Despite the news of two new, keyboard-laden UMPCs today, I’m still finding the Everun an attractive proposition. If you haven’t seen it yet, take a look at the video we got of it and the specs. Then take a look at the prices. These are target U.S. retail prices before sales tax. Attractive?

Christoph, our Taipei spy who’s probably lost in some seedy downtown bar with a thousand other geeks by now, mentioned this to me at lunchtime as we had went over the VIA nanobook details. At first I thought it might have been the Intel educational UMPC that we’ve seen before (left) but it runs out that its a project with Asustek. There’s a press release that gives a few technical details (via Gizmodo) and a slightly more interesting story at the Inquirer which follows the lines of what Christoph heard in the Intel talk at Computex today.

The story is that this is aimed at the educational or emerging markets for an entry price of $199. technical details show that this is a very low end device (starting with 4GB flash, no HDD) and, according to Christoph, appeared to be running Linux. This might explain the ‘two modes of intuitive user interface’ statement in the press release because it then goes on to say ‘The Eee PC is also Windows XP compatible.’

With a battery life of 3hrs and a weight of 0.83kg I’m guessing there’s something like an old 600Mhz Pentium M inside. Newer CPU’s and chipsets would take the cost too high. Surely? And the price must be a bulk, trade, pre-tax possibly subsidized price for emerging markets. There’s no way you’re going to get that into a western market for $199.

Kohjinsha, T83 (no word of it at Computex yet), Nanobook and now Eee. The 7″ ultra mobile notebook market is hotting up.

Richard Brown, VIA’s Global Vice President of Marketing, has published some more information on his blog and shares the information (which many people knew but weren’t allowed to say until tomorrow!) that Packard Bell have signed up to take the Nanobook into market as the EasyNote XS.

Packard Bell do business mainly in Asia and Europe and so this leaves the U.S. out in the cold a bit. There are rumors of a second licensee so maybe we’ll hear about that tomorrow. Richard has a few new pictures which I’m sure he won’t mind me advertising here and in the gallery. Full specifications and links to other news items on the product page.

Via VIA!

Fresh from the SD-card of Christoph, our man in Taipei, comes the results of one of the early assignments. Track down the Raon Digital Everun and get those hands on it!

I’ve spoken to Christoph and asked him a few important questions.

How does the keyboard feel?
The buttons are obviously very small. but still usable. Little button-action.

Does the auto-rotate feature work when you turn the device into portrait mode.
Yes, see the included video

Could you get it in a pocket?
Absolutely not, too chunky for that

Heat build-up?
A bit warm on the backside, but nothing concerning

Screen brightness?
280cd/m2 [Nits, same as Q1B, slightly less that Q1 Ultra – Steve] so definitely bright enough for most environments

Was the touchscreen finger-touch capable?
Yes. Finger-touch capable

General feelings? (build quality, desirability etc.)
Build quality seemed good. personally I don’t think it’s that desirable,
it somehow looks a bit too chunky for me. plus if I had to buy something
I’d go for that EC260 baby, I love that one!

[He’s seen the final production version of the VIA Nanobook but he’s not allowed to talk about it until launch-time tomorrow – Steve!]

All four models should be launched in the US and detailed specifications are here. I should have the US retail prices later today.

According to Aving.net, that slider mid we saw at the IDF was an Amtek device.

Its got a 4.8″ 1024×600 screen and is of course based on the McCaslin platform (A100, A110 Stealey processors) It comes with 512MB RAM and a 40GB drive and it looks like there’s a 1.3MP cam, a synaptics pointer (nice!) a CF card slot and a backlit keyboard. A docking station is planned and if I’m reading it right, it will be launched along with the device in December.

More images over at Aving.net.

This image set of the Raon Digital Everun at Lazion / PCPinside is about the best so far. I really like the look of the keyboard and button layout. It doesn’t look like its pocketable though. Its quite a big bigger than the Vega which, while ultra ultra portable, wasn’t really pocketable. The article is actually a review but its not really decipherable!

Our Christoph has been to see Raon Digital this morning and we’ve got a video to air later. Christoph will also be giving his feedback on the device and I’ve fired off a set of questions that he’s going to answer with the help of Raon Digital. Keep with us for more Computex news and an Interview with Otto Berkes – The man behind Origami.

According to Engadget, (who are calling this the Nanobook) the $600 price is a RETAIL price. It looks like the Kohjinsha has just been killed off along wit the Foleo. The slot to the right of the screen is a pop-out module slot (perfect for a sideshow module under Vista?) and that the design has already been snapped up by two companies and will be launched in Europe later this year. Three words come to mind. “moblogging” , “device”, and “ultimate.”

Engadget info.

Update: Image of device with removed module. Modules slated as possible are: VOIP, GPS, Clock, DVB and 3G phone. Wot no sideshow module? (Via SlashGear)

The iDot webpage has specs and images of the iNano. [Or should we say ‘The Folio done properly”?]

CE260 and CE261 (tracking specifications on the portal here.)

It IS a touch-screen device and in addition, there’s a DVI-I port, Mic-in, Array Mic (good for Skype), headphone out port and RJ45 (Modem) The battery is a 4 cell unit giving 4.5hr (based on batterymark.) Sizing: 230x171x29.4

The CE261 variant doesn’t have the info window but includes a web-cam and, according to Christoph at Computex, a 3G wireless option. iDOT appear to be an OEM so I’m wondering whether iDOT / iNANO is really the final brand. We’ll see either later today or tomorrow.

iDot website info.