newmobile-news update

Taking the iPhone 3G for a swim

2009-03-09T15:09:00.001+09:00

Taking the iPhone off the power grid. Kevin Tofel of JKOnTheRun is going solar. He plans to...
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This weekend brought some relatively nice weather and I thought it would be a good time for a hike. With some friends I went out to a local preserve, hiked up a large hill, and we had a mini picnic and enjoyed the warm weather. On our way back, we decided it would be a good idea to not go back the same way we came (which involved using a bridge to cross a river), but instead walk down the length of the river and find a downed tree or thin gap that we could cross. We came to a ‘good’ crossing point that had a pretty lengthy jump to a lower bank, but it would get us across. A friend leapt across and I tossed him his gear. It was my turn to jump and after a nice running start I was about to go flying through the air to the other side, when the bank gave way. Short story even shorter, most of me ended up in the water. This included my iPhone 3G which was on my belt. My first mistake was not tossing my phone to someone on the other side, and my second mistake was trusting the edge of the bank to be a good jumping point.

Anyway, the iPhone shut itself off immediately and wouldn’t turn back on; I wasn’t surprised. The phone was only submerged for a few seconds, but it was plenty of time to short some important connections. After a wet drive home, I knew what needed to be done. I pulled a bag of rice out and poured it into a bowl, then buried my iPhone in it. The rice quite readily absorbs water, and if there was any hope for the phone, the rice bath would be the thing to bring it back to life. After several hours in the rice spa, the iPhone powered on! This was a good sign, but it wasn’t completely functional yet. The hardware buttons were shorting out, and the phone constantly thought someone was holding the volume down button and the power button. I used the included SIM ejector key to eject the SIM card from the SIM slot on the top of the phone. This was good because there were visible water droplets covering the SIM card which would have caused problems later. I dried the SIM card and SIM card holder separately and put the iPhone back in its rice bath to try to continue to extract water from it, and hopefully get the hardware buttons back to a working state.

By some inconceivable occurrence, there were two grains of rice in the bottom of the SIM slot several hours later when I checked the phone again. I discovered these after the SIM would not go back into the phone. The SIM slot is a very slim space and it was really hard to see inside. I had to close one eye and line it up with an LED flashlight to be able to see the rice down there. The SIM card contact points are springy and jut out into the middle part of the SIM slot, trapping the rice and making it very hard to remove. The slimness of the space made it hard to get tools down there and around the SIM contact points to remove the rice. All-in-all, I spent at least and hour and a half looking into the slot with a flashlight, then trying to get the rice unstuck using a pocket knife and a paper clip. This was not a fun process, but after much toiling, I finally freed both grains of rice from the SIM card slot.

By this point, the phone’s hardware buttons were functioning fine. I did a restore of the software just to be safe, and had to reload all my media, which took a little while, but it was much better than being without a phone for several days and having to buy a new one.

The moral of this story? Rice not only tastes good, but can bring a soaked gadget back to life. If you are ever in a similar situation, get your device into a bowl of rice ASAP and leave it for several days to give it a fighting chance.

So that was my weekend, did any of you do anything fun?

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114 CeBIT Photos

2009-03-09T00:47:00.003+09:00

I’ve uploaded the ‘best of’ my CeBIT photos to Flickr. A slideshow is embedded below but you can also see them here.

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I’ve uploaded the ‘best of’ my CeBIT photos to Flickr. A slideshow is embedded below but you can also see them here.

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Kohjinsha SC32 3G UMPC

2009-03-09T00:47:00.001+09:00

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Kohjinsha weren’t present at CeBIT but we found a few of their products on the Taiwan Excellence stand. The SX3 was there (Sascha and JKK have a video of that that they will post soon) but I took the time to take a closer look at the SC32 having heard that the pricing has been slashed and that a 3G version is now available in the UK. You can see in the video how Kohjinsha have implemented the 3G module. After we did this video we popped off the battery but couldn’t see a SIM card slot so I can’t guarantee that this is how it’s happening with the KJS-UK version. Looking at their spec sheet (PDF) it shows images of a removable 3G card so it could be the same. We’ve got a query out with KJS-UK to confirm this.

With the built-in 3G module and rotating screen, this could make an interesting car navigation device or photographers tool (great screen, geo-tagging with the GPS, good storage, fast SD slot) but with just 2hrs battery life (standard battery) its difficult to use it as a long-term mobile device.

More details, along with our review and images are available on the

SC3 information page.

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Samsung Q1EX-71G $729

2009-03-08T17:46:00.001+09:00

The Q1UEX has hit the retail channels in the US. $729 for the Q1EX-71G. (NP-Q1EX-FA01US.) Lets take a closer look to see where we stand with this

Resolution: 1024 x 600 [unknown if this is soft orhard touch]
Processor: via nano…

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The Q1UEX has hit the retail channels in the US. $729 for the Q1EX-71G. (NP-Q1EX-FA01US.) Lets take a closer look to see where we stand with this

Resolution: 1024 x 600 [unknown if this is soft orhard touch]

Processor: via nano ulv u2500 [expect Atiom 1.6Ghz performance]

Processor speed: 1.2 ghz

Hard drive size: 60 gb - 1.8 hdd [if it's the same as the Q1U, can be upgraded to SSD]

Memory size: 2 gb ddr2 667 mhz [2GB is good]

i/o ports: 2-usb 2.0 3 in 1 card slot (ms sd(sdio) sdhc headphone out internal mic [No dock]

Graphics: via chrome9 [better than GMA500!]

hc connectivity: 802.11 b/g wireless bluetooth v2.0 wireless [no draft-n]

battery: 4-cell lithium ion [That should be about 30wh - Expect 3hrs max based on what I've seen on the Samsung NC20. The VIA Nano is not a serious contender to Atom in terms of efficiency.]

Operating system: genuine microsoft windows xp tablet edition software: samsung recovery solution iii samsung magic doctor samsung update plus easy display manger easy battery manager easy network manager easy speedup manager mcafee virus scan adobe acrobat reader

Other: 1.3 mega pixel camera wrist strap & usb data sync cable

I estimate the weight at 700gm

No 3G. No GPS.

If this has a hard-touch screen, it makes it a very interesting small tablet PC but at over $700, Samsung are obviously not aiming at a mass market.

I still don’t understand what Samsung are aiming at here. They were prepared to take risks in the UMPC market in 2006 and 2007 but you can’t take risks with tablets in 2009 if you’re not bringing anything new to the party which makes me think that this UMPC is the result of a demand from a specific industry sector.

Anyone out there got any insights or thoughts?

Source: Samsung Q1EX-71G Now Available to Order, $729 | GottaBeMobile.com.

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Lluon Mobbit PS400 UMPC. Working model Hands-On

2009-03-08T10:38:00.001+09:00

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This is the first time we’ve managed to get a good hands-on with a working model of the Lluon Mobbit PS400 and, as a tablet UMPC, it’s looking great for PMP, Navigation, Web browsing, and as a grab-and-go PC. Lluon have tried to keep the design clean by using a resistive touch layer that lies flat with a ‘no frame’ screen. The button on the right is also touch responsive and acts as a combined mouse pointer and button. A reasonable 16wh battery and a good range of ports rounds of what could be a really good tablet UMPC option. There’s no pricing, territorial or availability details yet as no-one from Lluon was at CeBIT. We’ll try and get more details over the next few weeks but you can always check the latest knowledge in the database. Keep an eye on Lluon’s microsite too.

Update: Korean launch price was about $575.

In the meantime, here’s a new image and a video we put together at the Intel stand. The OS is Korean (we think!) so it was a bit difficult to navigate but I think we managed to answer a lot of questions.

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Sony VAIO P review roadmap

2009-03-08T03:25:00.005+09:00

HP Mini 1000 MIE coverage roadmap HP recently sent us an HP Mini 1000 MIE...
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I’ll be doing a review for the VAIO P [Portal page] which we recently received from Dynamism for testing. This will be in a rolling-review format as we’ve done with the HP Mini 1000 MIE. Here is a roadmap that I’ll stick to when covering the VAIO P, and each section of the review will be released incrementally over the next few weeks. The unboxing post is already up and linked. I’ll retroactively link in each section as they go up as well, so make this post your home for our VAIO P review as it progresses.

Review Roadmap

Unboxing and First Thoughts

Initial Software Impressions

Initial Hardware Impressions

Performance

Long Term Software Impressions

Long Term Hardware Impressions

Summary Post (which will also link all the sections together and be placed on our Reviews page)

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Viliv S5 video from JKKMobile

2009-03-08T03:25:00.003+09:00

Heres a great detailed video that JKK made ab out the Viliv S5. Clearly, the S5 is one of the highlights of CeBIT for us.

Source

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Heres a great detailed video that JKK made ab out the Viliv S5. Clearly, the S5 is one of the highlights of CeBIT for us.

Source

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Viliv S5 incoming

2009-03-08T03:25:00.001+09:00

One of the most popular and eagerly-awaited UMPCs is on its way in from Taiwan. Im expecting the S5 to arrive on Monday so of course, as soon as it gets here, ill let you all know and set up…

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One of the most popular and eagerly-awaited UMPCs is on its way in from Taiwan. Im expecting the S5 to arrive on Monday so of course, as soon as it gets here, ill let you all know and set up the studio for a live session.

On Thursday ill be travelling to Texas for MIDMoves@SXSW so ill have a lot of time on the plane to do all my testing.

If youre interested in the S5, make sure you check back here on Monday.

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1008 HA Presentation video and more specs

2009-03-05T08:25:00.001+09:00

JKKMobile has his presentation video of the ASUS EeePC 1008HA up so here it is below along with the specifications i’ve managed to get so far.

Specs:

10″ LED backlit screen
Intel Atom N280
1GB RAM
160GB HDD
10/100 LAN, Bluetooth 2.0, WLAN…

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JKKMobile has his presentation video of the ASUS EeePC 1008HA up so here it is below along with the specifications i’ve managed to get so far.

Specs:

10″ LED backlit screen

Intel Atom N280

1GB RAM

160GB HDD

10/100 LAN, Bluetooth 2.0, WLAN b/g/n

Mini VGA connector 2xUSB, Mic in/ Line out

Webcam 1.3mp

1.1kg

5hrs battery

Size: 262×178x25.7mm

I’ll also be uploading a set of photos into the existing 1008HA gallery after posting this.

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Streetdeck navigation on the Viliv S5 video

2009-03-04T16:44:00.003+09:00

When hardware and software work together in harmony, beautiful things happen. Take, for example, this video of Streetdeck 2 navigation software running on the upcoming Vilic S5 MID [Portal page]. Try to watch this video and then tell me that you…

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I’m really impressed with both the hardware and the software in this demo. A few things make this possible, first of which is the fact that the S5 is much more powerful than any standalone GPS unit. Streaming satellite radio while viewing real-time 3D navigation is no problem. Second, is that the Viliv has GPS built in. I might be able to do something similar with my UX180 (which I’m looking to experiment with), but I’ll definitely need to use a Bluetooth GPS device. This video puts the capabilities of my supposedly ‘gps equipped’ iPhone 3G to shame, and even my dedicated GPS unit.

[jkkmobile]

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Clarion MiND CarPC/MID for the European Market. video, info.

2009-03-04T16:44:00.001+09:00

Two version of the Clarion MiND will be launched in Europe with the first planned for March 2009. Expect to see the same version as we tested over at MIDMoves [Video Overview] but with the addition of a DVB-T receiver…

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Recommended pricing has been set at a steep 799 Euro but remember, this is more than just a navigation system, it’s a complete car entertainment PC with Video, TV, Email, Web Browser and Clarion portal integration. A 3G version is planned for summer 2009.

