Sharp to launch ultra-mini netbook

Author: Gareth Halfacree
Published: 28th August 2009
Comments (30) Stumble
Sharp to launch ultra-mini netbook

The ultra-tiny Sharp Netwalker features a 5" 1024x600 touchscreen display and comes equipped with Ubuntu 9.04.

Hands-on shots of a new netbook from Sharp have surfaced, and if you thought that the point of the devices was to be portable prepare to fall in love.

The images, taken by Akihabara News.com, reveal the first in-the-flesh pictures of the Sharp NetWalker PC-Z1-W(hite), an Ubuntu-based ultra-mini netbook.

The device, which has a squint-worth 5" 1024x600 touchscreen - that's the same resolution as offered by most 10" netbooks - hooked up to an ARM Cortex A8-based Freescale i.MX515 CPU running at 800MHz and 512MB of sadly non-upgradable RAM. A 4GB SSD is provided for storage, with the traditional SDHC slot for up to 16GB of additional space. 801.11b/g wireless networking gets you online, although there's no mention of a physical network port for you wired folk.

The ultra-mini device measures a mere 161.4mm by 108.7mm and is just 19.7mm thick when closed, and weighs a minuscule 409g. The 68-key keyboard looks a little cramped, but this isn't a device you're likely to use to compose your latest novel.

An integral - and unfortunately non-removable - battery takes advantage of the extremely low power draw of the Cortex A8 processor along with the small screen to provide a full ten hours of battery life per charge.

The company's choice of Ubuntu 9.04 - albeit with Sharp's own version of the Netbook Remix interface dubbed Smartbook Remix, which uses large icons to counteract the small size and relatively high resolution of the display - will please Linux fans, who will enjoy full ARM-compiled versions of Firefox, Thunderbird, OpenOffice.org, and even the YouTube-compatible Adobe Flash Lite player installed by default.

Full specifications posted on IT News Online reveal the existence of white, black, and red models - and point to a Japanese launch at the end of September. Quite when - or even if - we'd see it over here remains to be seen.

Could this be the portable computing device you've been waiting for, or is 512MB of RAM and an 800MHz CPU - even it if is an ARM - too little to be running a big OS like Ubuntu? Share your thoughts over in the forums.
Quote Dreaming 28th August 2009, 12:53
Nice!

I expect this will cost more than the average netbook though, which means I won't be getting one. Low cost is where it's at - you can get a refurbished Aspire One now for just over £100!
Quote l3v1ck 28th August 2009, 12:55
5" screen? How utterly useless and unusable.
Quote Dreaming 28th August 2009, 13:09
Quote:
Originally Posted by l3v1ck
5" screen? How utterly useless and unusable.

it depends really - different users have different needs.
Quote UncertainGod 28th August 2009, 13:47
Interesting, all depends on how much it costs really but I'm very interested in a device this small.
Quote Bauul 28th August 2009, 14:08
Quote:
Originally Posted by l3v1ck
5" screen? How utterly useless and unusable.

Yup, because the iPhone screen is just awful to use isn't it?

I am failing to see how it could remotely be classed as a Smartphone however without the slightest bit of phone functionality...
Quote Jenny_Y8S 28th August 2009, 14:18
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bauul
I am failing to see how it could remotely be classed as a Smartphone however without the slightest bit of phone functionality...

Why said it was a smartphone?
Quote Bauul 28th August 2009, 14:21
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jenny_Y8S
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bauul
I am failing to see how it could remotely be classed as a Smartphone however without the slightest bit of phone functionality...

Why said it was a smartphone?

Bit-Tech did:
Quote:
Originally Posted by News page
Sharp is set to launch a device which it believes sits between smartphones and netbooks - a 5" touchscreen unit running Ubuntu 9.04
Quote Gareth Halfacree 28th August 2009, 14:30
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bauul
I am failing to see how it could remotely be classed as a Smartphone however without the slightest bit of phone functionality...
Huh? I said it sat between a smartphone - which is a very portable computing device with excellent communication capabilities but poor computing capabilities - and a netbook - which is a less portable computing device with poor communication capabilities but excellent computing capabilities.

