Netbook News

The performance gap between ARM-based processors and x86 chips is shrinking. Intel is starting to design Atom chips for smartphones, while ARM-based processors have already hit the 1GHz mark with support for HD video playback and dual and even quad core processors on the horizon.

A leaked product roadmap from Samsung shows a series of new ARM-based chips including a 1.2GHz quad core Cortex-A9 chip called the Aquila which is due out in 2012 or 2013. With that much power, it’s a safe bet that this chip won’t just be for smartphones. It could also power smartbooks running Google Android, Chrome OS, Windows CE, or whatever other operating systems can run on ARM-based chips by 2012.

Of course, we might all have flying cars by 2012. In the meantime, it looks like Samsung expects to demo an 800MHz dual core ARM-based processor later this year with mass production scheduled for early next year. For a complete breakdown of the leaked product roadmap, hit up Eee Times. Bear in mind, there’s a lot of time for things to change between now and the end of the roadmap.

It’s also important to keep in mind that there are some pretty key differences between ARM-based chips and x86 chips. In other words, it’s not all about clock speed. In general, ARM-based chips include integrated wireless connectivity, use less power, and offer always-connected capabilities so that you can receive phone calls, text messages, and other communications even when the phone or smartbook is inactive. But these processors aren’t as fast at performing some of the tasks necessary to run a full fledged desktop operating system such as Windows 7 or OS X.  Business Insider had an excellent article on just what ARM Holdings does earlier today. That’s the company behind the ARM infrastructure

While there’s reason to believe that some of the first laptops with next-generation NVIDIA ION graphics could ship in France soon, it looks like we might have to wait a little while before they start to show up in the US. Engadget reports that Acer and Asus have both confirmed that their first notebooks with next-generation ION graphics won’t be ready to ship in the US until late May or possibly early June.

That’s when Asus plans to introduce its Eee PC 1201PN laptop with a 12.1 inch, 1366 x 768 pixel HD display, Intel Atom N450 processor, and NVIDIA ION graphics. Acer’s first offering will be the Aspire One 532g with a 10.1 inch, 1366 x 768 pixel HD display, Atom N450 processor, and a scaled back version of NVIDIA’s next-gen ION graphics designed for smaller laptops.

We’d already heard that Intel was preparing to launch a dual core Atom processor for netbooks in the coming months. Now Fudzilla is reporting that the next-generation Atom CPU will be a 45nmchip with a clock speed of 1.5GHz.

The new chip will reportedly draw more power than Intel’s current chips — which is hardly surprising, since it will have an extra processor core. The 1.83GHz Intel Atom N470 chip, for instance, has a total power draw of 6.5W, while the new dual core chip will have a TDP of 8.5W. That covers both the processor and graphics core, since they’re built into the same chip. Earlier Intel Atom processors had much lower power consumption figures — but that was because the graphics and memory controllers were part of the larger chipset.

Fudzilla doesn’t have any info on the launch date for these new chips — and since the web site isn’t citing its sources, I’d take the info with a grain of salt for now. But it all seems quite plausible