Freescale-Powered Netbooks to Support More Linuxes and 3G Connectivity

Freescale Semiconductors isn’t aiming to create the most powerful netbook, but one that is connected and simple to use. Today the processor company announced that it will enable 3G connectivity and additional operating system options for netbooks based on its  i.MX515 processor. Freescale’s processor is low powered and works with an ARM-based chipset. At CES last month, Freescale entered the netbook space with the introduction of the i.MX515 processor in its reference design created by Pegatron and running Ubuntu. Freescale has now expanded its netbook ecosystem, adding support for additional Linux operating systems including Android, Phoenix Technologies Hyperspace and Xandros. Freescale will also be working with  Wavecom and Option to enable 3G connectivity in netbooks. While the Freescale’s netbook reference design is being demoed now, the company is currently sampling the i.MX515 processor to tier one netbook customers. Production of i.MX515 devices is planned for the second quarter of 2009 to power netbooks designed for the 2009 holiday shopping season.