14 DAY TRIAL // ARM's chips are widely available inside mobile phones, and they seem to also be the first choice when it comes to smartphones. According to the company, Google's Android operating system has been optimized to work in such devices, where it fits better than it would inside more powerful computers like smartbooks or netbooks. Although there are also manufacturers that opt for ARM's microprocessor technologies for these types of devices, the company does not consider that the mobile platform does good on them.
“I do think that there is more work that can and will be done to bring the things we love about Android into form factors [such as netbooks]. Android is still optimized for smartphones,” said Kerry McGuire, director of strategic alliances at ARM, in a recent interview with Computerworld. Moreover, it seems that this idea is shared by other companies as well, as Rishi Mathew, director of RealPlayer for Mobile Devices at Real, also stated, “If you look at the Cupcake release of Android, it is very targeted at smartphones, not a netbook form factor. Android [is unable] to let users run multiple applications at a time, [it lacks] drivers for plugged-in devices.”
ARM's chips can work very well with Windows Embedded, Windows Mobile, Android, Ubuntu Linux and other operating systems currently available, though it seems that desktop operating systems from Microsoft don't support them. Even so, the company, along with a series of partners, including manufacturers like Qualcomm, is working on the development of smartbooks, which should offer about the same level of performance like netbooks, though the Internet connectivity and the battery life should be greatly enhanced.
Due to the fact that Microsoft's OSes, like Windows XP, Vista or 7, are not supported, it seems that the choice remains for other platforms for these devices. While Android seems to not be the best option on the market, the newly unveiled Google Chrome OS might appeal better to the manufacturers, especially since its developers claim that, unlike Android, it has been enhanced for Internet usage.