Netbooks With An ARM

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The ARM processor is no stranger to the computing scene. They may not always get to have their name on the front page, but if you have used a mobile or smart phone, or a PDA lately, chances are, you have used an ARM. Not only are they in some commonly used gadgets, they are also getting ready to make a large impression in the fastest growing market today; netbooks. That’s a tough gig, but can they do it?

ARM CPUs (central processing units) can be found in such devices as RIM’s BlackBerry, Lego Mindstorm robots and Japanese toilet seats, not to mention, arguably the most well known of them all, Apple’s iPhone. They even power the Google Android smartphone device and can also be found in Nintendo’s DS game console. Taking all this into account, it is no wonder they managed to ship more processors in 2009 than Intel, at 10 billion chips sold.

However, ARM is now eyeing off the netbook scene, and although many netbooks are already available featuring this processor, they are wanting to go more mainstream than ever before. They are aiming at powering 55% of the netbook market by 2012 and because their chips can accommodate nearly all but the most demanding uses, they might just be able to accomplish this yet.

These ARM powered netbooks perfectly suit not only the cloud but also green computing as they are able to power netbooks providing WiFi and be made cheaply, efficiently and effectively provide more computing power per battery watt than ever before. How efficient? Claims are being made of 12 hours or more between charges and if we are to take the battery longevity of the above mentioned devices into consideration, that could very well happen.

So we have the opportunity to see some very energy efficient and powerful netbooks (how often do you read those words in the same sentence?) for computing on the run that are cheaper to make and offer superb battery life. Cloud computing and green computing make a great combination where everyone wins.