Hasta La Gadget!

Remember the $200 smartbook reference design that we saw at CES this year? Well, it’s back, it’s holding on to that same price and 7-inch enclosure, but this time it’s also showing off an expanded OS compatibility. Adapting the open source Chromium OS and another Linux variant to the ARM architecture of the prototype device was apparently not much of a hurdle for Freescale, who has an Android option in the works as well and claims to be just optimizing and enhancing the user experience at this point. Presumably one of the enhancements will be the installation of a capacitive touchscreen as the present demonstration requires either a mouse and keyboard or a resistive torture test to operate, but we’ll accept the company’s explanation that this is just a proof of concept and not the final product. Slide past the break to see some HTML5 video running on this bargain bin tablet, and hope that your friendly neighborhood OEM picks these designs up for some retail action.

Continue reading Freescale’s 7-inch tablet runs Android, Chromium OS or Linux, costs $200 (video)

Freescale’s 7-inch tablet runs Android, Chromium OS or Linux, costs $200 (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 09 Mar 2010 05:36:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink thechromesource  |  ARMdevices.net  | Email this | Comments

Microsoft has had its run-ins with the cloud before, but if CEO Steve Ballmer is being serious (and we’re guessing he is), the company is about to get even more connected. Speaking with computer science students this week at the University of Washington, Ballmer was quoted as saying that “a year from now… 90 percent [of Microsoft employees would be working in the cloud].” He went on to say that the cloud base “is the bet, if you will, for our company,” and he noted that it’ll “create opportunities for all the folks in [the] room to do important research and build important projects.” It’s not like any of this is an epiphany, though; we’ve already seen a shift to Google Documents given the ability to access it from any web-connected computer, and with the proliferation of broadband on the up and up, it’s only a matter of time before it’s more convenient to open a web app than to wait for your taskbar to stop bouncing. In related news, Google Europe boss John Herlihy has essentially mirrored those thoughts, calling the desktop an item that will be “irrelevant” in three years. Why? Largely because most everything you’ll need a tower for will be available via a mobile or the web, but we all know that sect of hardcore gamers will keep the beige boxes rolling for at least another score.

Steve Ballmer emphasizes importance of the cloud, Google pretty much does likewise originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 05 Mar 2010 12:34:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  Computer World, Silicon Republic  | Email this | Comments

There’s nothing to look at just yet, but Samsung’s own Phil Newton apparently just confirmed that the company will be debuting a Chrome OS netbook in the near future, according to a report by Australia’s Channel News. The laptop will be similar to the N210 (pictured), with a 10.1-inch screen, 3G, WiFi, 2GB of RAM, 64GB of flash storage and a purported 12 hour battery life. There are also rumors that it’ll be running a 1.5GHz Snapdragon processor, but the amount of straight up information from Phil makes speculation almost feel silly at this point. The netbook is supposed to be introduced later this year.

Samsung doing a 10-inch Chrome OS netbook later this year originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 13 Feb 2010 21:18:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Netbooknews.de  |  Channel News  | Email this | Comments

Man, Acer’s on the warpath. The world’s second-largest PC manufacturer seems hell-bent on radically changing the status quo, telling Bloomberg today that it’s “aggressively pursuing” Chrome OS “so there’s a change to the Microsoft-Intel environment,” with plans to be among the first to ship in Q3. That’s somewhat ahead of Google’s own schedule for reaching v1.0, so yeah, it’s definitely aggressive — and it also sounds like a strong hint towards an ARM-based Chrome OS machine in our future, but Acer wouldn’t confirm anything. Still, those are basically fightin’ words, especially since Acer’s framing the future as a choice between “either” Windows or “Google’s defined OS space.” Acer also promised to fully detail a 6-inch monochrome e-reader by June with an initial focus on European markets, and we’re also informed of a forthcoming free / cheap application store that will be compatible with Android, Windows Mobile, and, obviously, Chrome OS. And lest you thought Acer was ignoring the Apple tablet madness that permeates our world, we’re told that an Acer tablet is in the works, accompanied by the candid admission that the Taiwanese giant is waiting to see what Apple has in store before finalizing its own plans. Yep — things are getting a little nuts.

Acer to launch e-reader, app store, and Chrome OS netbook this year; wants to ‘change the Microsoft-Intel environment’ originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 25 Jan 2010 15:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  Bloomberg  | Email this | Comments

The first of June could see the introduction of the Eee Pad tablet if DigiTimes‘ proven ASUS sources are correct. The device has been rumored since early December and now appears to be heading to Computex Taipei for its big reveal with a price set below $500. The tablet was already rumored to feature a multitouch display, Tegra (Tegra 2, presumably) and an OS other than Windows CE. And with a name that sounds suspiciously like a feminine hygiene product for a robot, well, we’ll let you guess at which Google OS the Eee Pad will run.

Update: JKKMobile linked us to a video he shot of an ASUS concept tablet running Android on Tegra 2 at CES. Somehow we missed it… we blame the Waveface.

ASUS’ Tegra-powered Eee Pad tablet to make sub-$500 Computex debut? originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 20 Jan 2010 06:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  DigiTimes  | Email this | Comments