Here’s a presentation video from the Clarion booth at CeBIT.

More information and news links in the Clarion MiND page.

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ASUS T91Go hands-on Video

2009-03-03T09:39:00.003+09:00

We hit the ASUS booth today and WOW! About 30% of it was dedicated to the Eee PC brand. From keyboard PCs to Skype phones and every variation of netbook in between. Quite a sight to see.

Here’s a video of…

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We hit the ASUS booth today and WOW! About 30% of it was dedicated to the Eee PC brand. From keyboard PCs to Skype phones and every variation of netbook in between. Quite a sight to see.

Here’s a video of the ASUS T91Go the 3G/SSD version of the ASUS T91 [specifications]. The sky-lighting made it impossible to get a good shot of the user interface but you get to see the device from every angle. JKK does a good job of talking through it too.

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Maemo 5 Alpha SDK released by Nokia

2009-03-03T09:39:00.001+09:00

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The alpha SDK for the new Maemo 5 platform has just been released and is packing some interesting new things. Most notably the new UI framework is now available for developers to code around, and as stated ”provides a simple and beautiful experience with a finger based full screen context.” Developers are urged to follow this new UI style to keep a consistent user interface.

This release only contains a simplified UI implementation of the Desktop and Application menus, with full versions to follow in the future.

As for planned features, we can guess at many from the list of the new APIs included are (directly quoted):

Location API: methods to build location-aware applications.

City Information: methods to obtain information about cities, including city name, country name, and country code.

Time management: an interface for handling time change notifications and collect relevant time and time zone information.

Vibra service: methods for triggering and controlling vibrations.

Device orientation: respond to changes in orientation and discover current orientation.

Maemo will therefore be gaining some nice features that we have become used to on other devices such as vibration notifications and an accelerometer support.

We’re on the lookout for more information.

Source.

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MeetMobility (and Podcast 25)

2009-03-01T14:02:00.001+09:00

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Sascha, JKK and I have been working together for a few years now and have built up a solid relationship both in and outside work. As we pack our bags for CeBIT, we’re happy to announce that we’ve launched our own joint website on which we’ll be publishing all the content we do as a team together. That’s mainly podcasts but it also includes events such as live video sessions, CeBIT and other collaborative work that we might do in the future. We’ve called the website ‘Meet Mobility‘ and have renamed our podcast to match.

Podcast 25 is our CeBIT warm-up podcast and all the details are over in a new post at Meet Mobility.

We hope you enjoy it.

P.S. For all of you that made suggestions for the new name of our podcast, we havent forgotten you. The name ‘Meet Mobility’ cane up on a skype session we had one night and we all instantly liked it so we went ahead and used it. To show our appreciation we’ll take a look at your suggestions and choose a winner anyway. The winnong suggestion won’t be used but we’ll send you a ‘thank you’ anyway.

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UMPC Fever Viliv S5 hands-on and unboxing videos

2009-02-27T11:03:00.001+09:00

UMPC Fever has gotten a Viliv S5 [Portal page] and already have some videos up. There are also lots of good unboxing pics up over at UMPC Fever, have a look! (auto translated by Google). The S5, as you will recall, is a…

Here are the specs of the device as shown in the video:

Intel’s 1.33GHz Atom Z520 processor

1GB RAM

60Gb hard-drives

hardware 1080p HD video acceleration

4.8 inches 1024 x 600

22.9wh battery (~4 hours WIFI on)

Windows XP Home

Take a look at the unboxing video first below:

Video language is not in English but the text is.

Next, see the hands-on video.

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Long term software impressions — HP Mini 1000 MIE

2009-02-25T14:55:00.003+09:00

It has definitely been an interesting testing experience with the Mini 1000 MIE [Portal page]. The netbook, as you have probably read, runs a custom Ubuntu interface designed by HP. They call it the Mobile Internet Edition of the Mini 1000. I am anything but a Linux pro, so I approached this as a newcomer to Linux. Luckily, HP is marketing the Mini 1000 MIE to less experienced computer users and not Linux pros. I gave you my initial software impressions not too long ago, but I’m ready to give you some more detailed information.

Home Screen

Where to start…. The home screen, as we’ve showed you before, does a good job of simplifying the computer experience down to some of the most commonly used activities on a computer. There is easy access to email, web, and photos/music. I have some issues with the home screen though; it seems like it could be set up to make people a bit more productive. My biggest issue is the photos/music section on the right side of the home screen. For some reason this is really unappealing to me. It shows the album art of the last three songs you have played, or the last three photos in your photo library. All it functions as is a shortcut to my photo or music library. Do I really need to have that 1/3 of my home screen experience taken up by the last three photos I put into the library? For some reason it just doesn’t sit right with me, I have no need to say “Hey look, those are the last three photos I took”. If I want to look at my images, I will actually go look at them, looking at thumbnails of the last three that I happened to take really doesn’t do anything productive for me.

I want dynamic information displayed in this extra space that is actually useful. You can squeeze shortcut button to my photos or music somewhere else on the home screen, but it seems like something else in this 1/3 space would be much more beneficial. One of the things I have considered would be weather. It would be really cool to see the current weather, temperature and, the forecast for the next few days. How about severe weather alerts too? Another idea, which could even be in addition to a weather section, would be some stocks. It would be nice to see some graphs of different stocks which could be customized by the user. Of course you could always p00 pull down some recent news from a major news website. This is the kind of dynamic information that I feel would be much more useful in this space rather than simply showing me the last three pictures I took, or the last three songs I’ve listened to.

The Web section of the home screen gives you a URL bar to reach any page, a drop down list of bookmarks, which aren’t easy to navigate if you have a lot of them, and four customizable squares that act as shortcuts to your favorite sites. It would be nice if each of the four site shortcuts had titles so you could see exactly what you were looking at. You can see small thumbnail previews, but all four of my boxes were filled with Google services, and every thumbnail was the Google login screen, I basically had no idea which site I was going to.

The Mail section of the home screen seems good in theory. There is a list of messages from your inbox right on the home screen. Mozilla’s Thunderbird is the application that makes all of this happen, and clicking on one of your messages in the inbox list will launch the application. I tried setting up Thunderbird using the automatic configuration of a Gmail address but it hasn’t worked correctly for me. It wanted to set up a POP connection to my Gmail account and it downloaded some very old emails for some reason. To be honest, I didn’t dig down and properly set up my email with Thunderbird for two reasons. The first of which is that I didn’t want to accidentally download a bunch of emails to the Mini 1000 and mess up the organization of my Gmail inbox. The second reason is that a target Mini 1000 MIE user should not have to dig through configuration options to make their email work, especially if they already specified that they have a Gmail account (it should know how to set it up correctly for them, given the proper credentials). I trust Thunderbird as a reputable email client to be able to be configured correctly for any email account that supports POP or IMAP, but the point remains that it shouldn’t be up to a target Mini 1000 MIE user to have to figure out how all of those ‘behind the scenes’ preferences work.

(Continue Reading on page 2…)

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Performance — HP Mini 1000 MIE

2009-02-25T14:55:00.001+09:00

I’ve been testing the HP Mini 1000 MIE [Portal page] netbook for a few weeks now and I’m ready to give some performance information. As you’ll recall, the ‘MIE’ in Mini MIE stands for Mobile Internet Edition. This is HPs way of denoting their custom Ubuntu operating system which runs in place of a typical Windows OS. Unfortunately, because of the OS on the unit I can’t bring you the typical benchmarks. Luckily some benchmarks are already available out on the web from the XP versions which should give you a rough idea of what you will see, and I’ll point you in their direction toward the end of the post. What I can bring you however are some good old fashioned numbers (and maybe a chart or two)!

Video Playback

Video playback within a web browser usually isn’t considered a big deal on a desktop computer, but when working with the relatively small resources of a netbook, it can become a bit more serious of a task. In the screenshot above (click to enlarge) I showed the CPU usage graph while playing back a flash video from Gametrailers.com. This is SD footage. Flash HD video playback is too choppy for realistic viewing on the Mini 1000 MIE. I wouldn’t expect to be multi-tasking while listening to music through YouTube in the background. The CPU was around 80% usage during playback.

Boot Times

All tests are done with no apps open. Open apps will theoretically add a small amount of time to hibernate and standby.

	In (shutdown)	Out (startup)
startup/shutdown	16 seconds	45 seconds
hibernate	48 seconds	42 seconds
standby	5 seconds	6 seconds

It is clear to see that standby is going to be your best option in most cases, offering a pretty quick 5-seconds into standby, and bringing you right back to your home screen in 6 seconds. Startup and shutdown times seem fairly normal, but something is a bit odd with the hibernation times on the Mini 1000 MIE. In general, going into hibernate should take about half as long as shutdown, or at least be equal in its speed. In the case of the Mini 1000 MIE, going into hibernation takes the longest of any of the boot options.

A few things could be causing this. Let’s quickly define the difference between hibernation and standby. As the computer enters standby, it keeps all of the important OS files, and any running applications in the RAM, and powers down to a very low-power state, using only enough power to keep the data on the RAM alive. This means that it consumes a little bit of power while it is in standby. Hibernation consumes no power because the RAM data is backed up to the HDD (in this case, an SSD), and the computer shuts down completely. When turning back on, the data is rewritten to the RAM from the HDD, and the unit returns to the same exact state that was saved when it went into hibernation. Now that we know a bit about standby vs. hibernate, let’s theorize. One potential cause of poor hibernation times is a bottleneck in communication between the RAM and the SSD. Another reason could be due to the way that Ubuntu handles hibernation.

Either way, it is clear that a full shutdown or standby are your best options. In my testing I’ve seen that the Mini 1000 MIE should provide 70 hours of standby time which is pretty good. Put your computer into standby and come back 7 hours later, and you’ll only be missing 10% of your battery life. Considering you are only 6 seconds away from a full computing experience, I’d say that is a pretty good deal.

Battery Life

The battery on the Mini 1000 MIE is pretty darn slim. Take a look at the photos above. The computer itself says that the 3-cell battery will power it for 2 hours and 35 minutes from a full charge. The netbook is good at delivering this amount of time while you are using the computer for web browsing. While not available just yet, a 6-cell battery should be available from HP in the near future. Keep an eye on their accessories page for availability.

Benchmarks

As I mentioned, the non-standard OS doesn’t allow us to run our usual benchmarking programs, but the XP flavored Mini 1000 has been benchmarked by others, I’ll drop the SSD benchmark below, but also swing by this page to see some additional ones.

Check out the HP Mini 1000 MIE coverage roadmap for more coverage on this netbook.

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My VAIO UX UMPC: Now open for experimentation; Suggestions?

2009-02-24T16:22:00.001+09:00

It has been at least three years that I’ve owned my Sony VAIO UX180P, and I’ve been using it as my primary PC for a long time. As the internet continues to evolve, I’ve started to notice that my UX180 is slowing down and slowly becoming less that optimal to function as a primary PC. I can’t believe how long it has lasted with only a 30GB HDD, 512MB of RAM, and a 1.2GHz Core Solo CPU. The components of this machine are crammed into an incredibly small package that still challenges the size of modern UMPCs (and the newer UX models are some of the highest performing UMPCs to date). My UX can definitely still hold its own as a fully functional PC, but as I said, it is becoming less than optimal as internet use becomes even more performance intensive. It isn’t uncommon these days to be streaming HD video over the web, be running a multi-tab web browser with several web apps open at once. All of this multi-tasking is starting to take a toll on my UX180’s mere 512MB of RAM, and the biggest concern was that I was quickly running out of storage space.

