I’m still in the process of unravelling all the ARM-related news from Computex to see what’s important and what is not but maybe ARM just saved me the trouble of going through a lot of news articles. They’ve got all the important links on their Computex blog. They’ve also created some great articles from within ARM

Laurance Bryant reports that Intels MID category is manufactured and that the smartphone market is the place to look. (I think he must have missed the news about Moorestown being in the smartphone game!)

Katie Morgan rounds up the ARM-related news. A must-read. (Another set of links here)

Rob Coombs says that the ARM software model is THE software model for smartbooks. : “There is a misconception that in the old world of x86 no porting is necessary. Well, this is only true if there is no further innovation around developing any new peripherals or advancing GPU/Video/Wireless solutions or supporting any new OS. Any of these changes require porting. inch I tend to agree although Moblin seems to be tackling this problem well. The API is the key and both ARM and X86 have exactly the same issue. Like a swan, it needs to be graceful on the top while a lot of work goes on underneath to drive everything.

James Bruce has a teaser of an article. Why the Internet Experience will be better on your Smartphone. He argues that the always-on nature of a smartphone allows developers to think of more interesting applications. I totally agree. I’ve recently had ultra mobile PC devices that I have been able to leave on all day. People asked ‘why’ but I explain that IM, Skype and location services can run in the background. The problem with James’ argument is that all-day or even 24hr battery life isn’t only going to be capable on ARM devices. In 2010 ARM will start to lose their monopoly on this. Screen, radio, battery and software design becomes more important than how low a CPU can idle. Lets face it, with all these apps running in the background, most smartphone CPUs won’t even get to see an idle state!

Warren East talks about ARMs presence at Computex. “Well, I’ve spent a couple of days in Taiwan and I’m impressed. The ARM Partners who have targeted this new space are delivering. inch It’s true. There were a ton of ARM-based products and I think we can safely say that it was ARM’s year at Computex in terms of media coverage. With the Pre, the N97 and the iPhone 3GS (which I assume is running an ARM core) news this week, the wave continues.

Finally, Bob Morris, Diretor of Mobile Computing reports: “what makes this year unique is the opportunity that they see in the diverging PC market and the potential to change what has been the legacy for the last 20+ years. inch Yes, the market is diverging. Niches are becoming important. Choice is becoming important. Choice is now possible! Another must-read.

We’re entering a huge period of change in the computing market and it’s happening right under our noses in the mobile computing and mobile internet space. The next 5 years are going to be critical for all players. Lets see how Intel handles ARM’s home territory at Mobile World Congress in 2010.

P.S. Don’t miss the ARM ‘smart mobile devices’ blog too.

I had an update from TI’s ‘Mobile Mover’ Seshu Madhavapeddy on Thursday evening and came away with a very strong impression that Ti want to conquer the whole ‘Ring of FIE’ with their OMAP 3 platform. PMPs were mentioned (Archos.) Smartphones were mentioned (Samsung Omnia HD, Palm Pre) and so were tablets and netbooks.  Seshu also outlined how ARM-based netbooks would differ from the netbooks we know today buy talking about targeted markets and highlighting the Always Innovating TouchBook. He asked me if I’d heard of it. Bells rang in my head and as I scrambled to Google search and saw the first image, I remembered that I really should have brought this to the top of my to-do list sooner. It was announced at the same time as I was in Texas for SXSW and I never got round to checking it out in detail. I’m glad Seshu highlighted it because it looks and sounds great. We’ve put a UMPCPortal order in for one because, like the SmartDevices Q7, there’s going to be a lot of questions about it.

You’ll remember the device from the photos.

More photo’s in the gallery.

The specs are interesting too. It’s based on an OMAP 3 platform which is the same as is being used in the Open Pandora project and the next Nokia Tablet  along with the aforementioned Pre and Omnia. It will run a Linux distribution (The Ã…ngström Distribution) with a Fennec browser and the hardware includes a two-part chassis. The screen contains the components and can operate standalone. The keyboard is a simple add-on which means you can carry the two together as a netbook and then separate them for ebook reading and browsing. The keyboard also contains an extended battery. You can buy the tablet for $299 or the complete unit for $399 putting it right in the netbook space.

It’s an interesting concept with a smooth design that fits well in the ultra mobile PC segment and we look forward to receiving our order and getting down to testing it out. No release data is available yet but according to their website, Always Innovating are ‘targeting to ship the first units early this summer.’ According to an email from the founder, Grégoire Gentil, Always Innovating should be releasing more information in June.

We’re tracking information in the portal under a new Touchbook product page.

Considering the SmartDevices Q7 isn’t a true ultra mobile PC and it’s going to be a relatively slow browsing device, it’s getting a lot of coverage on UMPCPortal this week.

Read the full story

My Smart Q7 should ship from China on Friday so it’s interesting to see more live images of the device to try and get a feel for what’s going to turn up next week.

Three things strike me from the pics. Firstly, it’s thicker than expected. Aesthetically that’s not good and I question the 250gm weight having seen this. The second thing to notice is that there is no obvious battery compartment. It could be sealed. Finally, it’s nice to see a stand.

