Programmers Run Google Android on Asus EEEPC 1000H Netbook
I took enough flak for suggesting that Google's Android mobile operating system would appear on netbooks in 2009 that I'm obligated to point out this post on VentureBeat by programmers who compiled Android for an Asus EEEPC 1000H netbook in four hours. Matthäus Krzykowski and Daniel Hartmann freelance for VentureBeat, taking time out of their programming schedules for stealth startup Mobile-facts. We're not sure exactly what they do, but they're clearly quite interested in Android. In this instance, they got the Asus netbook fully up and running on Android, with nearly all of the necessary hardware you'd want, including graphics, sound and the wireless card for Internet. What this prototype does is show that it can be done, which should answer the naysayers who said it won't happen because Android isn't powerful enough to run on a larger computer. You know who you are in these comments. I've argued that Android netbooks could be on tap for 2009, and Kryskowski and Hartmann argued an Android netbook could hit the market in just a few months, provided the proper cooperation and collaboration among the device makers and carriers in the Open Handset Alliance. However, they noted:
As we evaluate the progress of the various OHA projects, we expect conditions for a mass-market netbook to ripen in 2010, rather than in 2009. Right now a variety of OHA members, announced and unannounced, are working on projects to set up a sufficient ecosystem.... The fact that various OHA partners have already developed Android enough to easily work on our netbook may be considered evidence enough that Google is getting increasing buy-in from industry players to realize this vision. The programmers said Android has an operating system direction for MIDs or mobile Internet devices, which include netbooks, and that Intel already had the right drivers for MID chips in place. They say 2010 is when we should expect mass rollout of Android netbooks, but it's clear that 2009 remains a possibility. Can programmers replicate Android on netbooks exponentially? That's a good question. Kryskowski and Hartmann also echo what I noted a week ago when they wrote this about the importance about their experiment with Android on the Asus:
Imagine the billion dollar market at stake here if Google can make good on this vision. Netbooks are basically small-scale PCs. For Silicon Valley myriad of software companies, it means a well-backed, open operating system that is open and ripe for exploitation for building upon. Now think of Chrome, Google's Web browser, and the richness it allows developers to build into the browser's relationship with the desktop -- all of this could usher in a new wave of more sophisticated Web applications, cheaper and more dynamic to use. I couldn't agree more! If we can only get there. The programmers also wonder what this will mean for Microsoft. Not much early on, but in a few years, Android and other Linux flavors could easily trump Microsoft Windows in netbooks. Netbooks, already popular in 2008, could be huge in 2009 given the economy. A $400 netbook can look a bit tastier than an $800 laptop for cost-conscious buyers. |
Comments (6)
"Netbook" is basically a term that means low power hardware... it's a marketing term. If I wanted to buy a junky laptop, I would. I'd prefer to have something that can handle performance.
Posted by John | January 2, 2009 12:12 PM
@John:
Just because a laptop doesn't suit your needs doesn't make it 'junky' as you put it. The real power behind these machines is the fact that they do just enough for the people who need what they have to offer and they make money for the manufacturers and investors. If you knew anything about business you would know that selling to a broad audience earns more money than trying to cater to elitist.
If you're too stupid to separate business from pleasure at least keep it to yourself so that the rest of us can enjoy the article.
Great write up Clint. Android is certainly picking up steam. It will be even more interesting when the hardware makers come around.
Posted by Justin Bailey | January 2, 2009 4:49 PM
Justin, agreed 100%; Netbooks are quite powerful for the majority of computer users I have met in my 20 years in the profession.
There have always been two paradigm shifts in the industry, one for centralized processing, the other for full distributed processing. A Netbook delivers on a unique balance of the two paradigms, and provides a unique platform with which to build robust web applications without incurring high implementation costs...
The question remains whether there is a future spot, in the world of Netbooks and Grid computing (both wired and wireless), for companies like Microsoft and Oracle...
Posted by gz | January 6, 2009 12:01 PM
At first I laughed at this idea but on second thought it might have some very good ideas :
- Easy to use as a "phone"
- Power (and flexibility) of a small laptop
- Price somewhere between an iPod and iPhone
- security and flexibility of Linux
- have a card slot to support commercial 3G & 4G data networks (no looking for hotspots)
Something like a Kindle but a lot more flexible. With a very simple and easy to use UI.
Sounds like it might be a great competitor to Blackberry and Blackberry-like devices.
Posted by me | January 6, 2009 5:52 PM
@John
Netbooks aren't made for PERFORMANCE, all you want it to do is watch a few movies and mind you it does it fine!
for $500-$800 which laptop can you buy which gives you a 5-6 hour battery life.. NOT THE PERFORMANCE LAPTOP that's for sure!
these netbooks are made to be taken out and do tasks that doesn't require Performance such as surfing the net, watching a video and playing solitaire hahahaha
Regards
Moo!
Posted by Moo | January 6, 2009 6:35 PM
This is classic market disruption. Read up the work of Prof Clay Christensen at Harvard Business School. Provide a good enough technology that allows a mass of new users into the market. eg the Transistor radio. Improve and increase performance and move up the pyramid. Displace incumbent dominant, players into niches. Asus already demonstrate this by going from the 700 to 1000. I added Ubuntu to this one and I now get 3G out of the box. Cell phones massively outnumber PCs. Netbooks could do the same and when there are enough more software will get ported and the machines will get bigger screens and more RAM. Try buying a laptop with a 12" screen for under $700. An eeepc 1200 would wreak havoc in that market. Skype and blue tooth to my headset and do I really need a cellphone and a laptop when my netbook does all the things I need at much lower cost and I have a seriously small budget. Most people in the world are not rich.
Posted by Ian | January 11, 2009 6:11 PM