Hardware Makers Are Reportedly Moving Closer to Android Netbooks

by Sam Dean - Apr. 01, 2009Comments (0)

We've reported on successful efforts to run the Android OS on netbooks and e-ink devices, and on how Android may ultimately be more successful on these platforms than on phones. Among other developments on this front, Qualcomm is running Android on its Snapdragon chipset designed for netbooks and mobile Internet devices. (Another Qualcomm chip powers the G1 Android phone.) Now, in a post called "One Step Closer to the Google Linux Desktop," Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols is analyzing reports that Hewlett-Packard, ASUS, and other computer makers are in talks with Google about putting Android on netbooks.

Citing unnamed sources, The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Hewlett-Packard and other PC makers are testing Android for use on netbooks. ASUS has confirmed that it has already deployed engineers to work on putting Android on netbooks.

As Computerworld notes, the big question here is what chip Android-based netbooks might run. While some hackers have already put Android on x86-based platforms, Android is not officially designed to run on chips such as Intel's Atom. Computerworld quotes Ian Drew, senior vice president of U.K.-based ARM Holdings, as saying he "expects to see six to 10 ARM netbooks this year starting in Q3."

ARM chips are significantly cheaper than Atom chips, and Android is a free, Linux-based platform with many useful applications arriving for it, so netbooks running Android on ARM could take netbook prices even lower than they are now. These kinds of moves from HP and ASUS could also move Google away from the carrier-focused business model it has to have with Android solely on phones.

The only new Android phone shown at the recent Mobile World Congress conference was the G2, and that's not even going to be available in the U.S. initially. With netbooks becoming such a hot hardware category, I still think Android may find its biggest success on non-phone platforms.