Two companies are hoping that the smartbook will turn out to be more than just another quickly-forgotten device sales pitch. Qualcomm and Freescale, which are both supplying key silicon technology for the devices, are pushing to make smartbooks different enough from laptops–and Netbooks–that consumers will take notice.

Qualcomm CEO Paul Jacobs holds the Lenovo smartbook, which will appear at CES in January.

The first tangible evidence of smartbooks to come will be seen at the Consumer Electronics Show in January, where Lenovo, among others, is expected to show, if not roll out, smartbook designs.

One pesky question won’t go away, however. Why go out of the way to call it a smartbook? Doesn’t Netbook suffice? (And it can potentially be very confusing for consumers since both terms have “book” in them.) On one level, the nomenclature choice is simply to counter the Microsoft-Intel Netbook juggernaut: Another Netbook among dozens already on the market won’t draw much attention.

But at a deeper level, the two companies are trying to make the smartbook substantively different from a Netbook. Qualcomm sees it, in essence, as a large smartphone, which leaves the outdated Windows desktop experience in the dust. “A Netbook in our view is just a cheap laptop that runs Windows. We see the smartbook cannibalizing the Netbook. It is a connected 3G device that’s always on, has data always pushed to the device, and all-day battery life. In other words, the smartphone experience,” said Luis Pineda, senior vice president of marketing and product management at Qualcomm CDMA.

Qualcomm’s CEO Paul Jacobs proudly showed off a Lenovo smartbook (see photo) at an analyst event earlier this month, saying it was the “thing that I really want to wow you with.” The Lenovo design is thinner than a Netbook–in fact, it is about a thin as a typical smartphone–and will be sold through AT&T–not a PC retailer like Best Buy. The Lenovo device uses a Snapdragon chip, which is the first smartphone processor from Qualcomm to hit a speed of 1GHz. Whether it will use Google’s Android operating system or another Linux variant is unknown. And pricing has not been revealed, though smartbooks are expected to be inexpensive up front when bought on 2-year contract plans.

So, will the smartphone DNA be enough to make consumers notice? There are skeptics. “You have to step back and say who cares?–asked Jeff Orr, senior analyst, mobile devices, at ABI Research. “Is it meeting different needs in the marketplace? Does it change the price in a way that an audience is going to latch onto?”

Orr says that the smartbook, as proposed today, is challenged to really set itself apart, with the exception of battery life. “Devices with ARM processors tend to have better battery life,” he said, referring to the basic chip design that Qualcomm and Freescale use, which compares favorably with Intel Atom processor used in Netbooks from companies like Hewlett-Packard, Dell, and Toshiba. But he sees little else that is head-turning enough for consumers to see a striking difference between the smartbook and the Netbook or smaller laptops.

Freescale, not surprisingly, disagrees. At CES, the company will show a design that is radically different than a classic Netbook clamshell design.

“We believe…smartbooks need to look different than Netbooks,” said Glen Burchers, director of segment marketing for Freescale. “One thing that we have learned is that when end-users see largish clamshells their first expectation is for a Windows experience.”

In Japan, Sharp is selling the NetWalker smartbook, which has a five-inch screen and uses a Freescale ARM processor. “When you see it, it looks like a gadget not like a PC, so you don’t have that expectation that it’s a Window device,” Burchers said.

For the most part, however, the first generation of smartbooks, Burchers admits, will be Netbook-like in design. So, Freescale is looking to the second generation of smartbooks to break away from the traditional laptop.

“The data we’re getting from end users is that clamshell does not fit what end users are going to do with these things. It’s a younger crowd. Eighty percent Internet access and almost all entertainment-based Internet access,” he said.

And data from ABI Research backs up the theory that consumers expect a different-looking device. While people considering a Netbook are trying to decide between that and a laptop, people considering a smartbook are comparing this to a smartphone purchase, according to Orr. “They’re not part of the same consideration set,” he said.

One of the big unknowns is what operating systems smartbooks will use. Qualcomm doesn’t think the deciding factor will be whether the devices use, for example, Google Android–a truly mobile device operating system–or Linux Ubuntu, a desktop OS. (The Sharp NetWalker uses Ubuntu.)

“In the kind of device we’re promoting, the operating system won’t be that relevant,” said Qualcomm’s Pineda. “What will be important is the connected applications based on 3G, the form factor, the battery life,” he said.

But here Qualcomm might be mistaken. One of the reasons consumers are now obsessing over the Motorola Droid–a high-end smartphone that packs a sliding keyboard–is because it uses the new Android 2.0 operating system. And many users would never use anything but the iPhone’s mobile OS.

