…is the sensible title to this post. The alternative is ‘Cars, Women, UMPCs’ but I didn’t post that because my wife is sitting in the same room and can read bold text from the sofa!

Hugo Ortega of the Uber Tablet Blog has details of how Audi went for a UMPC-based solution for their Motorshow lead capture process. Hugo sorted them out with a dedicated software solution on the Samsung Q1. Read more here.

JkOnTheRun have linked to a good article at Origamiproject.com that talks about how to save battery power. There are some nice comments too.

My tips:

• Look for a LED-backlit screen when you’re choosing a UMPC.
• Make sure your power-settings are optimised. (Screen off as soon as possible.)
• You can often use the MS perfmon utility to watch the battery drain. Play around with settings and see how it affects drain. (Good how-to on perfmon here.)

You’ll find some battery capacity and life figures in the product database now. E.g. ASUS R2H specs. When we launch the new portal on Thursday, you’ll be able to compare battery life for a number of the popular UMPCs in the new comparison engine.

I’m not sure if this is news that’s already down there as I’ve had my head down all day but Matt Propst just sent me a link to a Samsung press release stating that the Q1P for Vista is official. [No, i’m not calling it a Vistagami because I really don’t like that expression. Vista+Origami=usually problems!!]

The Q1P for Windows Vista is available now for an MSRP of $1,299 and can be purchased through a variety of retail and e-tail outlets including Best Buy, CDW, CompUSA, NewEgg.com, Circuit City.com, Buy.com and Costco.com. The Q1P for Windows Vista is also available through distribution via Ingram Micro.

The press release and website still don’t confirm that the screen is now a LED-backlit model but its pretty clear, based on Kevin Tofel’s tests and the quoted 280 nits brightness that the Q1P does now have a new screen – the same part as the Q1B (also 280nits.)

Look out for new drivers soon!

Press release is here.

Many people thought they’d never see the day.

This is the Flipstart E-1001S that Crave.net have just posted news about. $1,999.

5.6″ screen, Pentium M CPU, 30GB and 512MB of RAM. It looks like its running XP. Crave.net references a PCMag article that doesn’t seem to be there any more but a check of the fanclub over at Handtops.com reveals the full text.

1024×600 screen. Secondary display. Built-in Sprint EV-DO modem. 1.1Ghz Pentium-M with 915GSM chipset. Scroll buttons. Webcam. It measures 4.0 by 5.4 by 1.3 inches and weighs 1.8 pounds.

It looks fat doesn’t it but remember that the Sony UX is pretty fat too! The keyboard is definitely the thumbing type. How about that screen though. 1024×600 is OK on a 7″ screen. On a 5.6: screen its going to be tight!

More info as we decifer the review notes…..

[update1] Battery life looks good. over 3 hours video which indicates that the screen must be a LED backlit part. A docking station is also included in the package which will soften the price shock and put it head-to-head against the OQO Model 02.

[update2] Now tracking the device details in the product portal here.

[update3] We got hold of the images from the article. They are in the gallery now.

The first pricing and availability information for the new Amtek T770 UMPC is now in. PocketPC Solutions in the UK have made contact with us to tell us that they will be selling it and expect availability in April. There’s an information and pre-order page [here] and the prices are as follows.

• 1GB RAM, 40GB HDD, Windows Vista Home Premium £599.99
• 1GB RAM, 60GB HDD, Windows Vista Home Premium £639.99
• 1GB RAM, 80GB HDD, Windows Vista Home Premium £679.99

There’s also a special offer for pre-order at the moment with the 80GB version being offered for £599.99 40GB version being offered for £549.99. [apparently there are some delays on the 60GB and 80GB models so the offer had to be changed.]

For the UK, these prices are very competitive and compare well to the new Medion device which has a lower spec and higher price (but includes the slide-out keyboard.) Amtek will be at CeBit in 2 weeks time so we’re hoping for hands-on then but in the meantime, the UMPCportal specification page is here and we’ll be adding details, links and news as we get it.

Thanks to an article at JKonTheRun I was prompted to take a look at the status of the P1610 here in Europe. TheTabletStore (Germany) usually get the Fujitsu’s in very early and sure enough, they’re now listing the UMTS-capable version of the P1610. Its a little late (it was due in Jan) but it might just be worth the wait. Its not clear if the unit is HSPDA capable (I’ll be surprised if its not seeing as two providers in Germany are already upgrading to 3.Mbps HSDPA) but it is clear that its real and available now for €2179

A nice side-effect of the new model being introduced is that its pushed down the average price of the standard P1610 so if you’ve already got an HSDPA capable phone, you’re quids in! The only problem is that there just aren’t many hsdpa phones available in Europe yet. I’ve got my eyes on the (yes, rather straightforward) E65 or the Nokia 6110 Navigator [mobile review have a review] I rather like the idea of having a GPS module on my belt and if it can be used via BT on other devices then it makes the perfect partner phone for a UMPC.

As I was checking out the new T-Mobile Web ‘n Walk Plus HSDPA contracts today (around 40 Euro per month for 5GB HSDPA and 200 hours Hotspot use. 20 Euro one-time extra for the HSDPA modem. Not bad!) I saw that the T-Mobile Ameo is immediately available for delivery. If you’re a business customer then this is only going to cost you about 750 Euro. (900 for those that have to pay goods tax.) and if you’re closing a new 24 month contact you can get it for 420 Euros without tax. That’s not bad at all considering you’ve got a Pocket PC with multimedia capabilities, navigation device (T-Mobile have a NaviGate tariff option which includes dynamic traffic information) HSDPA capability and the keyboard. More info on the specs here. T-Mobile Germany have a nice demo site (in German of course) here.

If you want to stay a few minutes ahead of the blogging curve while I’m at CeBit later this month, subscribe to the gallery overview RSS feed. I generally upload images to a new album in the Gallery before using them in a report and I’ll be using this method if anything interesting pops up in a conference or at a stand while I’m at CeBit. The Ultra Mobile Journalism Kit (below) is what I’ll be using to report while I’m there. I’ll write more about it next week when I’ve finalised the set-up because I’m looking to be able to mount the UMPC on the tripod, add some external power and also add a zoom or interview mic.

More info on the ultra-mobile journalism kit in the Gallery

I was speaking to a neighbor of mine (a pro photographer) about how I could mount something on the tripod to hold the Kohjinsha and after showing him the setup he’s now very very interested in testing the Kohjinsha! If you’re at CeBit and interested in seeing the setup I’ll be demonstrating it at the UMPC social in Hanover on the 16th March 20:00hrs. Location TBA.