A new trend? embeding small Linux on top of regular windows OS in laptops

[clevin]

http://www.engadget.com/2008/08/15/d...screenshooted/

this is first major company (DELL) I know to implement this splash-top technology,

features a fully-dedicated, Linux-based system-on-a-chip subsystem consisting of a low-power ARM processor and flash memory that runs independent of your laptop's CPU and storage. The OS is based on SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 10 and includes a Firefox-based browser with custom email, calendar, and contacts applications, MS Office and PDF viewers, and all the drivers required to make use of the laptop's hardware and HSDPA radios -- an Instant Messaging client and browser support for Flash and Java are in the works. Data is pulled (you set the refresh rate) from an Exchange server via wireless connection, only.

the benefits being

1. Instant on (not sure how "instant")
2. much longer battery life for normal operations

[Snowcat001]

http://www.engadget.com/2008/08/15/d...screenshooted/

This instant-on tech would be nice for apple to have too
Anybody know if apple has been working on this yet?

Days instead of hours in battery life would be a huge leap forward.

[mkrishnan]

So the longer life is because most of the motherboard is off, and it's just running an ARM and a little RAM and a flash drive off a huge notebook battery, right? I somehow doubt it would run for "days" using the HSPA modem...

It's a neat idea (although after having an Eee for almost a year, I start to question why I need the rest of the notebook there in the first place! ). That particular Asus motherboard sounds like it's meant for big notebook computers (like the 6.5-8.5 lb variety) -- is that correct?

I am glad, though, to see Splashtop getting this kind of attention.

[Darwin]

I like the idea, although it does sound like your bringing in a system much like an iPhone and docking that into a laptop which gives you a bigger screen, more battery power and connectivity.

If Apple were to implement something like this then they already have most of the pieces in place.

[MisterMe]

Originally Posted by clevin

http://www.engadget.com/2008/08/15/d...screenshooted/

this is first major company (DELL) I know to implement this splash-top technology,



the benefits being

1. Instant on (not sure how "instant")
2. much longer battery life for normal operations

I watched the YouTube video embedded on your link. FWIW, it's just a video showing three people, two of whom speak. It does not demonstrate the "technology." Literally nothing to see here. That's 4 minutes I will never get back.

[mkrishnan]

Originally Posted by MisterMe

I watched the YouTube video embedded on your link. FWIW, it's just a video showing three people, two of whom speak. It does not demonstrate the "technology." Literally nothing to see here. That's 4 minutes I will never get back.

If you really want to see Splashtop, there are some halfway decent videos on Youtube... This one is two minutes long and it shows the Asus implementation of splashtop on an Eee.