Asus has slapped an Intel chip in every computer in the Eee PC lineup to date. The original Eee PC 701 had an Intel Celeron processor, and more recent models have had Intel Atom N270 and Atom N280 chips. But DigiTimes reports that the company is eyeing Qualcomm’s low power platform for upcoming products.
No plans have been made yet, but when you add the news that Asus is looking at the possibility of producing netbooks running Google’s Android operating system, things start to get interesting.
Qualcomm makes chips for cellphones that combine 3G connectivity, low power consumption, and moderate performance. The company is trying to break into the netbook game with its upcomign Snapdragon platform which enables HD video playback and other advanced features whil still using significantly less power than Intel Atom or VIA Nano processors. But you can’t run Windows XP, Vista, or Windows 7 on a device with a Qualcomm chip. Which means that if Asus does choose to adopt the platform for future machines, they’ll likely either run Linux or something like Google Android.
So, Asus and Qualcomm, versus their old but estranged buddies Pegatron and Freescale. Should up the ante a bit. Bring ’em on.
Presumably an Asus/Qualcomm/Linux or Android computer would be situated toward the low end of the price range. Given the national/world economy this could be a popular net-book.
Hardware and pricing please!!!
[…] Asus considers Qualcomm powered netbooks […]