Recently I’ve switched over to a full sized desktop system. I was getting really irritated that I couldn’t find anything less important than photos to delete to make space for more stuff on my UX. So I adopted a desktop as my new main PC. Nothing fancy; a Dell machine that is a few years old with 1GB of RAM, 3.4GHz Pentium 4 with hyper-threading and an on-board graphics card (boring, I know). I also picked up a 1TB external HDD to be able to have long-lasting storage for all my media which is great.

Anyway, enough about all this ugly full sized computer stuff. The silver lining here is that my UX180 is not my primary computer any longer, and I don’t need it to be in 100% working condition all of the time in order to function. What I’m trying to say here, is that it’s time to experiment. I now how a relatively powerful handheld touchscreen computer that I can try lots of different stuff on, and I want your suggestions. Windows 7? Ubuntu? OSX? Who has some interesting ideas for me? I’ll probably be keeping this on the software side of things as I’m not a modding genius, like some people.

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Weekly Netbook Roundup 2/23

2009-02-23T09:43:00.003+09:00

It’s that time again. Lets have a look at some interesting netbook content from this week.

Asus to Phase Out 8.9 Inch Screens in 2009 — Asus started with the 7″ screen, moved up to 8.9″ and now seems to be on…

It’s that time again. Lets have a look at some interesting netbook content from this week.

Asus to Phase Out 8.9 Inch Screens in 2009 — Asus started with the 7″ screen, moved up to 8.9″ and now seems to be on track to settle for 10″. Digitimes is reporting that Asus says 95% of its 2009 netbook shipments will be 10″ models.

Dell files for cancelation of Psion’s “netbook” trademark — Dell might not be the biggest netbook company out there, but they are clearly interested in the sector. Dell has filed for a cancelation of Psion’s claim to the ‘netbook’ trademark. Dell says that Pison abandoned the term and it should not have the trademark because of its “genericness”.

Dell launches Inspiron Mini 10 preorders… with QVC — Dell might have made the Inspiron Mini 10 official in the last several days, but the first place you’ll be able to pre-order it is through QVC. This is an interesting partnership and will definitely get the Mini 10 in the sights of those that might not normally come across it.

Mini-notebooks account for 30% of consumer laptop sales in EMEA — A research firm is saying that 30% of all consumer laptop sales in the EMEA (Europe, the Middle East and Africa) region are netbooks.

Meet Gigabyte M1028, convertible netbook — Jkk shoes us the new M1028 tablet-netbook from Gigabyte. This bumps the screen size up from 8.9″ as it was on the Gigabyte M912, and a few specs.

Gigabyte M912, convertible netbook, gets the needed 6 cell battery — …and speaking of the M912; there is now a 6-cell battery available.

Asus Eee PC 1000HG with WiMAX gets official — WiMax might not be a highly deployed WWAN technology yet but that isn’t stopping Asus from slapping some letters on to the end of the Eee 1000 and putting out a model with built in WiMax.

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UMPC Portal Mini 1000 MIE coverage on HP’s Mini 1000 site

2009-02-23T09:43:00.001+09:00

HP has a mini flash-based site dedicated to the various versions of the Mini 1000 [Portal page]. There is a section dedicated to each edition (MI, XP, and Vivienne Tam). If you roll your mouse over the “Mini 1000 Mi Edition” button and click “Read the Blogs“, you’ll see that the Mini 1000 MIE coverage from UMPC Portal is being aggregated on the mini site as well as some other sites that are testing out the Mini 1000 MIE. Check out content from several different sites to get an understanding of the device from several different angles.

See all of our Mini 1000 MIE coverage so far

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Dell Inspiron Mini 10 product page now up in the Portal

2009-02-23T09:42:00.003+09:00

We’ve added the Inspiron Mini 10 netbook to our comprehensive Product Portal as well as added a gallery of press shots. I’m looking forward to the Mini 10 and interested to see how it ranks on the Portal’s popularity charts.

Dell Inspiron Mini…

Dell Inspiron Mini 10 Portal page

Dell Inspiron Mini 10 gallery

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Another rugged UMPC for the commercial sector

2009-02-23T09:42:00.001+09:00

We might still be waiting to hear more news of the Side Arm 2 rugged UMPC, but in the mean time it seems like we have a different rugged UMPC to take a look at. Have a look at the…

We might still be waiting to hear more news of the Side Arm 2 rugged UMPC, but in the mean time it seems like we have a different rugged UMPC to take a look at. Have a look at the Yuma rugged UMPC from Trimble.

7″ sunlight-readable 1024×600 touchscreen display

1.6GHz Intel Atom N270

Windows Vista

32GB SSD

802.11b/g WiFi and Bluetooth 2.0

dual-cameras

USB 2.0 port x 2

SDIO slot

ExpressCard slot

It seems to be a pretty large slate-UMPC (read: no keyboard) and weighs 2.6 pounds with the battery. Clearly this device is not for consumer wielding in the local coffee shop, but instead it is designed to stand up to some serious punishment and provide a mobile platform for commercial work. Here are some of the things that Trimble mentioned the device might be useful for while on-the-go:

- Collect and exchange data – lots of data
- Transfer data in real time
- Run reports
- Receive dispatch orders on the road
- Take geo-tagged photographs
- Initiate VOIP communications
- Add secure memory for sensitive files
- Send email
- Write a report
- Find your way out of the forest

[Rugged PC Reviews] via [GottaBeMobile]

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UMID M1 Thumb Typing Demo.

2009-02-22T06:12:00.001+09:00

Thanks to Slashgear for this demo which convinces me that given a bump up on the font size, the UMID M1 is going to be extremely easy to ‘thumb’

Check out the nice gallery too, over at Slashgear. Thanks Chris!

UMID M1 MID…

Thanks to Slashgear for this demo which convinces me that given a bump up on the font size, the UMID M1 is going to be extremely easy to ‘thumb’

Check out the nice gallery too, over at Slashgear. Thanks Chris!

UMID M1 MID typing demo video & gallery - SlashGear.

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UMID M1 UMPC launches in Korea

2009-02-21T22:45:00.001+09:00

Pocketables.net have just reported on the official launch of the UMID M1, one of the favorite devices amongst visitors here (#2 today) and my personal favorite as a potential killer microblogging tool.

Local pricing is available and it matches what we heard…

Local pricing is available and it matches what we heard before but there’s still no news about export pricing or 3G. A quick chat with Mobilx this morning revealed that they don’t have any dates yet but are expecting news very soon. Like Pocketables, we’re expecting a demo device.

UMID M1 mbook MID launched in Korea.

Source -Lazion

UMID M1 info page.

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Dell Mini 10 finally goes official for the US; hits February 26th

2009-02-21T08:42:00.003+09:00

While the Mini 9 [Portal page] was pretty standard fare as far as netbooks good, the upcoming Dell Inspiron Mini 10 (which Engadget had some hands-on time with at CES) throws us a few welcomed curve-balls. Dell has finally made…

I’m looking forward to seeing the Mini 10 and here are a few reasons why:

True widescreen — 16:9 aspect ratio (10.1″)

Macbook-esque botton+trackpad… trackpad — The entire trackpad clicks down and functions like the mouse button

Custom multi-touch gesture support (via the trackpad)

GPS + WWAN

HDMI out port

WiFi B/G/N

The official page from Dell also tells us of some upcoming options

- HD capabilities – Enjoy your favorite movies on the optional 720p Hi-def 10.1¨ seamless display.
- More Storage – Do even more with optional 2GB memory and optional 250GB hard drive.
- Navigation – Know your way like the back of your hand using the optional GPS with optional internal WWAN support.
- Design Studio – Personalize your Mini 10 with cool designs from the artist, Tristen Eaton, in Dell’s Design Studio.
- Long battery life – No need to sacrifice weight for battery life. The Inspiron Mini 10 provides extended battery life while keeping the weight of the system under 3 pounds. 3-cell: approx. 3 hours. 6-cell: approx. 6.5 hours.
- The New TV – Watch your favorite TV shows with the internal digital TV tuner.

I’m most excited about the screen which will be able to support native 720p HD (1280×720) content with its 16:9 screen; I just hope the hardware is up to the task of playing that caliber of video!

[GottaBeMobile]

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Hardware overview video of the Asus T91 tablet-netbook

2009-02-21T08:42:00.001+09:00

Mobile Computer Mag had a chance to check out a prototype model of the upcoming Asus T91 tablet-netbook [Portal page] and they captured a great hardware overview, with commentary, on camera. Have a look below:

Something interesting that we see in this…

Something interesting that we see in this video is a SIM slot built into the device. As they mentioned, it isn’t clear yet if this is something they are testing, or something that will be available when the unit launches (we’re hoping for the latter). I’m excited to see the convertible tablet form factor making its way down to netbooks. It seems like a low cost tablet-netbook could be a great way to expand the tablet-PC user base. It is also good that one of the first of these that we are seeing is coming from a reputable netbook maker, Asus. It seems like it will still be a balancing act to get a good price:quality ratio compared to current netbooks when you consider the fact that you need to get the touchscreen and swiveling lid on the unit.

If you are interested to see what the software end of the netbook will look like, don’t miss this post.

[Liliputing]

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Multi-touch comes to resistive touchscreens

2009-02-20T10:20:00.001+09:00

Jkkmobile points out an interesting video from Engadget that shows some interesting multi-touch demos on a resistive touchscreen. Have a look at the video embedded below, but be sure to stick around for some thoughts below.

The demos are definitely neat, but I’m…

The demos are definitely neat, but I’m a very big proponent of capacitive touch technology, not because of multi-touch, but because of its consistent recognition of input. Multi-touch and the ability to do gestures is great, but I would argue that it is not the best part of capacitive touch technology. So they have managed to port the multi-touch facet of capacitive touchscreens over to resistive touchscreens, but they stick lack the consistent detection of input. Nothing is more annoying to me than having to click on one item several times because it is easy for a resistive touchscreen to either miss or misinterpret your input. It really ruins the touchscreen experience. Low pressure input resistive screens help to alleviate this to some degree but the issue still remains. Capacitive touch’s ability to extremely consistently recognize touch input is what makes it possible to have a viable on-screen keyboard on a device the size of the iPhone. I’ve tried many other resistive touch phones with OSKs, and the experience is almost embarrassing to the hardware.

As for the pressure sensitivity of the demoed screen: The way it was described is that it recognizes how much pressure you are putting on the screen by how much contact there is with the surface of your finger. If this is the correct explanation of how the technology works, then pressure sensitivity will not be able to be measured with a stylus. When you apply more pressure to a surface with your finger, the skin around the bone presses down with a larger surface area, this obviously doesn’t occur with the tip of a stylus.

This is definitely good for resistive touchscreens and a jump forward for devices that will continue to use them, but in many cases I still feel like capacitive touch offers the best experience.

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Correction. LG and Mirasol displays.

2009-02-19T17:26:00.001+09:00

We’ve finally got hold of the source press release for the LG and Mirasol screen technology announcement.

Unfortunately there is no connection between the LG / Mirasol announcement and the LG / Intel announcement.

Apologies to all concerned.

