We have all been waiting patiently for the first Netbook running Google’s Android operating system to make an appearance, but who would have thought that a little known Chinese company would be the first.
Nixon Wu, co founder of Skytone has confirmed that the Alpha 680 Netbook is currently being tested before going to market.
The Alpha 680 has generated quite a bit of excitement recently, not only because it will run with Android, but also because Skytone are planning to use ARM processors which are less expensive than Intel processors but are mostly to be found in mobile phones and not Netbooks.
If companies start to make use of ARM processors along with the open source and free Android operating system, it’s possible to produce Netbooks that are ultra cheap. The Alpha 680 for example, is likely to appear on the market for less than $200 and prices are expected to drop even lower.
The other impact this combination is likely to have is that it could reduce the dominance that Microsoft XP operating system and Intel’s Atom chips have on the Netbook market at the moment.
Prototypes of Skytone’s Netbook were showcased last week at the Electronics Trade Show in Hong Kong and have apparently sparked quite a lot of interest from around the world.
The Alpha 680 is ultra portable measuring only 8.5” x 6” x 1.2” and weighing in at only 1.5 pounds. It has a 7” LCD screen with a resolution of 800 x 480, it will be powered by an ARM11 CPU, and comes with 128MB DDR2 RAM (expandable to 256MB), 1GB SSD (expandable to 4GB), SD Card, 2 USB slots and built in Wi-Fi.
One disadvantage is that it comes with a 2 cell battery that will give only 2 to 4 hours usage time which isn’t a lot so you wouldn’t be taking this thing out for a full day on the road.
Another disadvantage is that Wu also admitted that 20% of the Android software is not currently compatible with the Alpha 680.
Still, it’s the first Netbook running with Android operating system and that’s likely to spark a huge change in the Netbook industry overall.
The Alpha 680 is expected to be available before the end of August and will come in a range of colours including Black, White, Pink, Red and Yellow.
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