14 DAY TRIAL // FTEC's SmartBook educational sub-notebook is reportedly one and the same with Intel's next generation of Classmate notebook PC targeted at the educational market. The computer has been unveiled earlier this week by the Malaysia-based FTEC computers, after a series of rumors that used to call it the 2Go / Eco PC.
The notebook introduced by FTEC is extremely similar to the Classmate PC, as far as its hardware configuration is concerned. The sub-notebook is powered by a Celeron M ULV processor, solid-state storage or conventional hard-disk drive, as well as a choice of a 9- or 7-inch LCD display, as previously reported.
Intel refused to comment on the notebook. However, Navin Shenoy, the general manager of Intel Asia-Pacific was also present at the notebook's introduction ceremony on the Malaysian market.
"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," Navin Shenoy, Intel's Asia-Pacific General Manager claimed back then.
Also, the FTEC SmartBook has been pictured next to a stack of Classmate PC notebooks, and it seems that there are more similarities between the two notebooks, apart from their hardware configuration. Both devices are packed in the same inexpensive plastic case with a funny handle for easy and safe transportation. The SmartBook might be a refurbished version of Intel's rugged Classmate PC.
Moreover, Intel recently announced that the company will start shipping units of its educational notebook to the American and European markets, in order to make it widely available. Intel has licensed Indian computer vendor HCL to distribute a model of its Classmate PC on the Indian market earlier this year.