/article.php/201001/5032/Lenovo-s-Skylight-smartbook-to-bust-Netbook-appeal
  31. ^ http://www.pcworld.com/article/185860/lenovo_unveils_new_hybrid_tabletlaptop_and_smartbook.html
  32. ^ http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10424810-1.html
  33. ^ http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6040MS20100105?type=technologyNews
  34. ^ http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2357623,00.asp
  35. ^ http://www.liliputing.com/2010/01/lenovo-skylight-always-connected-smartbook-with-all-day-battery.html
  36. ^ http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/171560/foxconn_developing_inexpensive_armbased_smartbooks.html
  37. ^ http://news.cnet.com/8301-31021_3-10408031-260.html
  38. ^ http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/articles/20091227/google-chrome-based-netbook-tech-specs-are-out.htm
  39. ^ http://www.smartbook.info
  40. ^ a b http://www.forbes.com/2009/11/17/qualcomm-trademark-netbook-technology-wireless-smartbook.html
  41. ^ http://www.golem.de/0605/45612.html
  42. ^ http://www.heise.de/mobil/artikel/Smartbook-i1500C-mit-VIA-C7-Prozessor-223265.html
  43. ^ http://www.itnewsbyte.com/de/news/nws138806,,.htm
  44. ^ http://www.onlinekosten.de/news/artikel/21921/0/Robustes-Notebook-mit-Fallschutz/
  45. ^ http://www.pcgameshardware.de/aid,460560/Zwei-17-Zoll-Notebooks-mit-Intel-Centrino-Duo/Smartbook-AG/News/
  46. ^ http://www.pcgameshardware.de/aid,635175/PCGH-Exklusiv-Smartbook-Predator-mit-C2D-T9500-und-Geforce-8800M-GTX-im-Test/Notebook-Netbook/Test/
  47. ^ http://www.notebookjournal.de/tests/smartbook_heaven_xtc-751
  48. ^ http://zeitgeist.yopi.de/deutschland/439/zenid-smartbook-mini-laptop-bei-plus-ist-von-wortmann-terra
  49. ^ http://www.microsoft.com/germany/presseservice/news/bild.mspx?id=1435&
  50. ^ http://news.magnus.de/hardware/artikel/notebook-hersteller-smartbook-expandiert-ins-ausland-neuer-marken-streit.html
  51. ^ http://www.wipo.int/ipdl/en/madrid/key.jsp?KEY=1015854/
  52. ^ http://yuccatree.de/2009/08/schreiben-vom-anwalt-ich-darf-das-wort-smartbook-nicht-mehr-benutzen/
  53. ^ http://www.heise.de/mobil/meldung/Marken-aerger-ums-Smartbook-753855.html

External links

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