As announced in the Origamiportal.com podcast, Carrypad will be taking over Origamiportal.com. Here are the details of the deal and some thoughts about the future for the two portals. Roy and Matt have done a brilliant job over the last 10 months to set-up, operate and grow what is now the biggest independent ultra mobile PC forum on the ‘net. They’ve put in a lot of time on their podcasts, work on backgrounds for Origami UMPCs and a huge amount of effort to help people in the forums. Well done lads. […]

I want to follow-up on the SlashGear news about the Medion RIM 1000 UMPC.  Take a look at the SlashGear image above and then the Arima ULV650 below. We already knew that the Arima was the OEM but as you can see, the product has had a few modifications since the original CAD images came out. The most interesting is that the mouse button has gone from the keyboard and is now a thumbpad on the bottom right of the frame. Personally I like mouse buttons more that thumb pads […]

Happy New Year! 7 Days to go to CES. Lets get started right now.

Here’s a rundown of UMPC devices you should keep an eye out for during the CES trade show period 8th-11th Jan 2007. if you’re going, be sure to plan these into your route through the CES halls and if not,  keep checking back here. We plan to run a very active news service for the CES period. Extra coffee has already been ordered.

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Through Microsoft’s Origami team, we’re likely to see a number of new devices. There’s the Yahoo UMPC to start with but expect to see at least 3 more UMPC’s announced through the Origami team. They will also be showing a Vista-based enhancement pack for UMPCs. It looks like this will be an enhanced version of the program launcher and on-screen input software. Expect the integration off more functionality into program launcher rather than it relying on external programs. (WMP, email and messaging built-in for example.)

HTC. They might be showing the Athena. Its not a UMPC but it will be interesting to see if there is any news.

UMEC ELT408
Not many details available. (some here.) You might find this at CES although they are not listed in the exhibitor list.

Seamless S-XGen
The latest specifications are here. This is due for launch at CES. Its more of a high-end Smartphone than a UMPC because its only got a small resolution screen. In the same class as a Nokia Communicator, HTC Athena.

ROAD Smartphone / PC.
This is another high-end Smartphone in the style of a Nokia Communicator. Looks pretty interesting.

OQO next-gen umpc.
There is talk of a new UMPC-like device from QOQ. This may have cellular data capability although it wasn’t shown in the recent FCC docs. Engadget had some news recently. 

Mo-Bits X15-5 Mo-Bits X15-7
The Mobits UMPC has been in development for some time.  A previous email to us stated August as the production date and since then we heard that its going into production. The VX3 (below) has already appeared on a French website so expect the X15 devices to appear soon too. Mobitia and Mo-Bits do not appear on the exhibitors list at CES unfortunately.

Mo-Bits VX3
This is the original design for a ruggedised UMPC. Many manufacturing options exist including flash hard drives, camera, GPS, dvb-t/h and fingerprint sensor. Ruggedised to IP53 standards on the front face. Appears that Akori are distributing a version of it. Update: You might see it on the TabletKiosk stand.

DualCor cPC version 2
DualCor have stated that they are working on a V2 version of the cPC for spring 2007 release. News here about the delays on the previous model.

Averatec AHI
The device is confirmed as planned for a Q1 2007 launch so there’s a high possibility that it will be shown at CES. Its likely to be different from the model we’ve already seen.

Arima/Medion MD RIM 1000 UMPC. You might see Arima there but we doubt you’ll hear anything from the German company Medion. They are likely to use CeBit to launch the product. Keep an eye out for other re-badged versions of it.

Nokia E90, Nokia 870. Don’t expect Nokia to do anything at CES but Nokia USA will be there so its worth watching out for them.

Other companies to watch out for at CES.

Tablet Kiosk. Be sure to keep an eye out for them. They have new accessories. (and a new device.)

LG. They have the C1 and a few prototypes which might get a showing. There’s a rumor of a UMPC in the works too.

Sony. Another variant of the UX perhaps?

Samsung. The SPH P9000 UMPC/Smartphone could be there.

ASUS. There are rumors of a VIA-based device knocking around.

ECS. They are the OEM/ODM for the Founder H70 UMPC.

Amtek. The T700 was re-badged many times in 2006. Will there be a new version in 2007. A little bird tells us ‘yes.’

Dell. They were talking about continuing the Axim range of PDA’s. Maybe they’ll move it into the UMPC market. Get over to the Dell stand and give them some hassle/alcohol until hey break down and spill the beans.

Tatung. They might show that strange ‘UMPC’ device we caught sight of recently.

There’s always a few surprises in store so all-in-all we can expect to see a lot of UMPC related news that will set the scene for 2007.

This has been rumored and with CES coming up, its not surprising either. TabletKiosk will be announcing a new UMPC at CES. Our source tells us that its probably going to be a re-badged Mo-Bits VX3 UMPC. This is the Ruggedised UMPC that leaked out via a Carrypad report back in August.

 
Image from Akori website.

Akori are already distributing it in Europe (PDF available here. News tip via UltraMobilePC-Tips.) and they show a number of build options including flash drives and 2 and 4-cell battery options. Its based on a VIA C7 and VX700 chip combo and provides dust and splash resistance. (more specs, CAD images here.) Obviously this is not one for the high street so expect a ruggedised price (Akori themselves have talked about 1400 Euros for this product.) but it should fit well in the TK portfolio and be an attractive option for their vertical market customers.

The second new device from TabletKiosk that we’re hearing about is a 12″ tablet PC. No more information that that at the moment.

It seems like a long time since the Vega hit the ‘net. In that time there have been a number of new products and technologies talked about that somehow make the Vega seem a little aged.

Most people seem to agree that the form factor is good and most agree that the omission of built-in Bluetooth and WiFi is a major flaw but everyone seems to love it anyway. Thoughtfix has proved again that as an in-car portable PC, it is easy to use and with Windows XP, has a flexible operating system in his testing. Take a look at the blog and video for more info. Unfortunately Street Deck didn’t work (lack of Direct3D support on the AMD Geode chip is probably the reason.) and Thoughtfix would prefer to have Windows XP Tablet Edition installed so its not perfect. The price is also a little on the high side too due to the lack of direct international sales by Raon Digital but if you’re interested, Dynamism (global sales) and PocketPCSolutions (European sales) are the places to order. For more info on specs, check out the Carrypad datasheet.

Footnote: We hear that Raon Digital have been working on a new device in the same form factor. No more details at the moment.