14 DAY TRIAL // Back in May this year, chip maker Qualcomm made waves with the introduction of a new concept, namely that of smartbook, a portable computer system that was touted as a mix of smartphones and netbooks, designed to compete with today's netbooks. Seen as an alternative to the vast number of Wintel netbook solutions on the market, these low-power systems have yet to make a name for themselves. However, that could soon change as the San Diego, California-based chip maker is expected to announce the industry's first smartbook.
According to a recent article on Forbes, Qualcomm plans to unveil the first smartbook device during the company's annual analyst meeting in New York, which is on November 12. The company claims that about 40 devices, based on the proprietary Snapdragon platform, are currently in the works, from 15 different manufacturers. These devices will be part of the smartbook or smart phone market and the majority will debut early next year.
Qualcomm refused to detail the specifications of said devices, but, according to what we know, smartbooks share a number of features with smart phones. These devices will be designed to be constantly connected through 3G wireless data networks, with an energy-efficient design, providing up to 8 hours of battery life, or around that.
Moreover, these ultraportable devices will provide support for Web surfing, watching videos or checking e-mails. Unlike Wintel netbooks, which combine Intel's processors with Microsoft's Windows OS, smartbooks will use the Snapdragon platform and a Linux OS.
ASUS and Nokia are among the companies rumored to have jumped on the Snapdragon bandwagon and expected to announce their own designs, following the official release from Qualcomm. On a related note, Qualcomm is also supposed to release a mobile TV player, called Personal Television or PTV. The device supports Qualcomm's FLO T digital mobile TV service.
It's worth noting that Qualcomm will not be able to market this device as a smartbook in Germany and probably other countries.