Nvidia is “working closely with Google,” on the Chrome OS platform Rayfield tells me. And that stressed to me that Tegra isn’t just a handheld device play. Of course, Rayfield reiterated that point when discussing where Nvidia sees Tegra in the future. It’s a two-pronged approach: Windows Mobile and Google Android support in the smartphone space; Windows CE and Google Chrome OS in the smartbook or netbook space. Linux variants could work as well, but that decision would likely be driven by OEMs desires.

I’ve used netbooks since they were born, so we also chatted about the products of today as compared to what’s coming down the pike. By and large, the netbook space is Intel’s playground right now, but Nvidia sees the devices as “dehydrated laptops.” Consumers still want support for x86 and Windows, but why? It’s all in the application support these days, but with the rise of the web as “the ultimate app store,” Nvidia is poised for the shift.

That led to some shared experiences with my 60-day web challenge from last year. In it, I lived in a web browser on a low-powered UMPC for nearly 99% of my computing time over two months. Indeed, it was a challenge, but the effort — and the proliferation of smartphones — are starting to indicate that people can happily compute in bite-sized chunks: a quick check mail here, a five minute YouTube video there, and so on. If that trend continues, will people need full desktop operating systems and bloated apps on a mobile device?

Nvidia doesn’t think so, at least as far as Tegra is concerned. A web-based or lightweight mobile operating system that can offer web consumption in small bits as needed might be the perfect situation for an energy efficient CPU. It’s happening now with the iPhone and other smartphones, so why not in smartbooks and the like? Google’s Chrome OS might be the perfect companion to Tegra in such devices.

It’s not all about the web, though. Media playback is desirable and can be processor intensive. So far, it looks like Tegra excels at high-def media playback based on my limited time with a ZuneHD review unit sent by Nvidia. And it does so at minimal power when compared to the current Atom solutions. Video playback sips juice at one watt or less, Rayfield says, while power consumption is several magnitudes higher with Atom, even as the experience is less optimal. When you combine HD output, low powered processing and a power efficient chipset, you get a relatively inexpensive, portable computing experience.

Rayfield thinks that mobile device differences generally revolve around the display, input method and connectivity. With the right operating system and hardware design, Nvidia sees Tegra as a powerful player in this space. Granted, I’m a guy that lives on the web for a living, so an energy efficient device with a great browser, keyboard and display is right up my alley. But I have a feeling that in the not too distant future, there will be many more people looking for the same experience.

[Note: I'll have more say about the ZuneHD in the next few days.]

Last seen at Computex, EB’s reference design Mobile Internet Device is making the rounds this week at Intel’s Developer Forum. Since it’s reference for now, EB is hoping to woo a device maker with their design — either a simple rebadge or some reworking to the unit. Would-be MID makers will find Intel’s Moorestown platform and wireless technologies from Ericsson powering the handheld. So what’s new with the little MID that may never be a product on retails shelves?

EB has completely re-worked the user interface and QT framework which “enables users to multi-task and personalize the device through cutting-edge desktop features.” Also in the mix are 3-D and new haptic feedback, which is nice to see in a device with a 4-inch touchscreen. All in all, the updates make the device a bit more compelling, but without someone taking on the design to brand and sell, we’ll only see this at trade shows.

Android should bring an optimized web experience, but based on Joanna’s impressions, it currently leaves something to be desired. She says the ARCHOS  5 Internet Tablet is opening mobile versions, not full versions, of websites. I’m sure that’s something that can be easily addressed via a setting or a software update, so I wouldn’t call it a deal-breaker just yet. As far as Flash support, that’s lacking too — ARCHOS is waiting for Adobe Flash 10, so the new device uses Flash Lite for now.

