Snapdragon breathes fire into Netbooks

Andrew Lim | Feb 24, 2009

(Credit: CNET UK)

Qualcomm, despite being a company you've probably never heard of, is all around you. Every phone that boasts 3G is most likely powered by a Qualcomm chipset and now it's moving into Netbooks with a chipset called Snapdragon.

If Snapdragon sounds familiar, it's because it's being used in the Toshiba TG01 smartphone and offers a very compact computing solution. It doesn't need fans to keep cool, so it's ideal for phones and, now, titchy computers.

Out at the Mobile World Congress, Qualcomm was kind enough to let us play around with the Snapdragon-based Netbook, which came with a wide screen and large keyboard. It's only a prototype, but it worked beautifully from what we could see.

Qualcomm pointed out that the Snapdragon chipset can't handle tons of apps running at the same time, but it does cope well enough with Web browsing, document editing and video. What's really cool about Snapdragon--apart from being the coolest-named chipset ever--is how compact it is and the fact that it boasts HSDPA (under the umbrella of WWAN), so you can stay connected to the Internet almost everywhere you go.

Specs-wise, Snapdragon packs a 1GHz CPU, support for Linux and Windows Mobile, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, 3D graphics, and support for XGA displays, up to 12-megapixel cameras and DVB-H (mobile TV).

Qualcomm informed us it's in discussion with several large laptop manufacturers and we're likely to see a Netbook running Snapdragon this year. We're hoping for a paper-thin Netbook soon, so we can laugh at all the people who invested in the lovely-but-expensive MacBook Air.

Via CNET Crave UK

Filed under: Notebooks
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Devlin

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Devlin says...
I dunno about that since netbooks are a whole different category from thin-and-lights. Besides, netbooks are overrated. Before using one I never really understood what it meant when people said a certain keyboard was cramp. And don't get me started on the screen and the resolution! I always thought having a hi-res display with smaller dimensions made it look better because of the pixel density and all but I was so wrong.

Anyway, getting back to the point: the only thing netbooks based on Snapdragon will be is cheap. In this case you get what you paid for, which is not a whole lot if I'm honest.

Feb 24, 2009 19:23