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How To: upgrade RAM in the Mini 1000

2009-02-19T09:59:00.001+09:00

I’m writing this post for target users of the Mini 1000 MIE[link]; those that might not have done a RAM upgrade before. And of course anyone who might be Googling “how to open the RAM door on the mini 1000″…

Don’t fear gentle user, for HP, and most other netbooks makers have made the process really simple, and I’m here to make it even easier. The only thing you will need beside the RAM is a pen! Let’s go through the steps:

Shut down the HP Mini 1000. Flip the computer over (you might want to rest it on something soft so that the top of the screen lid can’t get scratched).

Slide the battery eject latch to the side as though you are unlocking the battery for ejection.

Underneath the latch you just slid to the right (if oriented like the images), you will see a small plastic piece underneath with a circle in it. Insert your pen into the circle (right the right) and slide it to the left to pop the RAM door.

Hold the slider to the left with your pen while you get a grip on the RAM door, and remove the RAM door.

Release the spring latches that hold the RAM in place (one of the left and one on the right). The RAM should pop up on the front side.

Gently remove the RAM by pulling it out in the direction that it is pointing (the angle it makes with the bottom of the netbook).

Line up the single notch with the notch in the netbook and insert the new RAM at the same angle that you inserted it.

Press down on the RAM evenly to allow the spring latches to take hold of it.

Put the RAM door back in place and slide the first latch back into a lock position.

That’s it! You’re all done. Easy right? Turn your Mini 1000 on and it should be ready to go. If it doesn’t boot up correctly, it is possible that the ram isn’t sitting quite right. Just pull it out and re-insert it and try again.

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Asus T91 Touch UI Demo (Beta)

2009-02-19T09:58:00.001+09:00

Sascha of Netbooknews.de and the Ultra Mobile podcast is out in Taiwan at the moment gathering news and info on netbooks and mobile devices direct from the OEMs. He’s managed to get hold of a T91 which is one of the more exciting and most popular devices viewed on UMPCPortal. The demo shows a nice UI layer on top of XP (which suprised me. I thought the T91 UI was going to be on Linux for some reason.) Its Beta software and Sascha’s running through it with one hand but despite that, I think it looks pretty good and wouldn’t mind having it on one or two of the UMPCs around here.

At under 1KG and looking small and slick, i’m sure this going to be a big seller for mobility fans. Especially when it becomes available with 3G.

More details on the T91 in the product database.

Source: netbooknews

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Samsung SWD-M100 MID. Uber-Smartphone or PocketPC?

2009-02-18T11:21:00.000+09:00

A surprise from Samsung at their Mobile World Congress WiMax display. The SWD-M100 MID running Windows Mobile indicating that they’ve chosen an ARM processor for the system. The fact that Opera is also highlighted tells us that this one is more than a prototype. I suspect it’s not a voice device based on the ‘MID’ tagging but there’s no technical reason that it can’t support voice.

4.3 inch touchscreen

Wimax, Wifi and Bluetooth

Dual cams ( 3M + 0.3M pixels )

Micro SD

TV out

Windows Mobile 6.1 with Opera web browser

The info comes from a brief post at Ubergizmo. (More images available there.)

If this little baby has a decent processor in it (Remember Samsung make their own processors and are licensees for ARM11, Cortex A8 and A9 architectures - the Cortex A8 makes a lot of sense here.) then we could be looking at one of the most powerful windows mobile devices ever and, finally, a viable mobile internet solution with the Opera 9.5 browser.

Via JKKMobile

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Why do we need Flash on our phones?

2009-02-17T13:47:00.001+09:00

I’ve been pondering this question for a long time and have never come up with a decisive answer. Ever since the iPhone came out, people have been criticizing it for not providing the ‘full internet experience’, citing the lack of…

Several years ago it seems like having a full flash website was all the rage, but since then lots of great web technologies (javascript, ajax, etc.) have been utilized to make highly interactive websites that often outperform their flash counterparts in both performance and utility. These days it seems like the majority of flash content comes from flash video players, and of course the king of all flash video players is YouTube.

When you upload a video you YouTube, by default, is it transcoded to a format playable by most modern smartphones (using built in media players, not flash). I couldn’t tell you for certain, but in my experiences, it seems like the majority of YouTube’s content is available in this format. The iPhone already has a dedicated YouTube application which makes it easy to browse YouTube’s library and play videos. For phones that don’t have a dedicated application, there is the www.m.youtube.com site for browsing the library and doing many of the things you would do on the full version of the site like rating and commenting on movies. Once you get past YouTube as the majority of Flash content, you start to break it down to other video players. Sites like Hulu, Netflix, and many others offer video through flash players as well, but don’t offer nearly the amount of content as there is available on YouTube.

After videos players, I would argue that the second most common flash content is flash advertisements. These things are scatter all over pages these days, and unfortunately, those that design flash ads are not usually concerned with the efficiency of their animations, they just want to animate enough motion and colors to capture your attention. What this leads to is poor performance on the flash content that you actually want. For example, a website like Gametrailers will have a flash banner ad, or a box on the right of the video that plays a flash ad while you are trying to watch a video through a flash player, and flash generally splits the available resources between the two. I’ve seen the framerate on videos drop so low because of other pieces of flash content (like ads) playing on a page at the same time that they are unwatchable, and that is on a full computer. How do people expect mobile phones to handle all the flash content on a page these days, in addition to watching a flash video player? It is important to realize that if you are asking for full flash support, you are also welcoming all the resource sucking advertisements that plague websites. These ads aren’t usually a performance concern for full computers (except the situation I provided above), but on low powered hardware they could be a serious performance ditch and that always leads to reduced battery life.

Aside from flash video players and flash ads, the remaining flash content doesn’t seem to be in high demand (unless I’m missing something important). For example, there are lots of flash games out there, and they are lots of fun. But even if we did have full flash support on mobile phones, I don’t feel like phones are equipped with the necessary control schemes to be able to manipulate that content. Do people expect to be able to play Desktop Defense with the navigation ball on their Blackberry Pearl? I don’t think that it is realistic to expect mobile phones to be able to interface with flash content that was designed with a user, using a mouse and keyboard, in mind. Do people expect flash developers to adapt their flash content to function with the myriad of phone control schemes that are out there?

It all seems rather ridiculous to me, and I still don’t understand what content there is that drives people to ask for flash on their phones. Flash videos players are great, but the majority of content (ie: YouTube) is already available to most modern smartphones. If other flash players want to bring their content to mobile phones, they could do so much more efficiently (for the phones) by following YouTube’s approach. I don’t quite see it being necessary to provide full flash support on mobile phones; what would be the benefit of doing so? Maybe providing a familiar programing environment?

One potential option that I see for the future is that phones begin using a ‘Flash Lite’ standard which provides programmers with a familiar programming environment, and makes it easy for popular flash player sites to create simple flash applications (like video players) that will launch from a link on a website into a Flash Lite application on the phone.

I don’t think we’ll see full flash support (ie: flash players, apps, and ads embedded directly into websites) in mobile phones for a long time because it just doesn’t make sense when you weigh the content gain against the performance and battery life concerns, and isn’t practical when you consider the logistics of controlling that content with various phone control schemes.

I’ve been using an iPod Touch/iPhone 3G for nearly a year now and I can’t say that there are many times while using them that I’ve said to myself “Wow I wish this thing supported flash”. Sure, occasionally there is a video I want to watch that isn’t hosted on YouTube, but on another flash player instead; is that justification to ask for flash on phones? In my opinion, the answer is no, but I want to hear the thoughts of others. When you are using your mobile phone for web browsing, what content do you come across that makes you wish you had full flash support?

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Weekly Netbook Roundup 2/16

2009-02-16T16:04:00.001+09:00

Welcome back to another edition of the WRN roundup, here is some interesting items from this week:

Sony VAIO P - HSDPA mod — Tnkgrl of tnkgrl Mobile, has managed to unlock the VAIO P’s EVDO only 3G to allow for HSDPA…

Welcome back to another edition of the WRN roundup, here is some interesting items from this week:

Sony VAIO P - HSDPA mod — Tnkgrl of tnkgrl Mobile, has managed to unlock the VAIO P’s EVDO only 3G to allow for HSDPA as well; all it took was a $1 part and a bit of hacking.

Dell officially launches Inspiron Mini 10 in France — The Inspiron Mini 10 has been officially launched in France. Still looking forward to trying one of these out for the unique buttonless trackpad and the high resolution monitor.

Acer Aspire One AOD150 now shipping in the US — Acer’s second generation netbook is now on sale in the US and for only $350! We liked the first one and are hoping that this one will live surpass the quality of the first.

SSD Test: RunCore Mini PCI-e SATA SSD for Asus Eee PCs — Jkk does a video test of RunCore SSDs for Eee PCs and sees some pretty impressive speeds. Remember though, these aren’t blindingly fast and super-expensive, but rather have a good price:speed ratio.

HP Mini 1000 accessories — Brad from Liliputing points us to an HP Mini 1000 [Portal page] site with accessories available for the Mini 1000. A few things are available to order today but the VGA adapter and Mobile Mini Drive still aren’t available yet. Check out our Mini 1000 MIE coverage here.

Sony Vaio P battery life: Standard vs. Extended — Jenn of Pocketables.net continues here thorough coverage of the VAIO P with tests of the 2- and 4-cell batteries. Click through for a full chart featuring the length that the batteries lasted while running different tasks. While the 2-cell battery probably won’t satisfy your daily computing needs, the 4-cell managed to last just over 6 hours browsing the web (with one hour of that taken up by playing a flash video).

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SmartQ

2009-02-14T08:48:00.001+09:00

There are very few specs known about this one. We only have the image and a translation that appears to highlight some negative things about Intel; a big hint perhaps, that this is an ARM-based device. Looking very clean and iPod-like, if it hits a lower price point, comes with a 3g option and uses an advanced cpu it might be worth looking at. If not, you might as well go out and buy a Nokia N800.

Heres the pic of the SmartQ from Smartdevices, China. We’ll keep an eye out for them at CeBIT.

SmartQ. Generation MP3

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Initial Hardware impressions — HP Mini 1000 MIE

2009-02-13T18:28:00.001+09:00

You’ve probably seen my initial software impressions of the HP Mini 1000 MIE [Portal page]. Now it’s time to take a look at the hardware that makes the Mini 1000 so attractive.

The Mini 1000 is actually quite small. Have a look…

You’ve probably seen my initial software impressions of the HP Mini 1000 MIE [Portal page]. Now it’s time to take a look at the hardware that makes the Mini 1000 so attractive.

The Mini 1000 is actually quite small. Have a look at a size comparison picture.

Opening up the Mini 1000’s lid reveals an impressively large keyboard. Not only are the keys nearly the size of a full blown laptop, but they also have good feedback and look very nice as well. The letting is a perfect snow white, opposite the majority color of the Mini 1000. The graphic letters on the letter keys themselves are printed very large and are easy to see, great for people who can’t quite type without looking down at the keyboard. For some reason the font on all of the other keys is very small and minimalist (example: the shift key); not too small, but certainly not making use of the space on the key. The board stretches from one end of the netbook to the other, utilizing all the space available to it, which is why they managed to fit such a large keyboard on a small netbook. The keyboard as a unit is not reinforced well from the bottom and will bend if you push down on the center of the board. If you aren’t trying however, you won’t notice this, that is just a build quality note.

