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At Mobile World Congress 2009 in Barcelona, Freescale has announced a raft of people it is working with to get a netbook platform established. It already has the Canonical Ubuntu OS, now it is adding OSes from Android, Phoenix Technologies and Xandros, as well as 3G HSDPA connectivity (in addition to WiFi) via collaboration with modem companies Wavecom and Option. Freescale's entry into the netbook chip-set industry is an ARM-based chip-set with a $20 BOM (compared to an estimated $67 BOM for an Atom-based solution) which is expected to deliver a netbook at a retail price of $200.
The big difference between the Atom-based chip-sets and the ARM-based chip-sets is power, with Atom at around 14W and ARM at around 3W, according to Freescale's marketing director Thierry Cammal.
For the Freescale chip-set, Cammal sees a couple of customers by the end of the year. "We're sampling Tier One customers now, we'll be in production in the second half, and we expect the first products for Christmas 2009", says Cammal.
Asked if an ARM-based processor chip-set give as good a Web-browsing experience as an Atom, ARM's CEO Warren East, responds: "You can get a browsing experience now which is absolutely fine, but it's like Michelangelo painting a picture - how do you know when it's really finished? You can always go on making it better."
ARM is also working with other people to enhance the ARM-based browsing experience. "We're gradually making the ARM eco-system better", says East, listing some of the players involved: Adobe which is working to port Flash 10 to ARM for later this year, Canonical Ubuntu - the Linux O/S people, Microsoft Silverlight (Microsoft's answer to Adobe Flash) and browser company Mozilla Firefox.
Ian Drew, marketing vice president at ARM says: "It's all about end-user experience. The end-user wants a PC-like experience, and to be able to read anything they want on the internet - not some pages but not others, they want 8-12 hours of battery life not one or two (like Atom), and they want high definition."
He doesn't believe that capability derives from the microprocessor involved, but from the software which is used. "It's not all there yet but it's coming", says Drew, "we'll see most of it in place by the end of the year."
See also: Electronics Weekly's focus on microprocessors, a roundup of content on microprocessor technologies and developments not related to the x86 architecture (from ARM, Texas Instruments and MIPS).