FTEC today launched their first netbook PC in Malaysia, the FTEC Smart Book. Unveiled at FTEC’s TecAsia,the FTEC Smart Book is targeted at children from all ages as young as those in pre-schools as an educational tool and aims to provide them with access to mainstream technology.

The FTEC Smart Book is highly portable and includes a set of unique features that cater to the needs of young children who will be entering kindergarten and the primary grades. The ruggedized netbook is equipped with a water-resistant keyboard and an advanced theft-control feature using a network-issued digital ID certificate, and is capable of running many applications including educational software. It is ideal for Internet-centric usage models, such as Web-browsing, email, instant messaging, social networking, online video viewing, photo viewing, VoIP, and playing basic online games.

“We believe that early access to computers help children learn and we hope to see a positive impact of using computers in the building of the child’s critical thinking skills, communication and digital literacy. Through exploring computer experiences, these children build memory skills and learn how to seek out information,” said Mr. Tang Boon Koon, Managing Director of FTEC, at the launch.  

The FTEC SmartBook is available in two prices RM1,299 and RM1,199 based on their different specifications. Read on for more info. 

“As the cost of children’s education continues to be one of the most important aspects for Malaysian families, the launch of the FTEC Smart Book in Malaysia which retails from only RM1199.00 marks a first step toward breaking the barriers of affordability for millions of PC users, putting into reach many more parents and guardians who may not have been able to afford one before,” Tang continued.

Netbooks are highly portable PC devices that are optimized for Internet-centric uses but are also ideal for those who already have a PC and plan to use a netbook as a companion device. Intel anticipates that netbooks will be first targeted at the following high volume segments: education, young children, first-time buyers, seniors and housewives. 

Navin Shenoy, General Manager, Intel Asia Pacific who was present at the launch said, “Intel in close collaboration with FTEC is extremely excited to announce the first version of netbook PC in Malaysia. With personal computing increasingly going mobile and the computer industry rapidly developing new classes of products to connect the next billion people to the Internet, Intel believes the demand for a new category of highly affordable, Internet-centric mobile computing devices dubbed “netbooks” and basic Internet-centric desktop PCs dubbed “nettops,” will grow substantially over the next several years.” 

FTEC will also be collaborating with SMART Board interactive whiteboards to create an interactive teaching method and hope to see this tool adopted by pre-schools such as kindergartens and other children centres around Malaysia. As the Smart Books are all Wi-Fi enabled, it can be easily integrated with today’s technology-enabled classrooms. The teacher can present lesson activities on the SMART Board by touching the surface of the Board while the students follow the lesson material on their respective Smart Books. This allows the teacher to demonstrate and interact with that student’s SmartBook for the rest of the class to view. 

The FTEC Smart Book will come in two models offerings either a 7-inch or 9-inch color LCD TFT display. The specifications are as follows:

Name: Hafiz	Comment: It seems to be copyright from 2gopc http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/24/intels-netbook-revealed-as-the-2go-pc/ Read about this article here http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,143934-pg,1/article.html
Rated Article: Posted: 2008-03-29 02:37:14

Name: davidlian	Comment: Felt it looks too fat to effectively compete with the Eee PC. Also the 40GB HDD vs the 4GB SSD on the EeePC should tell you the different intentions for each product.
Rated Article: Posted: 2008-03-27 17:53:09

Name: Hyderabadi

Comment: Now its good that we provide cheap notebooks for students although the price is comparable to a second hand notebook with better equipment. But a difference of RM100, for just 2 inches more screen size and a much much lesser hard disk size? the RM1199 version is a clear winner. My question is, what is the advantage of the 2GB SSD compared to a 40Gig hdd in a country where almost all of the people have access to electricity? if power management is the major concern, Obviously the target market for these notebooks are not some African country where they still get water from wells.

Rated Article: Posted: 2008-03-27 14:35:52

Name: zaidi	Comment: Saw the same notebook pic on Hardocp today. Looks to be this is the same model as intel 2go-PC http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/24/intels-netbook-revealed-as-the-2go-pc/
Rated Article: Posted: 2008-03-26 01:43:06

Name: trillian	Comment: haha.. because the target market is kids. Not really adult. And the main usage is for education software which don't really require a lot of disk space as all the games are. Had try this unit before they unveiled it. super light weight, pre-installed with win xp, build-in with wifi. don't mind if i can get 1 for my kid.. i have a kid lar...
Rated Article: Posted: 2008-03-25 08:30:19

Name: radioactive	Comment: seems like its not yet in their websites... 7inch, 40gb hdd, and 512ram...all for rm1199 seems like one good deal and its gonna impact the eee pc sales i was expecting more of the rm1299 package but to my disappointment, the lcd is only 2inches more with a SSD at 2gb which i think its gonna be really annoying even my pda has 2gb storage
Rated Article: Posted: 2008-03-25 00:55:30

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