AT&T to supply customers with ARM-based netbook

LONDON, UK: AT&T, the mobile-phone service provider, will supply its customers with the first ARM-based netbook.

This was informed by Paul Jacobs, chairman and CEO of Qualcomm Incorporated, based in San Diego, California, the United States, who presented the ARM-based netbook, made by Lenovo, at an investor's meet recently in New York.

The device, which Qualcomm calls a smartbook, is an “always-on” red computer manufactured by Lenovo. It is based on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon, the ARM-based microprocessor.

According to Paul Jacobs, the ARM-based netbook has thickness similar to that of the Palm Pre, but he did not quantify the battery life of the device.

Jacobs said that the netbook – which he described as the first ARM smartbook in the market – will be formally launched at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, the United States, to be held in January 2010.

AT&T has been looking at generating data revenues by selling laptop dongles. Adding netbooks tied to a service contract, or a pay-as-you-go model tied to their network, is a new way to boost their data revenues, according to Electronics Weekly.

The ARM and Snapdragon, Paul Jacobs told the gathering, support Flash 10 in high-definition resolution.

Also, he stressed Qualcomm’s general support for Windows Mobile, Linux, Android, and Symbian.

Paul Jacobs told the participants at the meeting that competitors have been saying that “full Internet experience” cannot be gained on ARM because of the absence of Flash. That is wrong, he said, because “we have flash” – a full Flash 10 implementation on it, the first Flash 10 implementation on ARM. The device also supports HD resolution, Jacobs said.