Full specifications are now on the ARCHOS site: 4.8-inch, 800×480 display, choices of SSD (8GB to 32GB) or hard drive storage (160GB to 500GB), 802.11n, Bluetooth, FM transmitter and receiver, and battery life of 7 hours for video playback or 22 hours for music enjoyment. You’ll save 100 grams of weight with the SSD versions, but even the hard drive units are light at 286 grams. Steve Paine at UMPC Portal is hearing that European pricing for the 8GB SSD model 229 Euros. He also heard that an ARCHOS Tablet with phone features should appear at CES 2010. I’m already booked for the show, so I can’t wait to see if ARCHOS is entering the phone business. For now, there’s no phone, but there are thousands of apps in the Android Market to keep you busy.

The new Internet Tablet isn’t just about fun and games though. I just heard from the folks at ThinkFree and they tell me that their ThinkFree Mobile Android document viewer is fully supported on the new ARCHOS 5. Although I’d rather watch some 720p vids on the go, it’s always nice to know that I’m one button press away from viewing the latest spreadsheet of my fantasy football players performance.

Image Credit: Engadget

Oh to be at IFA in Berlin right now. If I was there, I’d be looking at the prototype Toshiba JournE tablet that Engadget peeped. Now when I say “tablet,” I don’t mean “Tablet PC” in the traditional sense. This resistive 7″ touchscreen device is based on Windows CE 6.0, not a desktop computing operating system. However, that doesn’t seem to hurt it for the intended purposes, which you can see on the main screen: browsing with IE, viewing photos both locally and on the web, watching YouTube or stored vids (you can watch Wall-E on your JournE!), catching up on RSS feeds or your friend’s latest Facebook status updates.

I’d put this squarely in the portable media player camp even though it does offer browsing and online capabilities through the Wi-Fi connectivity. While it is light and thin — one pound and 14mm in thickness — it points to the problem often found by converged devices: it’s probably better for digital media than most smartphones of today, but it might not be for other functions. That doesn’t mean for some folks it’s not worth taking the JournE when it arrives next quarter in Europe for around 250 Euros. Now the question becomes: would you prefer the Toshiba JournE  with Windows CE 6.0 or an anticipated ARCHOS device running Android?

Wondering how Maemo 5 will run on the recently announced Nokia N900 smartphone? Wonder no more, thanks to the videos coming from Nokia World. Maemo looks to be running silky smooth and offering the satisfied, full feeling of a fluid mobile operating system. In fact, the model reminds me very much of Palm’s webOS with its multitasking and view of all running programs. Even when viewing all apps and widgets, they’re live in the above video, which is something I’ve come to appreciate on my Pre.

SlashGear has their own hands-on — really hand-on, as Chris is holding the camera in his other hand — which shows the device from pretty much every angle. He’s already not enthused with the three-row keyboard and offset space bar, but I gather that many folks can overlook those potential issues. The device and OS just look too good to universally condemn it for some keys. There is an on-screen keyboard which will help overcome some of the hardware keyboard issues.

(via UMPCPortal)

When posted on the site, pricing for the ARCHOS 5 ranged from $294 – $420 depending on the configuration, so it’s looking like a decently priced gadget. It’s not clear how well received this will be but it’s nice to see Android appearing in something other than a smartphone.

(via pocketables)

Anything But iPod dropped the $399 I wouldn’t — I thought about it, though — and they’re now the proud owners of a Creative Zii EGG developer edition handheld. This early video look offers a detailed introduction to the hardware as well as the Plaszma operating system. It’s clear that this device still isn’t optimized to take advantage of the StemCell computing offered by the ZMS-05 platform, but it shows promise. The touchscreen looks bright, clear and responsive and the native music player appears intuitive. Browsing in Plaszma is done through a version of Opera, so it appears to be quite usable, as expected.

The Zii EGG supports Google’s Android operating system as well, but doesn’t include a cellular radio for voice. It’s conceivable that you could turn this into a fun Android device and use voice apps over Wi-Fi thanks to the built-in microphone. A quick recap of other key specs to refresh your memory of the Zii EGG:

• 3.5″ display running 320×480 resolution with 10-point capacitive multitouch support
• 1080p high-definition output
• 32GB internal storage memory, 256MB of RAM
• SD slot supporting up to 32GB of expanded storage
• 802.11g Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, 2.1 +EDR, GPS, 3-axis accelerometer
• 3D hardware graphics accelerator supporting OpenGL ES
• Support for Android and the Android SDK

Although $399 for a development device is still too rich for my blood, I’m keeping an eye on the EGG and the Plaszma operating system for now. I suspect that Creative will have better success with this device using the Android platform, but you never know.

