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2009 the year of the Netbook

by on05 December 2008

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Everyone wants to split the Atom


AMD, Freescale
Semiconductor, and Qualcomm are set to release new Netbook and ultraportable chips next year.

Next month at the Consumer Electronics Show, AMD is expected to introduce its ultraportable platform called "Yukon." Our sources say that it is targeted at those OEMs who want to produce "smaller, sleeker, and lighter notebook form factors that with better performance."

It thinks that ultraportables will have 13-14 inch screens, bigger keyboards, and better graphics power. Yukon comprises the Huron single-core processor, RS690E graphics, and the SB600 chipset. AMD is expected to ship a dual-core Conesus chip with RS780M graphics later.

In addition to standard 802.11n Wi-Fi, the Yukon platform also includes 3G broadband wireless. It is clear that 3G may be the next big leap for Netbooks. A Japan-based telecommunications company may roll out a subscription-based "$1" Netbook with 3G and this is likely to roll out to the E.U.

Qualcomm also has offerings for next year. It has been showing off a Netbook-like design based on its Snapdragon chip. While Snapdragon supports Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, it is designed from the ground up as a 3G platform and fits everything into a smartphone size. Like a mobile phone, Snapdragon-based Netbooks are always on.

Qualcomm recently introduced a 45-nanometer chip with "two integrated computing cores" running at speeds up to 1.5GHz. The dual-CPU Snapdragon single-chip QSD8672 offers long battery life and a full range of 3G mobile broadband options. We expect to see the newest Snapdragon chip is scheduled for the second half of 2009 with  Netbook manufacturers including Acer, Toshiba, and HTC using current Snapdragon technology.

Freescale, which was Motorola's old chipmaking arm, wants to enter the netbook market at CES with an addition to its i.MX application processor family. It claims to be the only one which can offer a dual-core graphics engine targeting OpenVG and OpenGL, which enables 2D and 3D graphics as well as Flash and SVG.

The i.MX processor is based on an ARM core. Either way, it is looking like next year will be the year of the Netbook, and with punters trying to avoid spending too much money for the next couple of years the idea could be a winner.
Last modified on 06 December 2008
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