OStatic

As the Register notes, there is some evidence emerging that Dell may be working on netbooks based on the Android operating system. The Wall Street Journal reports that software maker BSquare issued a press release which said it?s coming up with a system to use certain Adobe Systems software on heretofore unannounced Dell netbooks running Google?s Android platform.? The Journal also reports that both Dell and BSquare have said the announcement shouldn't have been made, although neither company has denied that Android netbooks are in the works.?

Today, Hewlett-Packard--the world's number one PC vendor--has announced a new line of notebook computers called ProBooks, with one shown here. The systems fall into the prosumer space (professional/consumer) and are bigger and more fully stocked than most netbooks. Notably, HP is offering SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 11 as an operating system choice on the ProBooks, in addition to Windows Vista and XP. HP's arch-rival Dell is also continuing to ship portable computers with Linux installed, and is seeing many users satisfied with Linux. Can Linux remain a fixture on portable systems?

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.