We’ve been seeing the Mobinnova Beam smartbook show up at trade shows for months. Now it looks like you’re finally going to get a chance to purchase one soon. Mobinnova has teamed up with AT&T to offer the 3G-enabled smartbook powered by NVIDIA’s Tegra 2 platform.

Tegra 2 combines a low power 1GHz ARM Cortex A9-based processor with high performance graphics capable of playing 1080p HD video. The smartbook can handle local and internet video thanks to Flash 10.1 hardware acceleration.

The Mobinnova Beam has an 8.9 inch, 1024 x 600 pixel display and weighs just 1.84 pounds. it measures 9.2″ a x 7.3″ x 0.8″. The device supports 802.11b/g WiFi and has a 3G modem for connecting to AT&T’s mobile broadband service when you sign up for a contract.

The smartbook has 512MB of RAM and 512MB of flash storage for the operating system plus a solid state disk with 8GB to 64GB of storage space. You can also use the SD card to add up to 64GB of storage.

While the demo unit I saw at CES was running Windows CE, Mobinnova will support both Windows CE and Google Android. AT&T is expected to launch an Android version by the end of Q2, 2010. There’s no word on pricing yet.

You can check out my hands-on video with the Mobinnova Beam from CES after the break.

Mobinnova press release (PDF Link)

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NVIDIA says there are 50 or so different designs in the works for devices based on the new Tegra 2 platform. I got a chance to catch up with some reps from NVIDIA this afternoon, and they say some of those tablets and smartbooks could be available this year. Today Asus introduced a tablet prototype, making Asus the first big name company to hop about the Tegra 2 bandwagon. But we’re also seeing a number of other prototypes based on the platform including the latest version of the Mobinnova Beam mini-laptop and the new 7 inch ICD Ultra tablet introduced today.

The ICD Ultra features a 1024 x 600 pixel touchscreen display and runs Google Android. It also packs 802.11b/g WiFi, Bluetooth 2.1, and Verizon has announced that it will provide a WiMAX capable version of the tablet later this year.

Tegra 2 is a step up from the original Tegra platform in several respects. It uses a 40nm chip instead of a 65nm one; can handle 1080p HD video instead of topping out at 720p, and it has a dual core 1GHz CPU rather than a single core 650MHz one. Overall, NVIDIA says it gets about 4x the performance for everyday tasks, which should make a huge difference for web browsing and running applications that can’t rely on the GPU.

Adobe Flash content is supported, which means both 1080p HD Flash video and Flash-based video games and other applications. And of course, where Tegra 2 really shines is local and web video playback. In fact, the recently launched D-Link Boxee Box which runs the Boxee media center software for accessing local and online media on your HDTV is running on Tegra 2.

You can find videos of the Mobinnova Beam and ICD Ultra in action after the break. There are also some photos of other Tegra 2-based prototypes.

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The FCC has published a few (very few) documents related to the upcoming Mobinnova Beam smartbook. The Beam is a 10 inch mini-laptop with NVIDIA Tegra graphics. Up until recently it was known as the Mobinnova élan, but the company changed the name a few weeks ago and announced that the Smartbook would soon be available in the US.

The Beam has a low power ARM-based processor designed to help the machine get excellent battery life. But it also has NVIDIA graphics which will enable 720p HD video playback and some 3D games. It uses the same chipset as the Zune HD portable media player which I’m currently reviewing, and 3D games look great on that tiny handheld device.

There’s not a lot of information in the FCC documents about the Beam, but the folks at Engadget noticed that it’s labeled as the BEAMATT, which means there’s a pretty good chance that AT&T will be the distributor for this portable computer. We should know more at CES in January.

We already knew that Adobe was working with NVIDIA and Broadcom to enabled hardware acceleration for Flash Player 10.1. But sometimes it’s nice to see it in action. I’ve already highlighted videos showing netbooks with Intel Atom processors and NVIDIA ION graphics handling 1080p Flash video… but Blogeee dug up another video that shows even more hardware handling HD Flash playback.

In the video below, Adobe’s Kevin Lynch shows off an HP Mini 311 with NVIDIA ION, an HP Mini 110 with the Broadcom Crystal HD decoder, and a Mobinnova Beam smartbook with the NVIDIA Tegra platform (which bundles an ARM-based CPU with NVIDIA graphics). Each one of these low power systems is capable of handling HD Flash video playback.

Check it out for yourself after the break.

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NVIDIA has been showing off a mini-laptop with an 8.9 inch display called the Mobinnova élan since this summer. The Mobinnova computer is one of the first laptops to use NVIDIA’s Tegra platform, which bundles an ARM-based processor with high performance graphics. The net result is a mini-laptop with excellent battery life that can run for 5 to 10 hours while playing HD video or up to 24 hours when playing audio.

But up until now there’s been no word on a price or launch date. Now Laptop Magazine is reporting that the little laptop has a new name and something resembling US launch details. The computer will be renamed the Mobinnova Beam in the US. As expected it, will run Windows CE, which is a low power OS that can run on ARM processors (unlike Windows 7).

The Mobinnova Beam will support 720p video playback. And once Adobe Flash Player 10.1 is released, it will be able to handle HD video streams from the web since the software update will add support for NVIDIA GPU acceleration.

Laptop Magazine reports that the Mobinnova Beam will be available at a subsidized price in the US when bundled with a 3G data plan from a wireless broadband provider. There’s still no final word on the pricing, release date, or who that wireless carrier will be, but Mobinnova is expected to have a few announcements at CES in January.

You can find more images of the Beam at Laptop Magazine.