UMPC

I4U Gadget Flyer: PS3 Launch : Sugar Fuel Cell : Q1 Ultra UMPC

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The new !

Last week in review:
The Sony PS3 has launched today in Europe, Australia and other PAL regions after a 4 month delay. In London the first 100 customers got a free 46 inch HDTV with their Sony PS3 purchase. to mark the Europe PS3 launch we published photos of a Sony PS3 Fashion shoot with German model Julia: see the photos.

Find more Top Technology stories from last week below.
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Posted on Sun, 25 Mar 2007 02:00:00 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

TufTab UMPC by TabletKiosk

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TabletKiosk introduces a rugged UMPC dubbed TufTab.

The eo TufTab v7112XT UMPC features sunlight viewable 7" TFT LCD touch screen and is IP53 compliant for resistance to water and dust.

This UMPC is of course geared towards professional use in warehouses or on construction site.
A rugged UMPC would also be neat to take on a tough hiking trip into the back country.
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Posted on Thu, 22 Mar 2007 09:50:00 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

New Samsung Q1 Ultra UMPC at CeBit 2007

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Samsung introduced an updated version of its Q1 UMPC (Ultra Mobile Personal Computer) dubbed Q1 Ultra.

This is one of the worst product names in a while. Naming a product that already has Ultra in the product category name is very weird. Why not call it Q2? The form factor and the additional buttons are making the Q1 Ultra different enough from the Q1.

Samsung even headlined the Q1 Ultra in their CeBit micro site with "The Ultra Experience". We have to worry that the Samsung marketing department is overdosing on the word Ultra.
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Posted on Sat, 17 Mar 2007 05:00:00 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Vulcan FlipStart UMPC Closer to Reality

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Way back in the technology dark ages, or 2003 as it is commonly known, we heard a bit about an UMPC from a company called Vulcan known as the FlipStart and that was about as far as things ever went.

Long assumed to be nothing more than vaporware it seems that the FlipStart may actually materialize into a real product. PCmag.com has a full review of the FlipStart E-1001S that closely resembles a notebook that was filled with candy I saw on the shelves of the gas station the other day. Read more

Posted on Mon, 5 Mar 2007 15:26:42 CST | by Shane McGlaun

Japanese Market UMPCs at Best Buy

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Best Buy is offering under their Escape online shop a couple of UMPCs and notebooks which are Japanese market only. They offer these through a partnership with the pioneering Japanese notebook exporter Dynamism.

Dynamism is in the business since 1997, and we worked with them in the past on a couple of product reviews. They are a great company to work with. Looking at the current limited offering in the Best Buy Escape shop, you also can just go directly to Dynamism and order there. Pricing is the same. The partnership is good marketing for Dynamism and should help them spread the word.

Dynamism says that there will be more products in the Escape shop in the near future.
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Posted on Thu, 1 Mar 2007 09:00:00 CST | by Luigi Lugmayr

Eleksen UMPC Pouch/Keyboard

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Eleksen is well known for their integration of fabric and input devices. If you are a user of an UMPC that is looking for a keyboard as portable as your computer, this just might be it.

The familiar Eleksen fabric keyboard is built into a pouch that protects your UMPC during transit. The keyboard connects to the PC via USB. Looking at the keyboard and other fabric Eleksen products I always have the same thoughts. Read more

Posted on Thu, 22 Feb 2007 17:00:00 CST | by Shane McGlaun

Apple iPhone is the UMPC done right?

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Rob Enderle over at Digital Trends published an interesting article on the impact of the Apple iPhone on the UMPC category of devices.

Quote:
"You remember Origami right? This was the consumer friendly name for the UMPC. When the first one of these came out from Samsung, it showed promise but was too big, the battery life was too short, it didn’t have WAN networking, and the touch screen keyboard wasn’t very good. It was also too expensive and the full OS got in the way of the “simple” concept of getting access to a few core applications that would drive the device like multimedia consumption and email. Someone listened and unfortunately for Microsoft (who came up with the idea) it was Apple.
Now Microsoft isn’t the only company looking foolish right now, IBM actually came up with this idea before Microsoft did and every survey I did on the class, which was called Modular Computing at the time, indicated it would be massively successful if it was done right.
And had it been done right, it likely could have done for both Microsoft and IBM what the iPod did for Apple. But Microsoft under-funded their effort and IBM didn’t even try in the first place. "
Read the full story.
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Posted on Mon, 15 Jan 2007 03:00:00 CST | by Luigi Lugmayr

S-XGen UMPC w/ Cool Folding Keyboard

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This is one of the coolest UMPC devices that I have seen in a long time. The folding keyboard is certainly drool worthy as are the specs of the system. Unfortunately the S-XGen UMPC doesn’t run real Windows but Windows CE 5.0 making it a bit weak there.

Aside from the OS the device uses a 520 MHz Xscale processor, 20 GB HDD, 256 MB of SDRAM, MMC card slot, 4” 480 x 270 screen and a wimpy 280 pixel webcam. Rounding out the feature set is WiFi connectivity, Bluetooth and tri-band GSM connectivity. Read more

Posted on Fri, 5 Jan 2007 15:00:00 CST | by Shane McGlaun

I4U Gadget Flyer: I4U Gadget of the Year : Wireless Power : Vista UMPC

Topic:

The new !

Last week in review:
This was a busy week, that is why we decided to make another Gadget Flyer in 2006. Check out the top 10 picks for this last week in 2006 below.

HAPPY NEW GADGET YEAR!

