Its 35 minutes past Vista here and I’ve just posted a review of an XP based UMPC!

 
Its the Kohjinsha SA1!

I think I’ve covered all the important angles but if there’s anything more you need to know, lets talk about it in this forum thread.

Full review of the Kohjinsha SA1F00A

There’s a new Microsoft Vista website up that’s totally dedicated to UMPCs. I need to take a much closer look but on first impressions (do they count?) it looks really impressive.

Want to easily access and use your software anywhere? The Ultra-Mobile PC combines the power of Windows Vista and the Origami Experience with mobile-ready technologies to put everything you need at your fingertips, wherever you go.

I’m glad that they’ve dropped the Origami name for the hardware product and moved it over to the software. It makes more sense.  It looks like the Origami Experience is about to launch too. This thread over at Origamiproject.com gives the hint!

Vista launches in just 40 minutes here in Europe.

Thanks to MiktamPro, a member of the forums here, we’ve found out that there might be some news tomorrow about the Medion MD RIM1000 UMPC.  Here’s the text as we got it.

Talked with Medion today (Jan.29th) The calls/emails have been enormous for them, however they plan to have more information out on Thursday (Feb.1) as to availability, pricing, pre-order, etc. I am on their “call back” list to receive more info, as I am sure a lot of you are. Once I get more on the RIM1000, I’ll post. Thanks!

Sounds promising. There’s no news from Medion’s homeland yet so maybe that’s also coming ‘auf Deutsche’ tomorrow.

In the meantime, feast on the specs here.

We couldn’t post this yesterday. Not on a Sunday. Really.

Thoughtfix has pulled apart the Nokia N800 for the good of the community and journaled his findings. There’s a video and a full set of images that, to be honest, don’t reveal much except custom chips and a tidy design. No secret ‘boost’ button then? Damn!

Speaking of boost, Ari Jaaksi says that the N800 will get better and the Canola team says they are close to a release of the Canola Media player. If the video support is improved, its going to really enhanced the package. 1mbps 400×240 Xvid capability would be nice. As yet we haven’t heard of anyone getting that sort of performance.

It’s time for me to say goodbye to the Carrypad journal and it’s a sad moment. Not because its finishing. No, Its a sad moment because I actually feel emotional about ending the blog that started Carrypad. I need help and that’s what’s sad ;-) For you readers, nothing really changes. I’m just moving my reporting over to Origamiportal.com where the posting management is a lot more reliable. There’s more room for development, archiving, searching and importantly – comment tracking. I hate the fact that you can’t subscribe to comments on a blogger entry. If you’re watching […]

We’re not too sure why everyone is getting so excited about the HTC Athena pricing. Original estimates for the device ranged from $1200 to $1700 and it appears to have gone on sale for a subsidized price of $600. That’s subsidized with a two year contract meaning that the real price of the device is, in fact, over $1200.

So perhaps the answer to the problem of expensive UMPCs has been found. Put a cellular modem in them and sell through a subsidized sales model. Lets see what you might get if you apply the same pricing model to UMPCs.

• Nokia N800 – Free with a basic 3G phone and 2 year contract. (The 770 is already available for free with certain deals)
• Flybook V33i broadband – $900 on a two0year contract.
• Samsung Q1B (HSDPA model due in Europe) – $300 on a two year contract.

Of course they are just pricing guesses and as yet we haven’t seen any UMPC being sold through this sales model. (The Sony UX280 nearly qualifies but there’s no contractual obligations.) Lets see what happens when the HTC UMPC turns up though. The bulk of their sales are through their mobile phone carrier partners. If they introduce a cellular capable UMPC it could well go through the same channels and we’ll be dancing at the checkout by the looks of it! Here’s a question then.  Does a subsidised $500 UMPC really count?

News on the pricing via Pocketables.

Rob Bushway of GottaBeMobile has just finished testing ‘Google life’ as a replacement to his normal application suite. He’s now back with Outlook! Its a good report but unfortunately it didn’t work out for Rob. It worked out for me so I thought it would be worthwhile adding to this thread by trying to identify the differences between Rob and myself.

This just in from someone that wants to remain anon.

The only info in the tip was ‘proto’ so we’re at a bit of a disadvantage in terms of details but judging by the size of the battery and pen, its got UMPC potential. Despite the bashed-up trim.

Hints of the Clio NXT in there maybe? We’re guessing 7″ touchscreen and WindowsCE due to its thickness.

The feelers are out…standby.