Waiting in the wings is Google Chrome–made specifically for Netbooks–but this won’t appear in devices for veritable ages in Internet time: the fourth quarter of 2010.

Freescale’s Burchers agrees the OS is crucial. “It needs to have a mobile OS. It needs to interact with the user on a moment’s notice. Pull it out of its holster and it’s ready to go,” he said.

Consumer will have a chance to test the smartbook waters next year. Burchers said he sees eight to twelve “high-caliber smartbooks” on retailer shelves in the first quarter of next year.

Developers having trouble selling luxury condominiums the old-fashioned way are trying another tactic: auctions.

“It takes the longer period it would take to sell and condenses it down to a shorter time,” says Jim Corum, president of real estate auction company Real Estate Disposition Corporation.

Many of the developments—in cities like Chicago and New York—began construction at the height of the real estate market, filling the buildings with every amenity possible, but were completed just as the housing crisis hit. As a result, many apartments remain vacant.

The auctions are seen as both a way to attract bargain-hunting buyers still on the fence on whether to buy and get the condos sold quickly.

One development going the auction route is Solaria, a luxury high-rise in the Riverdale section of the Bronx in New York City. Despite a roof deck, a telescope observatory and a children’s play area, only ten apartments in the building have been closed since it opened in 2007. In all, 54 units will go up for auction in Manhattan on Nov. 22. The auction is being conducted with California-based Real Estate Disposition Corporation.

Starting bids are at times more than 50 percent below the list price. One of the less expensive one-bedrooms at the Solaria, for example, has a $299,999 starting bid but was originally listed at $660,000.

“Buyers are fearful of stepping up,” says developer Joseph Korff, president and CEO of Arc Development, explaining why sales have been slow. People had been coming to see the apartments, he adds, but are reluctant to make an offer, unsure if the real estate market has bottomed yet.

Selling real estate through auctions puts urgency on prospective buyers to make a decision on the purchase, says Chris Longly, the deputy executive director of the National Auctioneers Association.

“If you want this property you have to show up, or it’s going to be gone,” says Longly. He notes real estate auctions are the fastest growing type of auctions, growing by 47.7 percent between 2003 and 2008.

Outside of New York, real estate firm Accelerated Marketing Partners has conducted auctions for about 65 new developments in the past 18 months in cities like Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia and Atlanta, generating some $750 million in sales, says Jon Gollinger, CEO and co-founder of the firm.

“It’s extraordinary really,” says Gollinger. “In the 1990’s cycle, it was nothing like this.”

Last weekend, an auction that his firm arranged for Michigan Avenue Tower II, a new luxury building in Chicago, sold 47 units, Gollinger says, seven more than were originally part of the auction.

At Bryant Back Bay, a luxury development in Boston, an auction conducted by Accelerated Marketing Partners put up 10 units for auction, but demand was so great, more were added and 18 were sold, Gollinger said.

On Nov. 21 another development is going under the gravel, this time in Nashville, Tenn. Called Terrazzo, the developers are hoping to unload 31 units. Again, starting bids are about 50 percent below asking prices. A two-bedroom apartment in the Terrazzo, for example, has a minimum bid price of $250,000 that was originally asking $534,900.

As for the Solaria, Korff says that interest in the building picked up after the placement of an ad in “The New York Times” and posters in the neighborhood.

In a couple of days hundreds of people showed up to view apartments, compared to the dozen or so who looked at the apartments every week before the auction.

Three or more buyers have registered preferences for each of the 54 units, Korff said.

While the Solaria auction is being billed as one of the first for a luxury high-rise building in New York City, it’s unlikely to be the last.

“Coming down the line there will be more,” says Gollinger. He predicts that in the next 15 months, New York City could see ten additional auctions.

“It’s an indication of things to come,” says Gollinger.

Dolewite @ Karma

Black or white? BOTH
Top or bottom? Bottom, I’m lazy!
Late night or early morning? Late night
Fast or slow? Steady
Hard or soft? Hard!
Right or left? Right
Democ. or Repub.? Dem
Jay-z or NAS? HOV
Yankees or the Red Sox? Braves
Boxers or briefs? Boxers, I need air!
Titans or Vols? Falcons
The last date you have been onand what did you do?  We went to see Ced the Entertainer ,but had to leave before Ced came on because I had to dj…I work too much, but love every minute of it!
Favorite club? KARMA on THURSDAYS and Miro on Mondays
Favorite drink and/or at what bar? Chilled Patron straight everywhere I can find it!
Favorite eatery in Nashville? Goten and Paradise Park for the BEST burger EVER