PMPInside have a review of the Tango Wings UMPC which, although near-impossible to de-cipher, gives us some nice images

There are some things I noted from the review. The first is that the GPS is definitely a module that clips onto the back. The second is that the media player shown in some of the images doesn’t look like Windows Media player and lastly, the only mention of battery life comes in the same sentence as ‘2hrs’ and ‘2.5hrs’ I hope that’s not right. This news came via Lazion.com who also teases us with a local price of just 550 Euros. Argh! That’s nearly half of the European price of the Euro/US version, the Medion RIM 1000 due for availability within weeks.

PMPInsde review.
Sungju Computer website.

Move over Intel…

Taipei, Taiwan, 26 April 2007 – VIA Technologies, Inc, a leading innovator and developer of silicon chip technologies and PC platform solutions, today announced that the eighth annual VIA Technology Forum will take place in Taipei on Wednesday 6 June, during Computex 2007, with the theme of “Ultra Mobility”.

Last years VTF was excellent news for UMPCs and this years looks even better. And I’m not just talking about the banner. Ultra Mobility will be HEADLINING! That means something. If someone was to ask to guess what will happen I’d say CoreFusion, DirectX9, small design prototypes and new devices. Its VIA best chance to hit back at Intel this year and if they get it right they really have the possibility to be presenting 5-hour small form factor UMPCs that could launch well before Intel’s Menlow comes out. To be honest though, I have no idea what’s going to happen except that I won’t be getting much sleep on June 5th and 6th and 7th.

VTF info and registration page here.
VIA’s Ultra Mobile blog here.

Haier UMPC. 1.6Gz Dual Core or 600Mhz Single Core?

[Unfortunately, the large-format images got corrupted. Take a look at the originals here and here.] Are there two Haier UMPCs? The Register reported that the Haier X6 will be released with a 1.6Ghz Dual Core processor and yet these images of another Haier (photographed at IDF) have just surfaced showing a similar (not the exact same – different logo positions) device that is definitely not running a dual core processor. Its not even running an 800Mhz Stealey processor either. Its running the 600Mhz version. (A100)

It proves that Vista doesn’t need too many clock cycles to keep it going long enough for a photo shoot! In fact the Vista performance score isn’t bad compared to 2006 designed UMPCs – 1.7. This is probably due to the i945 (GMA950 graphic ) chipset.

Thanks to site member Stevy for highlighting the images over at Chip.de

I’m happy to announce that the UMPCPortal UMPC buyers guide is now available.

The buyers guide has been written for readers both new to the UMPC segment and for those looking to buy or learn more about UMPCs. Its explains what a UMPC is, why they exists, why you might want to buy one, It covers the types of UMPC that are available and includes details about all technical elements of UMPCs. From screen sizes, keyboards, battery life and connectivity through to consideration like weight, cost, and accessories.

Also included are plenty of images, videos, links to more detailed articles and of course, links to details, reviews, specifications, images and even more links on every known UMPC device! That’s over 50 Ultra Mobile devices as I write this.

I hope you enjoy the UMPCPortal UMPC Buyers Guide 2007. Don’t forget to feed back your thoughts on the guide in this forum thread so I can make it even better for next time round.

The UK will soon have three well-priced unlimited Internet access via cellphone plans following this news that Orange are to introduce an all-you-can-eat package. Users will be able to take Internet ‘snacks’ [all this food talk is making me hungry, I need breakfast…] or pay £8 and get unlimited monthly usage. unfortunately, there are no T&C’s available at the moment so its not clear what the Bluetooth /USB tethering policy will be. Hopefully it will be different to X-Series and allow PC’s to be tethered – its important for UMPC users. Info from The Times Online:

OrangeContract: Internet ‘snacks’ @ 30p for 15mins with daily cap of £1.50 or a ‘bundle’ priced at £1 per day or £5 monthly for evening/ weekends or £8 monthly ‘anytime’
Pay-as-you-go: Internet snacks @ 40p for 15 mins with daily cap of £2 or a daily £1 bundle

3Contract: £5 per month unlimited usage

T-Mobile Contract: £7.50 per month unlimited browsing on ‘WebnWalk’ or capped at £1 day for other customers
Pay-as-you-go: Capped daily at £1

It was only three or four months ago that Three UK announced their X-Series service which offered a breakthrough unlimited access package for £5 and its nice to see others follow. I hope the trend spills over into mainland Europe because I’ve just had to pay €20 for 200MB per month in Germany. Best offer here in Germany is 02’s 5GB access for 25 Euro. What’s the best offer in your country?

VIA SMS Text News.

Since the launch of ‘Origami’ in March 2006, there have been many varying reports about what an Ultra Mobile PC is and why someone might buy one. This guide has been written to help those looking at ultra-mobile PC’s with a view to buying one. Its a long report but we guess that if you’re considering spending over $500 on a UMPC, you’ll want to read and learn as much as you can.

[summary]

A new Steve Ballmer interview has been published on the Microsoft Germany website. In it he talks (in English) about technology trends.

In Part 3, the ultimate question is asked – Is there going to be one total convergence device? He talks about it being possible and then gets asked ‘How close are we.’ Steve then picks up an HTC shift.! I agree with what he says – that a convergence device will be possible but people wont necessarily choose one device. Marketing departments won’t let that happen either. As Malcolm Gladwell might say, there’s no perfect convergence device, only perfect convergent devices. (Watch this excellent video for an explanation.)

Steve also confirms that it will be available ‘later this year in Germany and around the world.’ YouTube conversion of part of the video below:

That easy-to-remember Samsung UMPC, the Samsung Q1b-Pro 770 Barto HS, ahem, is now shipping in Germany. Its the first time the VIA based device has been available in Europe and represents one of the first UMPCs to ship with HSDPA enabled.

According to the specifications on the Samsung website, the CF slot has been preserved and there are two mono speakers (!) Battery life is quoted as up-to 3.5 hours which is believable because the base Q1b has been proven to be one of the most energy efficient UMPCs there is. It also has one of the brightest screens. Recommended price is 1400 Euro which is shockingly expensive considering the Q1 Ultra is supposed to launch with HSDPA in 4-6 weeks for 1200 Euro. That price has got to move. Average online price seems to be around 1250-1300 Euro which is still a little too high. It doesn’t appear to be available anywhere else in Europe yet but I’m wondering if this has something to do with T-Mobile who are HQ’d in Bonn, Germany. Will we see it in their shops soon I wonder?

 Manufacturer: Samsung
 Model name: Q1b-HSDPA
 Model id: NP-Q1BV001/SEG
 CPU type: VIA C7-M
 CPU speed: 1000 MHz
 Graphics: VIA Unichrome Pro
 OS: Windows XP Tablet Edition
 Display: 7″ 800 X 480
 RAM: 1024 MB
 Hard Disk: 60 GB
 Keyboard: NO
 Mouse Pointer: NO
 Battery capacity: 29 (W/hr)
 Weight: 759 gm
 Size: (w/h/d mm) 227/140/27 mm

Samsung website info here (German)

Our datasheet here. (English!)