[Technology Report]
Laptops, Netbooks, And E-books, Oh My!
Low-power processors and displays along with flash memory dominate the terrain of small-form-factor mobile devices.
THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS The monochrome E-Ink displays have been a success for e-books. But there seems to be a requirement for color should these displays land in other applications. It’s too bad, since the battery life possible with these types of displays would be very handy for basic browsing and e-mail. Video update performance, which is slower than conventional LCDs, represents another challenge. This is likely to change, though, making these flexible displays a preferred, colorful choice.
LCDs hold the edge for now in all but the e-book arena. Likewise, LCDs are the only choice for the MID through laptop categories. They may be dominant, but the technology isn’t standing still. Interesting features on the horizon include 3D, such as those displays previewed by 3M and Toshiba Matsushita (see “3M Film For Viewing 3D Films”). These displays are easier to implement in smaller form factors without special glasses. Lower costs in displays can lead to some interesting applications. Sharp’s Mebius adds a display to the multitouch pad. It’s a natural combination since fingers are already in the area. Likewise, it can present contextsensitive menus.
Higher resolutions, lower power requirements, and faster response times are being delivered to address increasing demands for features such as high-definition (HD) video, which is part of the equation for many mobile devices. Encoding and decoding can be accomplished by kicking the main processor into overdrive, though this tends to push the processor’s performance and power requirements. That’s why audio and video accelerators or coprocessors are the norm, especially when coupled with low-power processors.
IGNORE THE CPU BEHIND THE CURTAIN The CPU inside these devices is what really makes this market space interesting. It’s where Intel, Via, and AMD are almost going head to head with Arm and other alternatives. That trio has an advantage if the target operating system is a Microsoft Windows variant. But these platforms also run Linux, which spans the gamut of platforms.
Intel’s Atom and other low-power x86 chips have significantly reduced their power usage. Hefty heatsinks are often the norm, but the move away from fans is clear. Some x86 systems use no fans at all, yet the push for performance always seems to raise the requirements for power and heat dissipation.
Some of the first products in the smaller-form-factor arena utilized Arm architecture processors. The Atom has proved to be a challenge in the netbook area. However, its low-power characteristics don’t extend down as far as the Arm and MIPS solutions that are popular in the cellphone form factor.
The high performance-to-power ratio of these embedded processors is ideal for mobile applications. Likewise, even higher-end processor architectures such as Arm’s ARM 11 and Cortex-A8 fall in the 1-W power range, allowing four- to eight-hour operation using only a pair of batteries. And this is without resorting to low-power displays like those found in e-books.
IF I ONLY HAD A BRAIN The rising popularity of Linux also factors into the use of nonx86 platforms. Linux isn’t alone in this arena, though. Windows CE and a host of other embedded real-time operating system (RTOS) solutions are applicable in this space. But these options tend to be utilized in more special-purpose solutions, like personal navigation devices.
Nonetheless, Linux offers a popular platform for applications. There’s also a move to versions tailored for this product category, such as Ubuntu’s Netbook Remix and Mobile version. Moblin and Android are Linux flavors, too.
Windows Vista plays a major role in the netbook space. The arrival of the leaner, meaner Windows 7 will easily displace Vista, but it could also have an impact as platforms like Atom continue to cut their power consumption (see “Holding Out For Windows 7: A Wise Move?”).
In general, the challenge for this class of machines is to consider the range of resolutions, input options, built-in peripherals, and communication. At this point, it’s quite a chore to even address a subset of platforms. For example, interfaces that work well with a mouse or stylus are frequently very ineffective or even unusable with fingers.
THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME Finding home is a snap with a GPS. Much like accelerometers, falling prices, shrinking sizes, and lower-power solutions are significantly extending the range of builtin peripherals. Digital camera sensors are often part of the equation, especially since video encoding is a nice complement to decoding hardware.
Wireless support is also moving from a single-function module to multifunction RF modules with options such as Bluetooth, Wi-Fi (many flavors), WiMAX, 3G, and 4G. Another item coming into play is 802.15.4/ZigBee. RF4CE is a standard based on 802.15.4 that’s being used as an RF remotecontrol protocol in consumer electronic products starting with HDTVs. Incorporating this type of support into these types of mobile products turns them into control systems.
Price remains a major issue. For the low end, $200 looks to be the magical boundary, while netbooks seem to be hitting $400 and above. It will be interesting to watch how the mix of features will complicate consumer choices compared to products like digital cameras, where megapixels dominate.
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