You are never too old to be what you might have been - George (Mary) Eliot (Evans)
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Freescale hopes to go big on tablets
ARM CHIP LICENSEE Freescale Semiconductor is kicking off the new year by launching a prototype tablet PC with a 7-inch touchscreen.
Called a reference design, the tablet is bigger than a smartphone but smaller than a netbook, and pictures show a device that seems to fit snugly into a companion keyboard.
Freescale says it will have an ARM processor and reckons that it will sell for about $200. The tablet will be on show at CES 2010, the firm said, and will be running Android and Linux as well as a range of applications, including an office suite.
"Freescale's new tablet opens the door to an exciting new world of compelling form factors specifically designed and optimized to support common online activities including social media, high-quality audio/video playback and light gaming," said Henri Richard, senior vice president of sales and marketing for Freescale.
"We believe the tablet will emerge as a popular form factor for the next generation of smartbooks. By introducing this prototype reference design, Freescale intends to play a vital role in propelling the mainstream adoption of smartbooks."
The prototypes include ARM Cortex-A8 technology, Freescale's MC13892 power management IC, SGTL5000 audio codec and MMA8450Q 3-axis accelerometer. Freescale hopes that by creating enough buzz in the OEM market, end products could be on sale by the summer.
Freescale's demonstration units measure 200mm x 128mm x 14.9cm and weigh 376 grams. They have a USB port plus a mini-USB port for charging, WiFi and Bluetooth connections, and up to 64GB of internal storage. µ
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the second coming of Christ on my awesomeness scale. I've never been really impressed with whizbang technologies, but in this case it's the whole idea of being able to surf the Internet without having to fight off my movement disorder quite as much. So now I can pace from my bedroom to the living room, into the kitchen and back without having to break my concentration quite as much.
Oh, and for the Christians out there, if Jesus is 100 on a scale of 1 to 100, this announcement ranks as 1 billionth of 1 point. Note that I didn't say that it was comparable to Jesus, I said it's the second most awesome thing I'm looking forward to. Note the difference. :)
I can see the ARM processor as a selling point to consumers, who will quickly equate ARM tablets (and their associated Linux OS's) with being virus proof and providing secure web browsing. You could actually use one of these to do Internet banking without worrying about Windows viruses and keystroke/screenstroke loggers stealing your account details.
I hope that some manufacturers:
1) Integrate the keyboard with a flippable screen, so that one doesn't have to carry around two components in case they want to do some extensive typing.
2) Use a Pixel-Qi screen to extend battery life and allow use as an e-reader.
Finally, somebody has figured out that tablets won't sell for $1000. If I can by a decent laptop for $400, why would I spend more for a tablet? I will get one when it comes out.
So it will do everything a pocket sized PC needs to but it wont run windows.
I'll take 20!