Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Mobile Update for August 13, 2008

It's the middle of the week, and we've yet to see any surprise launches from Apple, RIM, or anyone else. For some reason, it felt like something was about to pop.  So, back to today's news.

Netbook sales with since the introduction of EEE PC has heat up.  Information Week (via Engadget) reported that Intel's CFO is reporting good numbers for Atom chips.  Designed for light weight mobile devices, typically cheaper than regular size laptops, the Atom chips are yield Pentium-class speed.  So far these numbers have defy economic slowdown, making this a very good cover for Intel until global economic activities pick up again. 

For this reason, Atom could not have been introduced at a better time due to the cost of the devices the chip is usually used in.  Next year, dual-core Atom chips will debut, possibly giving consumers more reason to upgrade or get a secondary laptop for true mobile experiences. 

Mobile Device Update:
  • Willcom D4.  Pocketables called this an UMPC but I like to call it "awesome"!  Key features include an Atom chip, 1GB RAM, 5" touchscreen, camera, and weighing in at 1 lb, it'll cost for whatever pocket change you've got.  Assuming you've got a really deep pocket with $1500 in it.  It doesn't have a lot of things you would expect for $1.5K but with a bit of ingenuity, this can be even better.  A couple of things would make this rock.  Front camera, self-orienting screen like the iPhone, and a SIM card holder for high speed wireless access. 
  • Adobe talks about ebooks and Kindle sales at Teleread.
  • Solo's security checkpoint-friendly laptop bag (Gizmodo).
  • I didn't know Lenovo makes phones but apparently, they're one of the leading phone makers in China.  Check out the P990.  (Crunchgear)
Mobile Issues:
  • Blackberry owns 10% of the phone market in the United States (BlackBerry Sync).  Who should worry?  RIM's push into the consumer market is mucking things up a bit for the regular phone makers than I think Apple is.  So far, Apple has been concentrating on the high-end market with data and is more concerned about creating and fostering a new platfom.  In the short-term, it's like Nokia and Motorola would be more concerned with Nokia than what iPhone is doing.  Eventually, Apple will want it all.  Eventually.
  • Intel's Atom is doing better than expected.  It's likely a lot of mobile warriors looking for a second laptop.  The fact that these netbooks are about two or three pounds help.  And the Atom chips are not dumb-downed.  These are the speed of regular laptops from only a few years ago,  For day to day work, they are capable of holding their own when running Linux or XP.
  • This is usually in the Mac-iPhone updates but this impact could be huge.  HSBC may swap 200K Blackberries for iPhones.  (Electronista)

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