Visually the Mini 1000’s keyboard might be very pleasing, and it also manages to have a lot of real estate, so you’d think it would be a great keyboard right? Well… not quite. Before I get started here let me say that the keyboard is very good, the best of any I’ve tested on a netbook so far. But, it might be a little bit different then what you are used to. I am used to a full sized desktop keyboard which has keys that stick up pretty high. The Mini 1000’s keys actually appear to be larger than those on my desktop keyboard. However, they are very flat and there is very little space between them. Imagine the seams on a concrete sidewalk. You know how each square of sidewalk runs right into the next one? That is very similar to the way that the keys on this keyboard are set up. I am a pretty fast touch-typer, I don’t need to look at my keyboard to type. One of the strategies that makes this possible is being able to feel the space between keys, and the edges of keys to determine where the next key lies. You can’t do that on the Mini 1000’s keyboard because keys are so flat and close together. This isn’t a huge problem though; it is easy to adjust to it after a short period of time, but you might notice it if you are very productive with a normal desktop keyboard. For the target audience of the Mini 1000 MIE it probably isn’t an issue at all, as they will be coming to the unit with little touch-typing experience.

The trackpad is decent in size, and it is mostly personal preference when it comes to liking your mouse buttons at the bottom of your trackpad, or on the side. When they are positioned on the side, like they are on the Mini 1000, it seems to imply that you are to navigate the mouse with one hand and click the buttons with another. I personally like to be able to do both with one hand, so mouse-buttons on the side are not the ideal setup for me, but for Mini 1000 MIE target customers, this would probably work well because it allows them to easily use two hands to operate their computer instead of just one. It is also a space-saving design decision to cut down on the size of the palm-rest and the overall footprint of the computer. There is a handy button above the trackpad which disables it. This is a nice feature when you are trying to do some serious typing. It is easy to accidentally move the cursor with your palms if you are typing quickly.

The Mini does a good job at finding a good design theme and sticking to it. No part of the device seems out of place, and the most complex and attention drawing part of the computer (the hinge) is subtle and stylish, which I think is a good description of the computer as a whole. Stay tuned for my extended hardware and software impressions and more coverage of the HP Mini 1000 MIE.

See the HP Mini 1000 MIE coverage roadmap.

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PCWorld pitches MID against laptop and mobile phone. (Bzzzt!)

2009-02-13T11:09:00.001+09:00

Michael Gartenberg puts an argument forward against MIDs in an article over at PCWorld today but I’ve read his article through at least three times now and I dont get it. Michael says that consumers are willing to carry three…

Michael Gartenberg puts an argument forward against MIDs in an article over at PCWorld today but I’ve read his article through at least three times now and I dont get it. Michael says that consumers are willing to carry three devices and lists the voice-capable mobile phone (agreed) and the laptop (agree, for business use.)

But where’s the third one?

He goes on in his article to say that netbooks can’t replace laptops and I think he’s also saying that MIDs can’t replace phones. I agree.

But where’s the third device?

As I said a few days ago, I think the MID is a convergence of a number of pre-existing gadgets that already enjoy popularity in the ‘tweener’ ground but require a bigger form factor than a mobile phone could ever provide. Digital internet-connected cameras, pnd’s, ebook readers and handheld gaming devices are already enjoying momentum that no-one really disagrees with and with social websites and portable internet video taking off, there’s other areas of interest too.

Rather than the MID being a device that crosses over the phone or laptop, it’s a device that could consolidate the 4th, 5th and 6th digital gadget into one.

That’s the third device.

See Ring of FIE (in the second half of this article) for more on the convergence in the middle-ground.

Tweener Devices Fall Between the Cracks of Usefulness - PC World.

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ABI: 11% View Netbooks as Primary Devices

2009-01-31T11:23:00.001+09:00

ABI surveyed 1000 people about netbooks. According to their results, only 79% see them as a secondary computer. 11% see them as a primary computer proving that there is a significant overlap an direct impact on notebook sales. No surprise…

The results are not good news for laptop and netbook manufacturers in general, despite the 79% that are buying a netbooks as a second device. Here are some thoughts from the top of my head.

Any survey done at the moment is dealing with early-curve consumers that are highly likely to buy a second device. In one year the figures might be worse purely based on the change of customer type (although it will be hard to do this survey in the mainstream market as many consumers may not even know they’ve bought a netbook)

Even if people buy a netbook as a secondary device, it will change their purchasing rhythm pushing the purchase of a replacement notebook further out. In some cases the netbook may satisfy the customer 100% and the next notebook purchase may never happen.

As netbooks move to bigger screens, they pull prices of normal laptops down in order to compete on perceived value.

My feeling is that the netbook effect is going to hit manufacturers very hard in the next 3 years. Netbooks aren’t going away though so they will need to find a way to cope with it. This means stripping out niche products, reducing quality and implementing lots of tricky marketing.

More thoughts

ABI Research Survey: 79% of Respondents View Netbooks as “Secondary” Devices | Press Release | ABI Research.

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Luuon Mobbit price. (Korea.) UMID launching soon there too.

2009-01-23T18:37:00.001+09:00

News from Kevin Kang at CNet Asia.

Up from a previously announced price and a little more than I wanted to see is the $575, KRW 799,000, Korean price of the Lluon Mobbit UMPC.

Additional information I can give out those Korean…

News from Kevin Kang at CNet Asia.

Up from a previously announced price and a little more than I wanted to see is the $575, KRW 799,000, Korean price of the Lluon Mobbit UMPC.

Additional information I can give out those Korean MIDs, Viliv and UMID also about to launch their S5 and M1 within February here in Korea.

Some more info over at CNet but before you go there , tell us what you think of the price. 3G UMPC with XP for around $600. Good or bad?

TG Sambo MID Luuon Mobbit price is out! - CNET Asia Blogs: DigiHunter by Kevin (Kilmo) Kang, Korea.

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Crunchpad comments.

2009-01-20T09:27:00.001+09:00

I can’t really let the day finish without mentioning the Techcrunch Crunchpad. Although it’s a relatively big and non-mobile tablet, there’s a few things to mention.

Mike Arrington’s original focus for the design was web activities so it’s not suprising he’s gone for…

I can’t really let the day finish without mentioning the Techcrunch Crunchpad. Although it’s a relatively big and non-mobile tablet, there’s a few things to mention.

Mike Arrington’s original focus for the design was web activities so it’s not suprising he’s gone for a PC-based solution. Web-based activities are getting to be some of the most CPU-intensive daily tasks that people do so a strong CPU is a must-have. The VIA Nano is, clock-for-clock, likely to be much more powerful than an Atom so a good choice for processing power but with it’s relatively high thermal power rating, it’s going to need some cooling. That means fans and airflow space in the chassis. Not a good sign for bedtime browsers! Having said that, the low-end of the VIA Nano range at 1Ghz might be just right and I’m sure there’s scope for lowering it further if necessary. This would be a nice win for VIA if they can pull it off.

Why didn’t Techcrunch go for an ARM-based solution? It would allow for a much smaller and longer-battery life design. Maybe it’s because the high-end of ARM isn’t quite up to performing at the sort of levels that consumers expect? 5-10 seconds per web page load is probably just out of the reach of one of the latest ARM-based platforms.

The battery life is going to be a problem too. With a 4-cell, 2200mah-per-cell (a high-end, heavy-sounding 2p2s 7.2v) battery pack he’ll be looking at the 4-hour range with that huge screen. The backlighting budget will probably run to 5W and I’m sure that when you’ve added the relatively high-end CPU in and connected it to a Wifi hotspot, you’ll be draining 10-12 watts average. Possibly more when you’ve got flash content taking up CPU cycles. As many others have commented today, it might be better to settle with a 1024×600 8.9″ screen and maybe reduce the battery capacity to save weight. It wouldn’t be perfect in portrait mode but landscape mode would be fine and you’d probably save 2W in backlighting and 300gm in weight. Overall though, you would probably lose battery life. It’s a tough balancing act.

Aesthetics play an important role but as we can all remember from ‘Origami’ in 2006, so do keyboards. I could write for hours about that but I’ll just say that if you need sales numbers, you’ll probably want to think carefully about the form factor and include,somehow, a physical keyboard. The T91 or T101H from ASUS might bite Techcrunch in the bum unless they can get excelent on-screen keyboard software and some good early reviews about it.

All in all I think Techcrunch have set themselves tough targets for the device. While not impossible, I suspect it will be more expensive than planned, will have so-so battery life and could be a little too heavy for most people. They’ll need to convince an investor that they can sell hundreds and hundreds of thousands in order to hit the parts budget and that convertible netbooks or MIDs won’t be a threat.

Fingers crossed for Techcrunch though. I’m enjoying watching the project, am hoping it tends towards a 9″ device and I and wish Techcrunch and VIA every success with it.

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Hilarious. Engadget hates/likes UMPCs!

2009-01-19T14:42:00.001+09:00

Is it because it’s Sunday?

A few days ago Engadget posted a rather sarcastic item about the Loam F7. Actually it was spot-on from the consumer perspective because, quite frankly, it looks cheap. The hilarious part of the story comes when…

Is it because it’s Sunday?

Maybe we’re just hot for sleek, thin, ultra sexy renders of handheld computing devices, but we dare anyone to call the unit pictured above unsightly (and mean it). Shortly after showcasing its swiveling S7 at CES, Viliv has taken the wraps off of its X70 Atom Communication MID.

Apart from the fact that we highlighted this nearly three weeks ago (our fault for not tipping them!) it seems that they’ve fallen in love with an Origami device. Check the specs at Gadgetmix.

Atom Silverthorne 1.33GHz processor

choice of SSD: 8GB/16GB or HDD: 30GB/60GB

Windows XP or Linux

1GB RAM

optional WiMax module (mobile broadband)

Bluetooth 2.0+EDR and WiFi b/g (no ‘n’)

Weight: 660g

built-in GPS (Sirf Star 3)

SDHC slot

dimension: 210(w) x 117(h) x 22.5(d) mm

Apart from the 22.5mm depth, it’s nothing different.

Mickey-taking aside, it does prove that people are susceptable to a nice design, whatever it is. There’s always been a possibility that a UMPC or MID would berak through and this article from Engadget underscores that.

Viliv uncovers gorgeous X70 Atom Communication MID - Engadget.

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Closing down PC and broadband for a week. Working as usual.

2009-01-19T08:30:00.001+09:00

In a few hours, the MID Moves project officially gets into gear. Jenn is already on her way to California where she’ll be getting the ball rolling with her OQO 2+, Benq S6 and Willcom D4. Then, on Tuesday, i’ll be…

As a little side project I’d thought I would close down not only my home PC and netbook but also my broadband Internet connection. Using the XP-based MIDs (some confusion there I know - Intel tends to put UMPCs under the MID banner) I don’t think there will be a problem at all. If that 1.86Ghz OQO 2+ turns up (fingers crossed for tomorrow) then I’ve got that wonderful docking station to use. I’ll just connect to a monitor, drop a 3G card in and use the device as my desktop for a week. I really don’t expect to report any issues at all with this set up although I’m sure I’ll notice the drop from the 32mb/s on my broadband down to around 1mb/s that I get here at home!

I’ll be testing in Germany on T-Mobile’s day flat service (on a contract) the same on a pre-paid T-Mobile card, day-flat ‘Web Session’ on a Vodafone pre-pay, Vodafone on a 200MB per month contract and the 2.50-per-day ‘flat’ service from Fonic.

Stay tuned here and on MID Moves for updates during the week. Feel free to ask questions too.

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OQO Model 02+ First benchmarks.

2009-01-17T23:11:00.001+09:00

The first of the MIDs are arriving at the doors of MID Moves doorsteps and one of the first to get attention is the OQO 2+ with it’s OLED screen and 1.8Ghz Atom CPU. Jenn has pushed out some benchmarks already and you can instantly see the advantage over lower-clocked Atom CPUs. In fact, that ALU figure is higher than I expected. Disk results there look fairly average so I’m wondering if Jenn has the HDD version. Actually I’m hoping she has the HDD version!

