We had to split up the 1.5hr Meet:Mobility podcast 40 because there was just too much to talk about! In it we (that’s JKK, Sascha and myself) cover CES with a focus on netbooks, MIDs, smartbooks, tablets and ereaders in the three-part podcast that you can download or stream at Meet:Mobility.
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At Computex in June 2009 I had a press meeting with Anand Chandraseker and one thing he mentioned as the press challenged him about netbooks and smartbooks was the fact that Moorestown could make a good platform for smartbooks. If I remember correctly, the words he used were ‘a better smartbook than ARM-based products.’ (Analysis here)
ARM platforms are scaling well and in mid-2010 a multi-core ARM processor will be able to reach processing power levels that are close to what we’re seeing on Atom (with a single core.) The power envelope of a Moorestown-based tablet or smartphone won’t be significantly higher either so when you think about Moblin, its stability, its brand and potential for a lot of Intel-backed marketing, the code-sharing that’s happening with Nokia and its Maemo teams, its ‘appup’ store, its roadmap, and the support it’s getting from leading computer manufacturers you can see a lot of advantages over skinned WinCE, non-existent Chrome OS and re-hashed Android open-source models.
Proof that tablets and ‘smart’ devices are possible was given in the keynote speech and I’ve included the relevant 5-min segment below. You’ll also here a very interesting line in the first 20 seconds. Paul Otellini specifically mentions that Nokia is in partnership with Intel ‘around’ the Moorestown platform. That could be the software development work that’s going on (Nokia and Intel are sharing a lot of software across Moblin and Maemo) but it could be something else too!
Skip to the following segments for specific information on the key elements from the Ultra Mobile section of the keynote.
00:21 ‘We’ve announced partnerships around Moorestown with leaders like LG and Nokia’
02:00 Multipoint (3-way) video conference on Moorestown smartphone. (from Vidyo.com)
03:40 HD movie demo (720p)
04:30 Open Peak tablet demo. (Note e-reader application)
Next stop: Mobile World Congress, Barcelona.
Paul Otellini
Apart from the usual TV display highlights from Intel (including an amazing 3D demo) Paul Otellini covered computing in the home, entertainment, security and energy efficiency but in the area of ultra mobile computing, Paul had a few surprises for us at the Intel keynote at CS this week.
Highlighting the quick progress (and priority!) of the Intel Application Developer Program, Paul announced ‘App Up’ (Press release) which is Intels version of the storefront for application purchases and downloads across Moblin (handhelds to Windows. What this means is that the complete architecture for the app store, including the financial services, is complete. Developers can now earn money and end users can now buy apps!
I spoke with Peter Biddle, Director of the Intel Application Developer Program about a number of aspects of the program and it’s clear that this isn’t just a skin-deep effort. They’re thinking about everything from affiliate programs to tailored stores. Naturally I’ve installed the store on my netbook here and i’ll be giving it a test over the coming weeks. It will be insteresting to see the rate at which applications start flowing into the system! Note that Dell, Asus, Samsung and Acer are building storefronts which I can only assume will be pre-installed on netbooks soon. The end-user base is likely to grow very quickly.
Intel’s AppUp store is available here.
On the hardware side we got to see a couple of interesting products. The big news (which we found out about a few hours before the event) was the demonstration of the LG GW990 smarthone on the Intel Moorestown platform. Intel and LG announced that they were working on this early last year but to see a working demo and hear about a Q3 release is confidence-inspiring. We’ got a hands-on demo after the keynote and you can find details of that, including the specs, here.
Also mentioned was continuing partnerships with LG and Nokia in this area. Whether that means Nokia is going to build a moorestown-based phone is up for question but it certainly sounded like it.
Finally we saw that Intel are not ignoring the potential for Moorestown and Moblin to make a very good ‘smart’ device platform and the demonstration of ‘Open Peak’, a dockable tablet, was proof that Moorestown means a lot for consumers.
Jkk sounds really excited to be checking out the upcoming Viliv N5 that was recently announced, saying that he feels confident that this is “the UMPC that we’ve all been waiting for”. He has a quality 5 minute video looking around the hardware of the device. Jkk estimates a few weeks until the N5 will be available, but at this point there isn’t anything official about pricing or release dates. He also mentions that there will be an 800×480 low-end version in addition to the 1024×600 model that he plays with in the video. Jump over to his site to see the hands-on, and I’m sure Chippy will be having a look at this as well to give you his impressions.
Despite what seemed like a double-day of work and a whole day without mobile internet yesterday, I hardly had time to publish any content at all which wasn’t really my intention but I guess that’s how it’s going to go for the next few days at CES as the madness builds to a crescendo today, the first real day of CES.
I do have some news though and I’ve got some videos and information to sort through and post on an individual basis but here’s a quick run-down of what I saw yesterday.