In other words, it's the computing capabilities of a netbook in something as portable as a smartphone - well, ish.
Quote l3v1ck 28th August 2009, 15:10
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bauul
Yup, because the iPhone screen is just awful to use isn't it?.
Yes it is.
Useless for word processing or internet browsing (having to zoom in and out all the time). It's only suitable for small specialist apps.
This 5" netbook is too large to be a phone or mp3 player, but too small to be used as a PC. Sure the high res screen will give crisp images, but they'd be too small to be usable. Unless you increase font/icon size etc, but then you'd need a bigger screen to fit them all in.
It would do my head in trying to use it.
Quote Bauul 28th August 2009, 15:35
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gareth Halfacree
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bauul
I am failing to see how it could remotely be classed as a Smartphone however without the slightest bit of phone functionality...
Huh? I said it sat between a smartphone - which is a very portable computing device with excellent communication capabilities but poor computing capabilities - and a netbook - which is a less portable computing device with poor communication capabilities but excellent computing capabilities.

In other words, it's the computing capabilities of a netbook in something as portable as a smartphone - well, ish.

Ah, I see what you mean. Although arguably you could have made the same point by saying it sits between a Netbook and a cheesecake. It's the computing capabilities of a netbook in something as portable as a cheesecake.

I just got rather excited reading the title thinking of a SIM-enabled mini-Netbook, and was rather dissapointed when it's actually just a small netbook.
Quote Phil Rhodes 28th August 2009, 15:44
The only reason we stick with x86 platforms is software compatibility, and this ain't an x86 platform. Perhaps "netbook" isn't the best name for it, as it won't have access to anything like the range of software an x86 device like an Atom. On the other hand, it's not really feasible to make an x86 device with the power to performance ratio of an Arm.

And just to head off the inevitable at the pass - no, you can't just take x86 code, other than in the most trivial cases, and recompile it for Arm. The Linux types will tell you you can, but frankly they can't even make native x86 compilation easy so christ knows what this'll be like. On the upside, the Sharp Zaurus did quite well out of this scenario, but it was certainly a case of hacking software about an awful lot before it'd cross-compile.

P
Quote perplekks45 28th August 2009, 15:51
Quote:
... pictures of the Sharp NetWalker PC-Z1-W(hite)...
The picture on the right is a pretty dark shade of white. :p

I completely disagree with Buick. The iPhone/iTouch is not too bad to browse the internet actually. Of course the screen reflects awefully much, zooming can be a bit annoying and Flash would be nice to have but I quite enjoy using my iTouch outside to quickly check my mails and/or certain pages I know are not Flash-based.

This thing [the Sharp ultra-mini-super-portable-hyped-up-marketing-buzz device] will win or die by its price.
Quote UncertainGod 28th August 2009, 15:53
Quote:
Originally Posted by Phil Rhodes
The only reason we stick with x86 platforms is software compatibility, and this ain't an x86 platform. Perhaps "netbook" isn't the best name for it, as it won't have access to anything like the range of software an x86 device like an Atom. On the other hand, it's not really feasible to make an x86 device with the power to performance ratio of an Arm.

And just to head off the inevitable at the pass - no, you can't just take x86 code, other than in the most trivial cases, and recompile it for Arm. The Linux types will tell you you can, but frankly they can't even make native x86 compilation easy so christ knows what this'll be like. On the upside, the Sharp Zaurus did quite well out of this scenario, but it was certainly a case of hacking software about an awful lot before it'd cross-compile.