As I type, Jenn is twittering [follow her mutterings] in the background so although it must be past her bedtime, I know she hasn’t been able to put it down yet!

Source: MID Moves

P.S. Jenn has the Benq S6 too. It’s the cheapest MID on the planet. Euro299!

Specifictions and details in the database: OQO 2 Plus. Benq S6.

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Ultra Mobile Podcast 24

2009-01-17T11:21:00.001+09:00

A great podcast (oops, even if I do say so myself!) covering the MID, UMPC and Netbook news from CES. A good roundup covering a lot of devices. Our raw show notes below…

Pegatron Netbook - Freescale. 8
VIA Nano. Dr…

A great podcast (oops, even if I do say so myself!) covering the MID, UMPC and Netbook news from CES. A good roundup covering a lot of devices. Our raw show notes below…

Pegatron Netbook - Freescale. 8

VIA Nano. Dr Mobile. 11.6″ and 8.9″

Vaio P

OQO 2+

Dell Mini 10. Silverthorne. Edge-to-edge. 1.2kilos

1000 HDN Optical drive. Bluray. New CPU, new Chipset. Video-focused.

ASUS Eee PC T91 T101H Convertible.

HP 2140

Viliv S7, X70

UMID

MIO ‘MID’. ARM.

BYD Venus MID on the Intel stand. No details.

Aigo windows 7 + XP. Velocity. Maybe upgraded.

MSI U115

Download here, stream now via the player below or pick the podcast up via the RSS feed.

Subscribe to the Ultra Mobile Podcast RSS Feed

All podcasts are available and hosted at Mevio

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Wibrain i1 and a Geo-Enabled Media Tour.

2009-01-16T11:10:00.003+09:00

I took a walk to the horses this afternoon; a live media-walk for MIDMoves to test out some geographically-tagged capabilities on the big Web thing. Tracking is nothing new. Location-based tweets and near-live video posts are nothing new. Putting it all together in a media-rich way and being able to show it live is something different though. It highlights the difference between a smartphone and a PC-based MID or UMPC. There’s just no way you can tie all the components together and post-process it into a presentation like this with a smartphone. Having access to full-screen Web2.0 applications and smooth multi-tasking was the key here. There’s lots of improvements that can be made but this is a great step forward for live, media-rich tracking.

Move and zoom the map below and click on the icons for videos, audio recordings, tweets and images.

View Larger Map

Source: MIDMoves.com

Thanks to Mobilxfor the i1. Ipokifor the live tracking app.

Source: MIDMoves.com Thanks to Mobilx for the i1. Ipoki for the live tracking app.

Watch out next week for a very special live geo-media tour on MIDMoves.

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Engadget goes hands-on with the Dell Mini 10

2009-01-16T11:10:00.001+09:00

At CES 09, Engadget managed to get some hands on time with the recently announced Dell Inspiron Mini 10, which I am looking forward to. I see now that the mouse buttons are built into the trackpad which adds another…

“…much nicer looking than the Mini 9, and more compact than the Mini 12. No wonder Dell’s calling it a “perfect 10.” The multitouch trackpad is really similar to the one on the newest Macbooks, but it’s a little less intuitive”

Have a look at some of the shots here, and head over to Engadget for even more.

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Dell Mini 10 shown CES, goes beyond cookie-cutter netbook specs

2009-01-13T10:17:00.005+09:00

What do you do when the Dell Mini 9 [Product page] and Mini 12 just aren’t enough? Well the only logical thing to do is come out with the Mini 10. The Dell Mini 10, shown at CES, has (obviously…

What do you do when the Dell Mini 9 [Product page] and Mini 12 just aren’t enough? Well the only logical thing to do is come out with the Mini 10. The Dell Mini 10, shown at CES, has (obviously enough) a 10″ screen. Something that immediately piques my interested is that the Mini 10 apparently won’t run the obligatory 1024×600 resolution, but instead use a properly formatted 16:9 aspect ratio screen with a 720p resolution (1280×720). Some other nice features include:

Z530 Atom CPU (less typical than most netbooks)

802.11N WiFi

Integrated GPS

Integrated 3G

TV-tuner

A trackpad with what Dell is calling “exclusive gestures”

I have to say that this is shaping up to be a nice 10″ netbook. We’ll see how the pricing turns out, which at this point is not announced by Dell, nor a release date.

[Engadget]

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Does P really stand for pocketable?

2009-01-13T10:17:00.003+09:00

The Sony VAIO P [Portal page] was a big deal at this year’s CES. Sony teased us with visions of a computer that would fit in our pocket. While the device is certainly small, I don’t think it is a realistic pocket machine (even the flash ad on sony.jp seems to agree). My three year old Sony VAIO UX [Portal page] is more pocketable, which is why I was somewhat baffled when they released the P which isn’t even close by comparison. Here are several pictures from Engadget China poking fun at the pocketability of the VAIO P that I chortled at. I find the one with the desktop to be particularly funny. First shot is official from Sony of course.

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MSI Wind U120 with light-up trackpad

2009-01-13T10:17:00.001+09:00

You probably caught wind (corny and probably overused, I know) of MSI’s latest U120 [Portal page] netbook, but you may not have seen a prototype at CES with a glowing trackpad. I’m not quite sure who this is supposed to…

You probably caught wind (corny and probably overused, I know) of MSI’s latest U120 [Portal page] netbook, but you may not have seen a prototype at CES with a glowing trackpad. I’m not quite sure who this is supposed to appeal to, but we can at least be happy knowing that, as far as I can tell, this isn’t actually part of the U120 yet. I’ve always hated superfluous LEDs on notebooks, and this light-up trackpad is taking it just one step to far.

If they are going to make something glow, why not have a backlit keyboard? On a regular laptop, the screen is often large enough to provide the necessary light for typing in low-light situations. I haven’t found this to be true in my netbook experience. Unless you tilt to screen to shine on the keyboard (putting it at an unrealistic viewing angle) there often isn’t enough light on the keys. A backlit keyboard on a netbook might actually have some use.

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T-swivel still alive!

2009-01-11T15:42:00.003+09:00

Jenn spotted that T-swivel UMPC. It’s still doing the rounds. First hands-on was nearly 2 years ago now. Will someone just sell it, please?

T-swivel UMPC concept at Marvell booth.

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Scoble and Sascha talk Netbooks.

2009-01-11T15:42:00.001+09:00

A great great video from our podcasting partner Sascha, from netbooknews.de who’s just been interviewed by Robert Scoble.

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Samsung. New UMPC at CES after all?

2009-01-11T09:33:00.005+09:00

Samsung, originally uploaded by UMPCPORTAL@CES2009.

Spotted by our man at CES. This tablet UMPC.

As we expected 7″ without keyboard. More as it develops…….

Credit EC, our man on the floor at CES.

More photos coming through on our Flickr stream from…

Samsung, originally uploaded by UMPCPORTAL@CES2009.

Spotted by our man at CES. This tablet UMPC.

As we expected 7″ without keyboard. More as it develops…….

Credit EC, our man on the floor at CES.

More photos coming through on our Flickr stream from CES.

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Aigo MID. Windows 7. This Year. What?

2009-01-11T09:33:00.003+09:00

Assuming Aigo increase the SSD size, would it actually be usable on the 800Mhz Atom? I doubt it. I wonder if Compal are planning to drop the 1.3ghz CPU in.

Aigo MID To Be Running Windows 7 This Year on Flickr…

Assuming Aigo increase the SSD size, would it actually be usable on the 800Mhz Atom? I doubt it. I wonder if Compal are planning to drop the 1.3ghz CPU in.

Aigo MID To Be Running Windows 7 This Year on Flickr - Photo Sharing!.

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Liliputing says no to the Vaio P

2009-01-11T09:33:00.001+09:00

Liliputing, one of my favorite netbook blogs, isnt going to cover the Vaio P on the site due to it’s cost. Netbooks are built on the promise of low cost and value for money. The Vaio is most definately aiming somewhere…

Minus points too for the pointer and the screen res from Liliputing.

Hands on with the Sony Vaio P.

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Bloggers on the UMID M1

2009-01-11T03:24:00.001+09:00

As we mentioned on CES podcast 8 yesterday, the UMID M1 seems to be getting a lot of attention. Mini clamshell laptops always attract the eye as a familiar form factor so its not surprising...

As we mentioned on CES podcast 8 yesterday, the UMID M1 seems to be getting a lot of attention. Mini clamshell laptops always attract the eye as a familiar form factor so its not surprising.

Both jkOnTheRun and Pocketables have had hands on now and the feedback is positive. James called it out as his favorite of all the Intel MIDs. [Note: Intel and others have been calling the Windows based devices UMPCs but I sense that soon, everyone will be calling them MIDs.The marketing is tending in that direction and there's nothing much we can do to stop that.] Jenn had a good hands-on session and has written a more detailed article saying that it works well for thumbing but that it felt a little laggy in a Vista/1Gb kind of way. She was testing the 1.1 ghz version. A 1.3ghz version with hyperthreading is planned.

I really think that this device could sell well and will stimulate OEMs to develop prototypes in this form factor. I don’t know why they’ve waited so long! Mini clamshell devices always seemed like a good idea and you only have to say the word Psion on UMPCportal and the commentators get active.

Hop over to Pocketables for a great set of pics and more thoughts from Jenn and check out more details and links on our UMID info page.

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Grab a free Sony Vaio P…..df.

2009-01-10T15:35:00.003+09:00

Lots of great pics and a live unbox….no… un-papering.

jkkmobile: Sony Vaio P in many pictures with scaled pdf.

Lots of great pics and a live unbox….no… un-papering.

jkkmobile: Sony Vaio P in many pictures with scaled pdf.

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Pegatron and Freescale. More pics from Engadget. Video from Notebooks

2009-01-10T15:35:00.001+09:00

Engadget seem quite impressed with the Pegatron Freescale-based netbooks. 8.9-inch screen, 8 hour battery life, 8GB of storage and retail prices near the $199 mark. Pegatron will be working with Ubuntu to get the ARM-compatable distribution cleaned up and ready…

Maybe it’s just the design that Engadget are impressed with though. “The limitation here is obviously straight-up processing power — it’s not very impressive, and certainly slower than Intel’s Atom” say Engadget but it’s clear (check the video below) that it’s a whole lot faster than ARM devices we’ve seen in the past. Cortex A8 seems to be hitting the right mark.

Pics and more commentary at Engadget.

Pegatron and Freescale team for low-power, ultra-cheap netbooks and nettops - Engadget.

Video below from Notebooks.com shows the device in action.

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Chippy at CES 2009

2009-01-10T09:20:00.003+09:00

Chippy at CES 2009, originally uploaded by UMPCPORTAL@CES2009.

Its me, live, at CES!

Image taken by our friend on the ground, ‘EC’

I think he’s going round tuning every browser into the /live session. Way to go EC!

…

Chippy at CES 2009, originally uploaded by UMPCPORTAL@CES2009.

Its me, live, at CES!

Image taken by our friend on the ground, ‘EC’

I think he’s going round tuning every browser into the /live session. Way to go EC!

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OQO 2+ and UMPCPortal Live

2009-01-10T09:20:00.001+09:00

OQO 2+, originally uploaded by UMPCPORTAL@CES2009.

