Android-Powered Netbook Under Development
Google’s mobile operating system Android is going to make an evolution of sorts as it makes the leap from cellphones to netbooks. A Chinese firm known as Skytone is working on bringing it to the masses and says that it can do so within three months. The device is known as the Alpha 680 and is set to be the world’s first Android-powered netbook.
Market experts predict that the combination of ARM and Android could help usher in an era of sub-$200 netbooks with 12-hour battery life and creative designs highly-tailored for different consumers.I t could also allow ARM/Android netbooks to wrest the netbook market from Intel’s Atom chips and Microsoft’s Windows XP operating system, which could weaken or break Microsoft and Intel’s grip on the PC market.
As far as size is concerned, prototypes of the device weigh “1.5 pounds and measure 8.5 inches long, 6 inches wide and 1.2 inches thick”, making it smaller than the ASUS EEE. Being smaller means there’s less room for a full-sized keyboard, so that’s not necessarily an advantage. There’s still no rule on what the most desirable dimensions are when it comes to netbooks.
The Alpha 680 has a 7-inch LCD running at 800 x 480 pixels, 128 MB of RAM, a 1-gigabyte SSD and built-in Wi-Fi. It’s expected to retail at $250 USD.
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