Intel's NetBook Goes Public: Meet FTEC's SmartBook

Intel's NetBook puzzle has been finally solved with the introduction of two new low-end educational notebooks in Malaysia. The notebook we have previously reported was officially unveiled today by the Malayisia-based notebook vendor FTEC.

Commercially known as the SmartBook, FTEC's creation is aimed at providing students with modern education tools as well as with widespread access to mainstream technology. As stated before, the SmartBook is extremely mobile and somewhat resembles of Intel's Classmate PC (which actually caused the confusion).

The rugged notebook is rigged with a water-resistant keyboard and an advanced theft-control feature, that relies on a network-issued digital ID certificate. It is built to run a broad range of educational software, as well as for Internet-centric usage (web surfing, e-mail and messaging services and basic multimedia).

"We believe that early access to computers help children learn and we hope to see a positive impact of using computers in the building of the child’s critical thinking skills, communication and digital literacy. Through exploring computer experiences, these children build memory skills and learn how to seek out information," said Tang Boon Koon, Managing Director of FTEC, during the launch ceremony.

The FTEC SmartBook will be available in two versions that share similar technical specifications. However, the most important difference between them is the screen size. The 7-inch version will retail for as much as RM1,199 ($377) while the 9-inch sibling will be available for RM1,299 (about $409).

Netbooks are low-performance and low-cost ultra-portable computers, that can be used for web-based operations. However, it is intended to act like a companion device to the already existing desktop PC, and not like a replacement for the latter.

"With personal computing increasingly going mobile and the computer industry rapidly developing new classes of products to connect the next billion people to the Internet, Intel believes the demand for a new category of highly affordable, Internet-centric mobile computing devices dubbed 'netbooks' and basic Internet-centric desktop PCs dubbed "nettops," will grow substantially over the next several years," said Navin Shenoy, Intel's Asia-Pacific General Manager.

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