Nokia Orders Netbooks From Quanta, Compal
Might we see a Nokia netbook before the year is out?
On Tuesday, Nokia and Intel announced a partnership that the two claimed would deliver new mobile computing products - beyond existing smartphones, netbooks and notebooks. Today Bloomberg (via IntoMobile) reports that Nokia has ordered netbook shipments from Quanta Computer Inc. and Compal Electronics Inc.
Citing the Commercial Times, which offers no source for the information, Bloomberg says the Quanta netbook will use Intel’s Atom chip and could be available as soon as the third quarter of this year.
More interestingly, it seems Nokia isn’t about to put all of its MID eggs into the same basket. Prior to Tuesday’s news, many assumed that if Nokia were to bring out a netbook or MID, it would opt for Qualcomm’s Snapdragon chip as opposed to Intel’s Atom. However, if there's any truth in today’s rumors, it looks Nokia is still eager to offer a device based on Snapdragon. The Commercial Times goes on to say that the units Nokia is purchasing from Compal Electronics are computers based on Snapdragon.
Nokia is the biggest cell phone manufacturer out there and Intel is the biggest chip maker in the world. While we're sure a Nokia netbook would be a great device, at this late stage in the netbook game when nearly every netbook is Atom-based, we can't imagine the two coming up with anything that we haven't seen before.
There's no official comment from Nokia, Compal or Quanta as of yet. We'll keep you posted and update as soon as we know anything official.
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Jane McEntegart is a writer, editor, and marketing communications professional with 17 years of experience in the technology industry. She has written about a wide range of technology topics, including smartphones, tablets, and game consoles. Her articles have been published in Tom's Guide, Tom's Hardware, MobileSyrup, and Edge Up.
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WheelsOfConfusion Nokia can probably offer a Snapdragon netbook with their Maemo OS pretty easily, and they could conceivably offer an Atom system with Moblin, maybe with some Maemo touches. At first blush, that would appear to make sense given their recent deals with Intel and efforts to harmonize the ARM-based Maemo's and Moblin's software stacks for cross-compatibility.Reply