P

This is running Ubuntu, there is a rather large repository of apps available preset for this platform so that is a non-issue.
Quote The RAM 28th August 2009, 17:45
I could never use something so small! I'd get RSI in seconds, not to mention I wouldn't be able to 'type straight'... It is quite a funky looking thing though! :)
Quote dyzophoria 28th August 2009, 19:49
i guess the smaller netbooks will not cater to all except mostly to those "looky how small and portable my pc is, im uber" lol, a 5" screen is too small for me, and I second that - RSI , for me its one of those cool gadgets a geek could have and show off to their none geeky/techy friends, but for an effective and productive use, id rather go with a larger one
Quote DXR_13KE 28th August 2009, 19:58
PANDORA FTW!!!
Quote HourBeforeDawn 28th August 2009, 20:00
sorry if Im going that small then Im going with a cell phone with PDA functions lol, nope I think I would go no smaller then my current 10" screen, unless its a screen that goes over my eyes or like that one scientist is working on a screen thats inside a contact lens =p
Quote AWowzer 29th August 2009, 01:41
how pathetic would you look pulling that out on the train? you might want some sad violin music playing on its speakers as you set it on the table next to everyone's 15" Sonys, and engrave it with Frank Grimes from the Simpsons. people would laugh at you as you type hunched over on that little keyboard. 10" netbooks are just enough, 12" are just about okay for everyday use.
Quote Elton 29th August 2009, 02:02
Quote:
Originally Posted by AWowzer
how pathetic would you look pulling that out on the train? you might want some sad violin music playing on its speakers as you set it on the table next to everyone's 15" Sonys, and engrave it with Frank Grimes from the Simpsons. people would laugh at you as you type hunched over on that little keyboard. 10" netbooks are just enough, 12" are just about okay for everyday use.

I hope you do realize that it's made for portability? Perhpas for you it may be "pathetic" but, not everyone can fit a 15" laptop in their pants. Even fitting a 10" laptop is a feat.
Quote docodine 29th August 2009, 06:00
If only this would use a Via or Atom CPU...
Quote perplekks45 29th August 2009, 14:54
Quote:
Originally Posted by Elton
Perhpas for you it may be "pathetic" but, not everyone can fit 15" in their pants. Even fitting 10" is a feat.
Slightly out of context and not what you originally wrote but I couldn't resist the cheap joke. :p

Portability is fine but usability is the other thing. 5" for a super-duper-ultra-portable? What's next? Screens on your finger nails?
Quote Dreaming 29th August 2009, 18:12
LOL perklekks45, gave me a giggle :p.

thing is everyone has different requirements from these kind of devices, you could imagine it as a continuous gradient, on one side ultra portability but rubbish capability (perhaps a crummy phone with gmail java applet :p) all the way up to dual graphics 17" monsters.

Devices sit along this but everyone might prefer a device slightly greater or slightly smaller or slightly cheaper - it's all about addressing the gaps in the market. Whether that proves to be profitable is another factor, and is the efficient mechanism of making successful products fly (i.e. netbooks) and unsuccessful products fail (i.e. PS3 :p). Then, apparently, everyone should copy / redesign the successful products (so this is a smaller version of netbooks), and the process starts again where the most popular variations succeed and the least fail. Natural selection, if you will.

The big exception to this seems to be software, where all the big companies sue anyone who makes software that is anything remotely similar to their functionality, so they don't have to truly compete with innovation. I guess one of the drivers behind this though is how prohibitively expensive it must be to develop an entire OS from scratch.
Quote Elton 29th August 2009, 18:22
I'm only defending it because this could prove to be the next generation of protable computers.

I mean current netbooks are still a wee bit too bit and PDAs are laughable.
Quote perplekks45 29th August 2009, 18:32
I'm glad I succeeded. :D

I don't know if the market for things smaller than netbooks really is that big, given that "very small" seems to be smartphone terrain and I doubt there is much space [excuse the pun] between, say, the iPhone and the NC10.

But time will tell...
Quote Elton 29th August 2009, 18:34
Better to have extra niches than none at all.
Quote perplekks45 29th August 2009, 19:06
Depends. Sometimes having too many specialized devices can be a pain.
Quote Shagbag 29th August 2009, 20:43
Quote:
Originally Posted by
It reminds me of the old Psion personal organisers: I never wanted one of those either.
Quote Gareth Halfacree 29th August 2009, 22:39
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bauul
Ah, I see what you mean. Although arguably you could have made the same point by saying it sits between a Netbook and a cheesecake. It's the computing capabilities of a netbook in something as portable as a cheesecake.
I could have said that, but I would have sounded stupid. :p

The "between a smartphone and a netbook" was directly from Sharp, by the way - their words, not mine.
Quote docodine 31st August 2009, 06:28
This thing is going to be over $400 according to Giz..

http://gizmodo.com/5347255/netwalker-suggests-that-sharp-sleepwalked-through-the-last-few-years

I would buy it for $150, maybe.
Quote perplekks45 31st August 2009, 07:48
That's fail then.
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