Following up a number of stories on the i-Station S43 last week, it appears that its actually going to be called the i-Station Netforce and it looks like a pretty interesting Carputer and PMP combo. Its an evolution of a Personal Media Player (PMP) that includes Windows CE 5.0, an 800×480 4.3″ touchscreen, some overlay software and the inclusion of digital TV and navigation support. It looks like HSDPA data support is built in but I can’t see any info on Wifi or Bluetooth. I suspect that they are not included as it looks like its […]

Last month I was asked to contribute to an article for the Intel website. The article focuses on UMDs (Ultra Mobile Devices) and how they are moving more and more into education scenarios. The general trend is more mobile PCs in the classroom We’ve been talking about where UMPCs should be incubated. Should they be pushed into consumer markets or business markets? I didn’t see anyone commenting on the education sector as a seed point though. I remember where I saw my first PC. It was a Research Machines 380Z […]

It looks like its time for a new watchlist. The Summer 2006 watchlist is nearly complete and there are now some new devices to add to the list for 2007. Looking back on the previous watchlist, a lot has happened. Samsung Q1 with VIA processor. (Q1b) – Launched Founder Mininote. (Tablet Kiosk i7210) – Launched Pepperpad 3 – Launched Flybook V33i. – Launched ASUS R2H – Launched Averatec AHI. – Delayed Nokia Internet Tablet. – No News DualCor cPc – Delayed   This is how my new ultra mobile PC Watchlist is looking. Mobits UMPC. (x15, […]

Last month I commented on how many of the original UMPC-related sites had stopped generating content and seemed to be dropping out of the ultra mobile PC circle. Ultranauts.com not one of those sites. Its developing into a good source of original content and comment on UMPCs and as well as a site re-build, they’re bringing new contributors on board. Perry Read is the latest member of the team and he’s introduced himself here. Welcome to the friendly world of Ultra Hand Portable Mobile Origami Mini Tablet PC things. For […]

Mike Cane has also posted a review of the Pepperpad 3 here. He got a good few hours playing with it at the Digital Life show last week. A brilliant invention is the elliptical roller on the right side for scrolling through pages I totally agree with that. Mike comes to the conclusion that its a couch computer. I think that’s exactly where Pepper want to see this device although I’m sure they’d be happy if there was a nice big band of happy hackers buying these up too! Steve / […]

This has got to be one of the most energy efficient Linux web/database servers in the world. After installing Apache,Mysql and PHP (one command line) on the Pepperpad I’ve just loaded up Joomla and populated it with a copy of the Carrypad portal on the Pepperpad. Try it out (I’ll leave it up for 24 hours) at: http://pepperpad.carrypad.com:82 [Thanks to the 50 people that tried it out.] Of course, I could be running it on a huge server in my basement so you’ll have to believe me – it’s running […]

Over the last few hours I’ve been preparing an article about the ‘best’ ultra mobile PC for a given customer profile. On my shortlist for my chosen customer was the Q1 and the v7110. Ctitanic has both the v7110 and Q1 and he’s just posted a very nice review about his new Q1 at UMPCBuzz. He doesn’t choose a winner because as he says, every user has a different set of requirements. It doesn’t help anyone to make sweeping statements about the best UMPC. If you’re considering a UMPC, you really need […]

At last I’m seeing information about availability of the ASUS R2H in U.S. and Canada. Funnily enough the info came to me through a Google Adsense ad. The model number you’re looking for in the U.S. and Canada is R2H-BH059T and its appearing on a number of websites now for between $950 and $999. According to one ASUS retailer, ProPortable, you should see these shipping next week with the same spec as the German model (GPS, Bluetooth, webcam, 768MB/60GB.) I’m waiting for final confirmation on expected ship dates. [update: The […]