It seems that Dell is leaking like a sieve. And Intel is not going to like this, if the leaks turn out to result in a flood of products.
First details of a 7-inch tablet with an Nvidia Tegra chip were leaked to the great unwashed, then Engadget published details for three unannounced Dell smartphones.
Now it seems that Android Central has uncovered a product road map with details for several new machines including a netbook tablet and an ARM based netbook, both due out in 2011.
Code-named Sparta and Athens they will feature ARM-based processors and 11-inch, TFT displays. They’ll be capable of running Google Android or Moblin Linux, and they’ll be available with optional 3G, wi-fi, and Bluetooth.
Both seem to sport 1024 x 768 pixel displays and are apparently light weight.
It seems that the gear is based on learning from Apple and its iFad. The belief is that while most netbook time gear has smaller resolution screens Apple was onto a winner with the size of its iFad display.
This is because that size screen is just about the right size to see a web page on.
The only way Intel will be able to compete with ARM is if they introduce a version so stripped down that their performance comes down to ARM levels, to obtain ARM's power-consumption levels. Intel's only advantage against ARM is that they are manufacturing process revisions ahead, but it is not due to Intel's great design, only their massive cash that can push through future technology points.
ARM is the future. The sheer volume in mobile devices makes this true, as the architecture is powerful enough for most applications, and is only getting faster with each revision.
Bye bye x86!