Here’s something I wrote quickly a few days ago. Id love to discuss it so leave your comments below and all join in on Monday. This post is Auto-posted while I’m on holiday for a few days.

The N95 seems to be the device that has all the specs and yet cant quite return the results that users will be expecting. Its billed as a multimedia computer but I can see people getting frustrated about its limitations just weeks after its launch.

I generally don’t write about smartphones on UMPCPortal but the N95 is highlighting the reason why I chose the 2-device path for my mobile computing solution. Physical size, processing power and infant software are limiting what a smartphone is currently able to do. Ignore what the specs say. Theres a a world of difference between simple video editing and video production.

Take Matt Millers report for example. It mentions the issue of slow photo preview after taking a picture. Then there’s the GPS. Apparently it take a long time to get a lock. I guess its processing and software issues there too. There’s also the battery life issue. You need to charge it every day. This proves that processing requires energy and is the reason that x86 processors take 5W instead of 0.5W! Its simply not possible to reach the processing power required with today’s available technology and its why there was a huge gap in the market between smartphones and notebook PCs that is now being filled in quite nicely with x86-based ultra mobile developments. One day I have no doubt that smartphones will have the processing power to do these things but then you still have the physical problems of touchscreen size for applications and films. Its not quite good enough to put 800×480 on a 3″ screen. You need physical dimensions too! Think about screen PPI and video playback.

And the price? It costs the same as an Amtek T700 or Samsung Q1b. Miniaturization costs a lot of money!

The N95 is a marvelous bit of tech but I think its trying to take the smartphone into areas that it might not fit and this is where the UMPC comes in. My 2-device strategy is one that includes a basic UMTS phone (currently the Nokia 6280. Will soon be the Nokia E65) and a UMPC for the tasks I need processing power for. Video editing, complex JavaScript and AJAX web pages, advanced photo editing, audio playback with EQ and crossfading algorithms, advanced navigation and last but not least, hi bitrate video playback. Try watching a WMV HD 720 6mbps video on an N95!!!

Not everyone needs this much computing power I agree but for those that want to do it right, I think the 2-device strategy works well.

Isn’t that the term companies use over holiday periods when they know that no-one is going to answer customers calls!!! We’ll I’m on holiday for a few days and although I’ll be checking emails and keeping up with news I won’t be doing any detailed posting. Its a skeleton me!

A couple of links to keep you going through Friday though:

Richard Brown of VIA has some more thoughts on market size for UMPCs/UMDs. Part 1. Part 2. I still don’t agree but its a good subject to talk about. We might learn something from it.

Also, there’s a video floating about from Intel. This was one of the two new promotional videos shown at CeBIT in March. Nice for a Friday. JKK has it on his blog.

I’ll schedule a post about the Nokia N95 that I quickly wrote yesterday. I think its a device that has problems. Its hitting the limits and customers could spill over into UMPCs if they can’t do the advanced browsing, or photo/video work they want to do. Post will go up on Sat to break the portal silence!

Next week is going to be a huge week. Intel announcements are the high point (IDF Beijing. 18th April) and there will probably be some other device news too. I bought a Q1P yesterday so I’ll be getting that this week and there’s a possibility that the Medion UMPC might drop in for some pre-launch testing. Fingers crossed on that one.

Have a great weekend everyone. I’ll be back in force on Monday!

During the time between starting and finishing this post, I’ve sold the PepperPad 3 and bought a Samsung Q1P via the new classifieds section in the forum. There’s more being offered too. P1510 anyone? Kohjinsha? I’ll also be selling off my N800 (once I get the screen fixed) to make way for the 2007 UMPC wave!

Feel free to post your UMPC wares (private ads only please) in the UMPC Classifieds section here. Over time, I’ll try and get a decent page set up for the classifieds where it automates specifications, images and tracking features.

As if the GBM team wasn’t a strong enough tablet-luvin team already. Now they’ve added Hugo Ortega!  He’s the, quite talented actually, owner of the Uber Tablet blog and has contributed well to to ‘the knowledge’ for both tablet PC’s and UMPCs over the last year that I’ve been following his blog (although I’m still jealous of his meeting with the Scissor Sisters John Garden who are playing up the road from me on Saturday. )

Good luck to the GBM team. Hugo’s blog about the news here.

[An Aussie in a suit. Evidently its possible!]

I’ve just placed my vote in the 2006 Engadget awards – ‘Handheld device of the year’ category. Of the 6 devices listed, 4 are what I would call UMPCs including my personal favorite the PepperPad 3. I’ve grown very attached to it over the last 6 months. However, I’ve put personal feelings aside and voted for the Q1P. Its the better all-round device for most people.

Shame the TabletKiosk i7210 is not there. That would get my vote as it was a real workhorse for me until the charging system died at Christmas. (Still waiting to see if I can get it repaired!)

Currently the VAIO UX is winning and I guess this is because its the best looking, smallest and best marketed! I really don’t like it due to the high screen pixel density.

Don’t forget to make your vote over at Engadget. It would be interesting to hear what you voted for any why, here in the comments.

In Spring last year I did a lot of work with Frank to track down the cause of battery life problems on the Amtek T700s that were being sold through TabletKiosk. Through Franks work we were able to prove and highlight the issue which resulted in a call-back of the device.

This year (and it really seems like he’s put most of his 2007 spare time into this project) Frank has been working on identifying why HID drivers are so important for touchscreen devices, tracking down the reason why the Samsung Q1 doesn’t have the driver (most, possibly all, UMPCs that use egalax touchscreen parts connected via USB don’t have the HID driver) highlighting the problem to the part manufacturer, getting them to write the driver, testing it and finally, today, releasing the beta version for Vista.

That’s a huge amount of work you’ve done there Frank. I’m sure there are lots of people out there that are going to benefit. Well done and thanks. May the gods of free Samsung Q1s fill your cup!

Take a look at Franks notes and find the driver download on his blog.

Thanks and links to UltramobileLife.com

Take a look at the huge gallery of images of the T83 UMPC from ASUS.  Its the VIA-based convertible device seen at CeBIT.

Specifications in the product portal.

I was just reading through the information over at Palm InfoCenter about the new Linux-based mobile computing platform. It sounds a bit more grown-up that a PDA type OS.

The big news about the new platform and the new Palm hardware is likely to come in May but today’s news definitely gives some good hints.

• Instant on
• Long battery life
• Focusing on connected web applications [sounds like a thin client]
• Greater hardware flexibility. [mmm. Linux. Hardware flexibility?]
• To be offered direct to customers and eventually through carriers [I hope they kick the carriers into offering better data tariffs.]
• Garnet OS will be integrated somehow.
• Low cost.

Nokia N800 competitor springs to mind immediately!

Via Mike Cane.