Samsung N510

Leading chipset manufacturer Nvidia recently confirmed that Samsung is planning to bring out a Netbook using Nvidia’s Ion chipset, thereby leading a new breakthrough in the Netbook market. According to Rene Haas, General Manager of notebook products at Nvidia, “Ion really transforms these small laptops, like the upcoming Samsung and Lenovo Ideapad S12, into fully capable notebooks”

Ion introduces mainstream PC graphics to Netbooks which includes a 1080p high-definition video support and a superior gaming graphics as per Nvidia. The disclosure of the Samsung Netbook comes along the lines of the new Lenovo IdeaPad S12 which was due in August. This would be the first Netbook employing the Nvidia chip that was announced by a major PC maker.

Although Nvidia has not confirmed any specifications, it has been reported that the  Samsung N510 which is due in July and will have a 11.6-inch screen which is considerable large for a Netbook since other screens in that range reach a maximum width of about 10 inches.

The Samsung Netbook would be another manifestation following the Lenovo IdeaPad S12 for Nvidia’s efforts to break the Netbook mold as defined by Intel: a low-performance device with a screen under 11 inches in diagonal size. Nvidia claims designs like Samsung’s and Lenovo’s are more notebook than Netbook.

The N510 will feature an Intel 1.66GHz N280 Atom processor. The N280 is Intel’s latest Atom processor which is being offered to Netbook manufacturers for supporting Intel silicon which delivers better graphics performance than previously available Intel Atom technology.

Other features that will be included in the Samsung Netbook will include a 160GB hard disk drive, 1GB of memory, and Wi-Fi (draft-n), Bluetooth, and a Webcam. Nvidia’s Ion is also used in other Desktop PCs like the Acer AspireRevo and ASUS eeeTop.