Speculative Googlenetbook specs surface
'A Ferrari for the price of a Mini Cooper'
Mere days after the first rumors of an impending Google-built netbook hit the web, purported details of its innards have surfaced.
Rumors of a Googlebook mirror the speculation that preceded the emergence earlier this month of Mountain View's HTC-manufactured, Android-powered Googlephone Nexus One smartphone.
Those Googlephone rumors have now been proven true, with Google confirming the Nexus One on December 12 and the rumor mill projecting that it will go on sale - sorry, by invitation only - next Tuesday.
The Googlebook remains far more chimerical - although according to London's IBTimes it will be "a Ferrari for the price of a Mini Cooper."
The IBTimes report is based on the flimsiest of "it is reported" sources - but for the record, here's what the Londoners say will grace the rumored entry of Mountain View into the netbook market - which, by the way, other rumors have said won't occur until late 2010 at the earliest:
- ARM CPU
- Nvidia Tegra HD-capable graphics
- 10.1-inch TFT display
- Multi-touch UI
- 64GB flash drive
- 2GB RAM
- WiFi (no flavor specified)
- 3G connectivity
- Bluetooth
- Ethernet
- USB ports
- Webcam
- 3.5mm audio jack
- Multi-card reader
- and finally, the ever-popular "etc."
All this for a subsidized "sub-$300" price tag.
Did we mention that these are mere rumors? However, with Chrome OS beginning to emerge into the light of day, and with Google testing the service, support, and fulfillment complexities of the hardware-business waters with the Nexus One, it's not inconceivable that the company could be investigating a Google-branded netbook offering.
We'll wait for more-concrete evidence of a Googlebook to surface before we begin to debate such IBTimes assertions as that an ARM CPU would perform better than an Intel Atom. Late 2010 is quite a while in the future, and with the release of its new Pine Trail Atoms last week and with Moorestown on track for later in 2010, Intel has a few ARM-wrestling tricks up its sleeves. ®
COMMENTS
ARM, but of course....
Of course Google select ARM instead of Intel or AMD. That way it wont be possible to run Windows on it, and wond Google love that! t all down to world dominance :)
Ferrari for the price of a Cooper?
somehow, giving the pricing of the googlephone, i doubt that will be the case
It would be interesting to learn
whether those USB ports will be USB 3.0 compatible, in which case one could run a hi-def monitor from this machine, making it still more appealing....
Henri
They had me with...
ARM + Nvidia.
However, this is Google and I would not trust using such a device until the jailbreaks are out and you can drop your own OS on. And even then, can you be sure you know that the hardware is not talking to Mother?
And, living in the UK, the cost of this will be obscene (probably US price * 1.5 and in £), never mind the low-bandwidth, poor coverage and sky-high prices we have to suffer for mobile internet.
So I can't see myself buying on until those major hurdles are addressed here. Next millennium perhaps?
Not that exciting
Those specs won't stand out as high performance in late 2010. That'll probably be a very average spec machine by then.