Intel, as usual, had a few surprises at Pepcom. The Hanvon Tablet, a 9” capacitive touch 1.6Ghz Slate looking not unlike the HP tablet shown at the Microsoft keynote, was interesting. It’s targeted for the Asian market but based on what I saw, I think it would sell in EU and US too. I also got hold of the Fujitus UH9000, the UMID BZ (I have a loaner here on the table) and the Viliv N5 (thumbs up!) I’m being told that I need to watch the Intel keynote very closely today and as I’ve finally got myself sorted out with a Mifi unit here, there’s a good chance I might be able to live blog it.
In addition to Intel’s offerings I got hands-on with the ICD Ultra 7” Android device. It wasn’t working but I can say it’s super lightweight. I also checked out a 9” convertible from Haier which didn’t seem to offer anything more than the Gigabyte T1028M I have but it sounds like it will be competitively priced.
Nvidia will announce Tegra 2 today and after talking to a number of people i’m quite sure we’re going to see a Cortex A9 multi-core platform that will be ready in Q2. That’s not confirmed but all the rumors and responses I’ve had point in that direction. We’ll find out for sure at about 10am here.
Finally, I spoke to Novatell about their MiFi product. The 2352 (version with the applications processor inside and seen in Europe) is getting a bunch of applications soon. One of which will be an application that works with the Eye-Fi card enabling digital photos to be sent straight from the camera’s SD card to Flickr via the Mifi unit.
Stay tuned.
CES 2010 is nearly here and although it’s been a quiet few days for news over Christmas, the planning continues behind-the-scenes and I expect quite a few ‘leaks’ over the next week.
In this post I’ve put together a list of topics that I think will form the core of Intel’s mobile computing related activities at CES. Remember that I’m only focusing on handheld, internet and netbook computing so that’s why you don’t see the ‘Core’ series of processors mentioned in detail below. That’s another huge topic for Intel at CES!
Intel’s CES press page is now live here.
Top of the list in terms of products is the N450 ‘Pineview’ processor and ‘Tiger Point’ I/O device that goes together to make up the next generation netbook platform. Full details of the platform are already available and manufacturers have been working with the platform over the last months so expect a mad rush by the manufacturers to announce their next-gen netbooks. Sales of the new products are likely to start immediately so there’s going to be a huge flow of product news. My advice is just to take a step back and review the situation a few weeks after CES to find out how much more battery life, processing power and portability you’re going to get from the platform and what sort of operating systems will be available. Windows 7 will be dominant but it will be interesting to see how many Moblin-based netbooks get announced. I’m also interested to see the ASUS T101H 10” convertible netbook.
Speaking of Moblin, the public beta of Moblin 2.1 for handhelds is late so I expect that to get an announcement at CES too but the biggest software announcement is likely to be something around the Atom Developer Program. Intel are pushing very hard to get that live so don’t be surprised if you see demo’s of working application stores and an an announcement about availability. Judging by the marketing ramp-up that happened in Nov and Dec, they must be close to launching it.
With PineTrail unable to support HD video decoding and digital video output, we’ll have to keep an ear open for hints about how Intel want to play that part of the market. Will they use HD video as one of the dividing lines between netbooks and low-cost laptops. It’s likely. They can also use it as a reason for a customer to buy a secondary video-focused device. MIDs, tablets, smart devices etc. running on the Menlow or Moorestown platform will be able to offer an HD video experience and digital video output and with most people enjoying videos either while sitting in a comfy chair, this makes absolute sense. The MID as the set-top-box perhaps? When wireless digital video becomes reality this will be an interesting area to watch as there’s potential for the remote control, set top box, picture-in-picture and online EPG to be placed inside a MID-like device.
We’re certainly going to see Moorestown demonstrations again but will it be the behind-the-scenes private demos that we had at IDF or are Intel and partners going to be brave enough to bring working devices to the showroom floor. With Moorestown devices not expected until the second half of the year, it could be premature to do so. MWC, CeBIT and IDF would be better places to do that but it would certainly make sense to showcase what is possible with Moorestown. I’m expecting mock-ups of everything from smartphones to tablets, UMPCs, sliders and mini notebooks that will give consumers just enough of a tease to make them think twice about the ARM-based devices that are going to be competing for headlines at CES. If you think about the roadmap for Moblin and line it up with Moorestown, some nice things become possible in the second half of the year.
New devices already confirmed for CES include the Viliv N5 clamshell handheld UMPC/MID, the S10 convertible lightweight netbook, the UMID M2 clamshell handheld and the pro-focused Fujitsu UH900. These are all built on the existing Menlow platform showing that it will indeed run as a separate product alongside the Moorestown platform.
That should be about it for Intel at CES. I’m not expecting any huge surprises but experience tells me that we’ll probably see some new, unexpected products. I’m hoping for something from Samsung that brings them back into the ultra mobile computing market. Maybe we’ll see some super-light Pinetrail netbooks or UMPCs too.
I arrive on the 5th as a guest of the Intel Insiders program and leavs on the 10th so stay tuned and keep checking back for updates. Updates also go out on Twitter so make sure you follow!
Significant events.
Expect loads more news coming from the show floor too.
Intel CES introduction.
The Press PDF gives an overview of what Intel are planning at CES. It goes something like this:
Intel CES Major Activities
Panels
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