EC, one of our readers is out at CES and joined us on the live chat from the OQO 2+ while taking photos and sending them back via flickr where I’ve then re-blogged onto…

OQO 2+, originally uploaded by UMPCPORTAL@CES2009.

EC, one of our readers is out at CES and joined us on the live chat from the OQO 2+ while taking photos and sending them back via flickr where I’ve then re-blogged onto UMPCPortal. I think a little bit of the universe just collapsed!

Join us at http://www.umpcportal.com/live

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Engadget gets hands-on with the MSI Wind u120

2009-01-09T14:50:00.003+09:00

The first MSI wind was considered to be one of the better netbooks out there. MSI might not be Asus in terms of new netbook announcements, but they certainly didn’t slack off when it comes to churning out an improved model. The MSI Wind U120 [Portal page], as you might recall, features (among other things) a new hybrid storage system that uses an SSD and HDD, a-la Sony VAIO TT. Engadget has a hands-on gallery from CES 09′. Take a look at some of the shots below, and head through the Engadget link for additional images.

[Engadget]

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Viliv X70 Atom spotted at CES

2009-01-09T14:50:00.001+09:00

Based on the existing X70, the X70 Atom (which is just a working name i’m told) is built around a 7″ screen and it looks like they’ve incorporated a keyboard by attaching it on some flexible plastic. I guess it…

Looks like a solid design and will probably appeal as a PMP/Internet Media workstation. We’re in touch with Viliv and keeping a close track on this one, the S5 and the S7.

Viliv X70 slate with keyboard attachment

also at Pocketables:

Viliv S5 at CES 2009

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Skype Beta 1.0 for Mobile Internet Devices

2009-01-09T08:39:00.003+09:00

Good news for people wanting skype on their MID.

Hopefuly there’ll be a way to install this on all Linux-baed MIDs but for the time being, it looks like it’s an option for OEMs.

Skype is working with Intel to deliver its…

Good news for people wanting skype on their MID.

Hopefuly there’ll be a way to install this on all Linux-baed MIDs but for the time being, it looks like it’s an option for OEMs.

Skype is working with Intel to deliver its application software for MIDs through Original Device Manufacturers (ODMs) and Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs). By offering the Skype software on their devices, device manufacturers can provide consumers with an array of rich internet communications experiences – instant messaging, group IM, voice and video calls – right out of the box.

First Version of Skype Now Available for Intel-based Mobile Internet Devices - Technology | Centre Daily.

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Asus finally gives us some reasonable shift keys

2009-01-09T08:39:00.001+09:00

My biggest complaint about many of the netbooks on the market over the last year is that some of them can’t seem to get the keyboard right. Even when the size of the keyboard is reasonable, there can be some problems with key placement, the biggest offender being the incredibly annoying small shift key on the Eee line of Asus netbooks. For someone who really types on a keyboard, and doesn’t hunt and peck, the tiny shift key, which is often on the wrong side of the arrow keys, is a major annoyance. Missing the shift key is one thing, but accidentally hitting the up arrow key causes a whole slew of issues that really get in the way of serious typing.

A few sites got news that Asus would be switching up its keyboard arrangement, and now we can see concrete evidence of this from some of the models being shown at CES 09′. Several new Eee models are featuring the updated keyboard which moves the shift key to the left of the up arrow and increases its size. Some of the new models include the new Eee T101H 10″ ‘tablet netbook’.

[Liliputing]

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TabletKiosk’s eo i7300. News from Gottabemobile.

2009-01-09T08:38:00.003+09:00

Taking the industrial route is the i7300 UMPC from TabletKiosk. Dual hot-swappable batteries. Image and details over at Gottabemobile. Expect more soon as they’ve had a meeting with them.

TabletKiosk’s eo i7300 – 7” Active Digitzer and Touch | GottaBeMobile.com.

…

Taking the industrial route is the i7300 UMPC from TabletKiosk. Dual hot-swappable batteries. Image and details over at Gottabemobile. Expect more soon as they’ve had a meeting with them.

TabletKiosk’s eo i7300 – 7” Active Digitzer and Touch | GottaBeMobile.com.

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VAIO P will be available with 1.86GHz CPU, but it’ll cost you

2009-01-09T08:38:00.001+09:00

I’m sure more than a few of you winced at the notion that the VAIO P would be trying to run Vista on a 1.33GHz Atom (Silverthorne) CPU. Probably not worth the increase in price, but jkOnTheRun has received word from Dynamism that the VAIO P will be available with CPUs up to 1.86GHz. The top model, configured with 2GB of RAM and a 128GB SSD, will feature the 1.86GHz CPU, and cost you $1899, $400 more than the otherwise similarly configured model with a 1.33GHz CPU.

[jkOnTheRun]

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Iriver P35 MID

2009-01-08T14:36:00.021+09:00

Iriver P35 news just in at Engadget. Looks like it's an ARM-based device. A few details below the image....

One more thing before I sleep….

Iriver P35 news just in at Engadget. Looks like it’s an ARM-based device. I’ll follow-up on this tomorrow.

From the press release…

P35 PMP with Wi-Fi

Iriver’s P35 is a portable media player that goes where others don’t with its built-in Wi-Fi capability and G-sensor, which allows the user to pivot the interface by simply turning the device. The G-sensor also gives the user the cool and convenient ability to change the song they are listening to by shaking the player, instead of using buttons.

The versatile device offers Music, Video (30fps), Photo viewer, Drawing, FM Radio, Voice Recording, Flash game, Office viewer and DMB (in regions where available),

The P35 utilizes iriver’s award-winning SPINN technology that matches digital performance with the retro feel of analog user controls. Other features include

A 4.3″ TFT-LCD with Touch screen, Built in Mic and TV-out, support of Full Movie CODEC, a built-in speaker, 16 GB and 32GB Nand Flash (Micro SD Slot), and USB 2.0.OTG The P35 supports DSLR Raw file viewing.

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VAIO P already taken apart

2009-01-08T14:36:00.019+09:00

Lots of info tonight about the VAIO P. Here we can see some pictures of what makes up the insides of the VAIO P. Check out a few of the shots below from PC User (thanks jkk), and a cool exploded…

Lots of info tonight about the VAIO P. Here we can see some pictures of what makes up the insides of the VAIO P. Check out a few of the shots below from PC User (thanks jkk), and a cool exploded view image on display at CES from Gizmodo. Head over to jkk or the PC User link for more pics.

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Cortex in Freescale in Pegatron in..pressive!

2009-01-08T14:36:00.017+09:00

Sascha of Netbooknews.de was impressed with this. $199 for a nice bit of design and 8 hours battery life. Pegatron are a subsidiary of ASUS. It’s showing….

Press release below but take a look at the videos at Netbooknews first. Credits to…

Sascha of Netbooknews.de was impressed with this. $199 for a nice bit of design and 8 hours battery life. Pegatron are a subsidiary of ASUS. It’s showing….

Press release below but take a look at the videos at Netbooknews first. Credits to Notebooks.com.

AUSTIN, Texas – Jan. 5, 2009 – Freescale Semiconductor enters the fast-growing netbook market with a comprehensive solution designed to enable netbooks that feature 8.9 inch displays, deliver eight hours of battery life between charges and retail at sub-$200 price points.

Based on the new i.MX515 processor featuring ARM Cortex™-A8 technology, Freescale’s solution includes an impressive lineup of software, components and resources to help OEMs quickly develop and deploy compelling netbook products.

A comprehensive netbook reference design based on the i.MX515 processor is available now. Created in concert with Pegatron, the reference design features the i.MX515 processor, Canonical’s Ubuntu® operating system, a new power management IC from Freescale, the SGTL5000 ultra low-power audio codec and Adobe® Flash® Lite™ software, Adobe’s Flash Player for mobile phones and devices.

“We see a huge opportunity in the netbook market as consumers demand more cost-effective and higher performing solutions,” said Lisa Su, senior vice president and general manager of Freescale’s Networking and Multimedia Group. “Our solution for netbooks will enable OEMs to develop compelling products that feature cell phone-like battery life at extremely aggressive price points. We believe the combination of the i.MX515 processor and related enablement solutions will dramatically accelerate the evolution of this exciting new space.”

According to analyst firm ABI Research, consumers are expected to purchase 140 million netbooks in 2013, compared with only 15 million sold in 2008. Often priced between $300 and $400 (USD), netbooks are streamlined, embedded devices that provide more than enough performance for a host of Internet-based activities such as social networking, surfing the Web, using e-mail and other common tasks.

“As was evident in the 2008 holiday season, the netbook market has exploded due to consumer demand for affordable and compact devices that allow users to conduct routine tasks like social networking or shopping on the Web,” said Philip Solis, principal analyst at ABI Research. “The netbook market is still in its infancy, and it represents a huge market opportunity for companies like Freescale. As advanced platforms for netbooks become increasingly available, price points will drop and the market will expand.”

Unleashing ARM technology for netbook markets

Integrating an ARM Cortex-A8 core and manufactured using 65-nm process technology, Freescale’s new i.MX515 provides up to 2100 Dhrystone MIPS and can scale in performance from 600MHz to 1GHz. Advanced power management features included in the i.MX515 processor, such as a dedicated, hardware-based video acceleration block, allow for extended battery life and eliminate the need for fans or heat sinks.

By incorporating highly integrated devices and low-cost printed circuit boards, the Freescale solution is engineered to keep bill of materials low. In addition, the i.MX515 supports cost efficiency by featuring a memory interface supporting both DDR2 and mobile DDR1. While mobile DDR1 is ideal for the most power sensitive mobile Internet devices, DDR2 is better suited for netbooks as it provides low power at significantly less cost. Although the i.MX515 offers support for both, many competing Cortex-A8 platform options available today only offer mobile DDR1, limiting designers’ options to maximize cost savings.

The i.MX51 is one of the only processors to offer both OpenVG and OpenGL graphics cores, thereby enabling 2D and 3D graphics as well as Flash and SVG for enhanced user experiences. Video created for the Adobe Player is one of the leading video formats on the Internet today. Working with Adobe, Freescale plans to enable the Adobe software to run on the processor’s dedicated OpenVG graphics block, thereby extending battery life and enabling netbook web browsing experiences as rich and responsive as those on traditional PCs.

New netbook power management technology from Freescale

A key component of Freescale’s netbook solution is the new MC13982 power management IC. Integrating a variety of discrete functions into a single device, the MC13982 contributes to reduced size and weight of end products while extending their battery life through innovative power management and control features. The device incorporates a battery charging system, four adjustable buck converters for powering the processor core and memory, two boost converters for LCD backlighting, and RGB LED displays along with serial backlighting drivers for display and keypad.

About Adobe Flash Platform

The Adobe Flash Platform is the de facto standard for delivering breakthrough applications, content and video on the Web. Adobe Flash Player and Adobe Flash Lite™ are on over 98 percent of connected computers and more than 800 million devices, and deliver more than 80 percent of Web video worldwide, ensuring that content and applications are presented consistently in the format users want. For more information on the Adobe Flash Platform, visit www.adobe.com/flashplatform.

Availability

Freescale’s netbook reference design is available now. The company is currently sampling the i.MX515 processor and MC13982 power management device to tier one netbook customers. Volume production for the i.MX515 device is planned for Q2 2009 to power netbooks designed for the 2009 holiday shopping season.

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VAIO P goes official on SonyStyle, instant-boot PSP-esque Xcross interface

2009-01-08T14:36:00.015+09:00

Sony has gone all out officially introducing the VAIO P on SonyStyle.com. Hidden among the sections of information about the premium netbook is mention that the VAIO P will feature an instant-boot sub-OS that will give you limited access to photos, web browsing, email, and more. It is nice to hear that it will be based around the Xcross media bar interface, similar to what you find on the PSP or PS3, which is a graphically nice looking interface with intuitive controls. The Xcross media bar above is from the PS3.

