If anything is moving in the world of Nokia Tablets, Thoughtfix knows about it! He’s just found something at the FCC site that has notes of tablet and the bouquet of a freshly burnt-in mobile device!

The whole thing is still under wraps but there’s enough there for Thoughtfix. He thinks it might be a new tablet. I hope so. It could be the Omni. It could be something new or it could just be the Sprint WiMax-enabled version of the N800 that was announced some time back.

More details over at TabletBlog.com

Well almost.  Someone is calling the Acer Ferrari 1100 a UMPC! I know we’ve been arguing a lot about what a UMPC is but that one is stretching the bounds a little too far don’t you think!

Not too disappoint you though, a Swiss Ultra Mobile blog is reporting that Mr Lanci, president of Acer, wants to bring out a new UMPC. He says that the current technology isn’t good enough but he’s planning one for the late 2008/early 2009 timeframe.  Mark those diaries!

Via – Trendmix,. Source unknown

Right on cue and as predicted, Sony have dropped the Core 2 solo ULV processor into the Sony UX range and given it it’s third (or is it fourth?) processor refresh. It easily retains its position as one of the most powerful UMPCs there is and proves, once again, that it is still possible to take off-the-shelf notebook CPUs and build a reasonable UMPC. Its just need expensive components and an expensive design team! There’s no word on battery life but it should be better, not worse than the previous generation.

I’m a little disappointed that they haven’t actually done any re-styling on the device. The hi-res small screen and poor keyboard remain as before so its not in my radar for a purchase but as a mobile desktop PC (because of the docking station feature ) the Sony UX is really unbeatable.

Currently, the models are only being shown by Sony in Japan as the US72 and UX92 series but Amazon.com have the 48GB FLASH-based UX490C/N on their books for $2500. Expect Sony US to catch up soon.

Via Pocketables. Original info in a forum thread at Micropctalk.

Today has been a nightmare. I am working through a number of articles and video reviews/presentations and I just can’t get anything finished. Every time I look at my screen I’m reading confusing messages about UMPCs. Or is it the post writers themselves that are confused?

Firstly, James is saying ‘We Need a Real Handheld Computer.’ so I read through the post and get incredibly confused. James, I think you do some wonderful work. I listen to all your podcasts, you make me laugh and you have some good ideas but this one has thrown me. Who is ‘we’ and what is a ‘handheld computer’? What do you mean by ‘surf the web’ and ‘work with documents’? You say that most handheld pcs are “based on Windows, and that’s a dead-end road.” Why? You mention ‘consumers’ wanting all-day battery life but since when did consumers (as opposed to businesses) need to work with documents? And then you say that the only way to do this is via an embedded OS but you want to be able to work with all document types and be able to have the full web experience. There’s only one processing architecture that lets you do all that and keep ahead of the market. Unless you’re a visionary and started work on it three years ago that is.

I don’t understand this bit either…

This comes from JKKMobile. No left/right click or docking port. I guess this really is designed for Midinux/UME software. Apart from that shortfall in the hardware dept, I really like it. The high-quality main camera (3.2mp) will be a first on a UMPC like this.

EB MIMD specification page.

Some have commented that the R3 is not very stylish. I disagree. It looks lovely to me! OK the mouse pointer could be a little less ‘out there’ but the rest is smooth.

If its a 4.8″ screen then its nearly the same size as the Raon Digital Everun, but without the on-frame keyboard. Or is there a hidden slide-out keyboard. That would, design-wise, really interest me although I’m worried about 1024×600 at 4.8″ Too hi-res?

1Q 1st half 2008 is my estimate for this device based on the fact that it has been labeled as part of the ‘Menlow’ generation by Intel. [Updated: I expect Menlow and products to become official at IDF Beijing 2008 but thats just my estimate.]

JKK posted this composite and has the hi-res image here.

How did they get hold of it? 3Dnews.ru got hold of an EeePC 701 for some detailed images and hands-on. No. Hands-in! There’s a big, big review to work through too. For the time-being, take these images and head on over to the review (translation link)

There appear to be some battery life info’s in the review. 37W/hr from a 4-cell battery. (7.2v 2S2P li-ion) Battery Eater pro reports 2.5 hours (thats full-drain capacity which relates to well over 3 hours reall usage.) Its confirmed that the CPU is a Celeron M 900Mhz Dothan part.

Full review translation.

Thanks to ultraportateis, a new Portugese UMPC blog that is now on my RSS list!

Eeepc specifications and more links on this page.

Otto Berkes, increasingly being referred to as the ‘father of UMPCs’, was the manager of Microsoft’s Origami team. In March 2006 the team announced the Origami UMPC device category and presented a handful of devices to the public. Today there are well over 30 different designs that have built on the work that was done and form the UMPC device sector. Christoph Derndorfer of Epiacenter.com was in Tapei in June and agreed to do some work for UMPCPortal. We tracked down Otto Berkes and managed to set up an interview. Here’s the result. Many thanks to Otto, Christoph and Epiacenter.com for the time they gave.