NetbookTech

This is certainly an exciting time for the netbooks as the industry itself is arguably transforming. As Tim Bajain of PC Magazine notes, more and more companies are working on solutions targeted at the netbook industry – many of which will show up at the upcoming Computex trade show. What does this mean for netbooks and for the average consumer? More innovation; more choices; and hopefully lower prices at the end of the day.

First generation netbooks brought us the concept of inexpensive computing that ran on a familiar platform (Windows XP) that offered just enough performance for the average consumer. As with all things in the computing industry, the industry is morphing and changing and yes.. people are expecting more out of what a netbook can do. As a result, companies are entering into the mix looking to directly address these issues (and complaints).

Case in point – 3D graphics and video performance. People want good quality video playback (and maybe some minor 3D gaming) on their netbook. The solution? NVIDIA introduced the ION platform which combines the Atom processor with an NVIDIA 9400M GPU.  And then last week, HP announced a their new Mini 110 which for the first time offers the optional Broadcom Crystal HD Enhanced Video Accelerator which supposedly supports full 1080p playback (though ask me who has a 1080p HD display on a netbook).

Next example – battery life. We’re become spoiled from netbooks. Latest systems with six cell batteries offer battery life between 5 to 7 hours – more than enough for a cross country flight. But why stop there? Why not develop systems that eek out even more juice from that six cell? The solution? Newer energy efficient processors that combine the functionality of multiple chips into a single processor die – a.k.a. the System on Chip. Next generation systems based on the Qualcomm Snapdragon processor or the NVIDIA Tegra processor could usher in new levels of battery performance.

These new processor platforms also brings us to the next brave new world for netbooks – getting consumers used to operating systems OTHER than Windows XP. Next generation low-cost systems will more than likely run some variant of Liunx and offer cool new features such as fast-boot or near-instant on. Intel’s pushing on this front with their Moblin initiative and folks – if you thought a 55 seconds boot for Windows was fast.. how about a 15 second boot under Moblin? And it doesn’t stop there. You’ve got the open source community working on hard on the Ubuntu front with their netbook remix edition and then you have vendors also working on customized versions of Linux (like the HP Mobile internet netbooks).

As Tim notes, this potentially points to a “bifurcation of the netbook market.” On the high end, we’ve got Windows-based systems which are slowly turning into small notebook systems. On the low end of the spectrum, you’ll get netbooks running Linux (or possibly Windows CE) with non-Intel-based processors offering features that are just not possible at this point with standard notebooks. (In fact, Qualcomm wants you to look at these new low-end, power-efficient systems not as netbooks but as a new class of devices called “smartbooks”).

Whatever happens, this is clearly an exciting time for netbooks. The market is evolving as more companies enter into the mix and this all bodes well for the consumer.

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When we look back at the short history of netbooks, it’s easy to think of certain key moments – from the introduction of the ASUS Eee PC to the OLPC XO notebook to the very first PSION system. However, thanks to this PC Magazine article by Tim Bajarin, I’m reminded that we really need to thank another man and his invention – that man would be Jeff Hawkins and his invention, the Palm Foleo.

The Foleo made its debut in early 2007 before it was eventually killed off by Palm management in the Fall of that same year. However, before it was killed off, I did manage to get some quality time in at an invitation event that summer. You can read my original posting about that event at Krunker.com.

The original concept for the Foleo was to deliver an ultra-compact, lightweight notebook-like device that would extend the usefulness of a smartphone. Hawkings envisioned the Foleo to provide a better viewing experience than a smartphone – thanks to the 10.2 inch display and full QWERTY keyboard. Yet, the Foleo would also leverage the smartphone by wirelessly connecting to it and allow users to read/write email through the smartphone’s wireless internet connection.

In fact, if you look at the Foleo’s original specs, it’s hard not to see a netbook configuration. Here’s what I wrote back in 2007 for the Foleo specs:

• 10.2 inch widescreen LCD display
• Full-size QWERTY keyboard
• Weight of 2.5 lbs
• Up to 5 hours of battery life
• DataViz Documents To Go for Microsoft Word, Excel, and Powerpoint files
• PDF viewer
• Photo viewer
• Web browser
• Bluetooth 1.2 wireless technology
• Wi-Fi 802.11b
• SD/MultiMediaCard expansion slot
• CompactFlash slot
• Scroll wheel
• Previous and Next buttons
• One touch email sync button
• Linux OS (kernel 2.4)
• VGA output (with an included adapter)

Sounds like your modern day netbook right? Well.. unfortunately, the Foleo was 1) underpowered, 2) overpriced, 3) not full featured, and 4) arguably a bit ahead of its time by a few short months. It was originally priced at $599 which was later lowered to $499 before it was just outright killed off.

Ironically, we found out a few months later that if you price a full featured compact notebook with “good enough performance” below the $500 dollar line, consumers would jump on it. That system? The ASUS Eee PC netbook.

Yet Hawkins clearly was onto something with the Foleo. He had the vision that people wanted an Internet-connected, ultra-portable notebook like device – it was simply ahead of its time.  As Tim puts it:

“Jeff got the PDA and smartphone right well before anyone else, and it looks as if he may have done it again. “

Thanks Jeff!

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