14 DAY TRIAL // Even though ARM processors are generally dominant as far as the mobile market is concerned, the CPUs have not been able to make an incursion into the mobile PC front so far because of the chip architecture's lack of support for the Windows operating system. However, the Linux platform is gaining momentum and its support for ARM has opened up a series of possibilities for the processors, with the most recent development being an ARM-based notebook.
Indeed, the device showcased by Marvell at the Mobile World Congress 2010 was genuinely a notebook, not a smartbook or netbook. The very slim laptop measures 13 inches and is powered by an Armada 500 series central processing unit with a clock frequency of 1.5 GHz. The mini-notebook prototype showcased was running the Ubuntu distribution of the Linux operating system. It is still unknown when such a product will make its way to the consumer market, but Hexus reports that there is a reasonable possibility that a commercial model would debut during the ongoing year.
"2010 will be an interesting year to watch," Marvell Product Marketing Manager Kyle Fox said, according to Hexus. Fox also reportedly said that he couldn't reveal the actual cost that such a product would sport, although he did mention that the laptop would be significantly less pricey than an average netbook. This seems to point to the $200-$250 price range.
The Armada 500 series chips are meant for use in MIDs, thin clients, netbooks and smartbooks. Fox also revealed that Marvell processing cores were about 30% to 40% faster than the equivalent ARM Cortex A8 core. This optimization has been possible because the company currently has over 1,000 engineers working exclusively on cores.
Along with the Armada 500-powered notebook, Marvell also took advantage of MWC 2010 to showcase its next-generation ARMADA 618 application processor aimed at HD-capable smartphones.