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Which one wins - Smartbooks, tablets or netbooks?

Ever since, netbooks have emerged the scenario of the PC market has been transformed. More and more people are now buying cheaper, economical and portable variants of netbooks instead of heavy notebooks or desktop PCs. But, after the CES, 2010, the situation has further changed. Now, the current year will see addition of smartbooks, tablets and superphones in the list to increase the competition and confusion among the future buyers.

Earlier, it is said that netbooks will outperform notebooks in near future, but now with the new definition and convergence, the question arises that which device will win in 2010 - Smartbooks, tablets, superphones or netbooks? Here, we discuss the features of the devices and the reasons for their success.

Smartbook

The name smartbook was first used by Qualcomm and Freescale for the device, which is in between netbooks and Smartphones. While netbooks run on Intel’s Atom processors and feature Windows operating systems, Smartbooks are based on a Qualcomm mobile processor called Snapdragon or ARM platform and have Linux software.

Smartbooks have laptop-style body with display size of 5-10 inches and QWERTY keyboard. They offer all-day battery life, 3G connectivity and GPS. Just like Smartphones, these devices provide full day connectivity and are cheaper than laptops/PCs. It is predicted that about 20 smartbooks will be introduced in the first quarter of 2010. In CES 2010, Lenovo has introduced its ARM-based processor smartbook called Skylight that features 10.1” display.

Tablets

After the much rumored Apple’s tablet PC, which may release by the month end, it is suggested that the current year will be dominated by tablet PC. According to sources, Apple has been working on its tablet PC since July, 2009.

Microsoft has announced HP based tablet PC in the current CES, which will emphasize the touch-screen features of its recently introduced operating system, Windows 7. Further, it is reported that the tablets hold less than 1 percent market share out of total PC sales. Therefore, due to their aggressive pricing, wide connectivity and touch screen will certainly challenge other forms of PCs. Besides, Apple, Microsoft, HP, many new entrants like Motorola, HTC and Sony have been working on their tablets.

Superphones

In CES, 2010, Intel has announced its mobile platform, called Moorestown platform to compete chip vendors in mobile space. Further, the Chipzilla has introduced LG GW990 cellphone based on the Moorestown Platform, which could be called a super phone. The new device has PC-like internet capabilities, 4.8-inch full touchscreen display with a resolution of 1024 x 480 pixels. It can play 720p videos and perform multi-tasking.

Besides LG, Google also unveiled its handset called “Nexus One,” which it called the superphone. It is loaded with SnapDragon processor from Qualcomm and runs on its latest Android 2.1 OS. The device supports Voice-Recognition based keyboard and Voice to Text translation, hence, users do not have to type or write e-mails, SMS, or message in Facebook.

Discussion

All the three devices are still to reach the market and therefore the real test for their usefulness will be calculated in near future. In the first week of its release, the Nexus One faced 3G connectivity problem. Desktops and laptops offer superior experience for web browsing, multimedia features and other utilities. Now, the question is can these devices outsmart desktops and laptops in near future.

Anuj Kumar/ITvoir Network

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