During a briefing before financial analysts Thursday, Qualcomm CEO Paul Jacobs briefly demonstrated the world’s first smartbook, which is based on the company’s Snapdragon microprocessor. Though the new device from Lenovo will not formally debut until the Winter CES show in January, Jacobs said it’s already slated to run on AT&T’s wireless network in the United States.
Designed to fit a mobile market niche that falls midway between a smartphone and a netbook, the device integrates many of the features found on today’s smartphones but within a slightly larger form factor that sports a larger display and a full keyboard. Jacobs also noted that Lenovo’s smartbook represents the first full implementation of Adobe Flash 10 on an ARM-based processor that can even run video in high definition.
“One of the things that some of our competitors have been saying is that you can’t get the full Internet experience on ARM because we didn’t have Flash, and that’s wrong,” Jacobs told investors.
Size Matters
During the briefing, Jacobs placed his own handset next to the new smartbook to demonstrate that Lenovo’s device is about the same thickness as a Palm Pre. Lenovo’s smartbook also sports a surprisingly big battery, which is mostly for supporting the display, Jacob noted.
Turn on the device and the screen instantly presents the user interface, which consists of six active widgets. “These are always on and always synchronizing your e-mail, Facebook status, the web, and all sorts of other stuff,” Jacobs observed.
Jacobs said he believes Lenovo’s smartbook will prove a compelling product. “It’s going to change the experience of using the Internet on a device that has a full keyboard and a full-sized screen,” he said.
However, Gartner Research Director Carolina Milanesi believes the industry is “getting a little carried away” with coining new names…