wondermedia-prizm-smartbook

There’s been a lot of talk about ARM-based netbooks or “smartbooks” with processors from Qualcomm, Freescale, and NVIDIA. But long before Qualcomm coined the term “smartbook,” WonderMedia was using it to describe the company’s Prizm mini-laptop. WonderMedia is a subsidiary of chip-maker VIA, and the company first showed off the Prizm at CES in January. I somehow missed it, but the folks at GottaBeMobile got a chance to spend a few minutes with it.

This week VIA was showing off what looks like an updated version of the WonderMedia Prizm at Computex. Jkkmobile caught up with VIA’s Tim Brown to talk about some of the advantages of using an ARM based processor instead of VIA’s more traditional x86 chips. While ARM-based machines won’t run Windows XP, Vista, or 7, they can run Windows CE, Google Android, and a variety of Linux distributions.

The WonderMedia Prizm is currently running Windows CE with some custom applications including a YouTube browser. It uses VIA’s graphics processors to decode the video. At the same time, the smartbook has some of the same features of a smartphone, including instant on/off capabilities, and the ability to stay connected to some services even when it’s “off.”

You can check out the full video after the break.


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2 replies on “VIA gets into the ARM-based Smartbook space – Video”

  1. If they plan to run WinCE on one of these machines I hope they install a reset button or a little hole to poke in a paper clip.

    Android, Linux, open source will do fine here.
    Of course MS won’t be content unless they can worm their way in somehow.

    1. WinCE is a non-starter for me. Any Linux-based distribution (Android, Moblin, WebOS, Debian-based like Ubuntu or rpm-based like Fedora ARM) would be fine. I’m just no longer willing to put up with the limitations and restrictions that other platforms bring with them.

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