Israeli Innovation the Hit of CES

I’m talking about the Freescale Smartbook Tablet, which PC World said last week out-Appled the rumored Apple tablet at CES (in that it is an actual product at this moment, as opposed to vapor-hardware). But at $199, the Freescale device beats any netbook – real or imagined – hands down, based not only on price, but on features as well.

The Freescale Tablet is a real hybrid device, combining the best of the cellphone side with the more convenient features of notebooks and laptops. It’s got a 7-inch touch screen, a 3-megapixel camera, a smartphone-style accelerometer, an ambient light sensor, Bluetooth, and options for a 3G Modem. And from the PC side, it’s got 512mb RAM, slots for MicroSD cards (up to 64 GB storage), a 1 GHz processor, and Wi-Fi. Plus a load of other features. The models shown at CES ran Android and Linux OS’s. And, it comes in cool colors! The company says it expects to be available commercially by the summer.

In this article (in Hebrew), Freescale Israel chairman Moshe Kashat discusses the i.MX515 processor, developed at Freescale’s labs in Herzliya:

“Leading edge users are demanding small devices with strong usability features. Our (i.MX515) processor provides them with high performance, including improved graphics processing, and very low energy use – with the result that users can go longer without recharging, up to a full day. We will undoubtedly provide a strong challenge to the netbooks using Intel Atom processors, and their challengers.”

(“… and their challengers.” Sounds like he’s talking about alternative processors – like the one Apple is planning!). The article also quotes Freescale Israel CEO and Marketing Director for Eastern Europe, Shmuel Barkan:

“Our smartbook opens a door to a new and wonderful world. We believe that our tablet will be adopted by the consumer market as the popular choice for the next generation of smartbooks. Freescale plans on being a leading player in paving the way for the smartbook to be a winning device.”

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