Can’t wait until the Sept. 15 ARCHOS event to see what’s coming from France? You may not have to, thanks to the Federal Communications Commission. It spilled the beans on two small tablets — the ARCHOS A5S and A5H. Engadget eye-spied pics galore from the FCC labs, which show a thin pad with a screen sized at, or just under, 5″. Without any physical keyboard, there’s no doubt it’s a touchscreen device, just like the very similar ARCHOS 5. The interface appears to be a heavily customized version of Android, but it’s difficult to tell. It’s quite obvious that the FCC needs to get a new testing table, though — the wooden one is looking pretty beat up, so I’m all for using a few of our tax dollars at the nearest Home Depot.

There’s not much else to go on just yet although Engadget points out which radios were tested. Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 2.1 +EDR, and an FM transmitter and receiver are inside. I also see a microSD slot and some USB ports — possibly an HDMI jack, but the FCC camera needs an upgrade right after the new table is purchased. Either that, or we should be investing in better lab lighting. All should become clear in a few short weeks, but with mention of 3G in one of the user manuals, one of these handhelds could make for a nice portable media player and web device.

Image courtesy of shanzai.com

Smartbooks are getting ready for the market, whether the market is ready for them or not. They are generally thought to be similar to Mobile Internet Devices, although laptop forms could easily be produced. They are expected to have ARM processors, meaning no support for Microsoft Windows. The OS options discussed so far have been Google Android or Windows CE. We haven’t seen any real smartbooks available for purchase yet, at least not until word of a Chinese unit purchased by a reviewer. The Lanyu LY-EB01 eBook was purchased for $98, which is pretty darn cheap. Of course, you get what you pay for, as indicated in the initial review of the eBook.

The Lanyu eBook has a 7-inch screen nestled in a rather large notebook case. There is a full keyboard and trackpad, with mouse buttons on either side of the pad for clicking. Windows CE 5.0 is the platform in residence, and as expected, the reviewer ran into a less-than-stellar web browsing experience. The initial review is an interesting look into this new product category, so check it out along with all of the photos of the eBook.

Although a handful of enthusists have enjoyed using the UMID M1 pocketable computer, you don’t see too many of these devices in the wild. Steve at UMPCPortal checked in to see if the company was still around or went the way of OQO, Raon Digital and the dodo. UMID is alive and kicking, but has been slow to add more supply due to some LCD shortage issues. Maybe that’s a good thing because the company told Steve that an slightly updated product should be available in September. The portable PC will be available in a sleeker looking black model that addresses some screen angle issues found in the earlier product run.

Dynamism appears to be the solo U.S. importer of the UMID M1 at the moment. They currently offer two models at $599 and $749 and are expecting more supply in the final week of August, which jives with Steve’s report. The main attribute accounting for the $150 price difference is a bump of the Solid State Disk hard drive — the base model offers 16GB while the more expensive version offers 32GB capacity.

Both models offered by Dynamism share the vast majority of other specifications:

• 0.69 pounds in weight
• 6.1 x 3.7 x 0.6 inches
• 1.33GHz Intel Atom Z520 CPU
• 512MB of RAM
• Microsoft Windows XP Home
• 802.11b/g Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.0
• 1024 x 600, 4.8″ touchscreen
• 1.3 megapixel camera
• MicroSD clot, MiniUSB port, 55 key QWERTY keyboard
• 17 Whr battery

Fans of clamshell form factor computers ought to be checking out the UMID M1, especially if the company has addressed some early issues. Not that long ago, I would have been all over a pocketable PC with a full desktop operating system, but my move to web-based apps and services has tempered that desire. Well, maybe not completely, but the gadget fund is a little low now that I added a new netbook to the stable.

