All these smartbooks that are due to show up this year may very well be what everyone had in mind for netbooks originally. Case in point: the Compaq AirLife 100, which was announced in Spain earlier this year, has now shown up on HP’s US website.
There’s no word on pricing or availability yet, but specs include a customized Android operating system, 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, 512MB of RAM, 512MB of flash memory for saving Android apps, and 16GB of built-in file storage with an SD slot with support for up to 32GB cards. There’s also a 10.1-inch resistive touchscreen with 1024×600 resolution, and the battery is slated to last over 12 hours, according to HP.
Connectivity options will include Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, and 3G, but it’s unknown which mobile networks will be supported stateside. Hopefully it’ll be available both with and without a mobile contract, although when it was announced in Spain it was revealed that pricing would be set by Telefonica, one of Spain’s mobile providers.
I’d love to see this thing hit the magic $200 price point (unsubsidized) we were all promised when netbooks were first conceptualized and then re-promised when smartbooks were introduced. This AirLife 100 may be able to come close, although something tells me that $250 seems more probable.