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Flash ad on Sony.vaio.jp makes me question Sony’s definition of pocketable

2009-01-08T14:36:00.013+09:00

So… the VAIO P [Portal page]. Sony says it is Pocketable right? A flash animation which you can see here shows a girl walking along, shaking her thang’ (if you will), with the VAIO P in her back jeans pocket. And guess what? It keeps sliding out, and she has to push it back in to place. I don’t quite understand how this demonstrates pocketability. It is strange especially because Sony’s VAIO UX series was probably more pocketable than the brand new VAIO P.

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Hands on with the VAIO P

2009-01-08T14:36:00.011+09:00

The mystery has been solved. The VAIO P is a laptop form-factor device that carries a pretty heavy pricetag compared to similarly sized devices. I think I’ll call it a premium netbook. I generally reserve UMPC for computers that aren’t laptop form-factor. Why premium? The price of course. Most people associate the term netbook with small, simple, and low-cost.

Anyway… Engadget has some of the first hands on videos of the VAIO P in action. As you might notice, the high resolution 1600×768 screen prompts a very wide screen. Adding to the perceived width is the lack of trackpad space due to the mouse nub. Have a look at the videos below:

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Sony P11/P19 (P500) in UK in Feb. Pricing.

2009-01-08T14:36:00.009+09:00

The Sony UK press release for the Sony P-Series gives us pricing and availability.

The VAIO P-series comes in four eye-catching colours; red, dark green, black and white, all with a high gloss piano finish. The VAIO P-series range will be…

The Sony UK press release for the Sony P-Series gives us pricing and availability.

The VAIO P-series comes in four eye-catching colours; red, dark green, black and white, all with a high gloss piano finish. The VAIO P-series range will be available in the UK in February 2009 from www.sonystyle.co.uk, priced from £849. Accessories include matching colour carrying cases and Bluetooth® mice.

So, 850 quid for the base P11 model, going up to 1368 pounds for the P19 128GBSSD version.

Pre-order is already open as Sonystyle.co.uk

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How big is the Sony Vaio P500?

2009-01-08T14:36:00.007+09:00

It’s very thin and about as wide as most netbooks. The slim depth makes it look a little too long but even so, its not badly proportioned.

Here’s the Vaio P500 with a Gigabyte M528 and an ASUS Eee PC 901.

The design is…

It’s very thin and about as wide as most netbooks. The slim depth makes it look a little too long but even so, its not badly proportioned.

Here’s the Vaio P500 with a Gigabyte M528 and an ASUS Eee PC 901.

The design is very slick though. Undeniably stylish.

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Sony Vaio P500 finally revealed in full

2009-01-08T14:36:00.005+09:00

Just an hour ago we confirmed (via Pocketables) that the P500 was actually going to show at CES and now, as the Sony press conferences gets under way, the embargoes have lifted and a number of sites have posted official…

CNet and Laptopmag are the two we’ve checked out so far but I’m sure there are going to be many more.

First thoughts on looking at the specs are…OMG. Vista on the 1.33Ghz Silverthorne. I have just that specification in my SC3 gathering dust on my desk right now because I feel it’s too slow for me to use. 2GB of RAM will help though. Battery life is said to be 4hrs on the standard battery (capacity unknown) and there’s a built-in EVDO modem. It’s extremely light and extremely thin.

Give us a few minutes and we’ll get the specs into the database and start adding external links so you can track news.

Gallery

Specifications and links to external news items.

Update: Available Jan 9th as SonyStyle.com

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Nova Side Arm 2 details

2009-01-08T14:36:00.003+09:00

It has been a while since we’ve seen anything about the Nova Side Arm 2, but I have some info on the rugged business oriented UMPC. We already got the basic spec rundown of the Side Arm 2:

800 x…

It has been a while since we’ve seen anything about the Nova Side Arm 2, but I have some info on the rugged business oriented UMPC. We already got the basic spec rundown of the Side Arm 2:

- 800 x 480 7″ palm rejection touch screen
- Intel Atom 1.1 GHz Z510 with US15W chipset
- 1GB/2GB of RAM
- 4GB disk on module, Micro SD card
- 8GB/16GB/32GB DOM solid state storage optional per slot (2 slots)
- 60/120GB HDD or 32/64GB SSD
- PC express card
- 2 USB 2.0 ports
- SD card slot
- GPS
- 802.11 a/b/g
- Bluetooth V2.0
- 3G (optional)
- Up to 10 hours battery life

Specs are nice, but here we can see the true nature of this device which is meant to be highly modular and be compatible with lots of different work applications. (click to enlarge)

Check out all of those configuration options. You could potentially load the Side Arm 2 up with 134GB of SSD storage and 120GB of HDD storage right out of the box. Normally I would curse a company for putting a memory card slot under a battery, but they took some time to think about it, and solved the issue by making the battery plug in, allowing it to move and uncover the Micro SD card slot and SIM slot without having to power down the computer.

The SA2 seen here, has a different keyboard configuration than some of the other shots that we’ve seen of the device. Nova says that this will be touch-typeable (2 hands instead of thumbs), which would be great, but I’m not sure how easy it will be given the size of the device.

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OQO Model 2+ starts at 1.3Ghz, $999

2009-01-08T14:36:00.001+09:00

Gizmodo just got the specs on the OQO Model 02+ ….

Note it’s got the same 800×480 screen. Atom 1.33 and 1.8Ghz versions. XP and Vista options. Looking good OQO. More details as we get them.

Specifications are now in the database.

OQO…

Gizmodo just got the specs on the OQO Model 02+ ….

Note it’s got the same 800×480 screen. Atom 1.33 and 1.8Ghz versions. XP and Vista options. Looking good OQO. More details as we get them.

Specifications are now in the database.

OQO Model 2+ Is +10 Awesome: OLED Touchscreen, Global 3G and Speed UP.

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Pocketables spots the VAIO P…stand.

2009-01-08T08:12:00.001+09:00

I think Jenn should stay right there until the Vaio P’s arrive after the keynote….

Sony Vaio P

Pocketables | Portable Gadget Reviews, News, and Commentary.

I think Jenn should stay right there until the Vaio P’s arrive after the keynote….

Sony Vaio P

Pocketables | Portable Gadget Reviews, News, and Commentary.

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ASUS Eee PC T101H. 10" Convertible. Pic’s by Gottabemobile.

2009-01-07T14:18:00.003+09:00

I’m sure we’ll see more pics of this over the next few days but this one (from a set at GottabeMobile) shows the slim casing, the low-profile keyboard and the hinge. The 9″ version of this is said to be under 1KG making it very interesting in my book. I guess it’s not carrying a 6-cell battery (It’s probably using flat Li-Poly batteries to help the design) but if it’s got a 30whr battery, it could be a 3-4hr device if it uses (as indicated by JKK) the Z520 CPU.

Update: Note that the 10″ version is shown as using the N270 (Diamondville) CPU.

Check out a few other pics at GottabeMobile.

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ASUS Eee PC T91 Convertible. The PND Netbook?

2009-01-07T14:18:00.001+09:00

An 8.9″ 2.1lb PC it’s not exactly the type of thing I’d like to have on my car dashboard but it seems that ASUS might be thinking that way. With GPS, touchscreen and an FM transmitter it looks like they’re…

LaptopMag have a short article with information from the ASUS press event that took place at CES a short while ago.

I have a similar combination of convertible with GPS on my SC3 and I can honestly say that I’ve never ever thought about using it as a PND. There are far better solutions out there. Maybe ASUS will focus on the tablet element of this one though. At 1KG, it will work well for some.

Liliputing have some more pics and are saying that the device is due for launch in the 3-6months timeframe.

Related ASUS convertible item: The T83 from CeBIT in 2007 that never saw the light of day.

Update: Looks like there’s a 10″ version of this. The T101H

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NEC’s Power IC’s to assist Moorestown MIDs

2009-01-07T08:17:00.003+09:00

If you’re into the discreet component level of MIDs, you might want to check out this press release from NEC.

NEC Electronics America, Inc. today announced that it will highlight its power management IC (PMIC) technology at the International Consumer Electronics…

If you’re into the discreet component level of MIDs, you might want to check out this press release from NEC.

NEC Electronics America, Inc. today announced that it will highlight its power management IC (PMIC) technology at the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES^®), January 8 – 11, 2009. The live demonstration will feature NEC Electronics’ PMIC solution for Intel’s next-generation Mobile Internet Device (MID) platform, codenamed Moorestown.

NEC were involved with the power management IC’s on Menlow so this is nothing new for them. For us, it might be a chance to see a Moorestown demo if someone can get themselves over to the NEC booth and register for a private demo.

Product brief here: (PDF) Via.

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Via’s Dual-core Nano. Nano 3000. VX800 succesor

2009-01-07T08:17:00.001+09:00

PCWorld have just published an article that gives a nice overview of where the Nano is going. There’s a version ‘3000′ due for Q3 which will be that same as the curent Nano’s but will use an optimised manufacturing process.…

In adition, Richard Brown of VIA, says the there’s a new chipset in the works and that the C7 will still be used for the current netbook market. As we thought, the Nano is really going to be for low cost laptops rather than anything ultra mobile but there’s still a chance that a low-end Nano will allow OEMs to offer higher-end versions of UMPCs.

What we really want to know is, where’s that Mobile-ITX product? It’s due for Q2 2009!

Via’s Dual-core Nano Processor on Track for Late 2009 - PC World.

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13.4″ ‘netbook.’ No details here!

2009-01-06T08:10:00.000+09:00

It's always the marketing teams that have the last word when categorising a product...

It’s always the marketing teams that have the last word when categorising a product. It used to happen with UMPCs when that was the keyword of the moment. Now it’s happening a lot more with netbooks. We’ve seen it happen before but its always good to discuss it. There’s a good discussion over on JKK’s post. Join in!

jkkmobile: Netbook needs to be small? MSI thinks not. Meet MSI X-Slim X320 netbook.

P.S. It’s a lovely looking MSI XSlim laptop with more than a hint of MBA but I won’t be diplaying or detailing it here!

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Ultra Mobile Podcast 23

2009-01-05T08:34:00.001+09:00

CES CES CES!

Sascha and myself give you a CES warm-up and tip-list for netbooks, umpcs and MIDs.

The show is just over an hour long and covers the CES UMPC Watchlist, the CES Netbook watchlist, news, some news about MIDMoves and a…

Download here, stream now via the player below or pick the podcast up via the RSS feed.

Subscribe to the Ultra Mobile Podcast RSS Feed

You can also find us on iTunes here.

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Sony UMPC tipster says all will be revealed in the next 24hrs

2009-01-05T02:53:00.001+09:00

Just seen on one of our Sony posts is a comment from Brett out in Asia. He says that Sony said that…all will be revealed on the 5th.

We dont know exectly where this info comes from (we’re trying to contact…
Just seen on one of our Sony posts is a comment from Brett out in Asia. He says that Sony said that…all will be revealed on the 5th.

We dont know exectly where this info comes from (we’re trying to contact Brett although we suspect he’s sleeping right now) but its worth keeping an eye out for new info in the next 24hrs. Well be watching too.

New Sony UMPC info includes specs and a sub $1000 price. | UMPCPortal - The Mobile Internet and Computing Reference Site.

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