Freescale to Demo Sub $200 Smartbook

The former chip manufacturing division of Motorola, Freescale Semiconductor, is set to showcase a concept design for Smartbook tablet computers at the 2010 Consumer Electronics Show later this week. The design, being touted as a second generation tablet PC, plays right into the media buzz around the mythical Apple table, offering device manufacturers an integrated solution based on their version of the ARM Cortex-A8 processor chip, the i.MX515.

The tablet, which Freescale wants to offer the inside bit for, is envisioned as having a price less than $200. The so-called smartbook would include a 7 inch 1024 X 600 touch screen, 512 mB RAM, internal storage of between 4 to 64GB, built-in 3 MP camera, 802.11 b/g/n and Bluetooth connectivity. It will have USB 2.0 and USB mini ports plus audio in/audio out. Operating systems would be either Android or Linux, although the device being demoed will run both.

Partners Inventec Appliance (design and manufacturing) and Thundersoft (software integration/customization) are already on board, with more likely to come. To date, no end manufacturers have stepped up to the plate, but it is early yet. CrunchPad 2, anyone?