ARM netbooks will tip up at Computex
SEVERAL NETBOOKS sporting ARM processors suitable for running Google's Android Linux OS will be on display at Computex, which kicks off this week in Taiwan.
In a press conference today, Warren East, the CEO of ARM, said that at least five or six PC makers have ARM-based netbooks to show off this week. He predicted that about 20 per cent of netbooks sold in the coming year will mount ARM processors.
ARM CPUs are much more power efficient than x86 processors made by Intel and AMD, having been optimised for the limited energy budgets of cellphones and smartphones. Their use in handsets led Google to design its Android Linux software to run on ARM chips, in order to power its own smartphone platform to challenge Apple's Iphone.
Netbook designers have also been attracted to the low-power ARM processors, which has also influenced their interest in the Android Linux OS that can run on them.
The manufacturers that are expected to show ARM powered netbooks include the Taiwanese companies Wistron, Pegatron, Foxconn, Inventec and Quanta. µ
L'Inq
PC World
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You can already buy an ARM based netbook from Maplins, the latest version of their cnmbook. It runs at 266MHz with Windows CE and is truely dreadful, too slow for anything you may even want a netbook to do. Even browsing the web is a nightmare, most mobile phones are better. Hopefully these new ones have some much newer decent ARM tech.
ARM CEO Wayne East? - I think you mean ARM CEO Warren East...
It is nice to see something else than ugly x86.
There is a lot of noise around ARM (which is great architecture), but it's not the only one. Another elegant old school RISC processors coming to netbooks. MIPS, the power behind SGI machines. Recently i found few netbook like devices powered by MIPS32. Cost ~150 USD.
It is funny, because few decades ago MIPS, ARM and PowerPC ruled the world until Intel came with ugly but very CHEAP x86. Changing sides :)
I hope that this tinny netbooks will show average Joe that he does not really need M$+Intel. And we will see desktops powered by something like next gen Cell processors.
Anyway, more players in the market is better for us, customers.
"Always Innovating" has said they'll release more info in June. I hope it ships too. These computer shows have been teasing me with ARM netbooks for close to a year now. Put some current damn product on the shelf!
As to MIPS in netbooks, until Adobe open sources flash or makes an executable binary, a MIPS netbook is a non-starter for most. As much as I hate to admit it, Flash is very much a part of the web experience.
ARM has Flash, BTW.
This was one of the first computers on an ARM chip, back in the 80's, when the Amiga and the Atari ST were legion.
It was probably more powerful than both of them...
Isn't Wayne East the estranged brother of Kanye West ? ;)
...produce a port for ARM processors?
In which case these could be fantastic little net books for sysadmins, coders and the like.
If they ever get one to have an HDMI output then that's even better cos I could plug it into a big monitor when I get to work.
http://www.tweaktown.com/news/12338/qualcomm_gets_into_netbooks_with_snapdragon_chips/index.html
http://www.tweaktown.com/news/12339/eee_pc_spotted_running_android_qualcomm_1ghz_cpu/index.html
The funniest thing is that at least EEE features MS Windows logo on keyboard of device that will probably never run MS products. Anyway ASUS is out of my shopping list after "its better with windows" compain.
I read that Canonical now officially supports ARM, so expect Ubuntu Netbook Remix to turn up.
I'd start saving, but they're not going to cost anything.
20% of netbooks, and all running Linux. Combine that with the 24% of x86 netbooks already running Linux, and that gives Linux a total of 40% of the netbook market.
To those who don’t realize it, ARM is probably the most popular CPU architecture in the world. It sells into a market several times the size of the one for x86 chips.