There has been grumbling about the lack of cell phone platforms available for Google’s Android OS. Perhaps it is because the cell phone platform was just a Beta test for Android.
Rumors about Android being targeted for Netbooks have been around for a while. Well, it’s not a rumor anymore. Android has been successfully loaded on an Asus Eee PC 1000H Netbook.
A low overhead, open source OS with the backing of the Google brand behind it. This could be bad news for Micosoft’s sales projections of Windows7 in the Netbook space. Consumers who are not comfortable with the current alternate of a LINUX based OS would feel more comfortable with a Google branded OS. (Yes, I know Android is LINUX based, but I’m talking marketing here, not the technical aspect.)
The fact that Google has made Android open source, means no OS licencing fee. The Microsoft licensing fee is a big cut into the profit margin of any netbook sold running XP, Vista or Windows7 in the future.
Add Chrome to the mix, Google’s browser, which many feel was designed more as a platform for cloud based applications than a general purpose browser and you have a platform that fullfills many of the basic functions that users have. Google has added the “offline” feature” to gmail and their calendar app. I expect tasks and Google docs to follow soon.
Here is a senario to consider, using your Android cell phone’s G3 connection as the Internet connection for your Android netbook. The Android to Android connection could be over Bluetooth, WiFi or even a USB cable.
Filed under: Android, cell phone tech, Google, LINUX, netbook, Operating Systems, Smart Phone, tech rumors | Tagged: Android, cell phone, Google, netbook, Operating System, OS, Smart Phone |
Urbin Technology 
[…] It’s a shot across Google’s bow, pushing OS X as a netbook OS. This is in response to Android being ported to the netbook platform. […]
Hmm, Android phone turning 3G/EDGE/EV-DO/Whatever into a 802.11 signal?
A cellphone “stompbox” sounds terribly intriguing.
HTRN
[…] The first Android Netbook Posted on April 26, 2009 by Mark Urbin Back in early November of last year, I predicted that Android would be running on Netbooks before Windows 7. Last month, it came out that Asus had Android running on one of their netbooks in a lab. […]
[…] Netbooks becoming mainstream At the end of 2007, the Taiwanese computer company, Asus, launched what could be the first netbook, the EeePC. Since then, netbooks have become the fastest growing segment of the PC market. However, the recently announced netbooks are as far apart from the EeePC that one could imagine. Most of the differences between light laptops and netbooks have disappeared. The 10 in and 11 in screens that are becoming the popular size among netbooks perform as many laptop ones, while graphic capabilities and processing power are matching mainstream laptops. Keyboards, though smaller than a standard one, have become very comfortable to use. The recently introduced models sucha as Acer Aspire One A0751H and Asus EeePC 1008HA (which was imaginatively promoted) have most of what you would look for. Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, networking, USB ports, webcam, and so on are build in. Batteries run for 6-7 hours… and prices are still quite affordable. Netbooks, though “somehow interesting” at their market introduction, are becoming a hot segment. Even Google could not afford not to be a player within this segment and has announced Android as its proposed OS for netbooks. […]