This video from jkk shows the Origami Experience on an Amtek T700.  It looks better than the v7110 video (same OEM device) from Thoughtfix but the video issue is still there. No Video playback capability for 2006 VIA-based UMPCs under OE / Vista.

Fingers crossed for the OQO Model 02 and the Medion UMPC.

After yesterday’s Vista launch, there are more devices surfacing online with Vista as the primary OS.  Checking the OQO website reveals that it has been updated to include Vista as a choice. The new system is however only available on the model 02 “best” version and the option to have it on other configurations is absent at the moment. If you are prepared  to wait another 8-12 weeks, then you can now order and have a choice of either Windows XP or Vista Business  at no additional  cost or Vista Ultimate for a special at a special upgrade price of $100.

In other news today, jkontherun reports that the Samsung Q1P is available to order with Vista Business at PC Connection and at CDW – It appears to be the same as the Windows Q1P however no other information is provided. We hope to see Vista drivers for the Q1 soon – especially since Microsoft uses this UMPC in its own Vista advertising campaigns (see right image).

Didn’t we hear VIA say ‘well under $1000.’ in this video? Bzzzzzzzt!  Didn’t we hear the president of Arima say that they would go on sale for $800? Bzzzzzzzzzzt!  The Medion UMPC has just gone on pre-order availability in Germany for 1000 Euro. You do get the docking station, Windows Vista Home Premium and Microsoft Works thrown in so maybe you could call this a ‘bundle.’ but it won’t be available with the built in GPS and it won’t be available with the build in DVB-T solution. With all the bad news about media playback on VIA-based Vista devices one wonders how they’re going to sell any at all. Lets ignore that bit though and assume that Arima are going to get some drivers together in time for launch.

Ignoring the price and possible driver issues, (don’t forget the blocked MovieMaker and DVDMaker apps – which is probably why they are including Nero DVD softare!)  the Medion UMPC is a nice machine. The hardware layout with touchpad and keyboard is good, the weight is nice, the battery life and the size too but its such a shame that Vista is pushing the prices up like this. Vista has come at the wrong time for UMPCs so maybe we should forget Vista for a while, stick with XP and a nice StreetDeck ‘experience.’ Anyone with us on this?

Its in Spanish, its a PDF but its a sign, a really good sign, that things are moving in UMPC-land and we’re really pleased to see that people are having the confidence to invest time and money in the sector. ToDo UMPC Magazine is the first electronic publication dedicated to UMPCs and its 27-pages come from the team at ToDoUMPC.com Unfortunately,our Spanish extends only as far as ‘English Breakfast por favor’ so we have no idea what it’s saying but there appears to be some helpful info inside. Good luck to ToDoUMPC.

ToDo UMPC Magazine is available here.

The Origami Experience software, an exciting overlay package for UMPCs running Vista was released to the public yesterday. 

Origami Experience Pack contains these three programs for an Ultra-Mobile PC (UMPC) running Windows Vista:
Origami Experience
Access your music, videos, pictures, and favorite programs.
Sudoku
Play this popular game using a touch screen.
Touch Settings
Easily view and interact with the touch screen on a UMPC.

Its available for download from here and already, some keen users have posted their reports.

Thoughtfix was disappointed. On the TabletKiosk v7110 he has (a VIA-based device – problems are starting to mount up for these.) its too slow and he’s decided to go back to XP. He’s also made a video which indeed shows a very unusable bit of software.

Matt Propst also has some thoughts. He also uses a VIA based Q!B UMPC and …”Once again, BOO slow performance!”

So far we haven’t seen any reports from Intel-based UMPC users although Matt Faulkner has done an video review with it running on the ASUS R2H and we can see it works.

The origami experience is a lovely bit of software and appears to offer many advantages to UMPC users. As it stands today though, only the ASUS R2H is capable of running it. The two new ‘Vista’ UMPCs – the Medion and OQO Model 02 – look like they won’t get the advantage of being able to run this software at all and in fact the question still remains, will any VIA UMPC be capable of running Vista Media Center and Media Player successfully. So far, no-one can tell us otherwise. 

This is another one to add to the list. The Motion Computing LS800 (Pentium-M , Intel 915 chipset) now has a set of drivers available for Vista here. It includes a graphics driver for the GMA900 (Version 14.25.0.4704) Have any of the Samsung Q1 owners tried this driver?

Source: [url=http://studenttabletpc.com/2007/01/le1600_and_ls800_vista_drivers_available.html]StudentTabletPC[/url]

According to an FAQ posted at VIAarena, the new VN896 IGP for the C7-M ULV CPU won’t be able to support Aero after all.

Can any of VIA’s Direct X9.0 integrated chipsets run Aero?
No they cannot

I had previously reported that we were waiting for confirmation, then I saw WDDM drivers and assumed ‘aero.’ Apparently you can’t make that assumption. Sorry readers! Don’t expect aero on VIA-based UMPC for another year or so. Personally I’m not worried about this issue at all. I didn’t expect it and I don’t even want it. Flying windows will kill my battery life! There is another issue that’s worrying me though and that is,  why doesn’t Vista Media Center and Media Player work for the VIA UMPC owners? So far I’ve had 4 reports of it not working. Thoughtfix even blogged about it today.

Not only is Windows Media Center broken as hell, but Windows Media PLAYER is broken too! I got about 3 frames per second from just about any video I tried to play on it. Identical videos played without problems on XP Tablet 2005.

I’m trying really hard to get info from VIA about this but I haven’t got anywhere yet. The only things possible at this stage are that they release some new drivers or, as they did on XP, a dedicated media playback application. That option isn’t going to impress anyone. Especially if they’ve just spent $2K on an OQO Model 02.

Just hours after the Vista launch, there are already 4 announcements about Vista-based UMPCs.

First prize goes to the Sony UX390N which was reported to be available in the SonyStyle store over the last weekend. The 390N is the SSD-equipped version for the US market and sits beside the UX280P which is XP-based but Vista upgradable. Moving east with Sony, we see that the same model will be launched in the UK as the UX1XN for an incredible £2000. These are not the prices we’re looking for! Another hop east on the Sony trail brings us to Akihabara land where it looks like the same model again has been launched as the UX-91S.

We’ve seen the Samsung Q1 running Vista all over the place but there has been no official word were on upgrades. There have been rumors and this news brings credibility to those rumors. Aving are reporting that a new Vista certified ‘SenS’ Q1 (again it looks like an SSD version) has been announced. Its Celeron and Intel 915-based so one assumes that all the drivers are now ready from Samsung.

In addition to the above, we also know that the OQO Model 02 and the Medion MD RIM 1000 UMPCs will come with Vista. The ASUS R2H has a Vista upgrade program in place but still doesn’t appear to be purchasable with Vista pre-installed.