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Video Review of Hivision's $100 ARM-Based Android Laptop
Charbax writes "The Android laptops are coming. Thanks to cheap ARM-powered laptops made in China, and the latest, most optimized Android software, we can soon buy usable $100 laptops in all the supermarkets. In this video, I test the web browsing speed on the new Rockchip rk2808 ARM9-based PWS700CA laptop by Shenzhen-based Hivision Co Ltd. Web browsing on AJAX-heavy websites is surprisingly snappy, and could only be even faster if ARM11, ARM Cortex A8 or A9 processors were used and if it was configured with slightly more than 128MB RAM. How soon will Google release the $100 Google laptop?"
I thought everyone knew what happened in 2008. At the 2008 CES dozens of ARM "netbooks" running Linux were displayed and a big hit at the show. They were produced on ARM and Linux because Intel didn't have Atom yet so no cheap x86 processor with any horsepower, and Microsoft charged $89 for XP. The Linux netbook was heavily hyped at CES that year and MS took notice. They went to the netbook makers and asked what they needed to do to make sure every netbook came with windows. The Netbook makers said give us windows for $10 and we won't produce the Linux Netbooks. As a result MS priced windows for netbooks at $8 (ask for a windows refund on a netbook, they will offer $8, this has been documented). Intel at the same time produced the atom because they didn't want mass market ARM netbooks hitting the streets and eroding the x86 monopoly. They were able to produce it so quickly because all they did was basically die shrink the original pentium processor (didn't want it to be fast or it could erode regular notebook sales).
So you ask what killed the Arm Netbook? The answer is the WinTel duopoly got involved and killed it to prevent it from eroding the X86 Windows monopoly. MS and Intel work VERY hard to make sure ARM/Linux Netbooks aren't produced in volume or at prices that will hurt them. Cash incentives, marketing help and all sorts of bad behavior is going on to prevent this market from developing because they KNOW everyone wants a $100 cheap little web tablet/netbook that doesn't weigh much and gets great battery life and that the first one to market will set sales records. Hell the half-assed netbook that has crappy performance set sales records because of price, weight and battery life. The first person to hit good performance, under $200 and with at least 8 hours of battery is going to sell hundreds of millions of them. MS and Intel will do almost anything to make sure that it's not an ARM netbook (MS because the only OS they have that runs on ARM is windowsCE and Mobile, which are both very dated and very crappy compared to Android or Moblin) that's the first one to that goal.
Mark my words, you won't see mass market ARM netbooks produced unless a large government gets involved in an Anti-Trust action against both MS and Intel at the same time.
Nintendo DSi once somebody cracks it :)
DS Linux works on the DS but the low memory and WEP WiFi limits what you can do with it.
The masses must first have the chance to accept. GP is stating that OEMs have so far humoured Intel and MS to the point that most consumers don't really get the choice. Why is it that (last time I checked), the only laptop sold on dell.ca without Windows installed was pink? Why can I buy an Acer Revo with an Atom 330 and Windows, or the much slower Atom 270 with Linux? The OEMs have yet to offer, at least in Canada, equivalent hardware configs to the non-MS crowd, and I tend to believe the GP that this is exactly the way the gorilla wants it.
I am literally 3000 tokens away from the chaotic crossbow --Stephen
If you can read the full Slashdot homepage on 480x320 3.5" iphone screen, then surely you could read it too zoomed on a 800x480 7" screen (4x the size and 2.5x the resolution compared to the iphone). Though surely a 8.9" 1024x600 resolution screen would be nicer and would fit in the same form factor and maybe only add $20 to the cost of this device.
Surely if Google designs a perfect one and launches manufacturing of 10 million units, they can make them at $60 a piece and sell them on google.com/laptop for less than $100 also subsidized further by Google's online ads. The biggest cost of the laptop is the screen, using Pixel Qi the battery life can be upwards more than 20 hours even with a small cheap Laptop battery.