Get ready for CES 2007 and subscribe to your CES News RSS Feed.
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Posted on Sun, 31 Dec 2006 03:00:00 CST | by Luigi Lugmayr

New Microsoft Vista based UMPC at the CES 2007

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Microsoft is supposed to show a new generation of UMPC (Origami, Vistagami, whatever you want to call it) at the CES 2007.

The new UMPC will be based of course on Windows Vista. The first generation UMPC, which are based on Windows XP have been way to expensive to be disruptive at any point in time.
I would be surprised if the Windows Vista based UMPCs will be cheaper. Ideally such devices which are not a notebook, but also not a PDA or smart phone, would be priced below $500. Current UMPCs are closer to $1,000. Read more

Posted on Sat, 23 Dec 2006 08:00:00 CST | by Luigi Lugmayr

Asus R2H UMPC

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Asus introduced now their first UMPC. The Asus R2H is not adding major things on top of currently available UMPCs, like the Samsung Q1.

The Asus R2H features a Intel Celeron M ULV Processor at 900MHz, 7" WXGA screen, 256MB RAM, GPS, Bluetooth and Finger print reader.
The Asus UMPC can come in 20, 30, 40 or 60 GB HDD configurations. Read more

Posted on Sat, 26 Aug 2006 05:00:00 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

I4U Gadget Flyer: HD DVD : UMPC : Blu-ray

Topic:

The new !

Last week in review:
HD DVD moves ahead in Japan with !
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Posted on Sun, 16 Apr 2006 01:00:00 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

A Cheaper UMPC is Coming From Samsung?

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Apparently Samsung will also offer a more affordable UMPC later this year.

Samsung just introduced the Sens Q1 UMPC in Korea with a whopping $2,000 price-tag. There are also some reports that put the price for the Q1 at $1,200. Not sure which one will pane out as the correct one.

The lower priced Samsung UMPC is supposed to run on a VIA CPU and the price could be below $700. No other details have been revealed yet. Read more

Posted on Thu, 13 Apr 2006 09:12:59 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Samsung Sens Q1 UMPC Price-Tag Does Not Make Sens(e)

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Samsung announced a $2,000 price for its first UMPC (origami) in Korea.

The UMPC concept is already questionable, to put a $2,000 price-tag on it will not help sales. For $2,000 you get a Apple MacBook Pro for instance.

The Samsung Sens Q1 has a 7" screen, 900MHz Intel Celeron M, 40GB HDD, 512MB DDR2 RAM, 802.11b/g and Bluetooth 2. The Korean Q1 comes with DVB-T tuner and some other accessories. Still a $2,000 price-tag does not make sens(e).

Update:
There are now other reports in the Korean media that put the price of the Samsung Sens Q1 at $1,200, which would be closer to reason, but still to high. Apparently Samsung will release a cheaper UMPC later this year. Read more

Posted on Thu, 13 Apr 2006 03:59:40 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

I4U Gadget Flyer: UMPC : 10MP Camera Phone : SkyScout

Topic:

The new !

The Technology News Highlights for last week are:
!
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Posted on Sun, 12 Mar 2006 07:52:42 CST | by Luigi Lugmayr

CeBIT: Sling Media Announces Support for UMPCs

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Sling Media today announced a customized version of its SlingPlayer software for products based on the Ultra-Mobile PC.

The customized SlingPlayer application leverages the touch screen and resolution of the UMPC OS giving customers full control over their home television source, including the most popular cable boxes, satellite receivers, DVD players and DVRs.
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Posted on Fri, 10 Mar 2006 09:29:28 CST | by Luigi Lugmayr

CeBIT: JBJ UMPC with VIA C7-M-Processor

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With the UMPCs introduced by Asus, Samsung and Founder yesterday, another Origami-PC got sighted on VIA's exhibition booth. It is called “Smart Caddie” and comes from the Japanese manufacturer PBJ. Smart Caddie uses Via’s C7-M CPU ULV with 1GHz, which accordingly to VIA, competes directly with Pentium M (Centrino platform).

The chipset VN800 with integrated S3 graphics and the South Bridge VT8237R also come from VIA. Data is stored on a 2.5” hard drive. Integrated are also WLAN and Bluetooth. Battery life is about 2.5 hours.

Asus, Samsung and Founder use the Intel Celeron M ULV with 900 MHz in their UMPCs. Read more

Posted on Fri, 10 Mar 2006 02:05:46 CST | by Luigi Lugmayr

CeBIT: Origami/UMPC revealed

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At the CeBIT, details about Origami/UMPC are finally revealed. Asus shows an Ultra Mobile PC (still nameless), Samsung presents the Q1 and a product from Founder also can be seen.

The UMPC is mini Tablet PC with Touch screen. As operation system, the Windows XP Tablet PC Edition 2005 with additional software is used (e.g. a virtual thumb keyboard). The display is about 7” (or smaller) and shows a minimum of 800x480 points. The UMPC weighs approximately 2 pounds and is WiFI- and Bluetooth-enabled.

According to Samsung, the Q1 has 512MB Ram, weighs 780 gram (1.7 pound) and measures 9 x 5.5 x 1-inch. With a battery-life of 3.5 hours, you can play music and videos without booting Windows. As processor, the Celeron M ULC is used plus 40GB harddrive. No details about the Asus PC are known yet, however, it’s supposed to have a Webcam and one of the demo products has a GPS receiver.

THE UMPCs are supposed to come to the market within the next few months for the price of about $800.

Altogether the UMPCs appear to be an interesting concept. Whether it is enough for on-the-road Notebook replacement, will still turn out. Considering the price, it could be an alternative for those of who the PSP screen is too small for surfing.

Two years ago, Sony had already pursued a similar approach with the Vaio U. But Sony never sold the devices in Europe and the series was stopped in the meantime… Read more