What can we expect in 2009?

It is safe to say that netbooks are far from a flash in the pan. They are most definitely here to stay but as with all technology they will be subject to constant improvement and evolution so what might we see in the next generation?

As far as processor power goes Intel pretty have the market sewn up at the moment with the Atom N270 processor. This runs at 1.6Ghz and has been designed specifically for low cost devices.
There is another player in form of the VIA C7-M. The C7-M also tuns at 1.6Ghz but with a higher power drain than the Atom it hasn’t really taken off. VIA do however have a trick up their sleeves.

The VIA Nano processor will be the driving force behind Samsung’s latest netbook (you know samsung, they’re the ones who don’t believe in netbooks!) the NC20.  The NC20 is due for release in February in the UK which will unveil the Nano processor one month before its supposed official release date in March 2009.

The Nano is reported to be less power hungry than the Intel Atom which is why Samsung have chosen it for their new 12 inch netbook.

If the Via chip does take over as the processor of choice then Intel and NVIDIA might well have something to say about that.

At the End of 2008 NVIDIA announced an exciting development for netbook lovers in the form of their new Ion platform.  This platform combines NVIDIA G Force 9400M graphics with the Intel Atom processor.

The GeForce 9400M is the same integrated graphics solution found in the newest Apple MacBooks and MacBook Pros. Nvidia promises the new graphics solution will increase graphical performance of Intel Atom systems by up to 10 fold, which would allow a game such as Call of Duty 4 to run at a smooth 30 frames per second. The GeForce 9400M will also support high-definition 1080p video playback, accelerated video transcoding and Nvidia’s CUDA technology. With Intel Atom processors designed to be inexpensive and very energy-efficient, it does seem a bit odd to equip a powerful graphics solution in such a lowly system. However, Nvidia states that the GeForce 9400M is very power efficient, resulting in similar a power consumption to the current Intel Atom platform, and that the increased cost will be minimal.

Expect the Ion to hit the shelves in a notebook near you early in 2009.

The major growth market for netbooks is likely to be attached the increasing popularity of high speed mobile broadband.

Expect most of the big mobile phone companies to be offering netbooks “free” with mobile broadband subscriptions.
Certainly the combination of a netbook and 3G broadband is sure to be a winner as you can check your emails and surf the internet properly (not a la mobile phone) pretty much anywhere.
The other advantage over your average smart phone is a useable keyboard and the ability to deal with email attachments and other documents on the move.  WIth the increasing move towards Windows XP as the operating system of choice the netbook can run all of your favourite applications to give you true mobile computing anywhere and everywhere.

2009 is going to be an exciting time in the miniature world of the netbook and netbookplanet.co.uk.

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