Tag Archives: mobile computing
$150 Tablet, $99 Netbook Arrive with Android – What’s Next?
Posted on 27. Jul, 2010 by Daniel Cawrey. 
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Yesterday, Lilliputing reported that KMart was now carrying a $150 tablet loaded with Android. Today there’s another report that the retailer is also carrying a $99 netbook as well with the popular mobile operating system.
It’s hard to fathom what you would be able to do with such cheap devices, since they are not subsidized by a two year wireless plan the specifications for devices as these prices must be pretty bare compared with the ultra-powerful smartphones with Android 2.1 on the market today. Nevertheless, Engagdget reports that the $99 netbook came with a web browser, Gmail and Google Apps. Sounds like a nice little mobile device between a laptop and a smartphone.
Despite this, we’ll keep reporting about super cheap devices coming on the market, as this can only help the case for Chrome OS products, which are coming very soon. Although those devices are expected to be priced in the $300-$500 market.
Video: Compaq Airlife 100 Breaks into Smartbook Territory
Posted on 12. Feb, 2010 by Daniel Cawrey. 0 Comments
Ever dislike sitting with your laptop until it gets uncomfortably hot to the point where you no longer can get any work done? With a new generation of computing devices called smartbooks, this problem – along with a few other hardware issues – fades away. A smartbook that has poppped up in the news today is the Compaq Airlife 100 which is an 10.1 inch Android machine that is based on a Snapdragon ARM processor. An ARM processor is the type of technology commonly found in smartphones and other highly mobile devices. Because of this, the chipset itself does not generate a lot of heat and therefore does not need a fan for cooling. Check out this video from CES:
Touchscreen, solid state hard drive and 3G? Where can I get one of these bad dogs?
So what is the difference between a smartbook and a netbook? The lines will probably blur sooner or later, but a netbook is a device that probably runs an Intel Atom chipset and runs a full function OS such as Windows. A smartbook has a hardware platform more akin to a smartphone, yet offers more functionality in terms of a larger internal storage capability, a full keyboard and a good number of inputs for versatility.
Right now most of these smartbooks are running customized Android platforms, but don’t be surprised if we start seeing some web OSs on these very soon.
