The last time we saw the Mobinova Beam smartbook it was running a custom OS built on Windows CE. Well the folks at Laptopmag got their hands on a pre-production model and were pleasantly surprised to see it running on Google’s Android OS.
This smartbook has been rumored and renamed several times but a release date has finally been set for CES 2010 (Jan 7 – 10). Its final name is going to be the Mobinnova Beam, unless it’s renamed again which we don’t see happening. Apparently one of the pricing data plans is $60 a month but more will be announced later on. We can also assume that if it’s launched with a carrier then the price will be subsidized as well.
The Beam has several interesting features including instant on (no boot-up required), GPS, 720p video playback and great battery life (5-10 hours playing 720p video or 24 hours playing music). One possible major drawback is that it runs on Windows CE, and this may turn some customers away but we’ll have to wait until January to see.
Asus Eee PC 1005PE 14hr batt $377.89 Asus Eee PC 1005HA $269.99
Asus Eee PC 1005HA blue $339.97
Toshiba Mini 305 blue $339.95 Asus Eee PC 1005PE blue $353.39
HP Mini 210 $304.98
Asus Eee PC 1005PE white $326.87 Asus Eee PC 1005PE 14hr batt $372.12 Asus Eee PC 1001P $289.99
Dell Mini 10 w/ tv tuner $372.78
