As expected, the opportunity to make a netbook running on the Google Android platform wasn't missed. In a market that is currently in free fall and of which one of the only sectors which is still doing well is that of small laptops a.k.a. Netbooks, the first Android-running netbook will be the Alpha 680 and will have a price tag of $250, Computerworld reported. 

 

The new netbook is currently going through the final testing stages at Guangzhou Skytone Transmission Technologies, according to CNet.com. Guangzhou Skytone Transmission Technologies is a 50-employee company, located in the southern Chinese town of Guangzhou, which designed the netbook. 

 

The mini laptop will run a 533MHz ARM 11 CPU and display the data on a 7-inch LCD screen of 800 x 480. It will also have keyboard, touch pad, and built-in Wi-Fi, according to the report from Computerworld. 

 

The device's 2-cell battery is somewhat a bit disappointing because it lasts only from two tow four hours in conditions of Web surfing. Most analysts and market observers were expecting the new netbook to have a battery that would have permitted its user to use it without a connection to a power outlet for about 12 hours. 

 

Although Google developed the Android platform for the mobile phones, the operating system had great success so far and it seems that this is only the beginning. The operating system has just made the leap to the laptop market, a move that many analysts predicted and thought it was quite logical. 

 

The Alpha 680 will measure about 8.5 x 6.0 x 1.2 inches and tip the scales at 1.5lbs, said Skytone co-founder Nixon Wu. The netbook will have 128MB of RAM and 1GB of storage. Wu added that the cross-platform applications will take some time ti be completed and he admitted that 20% of the software currently in the Android Market are incompatible with the Alpha 680. Mr. Wu also confirmed that the Alpha 680's batter is actually as disappointing as above mentioned. 

 

Although twice as low as the higher price limit for a netbook ($500), the price of the new netbook is expected to drop even lower as production ramps up. Mr. Wu mentioned that the markets were the netbook will probably send the most units will be the emerging markets were “watching TV over the Internet is not the most urgent thing.” 

 

The final prototypes are expected to be ready sometime in June and the new netbook are expected to hit the market about two month after that.