08/27, 4:25pm
Sharp intros NetWalker
Sharp Japan today launched a new entry into ultra mobile PCs with the PC-Z1, otherwise known as the NetWalker. Unlike most UMPCs that are based on either Windows or custom Linux versions, the PC-Z1 uses Ubuntu Linux 9.04 as its platform. Processing is handled by Freescale's i.MX515 800MHz CPU, there is 512MB of RAM and just 4GB of internal memory, though a microSDHC memory card slot lets users expand it by another 16GB. Users interact through a 5-inch, 1024x600 resolution touchscreen and the device is also light at under 1lb. The very small form factor makes the device ultra-portable, while a built-in Wi-Fi connection lets them access the Internet from these remote locations.
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07/30, 4:10pm
Acer Android netbook a go
Despite a recent report to the contrary, Acer is still on track to deliver a promised Android powered netbook PC later this summer, according to a representative at the company. The announcement was made after reports of a delay emerged, and the Aspire One-series netbook will sport a 10-inch screen along with an Intel Atom CPU. Thus far, Acer's Aspire One runs on Windows XP, but a prototype device on display recently contained both operating systems. Acer executives said the production version will only have Android.
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04/01, 12:40pm
Android netbooks coming?
The Android platform for mobile phones, developed by Google, may soon be used in netbooks, with HP confirming interest and ASUS and Dell rumored to be developing devices as well, says the Wall Street Journal. HP says its engineers are testing the technology, but the decision has not yet been made to go ahead with the plan. The free open-source software could drop the prices of netbooks, which are entry-level devices with low margins that make ultra-low price points hard to achieve. Taiwan's ASUS has said it is considering Android-powered netbooks; Dell may be more likely to develop Mobile Internet Devices (MIDs) with the software, but neither company has elaborated on statements.
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03/13, 5:30pm
ARM-based netbooks coming
Qualcomm and Freescale, who build ARM-based platforms, are expected to demonstrate netbooks using their products at the Computex Taipei expo in June, DigiTimes reported on Thursday, citing sources at netbook makers. The show will reportedly see the debut of a Pegatron netbook running on Freescale's i.MX51 CPU on ARM's Coretex A8 mainboard as well as a Wistron model with a Qualcomm Snapdragon CPU.
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02/16, 3:40pm
ARM Cortex 32nm Chip
Joining in the slew of mobile introductions, ARM today demonstrated its first 32 nanometer (nm) mobile processor. Part of the Cortex series, the chip is much smaller than many existing designs and allows smaller smartphones while simultaneously increasing the speed by shortening the distance between components. The new design additionally hinges on high-K metal gate process that reduces energy leaks and prevents the chip from wasting much of its power. ARM also expects the chip to be less costly to build.
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01/30, 9:45am
Fujitsu Built for Android
Fujitsu has revealed that it plans to push Google's Android platform deep into home electronics with a new initiative known as Services Built for Android. The program will see the Japanese company offer its consulting, engineering and other expertise to help run the open-source mobile OS on embedded hardware. This could include media devices like portable media players as well as cellphones, GPS devices, set-top boxes and even thin-client PCs, according to Fujitsu.
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01/05, 9:40am
Freescale Netbook ARM CPU
Freescale began its year today by introducing a new i.MX chip it hopes will gain a foothold in netbooks. The i.MX515 is based on the same ARM architecture shared by many smartphones and set-top boxes but is tuned for the higher performance of the mini notebooks, with clock speeds ranging between 600MHz and 1GHz. It also touts rare support for DDR2 memory and an integrated OpenGL graphics core capable of both 3D as well as accelerated 2D, such as video in Adobe's Flash Lite.
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11/17, 8:15am
Adobe Flash for ARM in 2K9
Adobe today said it would develop optimized versions of its AIR and Flash 10 apps for ARM11 and Cortex processors. The update will be part of the Open Screen Project initiative and is meant to bring both complex Internet apps as well as more advanced web video to more than desktop computers. The partnership specific to ARM includes a combination of chipmakers such as Broadcom, Freescale, NVIDIA, Samsung and Texas Instruments and should use both a newer, faster generation of ARM processors as well as OpenGL ES 2.0-capable graphics hardware to handle tasks that were previously impractical for lower-performance devices.
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06/17, 11:40am
OpenCL Standard
The Khronos Group late yesterday established a new alliance between vendors that could see standards for high performance computing such as OpenCL gain a foothold across many operating systems and hardware platforms. Called the Computer Working Group, the team includes graphics rivals 3DLabs, AMD, and NVIDIA, processor makers such as ARM, Freescale, Intel, and Qualcomm, and end product manufacturers such as Motorola and Nokia, all of whom hope to create and maintain genuinely open and royalty-free standards for using newer graphics hardware to process very demanding compute tasks.
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