Looking strikingly like the mysterious Android MID we’ve been seeing so much of lately, this is actually eviGroup’s upcoming Wallet MID. First tipped back in May and promised for a launch by the end of 2009, the touchscreen handheld has been described by the French company’s CEO as a “unit halfway between a cellphone and a TabletPC with a 5-inch screen”, though right now it’s unknown whether it uses an Intel x86 CPU with Windows OS or a frugal ARM chipset with 7+ hours runtime and custom OS.
Samsung have announced their new 1GHz mobile processor, the Samsung Hummingbird, based on the 45nm ARM Cortex A8 architecture and developed jointly with Intrinsity. The Hummingbird CPU promises not only high media and data crunching performance in mobile devices, but low power consumption and – thanks to some creative re-use of existing technology – relatively low chip prices.
If you’re a Linux developer who has found that the recession has left you at a loose end, Peek may have just the project for you. They’re throwing open the doors to open-source development on their email-centric Peek device, in the hope that someone will get Linux up and running on the ARM7-based handheld.
LG and ARM have announced a partnership that will see the former’s HDTVs use the latter’s ARM11 MPCore multicore processor and ARM Mali GPUs. The system will allow for not only high-definition 1080p processing but video-on-demand, voting and polling, games, and e-commerce without the need for a separate set-top box.
Two Gartner analysts have lent their weight to ARM processors and the Google Android platform as potential players in netbooks and smartbooks, tipping the pairing as possibly headed for prime time. While they recognized that Android still needs fettling for the larger displays and broader usage patterns of a netbook-style device, Christian Heidarson and Ben Lee, analysts at Gartner, nonetheless praised its “snappy” performance on ARM-based sub-notebooks.
We’ve had a busy week here at SlashGear, with news from two shows – games-expo E3 and Computex – together with the arrival of the Palm Pre. The latter may have just a few days in the spotlight before Apple’s WWDC keynote on Monday, where we’re expecting to see a new iPhone unveiled, so get yourself up to speed with our Palm Pre review in advance of our WWDC live-blog at 10am PT tomorrow.
You’d think we’d seen every form factor and possible processor combination from Computex already, but III have still managed to surprise us. Their hybrid system combines the base of an HP Mini 1000-series netbook, from which the Intel Atom processor has been junked and replaced with a 1.6GHz VIA C7-M CPU. Meanwhile the display has been replaced with a detachable touchscreen slate, with its own processor, and running Android. The two can be used separately.
Video demo after the cut
Nothing like a new niche to get the concept artists salivating, but this time it’s Freescale Semiconductor who are working on possible Smartbook designs. The company has commissioned six prototypes, ranging from the touchscreen-slate-with-QWERTY-ears you see here to a modular mini-notebook and a leather-clad clamshell.
Five more Freescale Smartbook concepts after the cut
Joining Wistron’s N900z on the Freescale Semiconducters Computex stand is this netbook from Pegatron. Running an Freescale IMX51 800MHz ARM-based CPU and Xandros Linux OS, the most interesting aspects of the ultraportable are its super-skinny profile and long, eight-hour battery life.
Video hands-on after the cut
Wistron’s most endearing Smartbook machine may be the compact VAIO P-lookalike that has been floating around tradeshows for a few months now, but it’s not their only offering with ARM under the hood. Freescale Semiconductors are showing the Wistron N900z at their Computex 2009 stand, a more traditionally designed 10-inch netbook, and LaptopMag shot some hands-on video.
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