Latitude ON is an instant-oncomputer system made by Dell. It is a combination of software and hardware developed by Dell and used in some of their Latitude laptops. The system is based on a dedicated ARM processor that runs a custom version of a Linux OS. It was announced on August 12, 2008 along with other laptops, including a potential competitor to the Asus Eee PC and arrived a year later on 28 September 2009. Latitude ON runs MontaVista Linux on an ARM-based subprocessor. This so-called Mobile Internet Device Solution provides a customizable, Linux-based Mobile Internet Device platform the laptop is able to boot almost instantly and view Email, document reader, calendar, contacts and access the Internet. First laptop models to include Latitude ON were E4200 and E4300 released in February 2009. Last laptop model introduced so far is Latitude Z600. Dell claims that battery life can be extended to days. Latitude ON Reader is similar to Dell's MediaDirect where the software is located in a separate partition on the system hard drive and has a dedicated button to power on.
Versions
There are several versions of Latitude ON:
Dell Latitude ON | Reader - Dell's initial release of the technology. The Reader software resides on the main partition of the hard drive, boots in 15–25 seconds, uses the laptop's CPU, and provides read-only access to e-mail, calendar and contacts from the last synched version of the system's Outlook data. No Internet browser.
Dell Latitude ON | FLASH - runs on a flash module, but uses the system's CPU, without significantly increased battery life. Features: boots in 8–10 seconds, supports Wi-Fi and LAN, thin client capabilities with Web access or Citrix, VMware and RDP clients, multi-protocol IM, VoIP, Microsoft Officedocument viewer and editor, Java, Adobe Flash.
Dell Latitude ON | ECM - boots in 2–3 seconds and runs on the dedicated sub-processor, with Wi-Fi or Mobile Broadband support. Includes document reader, and read/write access to e-mail, calendar and contacts, and Firefox, but without Adobe Flash or other media plugins. Supports Novell GroupWise and Cisco VPN. Long battery life.