More details and links available in the product pages. I’ll run a live session as soon as possible after receiving it. I still have the Samsung Q1EX from VIA so it will be interesting to put a $750 PC-based tablet up against this $200 ARM-based device.

Via Pocketables. Source: Engadget China.

Remember that ‘coffee table’ pad I was talking about yesterday? The one I said could be under $250? Well it looks like it might be even cheaper than I expected. http://www.eletroworld.cn have it up for $189.

We have no idea if this is real but we’re trying to order one pronto because it deserves to be investigated on the coffee table ASAP!

Specs from the web site:

• Processor: Sansumg ARM S3C6410 Processor 667MHz
• Screen size: 7-inch Touch-lens screen,800 X480 pixels
• Memory: 128MB DDR RAM
• Storage: 1GB Flash Memory
• Operating System: Ubuntu Linux
• Language: Chinese/English/German/French/Portuguese
• Memory card slot supporting up to 32GB microSD memory cards
• Wireless: supports WiFi 802.11b/g, Bluetooth
• Connectivity: 2.0 USB HOST supported to connect the high-speed EDGE, HSDPA network adapter or mobile phone
• Weight: 250g
• Battery: 4500mAH
• Warranty: One year

We’ve added the details to the product portal and will continue updating with new news as we find it.

It looks like SmartQ are going to offer their SmartQ 5 device in a 7 inch version which not only looks very attractive but could really find a useful place on the sofa or coffee table of many a modern home.

Kindle, Pepperpad, Crunchpad, Archos 7, Samsung Q1EX and Apple Tablet come immediately to mind but the Q7 is slightly different. It uses an ARM11-based core (according to reports I’m reading on translated forums around the net) which will give it a long, long battery life. It has nice styling (note that these pics are renderings.) It will be light (I estimate 1lb.) It’s targeted at Web-only usage and if the $150 Q5 is anything to go by, could come in at an extremely attractive price.

At first you might think the Q7 uses an old, underpowered platform and then you might compare it to the $200 netbooks that are around but if you think about where you might use this, on the sofa, breakfast table and in bed or even as a picture frame or constantly updating  newspaper, it’s not the same ‘urgent’ usage model as you have with a MID or smartphone and it’s not for table top productive usage like a netbook is. You have more time and patience in these home-based scenarios and you don’t notice slower page loading times so much. This is something I learned when I hooked the Archos 605 up to my TV. It’s not a mobile device, it’s a home device.

Based on hardware and industrial design alone, I think this is an extremely interesting sofa surfer or information pad that could be very competitively priced. A conversion to Android or Maemo could make this even more interesting. I’ll be in Taiwan for Computex in June and if I see one of these for sale, I’ll definitely buy one.

I’ve made the assumption that the Q7 is based on the Q5 hardware and added it to the database. Take a look at the specs, think $250 (my estimation) and let me know; Is it something you’re interested in?

Via Pocketables. Source (translated)

Completely screwing up any categorisation I ever used in the mobile computing space is the Wistron PurseBook (aka PBook and what we highlighted incorrectly as the ‘FirstBook’ last week.) Take a look at this video from Engadget and then consider some of the specs, especially the weight which comes in at an impressively light 800gm.

• Snapdragon Platform: 1Ghz ARM V7 CPU
• Hardware video decoding
• 3D-capable GPU
• Integrated 3G, Wifi, BT, GPS
• 11.1 inch screen (resolution unknown. Touch unknown)
• 800gm
• Linux OS (Thundersoft and Xandros possibilities)
• ‘Full size’ keyboard
• Optical Mouse
• $299-$499 estimated price range.
• 8hrs battery life
• Full specs and info.

The 11.1 inch screen size is quite misleading as it’s a super-wide aspect meaning it would be something like 1024×480 resolution, less pixels than many 8.9 inch netbooks. Update: ‘Kola’ spotted a pic (see comments) that shows the resolution as 1280×545. My guess on the size is about 280x150x25. [See comparison image below] The processor isn’t going to give you netbook browsing speeds either but it’s going to be way better than we’re seeing on smartphones. 8hrs battery life with instant or ‘always-on’ means you’ll save time when opening it just to make a quick check on email or a web page and it also means you could leave IM, Skype, Tweetdeck running all the time.

Specifications (unofficial) and links are in the database.

Size comparison:

Turning the tables on you this morning, I’m trying to find out what CPU/chipset Samsung are using in the Mondi. I’ve spent a lot of time searching but it seems that no-one at CTIA, so far, has popped the obvious question – “Hi Samsung. Is it correct that the Mondi is running an ARMv7 (E.g. Cortex) CPU and not the ARMv6 (E.g. ARM11) core that’s too under-powered for Internet browsing? inch If Samsung won’t say, just dive into the settings, please someone.

At the moment, all I can find is something that Qualcom leaked last year. At WITA, they said that Samsung would be producing a MID that would be based on ARM v7. I covered it in this article and I really hope it’s true because ’10 times the processing power of a Nokia N810′ would put this in a very special place on my wishlist.

There are a couple of new videos of the Mondi on YouTube this morning. I’ve linked them in at the bottom of the product page.