Compal Communications are said to be working on a new range of netbooks that will ditch Windows in favour of Google’s Android operating system.
Compal are a Taiwanese electronics outfit who are probably best known in the West for developing Fujitsu’s Pocket Loox range of GPS-enabled Windows Mobile devices. According to a report in the Chinese-language Commercial Times, Compal is in talks with several netbook vendors about producing an Android-based device.
Compal’s decision comes hot on the heels of last week’s announcement by HP that it is looking to the possibility of using Android in an HP-branded netbook too. With T-Mobile developing a home automation tablet+phone combo with Android, this could be the start of Google’s OS stretching its muscles and showing us what it can really do.
Although Windows 7 is set to support netbooks in terms of performance and form factor and Linux is already well represented in the netbook arena, Android could offer a much simpler interface with a built in audience used to its quirks and apps from their mobiles.
TBC | £TBC | Compal (via TalkAndroid)
