Freescale Semiconductor won an apparent bang-up design-in at the start of its Freescale Technology Forum in Orlando, Fla. June 22, when Lenovo showed off an Android-based smartbook using the i.MX instantiation of ARM — which would mean a shift from Lenovo’s earlier interest in Snapdragon. Freescale would be wise to understand, however, that a timeframe this close to America’s July Fourth celebration is likely to be full of firework duds, and Lenovo is particularly guilty of repeated failures to launch.
Slashgear and other blogger sites were rude enough to bring up the memory of the Lenovo Skylight, while saying that the current product offers power advantages enough to eschew a cooling fan. The prototype uses the 515 version of i.MX, an 800-MHz processor based on an A8 core. Since it’s based on Android, there’s no waiting for a rock-solid OS to ship.
Still, it’s not that surprising to see that Freescale’s own blog, Smart Mobile Devices, had not yet featured this prototype when we posted this item. Do you think someone might be a little nervous about Lenovo’s history with Skylight – announcing, delaying, and apparently giving up on a platform due to both the immaturity of component products, and an internal uncertainty at Lenovo over smartbook futures? Freescale’s a strong supporter of touchscreen-based tablet computers, so Lenovo’s commitment to i.MX may show a longer half-life than Skylight. But anyone placing money down on fireworks might get burned.
Loring