Steve examines this situation over at UMPC Portal and spotlights the fact that MIDs are a niche product. As such, retailers aren’t buying stock to sell. He’s right on that part, but he didn’t quite get into why that is.

Granted, he rightly says:

“[U]ntil better products reach the market with better operating systems and some marketing support from Intel, I don’t think anyone is going to be throwing thousands of dollars at marketing themselves and buying large amounts of stock.”

But that’s not the whole problem, so I’ll point out the elephant in the room: smartphones of today — and tomorrow — are minimizing the demand for a handheld device with a desktop operating system. Yes, there will always be some people who want a fully-featured, pocketable computer. I’m not suggesting that there’s anything wrong with wanting that.

I am suggesting that the vast number of consumers don’t want nor need that. They’re just now starting to jump onto the smartphone platform at a time where they can do nearly everything they need to on the go. Remember, I’m not talking about consumers that make a living by creating web content or managing IT systems — I’m talking about folks that need to check email, search the web, update social networks and enjoy some light media content. The fact that today’s smartphones can handle all of that and, depending on the platform, have tens of thousands of applications for specialized purposes is helping to keep MIDs out of the mainstream.

Another related issue is that it’s hard for developers to focus on a niche product like MIDs when tens of millions of smartphones are sold every year. What’s the incentive for a developer to throw resources at a device that might only sell 10,000 units, for example? Wouldn’t those resources be better used on developing for a major platform?

It’s also not helping MIDs that netbooks have come from nowhere in 2007. If a small, cheap laptop with a usable keyboard hadn’t arrived on the scene, MIDs might have had a better chance at going mainstream. They would fit the need in between a limited-use smartphone and a full-featured notebook. But netbooks are clearly filling that need nicely, and doing so at a relatively low price.

I’m not predicting the death of the MID here — I’m pointing out why there isn’t much life in the MID market. Again, there are plenty of people that want or even need a pocketable PC. But some would argue that today’s smartphones go a long way towards meeting that need. And as Flash, HTML5 and other maturing technologies come to the smartphone platform, they’ll go even farther towards meeting the need once envisioned for Mobile Internet Devices.

When James and I caressed the “I am not a netbook” Sony VAIO P in a video this year at CES, we walked away generally impressed. But since we only had a few minutes to finagle with the device, we obviously couldn’t determine how well it would suit mobile device users’ needs. There’s sure to be some very happy VAIO P owners, but the general consensus is that it’s too overpriced and underpowered for many. James later tried an evaluation unit, and while he enjoyed using it, he felt that it struggled with Vista.

Sony has a chance at changing that perception, and it looks like it’s taking it. Sony Insider found that a new VAIO P is running the FCC gauntlet for testing. While there’s no guarantee that a tested device will appear on retail shelves, it’s pretty likely that we will see an updated VAIO P. A product refresh that undergoes testing is a safe bet.

The question now is: What will Sony be changing? More importantly, what would it have to change for the device to interest you?

I think it’s pretty unlikely to see a major change in the form factor, and most, if not all, of the updates will be under the hood. Windows 7 support is surely going to be there. But the device really needs to gain an identity, too: Is it a “small notebook” as Sony claims or is it a netbook? At first, you’d think that doesn’t matter, but I think it does.

If Sony is positioning this as a full-featured, but small notebook, it needs to offer better performance — the $999 base model currently uses a 1.33GHz Atom CPU meant for MIDs. If instead, the VAIO P is meant to compete with netbooks and upcoming smartbooks, Sony could simply go low end on the inside — maybe even use an ARM platform — and whittle the price down to $300 or less. Sony is a premium brand, so I suspect that it’s better off going with the former router as opposed to the latter. And the bottom nameplate on the FCC image still references Microsoft Windows. Still, I like the VAIO P form factor for a cheap, smartbook. We should know more by October, which is when most of the FCC documents drop their confidentiality terms.  Oh, that’s around the time when Windows 7 launches, too. I’m sure that’s not coincidental.

