Smartbooks on Their Way: ARM-Based Mini-Notebooks
When the Computex show opens in Taipei on June 2, among the announcements will be a series of Linux notebooks with ARM processors.
A day earlier Qualcomm officially announced the new smartbooks device class and the 45-nanometer Snapdragon chipset platform. The hellosmartbook.com site already has some info and a promotional video.
The smartbooks device class is somewhere between a smartphone and a notebook. All devices should work over WLAN, 3G, Bluetooth and GPS. Battery life should range from six hours to a few days. The CPU includes ARM processors, limiting usage to Linux and Windows CE, prompting most manufacturers to call them Linux devices.
Next to Qualcomm, Freescale ARM-based devices should also appear under the Smartbook brand, as LinuxDevices.com announced. Freescale may not be using Qualcomm's Snapdragon platform, but its own i.MX515 system-on-a-chip (SoC) solution instead, as we reported. The first devices are targeted for Autumn of 2009. The smartbooks should cost around $200 and weigh less than a kilo, with most of them possibly implementing a touchscreen.
Issue 239/2020
Buy this issue as a PDF
News
-
Linux Deepin 20 Released
One of the most beautiful Linux distributions on the market has been refreshed.
-
A New Version of Zorin OS is Now Available
Fan-favorite, Zorin OS 15.3 is officially available.
-
Lenovo Now Offering Fedora Linux as an Option
Lenovo is making good on their Linux promise by adding Fedora into the mix.
-
System76 Launches new High-End Laptop
System76 has unleashed a beast of a mobile workstation.
-
Mozilla Lays Off Staff, Receives More Cash
In a restructuring move, Mozilla lays off 250 employees, but then inks large deal with Google.
-
LibreOffice 7 Now Available
The LibreOffice 7 office suite is now available with important compatibility improvements.
-
Microsoft Brings procmon to Linux
The creators of Windows have brought the sysinternals procmon tool to the open source operating system.
-
New KDE Slimbook Available
The makers of the KDE Slimbook have released a Ryzen-4000 powered laptop.
-
PinePhone Now Offers a Convergence Package
The makers of the Linux PinePhone are now offering a model that makes desktop/mobile convergence a reality.
-
Flutter is Coming to Linux
Google and Canonical have joined forces to bring Flutter to the Linux desktop.