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DEFINITION: Shanzai [San-zai -alt. sp.Shanzhai] 1. mountain fortress/bandit 2. a vendor, who operates a business without observing the traditional rules or practices often resulting in innovative and unusual products or business models.
DEFINITION: Shanzai [San-zai -alt. sp.Shanzhai] 1. mountain fortress/bandit 2. a vendor, who operates a business without observing the traditional rules or practices often resulting in innovative and unusual products or business models.
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 Insiders claim Chrome OS hardware requirements to favor ARM platforms
Google wants the whole world in the cloud, preferably using Google services and viewing Google ads while they’re doing it. Fair enough. This competes directly with Microsoft’s more hardware grounded software and services strategy. With the recent announcement of the Chrome OS, Google’s challenging Microsoft even more closely by offering a free open source option to the ubiquitous Windows OS and an even closer tie-in to their web services. To accelerate the process of getting more people using Chrome OS and getting them using Google online services, information is coming to light from our industry sources that indicates Google may very well plan to battle Intel and Microsoft on 2 separate fronts to win the OS, browser and services wars. Background: Intel’s Battle Plans Intel (and their Tier 1 partners) is not overly pleased with the low margin netbook category despite its massive impact on their product sales (think Atom). However Intel would be perfectly happy to have Atom go into higher margin products (more expensive Smart/feature-phones and MIDs). So in the meantime Intel pushes CULV (which encompasses several of their higher margin processor and chipset products) and the higher priced thin & light partner products (which keeps the channel happy as well). Both Atom (netbook) and CULV (T&L notebooks) are predominantly sold as Windows OS based machines. The good old Wintel duopoly drags on to further both companies aim of maintaining market share and margins. Good for all parties, except of course, the consumer who would like to continue buying cheap netbooks with gradual performance increases. Where Swords Clash Intel has also developed their own Linux based Moblin OS and Mobilin Garage (appstore for Moblin) which is targeted at the netbook market. These are Intel’s first steps on to Google’s home turf. Where Android and Chrome OS intersect, Moblin begins its life. So how can Google compete with Windows and Moblin? Easy… remove Intel from the equation. What do you replace Intel with?… ding ding.. you guessed it… ARM based phones, smartbooks, netbooks, notebooks, and desktops. But then you’d need a powerful OS and powerful applications that can run happily on ARM… and that’s where Chrome OS and the cloud strategy come in to play. Google Advances Troops Google Android OS is making significant headway in terms of adoption for ARM based feature/smartphones. WinCE 6.5 is a dog and its going to be a while before Microsoft can port Windows 7 to ARM. The Chrome OS has been designed from day one to go on ARM… and x86 cpu based products. The Inside Scoop While it’s being released as an open source OS, Chrome OS will be shepherded by Google and importantly have a certification program. We’re hearing from industry sources that Google is setting “intriguing” minimum hardware specification standards that will highly favor ARM based platform products over x86 based ones. Specifications like OpenGL 2.0 which for an x86 based platform means DX10 support as well. 8 hours of battery life also seems to be a requirement. Meeting even these 2 conditions on an x86 CPU based platform product would typically be the domain of more expensive notebooks and desktops but not the cheaper priced netbooks. Newer ARM based platform products support OpenGL 2.0 and can achieve the 8 hour battery life requirement while introducing $200.00 priced products on the market. Why ARM? They’re calling them smartbooks this week, but dollars to donuts it won’t be long after the Chrome OS arrives before we’ll be seeing notebook and desktop sized ARM based devices on the market. They’ll be cheap as chips (pardon the pun) and they’ll gouge the Wintel duopoly right where it hurts. They’ll start in the $200 dollar range but quickly drop in price. They’ll have the right blend of device side performance and browser/internet/Google driven services. The Coup de Grace If Google between their OS and cloud services can influence a near future hardware market of usable, high performance, $100 priced smartbooks, notebook and desktops, more users will buy them for the same reasons netbooks took off and continue to be popular. These products at low prices will also more easily capture the emerging markets that are increasingly being targeted by the phone and PC industry players. A future where better prices and more users online as we mentioned is good for Google and also consumers, but not necessarily Microsoft or Intel who need you online and buying expensive devices that maintain their high margins. [Image Source] Related articles
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Seen this model here, and not impressed about it. Simply said. seen 30 or more different Windows tablet models in Singapore, Shang...
Where can i buy this on web ?
All good points. It will be interesting to see what enrolls in this battle
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Coup de grace is what you wanted.
Coup de Gras means a Shot of Fat.
Great article explaining the tie ins though.
ARM based netbooks that start at 199$ and then lower is what all consumers want.
My Dell Mini 9 is not really a limited function computer.
Ive done photo corrections, recorded a podcast and edited it with Audacity, use Skype for conference calls and other things.
But I see the need for a low, low prices appliance that surfs the net, writes letter, listens to mp3s and thats it because very, very often that's enough.
150$ price range is a little more than we paid for the Wii Fit board but it falls in a good price range for consumer electronics.
THe choice could soon be: do we buy these two PS3 games or do we buy a netbook for the same price?
My spelling in any language is crap!
Thanks guys... noted and edited.
What Google is doing is trying to stop the Microsoft monopoly doing what Microsoft is trying to do - illegally leveraging its monopoly by tying Microsoft proprietary products and protocols into hardware that will then be used to exclude Google from search and advertising through proprietary Microsoft lock-ins built into Windows and IE.
So we finally have a company fighting fire with fire?
Awesome! They'll attack and hurt each other, meanwhile Google are still giving Linux significance which in the long run will help us all.
Anyway, I am particulary interested in seeing what Google Chrome OS will bring us, the Linux users.
Will it bring us a lightweight 21st century replacement for the X server?
Will it provide a clutter-or-compiz-like 3D desktop effects and widgets?
Will it help/force web multimedia standarization?
Microsoft has tried this before - for example Windows on Alpha and Windows on PPC. Both were big failures even on the server because of lack of applications.
You are aware that 14 billion (NOT MADE UP!) ARM cores exist in products around the world, dwarfing the puny numbers of Intels and AMDs in circulation, right?
You probably own several, if not a dozen or so.
Got a piece of tech made in the last ten years... you got an ARM!
Don't take my word for it! British ARM cores are everywhere...
The biggest drawback of that at the moment is you have to be open to hack attacks when running it as you disable root to be able to run it. I am in favour of having this simple model for light weight applications if it can run under your local user account. For simple home programming its great, but if your serious in your programming , you really need to be using X and its widget models.
Important x86/windows applications DO have good opens-source counterparts for Linux. Those can be easily ported to ARM (often it is only recompile & package work).
For example, who in their right mind would want to use Total Commander on Linux when you can install Krusader on it. Krusader has the same features as TC and is completely free.
ARM will next challenge Intel core business, which is Laptop, desktop and servers and are in a very good position to take over Intel as a dominant player in the chip market.
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