Although the EGG supports Google Android, my suspicion is that Opera won’t be available when running Android — only in the Plaszma environment. This news gives me hope that the browsing capabilities will be fairly robust on this unique handheld.

Is that enough to open my wallet for $399 and a development version of the device? Not just yet. Although Android is maturing, I don’t know anything about the Plaszma operating system, nor do I know what application support it will have out of the gate. We already know that the device doesn’t offer traditional voice support, so apps is where it’s at in my book.

“[A] smartbook may look like a netbook, but it’s ultimately designed to be more of an always-on connected device, with browser and Web- or cloud-based apps and services tied to what will be a complete set of telecom-related solutions.

While netbooks really do need the Windows eco-system that delivers compatibility with Windows apps and peripherals, a smartbook’s real value is its connection to the Internet and Web apps and services; it does not need Windows or an X86-based processor. Instead, these smartbooks can have various versions of ARM processors and even different operating systems, such as Linux, as long as they can deliver a solid and easy-to-use connection to the Web and all that it has to offer.”

Nearly all of my time on a netbook is in the browser and online. However, there are times when I power down my Wi-Fi radio in order to save some battery life. In a case like that, I rely on Google Gears for some offline mail, blogging or RSS reading. While I could (and often) do the same activities with smartphones like my iPhone or Pre, I’m far more effective with a larger screen and a full keyboard. That’s where a smartbook comes in to play — web work on the go. Given that these devices are expected to run on energy efficient ARM processors, like both of my smartphones, they should last all day on a single charge. And these devices are better suited to subsidies from carriers who can provide that wireless broadband service for a web-based device.

Will you be able to watch high-definition video or play complex, graphically intense games on a smartbook? Not as well as you could on a full notebook. But that’s not what smartbooks are all about. They’re about accessing the net for basic content creation and consumption using web services and apps. Sort of like what we thought netbooks would be, until we all thought we wanted cheap little laptops.

Earlier this week, TheAppleBlog turned me on to the Zii EGG from Creative. I didn’t have much interest at the time because the EGG isn’t yet a consumer device. It’s available to developers and OEMs — meaning it’s more of a working concept than an end product. But then I saw this video demo of the EGG over at CNet. Color me intrigued by the EGG based on the user experience walkthrough and these specifications.

• 3.5″ display running 320×480 resolution with 10-point capacitive multitouch support
• 1080p high-definition output
• 32GB internal storage memory, 256MB of RAM
• SD slot supporting up to 32GB of expanded storage
• 802.11g Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, 2.1 +EDR, GPS, 3-axis accelerometer
• 3D hardware graphics accelerator supporting OpenGL ES
• Support for Android and the Android SDK

You can grab one of these devices for free, provided you pay $399 for the Zii Plaszma SDK. I don’t know the details of Plaszma, but of course you could turn this into an Android device with a little elbow grease. Behind the scenes is what Zii claims to be the “world’s first stem-cell computer.” This one chip handles everything from audio and video to processing power, which Zii says can be scaled from 10 Gigaflops to PetaFlops. That sounds impressive, but it remains to be seen what that means in real-world scenarios.

In a sense, the Zii EGG is a cross between a next-generation iPod Touch and today’s Android devices. And that’s intriguing to me. I’m really interested in a handheld device that can hold high-definition video for local playback but can be connected to my 1080p television for enjoying on the big screen. I’ve envisioned that for nearly four years now and the EGG seems closest to making that a reality now. I’m not sure I have $399 to find that out, but I’ll admit that I’m thinking about it. Pre-orders aren’t expected to ship for a few weeks yet, so I’m on the fence like Humpty Dumpty right now. I don’t want to order a half-baked unit only to end up with EGG on my face.

The unique MID has a 4.3-inch screen (WVGA) with a sliding QWERTY keyboard. The inclusion of Windows Mobile makes this more of a PDA, although with the very fast WiMAX connectivity. When used outside the WiMAX coverage areas the Mondi falls back to Wi-Fi. Note that the Mondi doesn’t offer traditional cellular voice support — there are settings to use VoIP, however.

(Press release via pocketables)