Update: Full Everun review is now available.

I feel very privileged to be able to air this introduction video of the Raon Digital Everun that will be on sale next month. Thanks to Raon Digital and a meeting schedule that took them through my neck of the woods I was able to meet up with them, discuss the Everun and take away the device for long-term testing. Not only is this a first showing of the Everun but I believe this is the first time anyone has had an AMD LX900-based device in their hands. A double privilege!

The device you’ll see in the video is a production sample containing a 30GB HDD. Unfortunately there’s some delay in getting the SSD-based version into the production line so I’m guessing there might be some delays on the SSD version being available to customers. That’s a shame of course because for me, one of the appealing features is that, for the first time, you have a consumer-focused UMPC with an SSD for a price that doesn’t break the bank. The device I’m testing doesn’t have the HSDPA module installed either. I did have the chance to test an HSDPA version today and can report that it supports both data and voice.

More thoughts. Introduction video…

Its too early to say if this is just a good consumer UMPC or a fantastic one but there’s one thing that’s for sure, this is an incredible bit of technology. I had a great meeting with Raon Digital today and was lucky enough to come away with an Everun for long term testing. The first outside Asia.

Yes the keyboard is useable. Yes the HSDPA module supports voice. Yes the optical mouse works well. Yes the battery life is amazing. Yes Yes yes!

Look out for a quick hands-on video later, a report tomorrow and a live video and Q&A session tomorrow evening.

MyKohjinsha was correct last week in highlighting that the new Japanese Kohjinsha models would be the SH series. It appears that the K600 and K601 are for the Korean market. Over in Europe and the US, its the SH series that we should be looking at but there’s some details in the specs that don’t match up and with Kohjinsha offering, from today, Vista on a just a 600Mhz processor, I think there’s going to be some problems.

According to the corporate website there will be four models in the SH range based on the Intel McCaslin (A100 / A110) platform. All will have 1024×600 touch enabled LED backlit convertible screens (I will assume that this is the same lovely Samsung-manufactured screen that is in the Q1 Ultra. Possibly the best 7″ finger touchscreen on the market at the moment) and come with a 29W/hr battery for around 3.5 hours of use. On top of that, they’ve produced a 60W/hr batter for a huge 7 hours of productivity. Local Japan pricing is competitive at between 600 and 750 Euros.

All of that will be irrelevant if they try and squeeze Vista into a 40GB disk with 512MB ram on a 600Mhz processor. I really hope Kohjinsha have made an error on their web-page and that we’ll see XP on the low-end version and (if the marketing people must!) Vista on an 800Mhz version.  Stay tuned while I try and get confirmation on the specs.

Kohjinsha announcement. Via Laptopspirit.fr

This is nearly perfect for a 2-device mobile phone / UMPC setup. The Jabra BT8010 Bluetooth headset allows you to go multi-mode with your audio. Use the single earpiece as a traditional headset for your mobile phone or add the second earpiece and go for full A2DP quality audio from either the mobile phone OR a second device such as a UMPC. I can’t see myself using it much for a UMPC. I play all my music from my phone and when I’m watching a video on the UMPC I’ll either be on a plane or train where I’m not likely to get or want any calls anyway. However, the possibility is always there if you need it.

I think I’d rather go for something that looks more like a headphone rather than a headset though. Since reading Thoughtfix’s review I had a quick look round and found these Sony Ericsson headphones and the nice looking BH-501 from Nokia. I just can’t see myself walking round looking like an Estate Agent and so these are probably not for me.

Thoughtfix review and video of the Jabra BT8010.

By the time America is waking up tomorrow, I’ll be feeling up an Everun UMPC. If I’m a lucky boy I’ll even get to take it away which is very very exciting for me as I was just about to order one. To me its just about as close as I think one can get to the ideal consumer UMPC at the moment. For the first time we’re going to see a solid state drive, auto screen rotate and this brand new keyboard layout. Add 6 hours of battery life, docking station capability, sub 500G weight and that great pricing and I think you have a winner. Throw away your MP3 players, your media players and forget about the iPhone. For the ultimate in consumer convergence just go out and buy a very small, very stylish 3G phone with a decent camera, data card slot and mp3 capability and then use the Everun for everything else. Videos, navigation and route planning, Internet applications, IM, Skype, blogging, emails, ebook reader etc etc etc. Lovely. Keep the desktop at home for the high-end gaming and video work. That’s the three-device strategy!

Questions I have at the top of the list:

• Keyboard – Good enough?
• Optical mouse – Does it work?
• Battery life – For real?
• Size – Too big?
• XP on LX900 processor with 1GB and SSD – Fast?
• When will the dock and car mount be available?
• 280 nits screen good enough for outside?
• Mini-PCI. Can I use it for something else? External GPU for example
• Does the Terratec Cynergy Piranha work with it?

For a re-cap, take a look at the video we took at Computex 2007 along with the hands-on comments. Full device line-up here.

But the Fujitsu U1010 does seem to have Bluetooth now.

Tech central have reviewed the Fujitsu UMPC and seem to be impressed with the little whipersnapper. There’s the usual shock at how tiny the device is and a genuine belief that the Fujitsu UMPC is a workable design. Apart from the fact that it runs Vista!

I wonder if vendors are starting to learn now that this is becoming a recurring theme. People get a UMPC, are impressed and then have to battle through the bloated, unoptimised disappointment of Vista. In almost every case, people are turning off Aero and having to start thinking about optimizations and its killing the customers first few minutes experience with the device. Can you imagine what the response to the iPhone would be if the software didn’t actually work out of the box. If you had to wait for an extended time for windows to open and if you had to start searching forums and asking questions to find out if your device was broken and why some other people are happy with the performance? People should be turning on UMPCs in an optimised state with an Origami Experience-style welcome.

As for the rest of the review, there are some concerns about the limitations of the keyboard and a warning that the PPI screen isn’t going to be optimal for many people.

Review: star-techcentral.com.

It looks like Pepper are getting close to releasing Pepper Linux 4 as this demo video has just gone up on YouTube showing three possible interface choices. There’s an improved standard desktop, a carrousel and a Midinux-like interface. All welcome enhancements to the no-frills interface on Pepper Linux 3. But the big enhancement for me is not the UI, its the presence of Skype. There has never been a VoIP app for the Pepper Pad 3 and the IM app’s were also rather limited. What else is in there I wonder? BT DUN? Full uPNP support? PC shared folder browsing?

Don’t ask me why I was doing this but I was taking a very close look at the Eee PC keyboard and it struck me that it’s the same as the new Kohjinsha K600.  I don’t now  if  this is good or bad but if anyone’s played with the Eee PC keyboard, let us know  because it will give a good indication of  how the K600 keyboard is. Remember the keyboard on the Kohjinsha SA1 wasn’t too good.