This is something that Epiacenter and UMPCPortal have been working on for a while now and finally I’m able to bring you the video of Otto’s Berkes (info) presentation and an interview we made at the VIA Technical Forum 2007 in Taipei. Otto Berkes was the leader of Microsoft’s 2-year long Origami project that has given the Ultra Mobile PC segment so much of a boost in the last year and a half. While the focus appears to be switching to smaller devices than those that we saw in March 2006, its really a result of the momentum that Origami gave. In part 1 here we have a video and slide-set (courtesy VIA Technologies) from the presentation that Otto gave.
Well spotted Her Dinky of the Origamiproject forums. You found a couple of new devices.
The ASUS R2E there is an A110-based device with HSDPA and Windows Vista.
The Arima U650 (Same model number as the VIA-based device) is also running VIsta on the A110. Note the updated keyboard. The old was wasn’t good at all.
I just want to focus on the browsing element of this nice article and video by Thoughtfix where he takes the N800 and iPod touch, does a few browser comparison tests and goes over some of the differences between the two devices.
In the ‘Pocketable Internet’ product bracket, the N800 is my current favorite. Its not an FIE device and personally, because of that, I don’t want one but for others who would like to enjoy a simple and reliable Internet access device its about the best there is. Does the iPod Touch beat the N800 though?
Watching the video, it seems to render faster then the N800 and I’d say that navigating round a page is probably quicker on the iPod touch too. The experience appears to be a whole lot smoother and I think, if I was to go for a pocketable internet device, adding that great music and video player to the comparison would bring it to the top of my list. Thoughtfix prefers the N800 for browsing but the devices aren’t just browsers alone. I think most people are going to go for the iPod Touch.
Let see what happens later next year. The first x86-based MIDs will be released and the Internet experience is going to be way ahead of what’s possible on either of these two devices. But a year is a long time. Enough for Nokia and Apple to come out with new devices!
The FIE for me to be Online, fast and streamy
Presence of chat Web2 and all that
You wont get that much In an iPod Touch.
[Very poor. I’ll get my coat. Bye. Oh BTW, spot the image error above.]
Yesterday the traditional UMPC was pretty much ignored by Intel as they went from Notebook to MIDs without a nod at the UMPCs. And when I say UMPCs, I mean Microsoft Origami-style, Ghz-class mobile productivity devices running Windows operating system. Intel are clearly focusing on a new market for ultra mobility. Its a new customer target (can we hear them saying ‘2nd PC’?) and has total separation from the notebook business.
It makes sense of course, but for anyone hoping for leaps and bounds in the ultra mobile productivity space it seems that Intel is happier to let people like Sony do their own thing with the higher-powered and much more expensive ULV Santa Rosa and Montevina platforms. I feel sure that we’ll see new Ultra Mobile productivity devices but sub $1000 is not going to be realistic and I don’t think we’ll see the numbers of new models increasing dramatically. Its going to be a niche market.
So what’s happening in the ultra mobile space according to Intel? Here’s a detailed analysis of the keynote speech given by Anand Chandrasekher – ‘ (Click ‘Read more’ if you don’t see the full version of this report.)
The webcast of the ‘unleashing the Internet’ keynote today has been posted. The R3 appears!
Jkk is pulling out the relevant parts of the video as I speak but here’s the image and here are my observations.
5.6″ screen, 1024×600 (jkk thinks it’s 4.8. Could be.) Update: Considering the screens available through Samsung are either 4.8″ or 7: I guess jkk is right. Webcam GPS Fingerprint reader Mouse pointer
Running Adobe’s desktop version of AIR running Adobe Media Player (AMP) Air ships in 08.
Intel and Canonical ran the ‘Designing for Linux MIDS’ session today at the Intel Developers Forum. The PDF of the presentation has been published and there’s a wealth of information about core architecture and the role of Moblin (Intel’s core Linux developments) and Independent Software Vendors (gui’s and apps.) In the presentation Canonical (Ubuntu) presented their progress with Ubuntu Mobile and Embedded (UME) which, sadly, looks like its only going to labeled as ‘Alpha’ when its released in October. A full version (presumably supporting more devices that the Q1 Ultra that they are developing for right now) is planned for release in April 2008.
If you’ve got a Q1 Ultra, you might want to try playing with the Alpha. Of course its changing every day but i’ve been following it and its great to see how its developing. Be careful, some of the images you can create will wipe your hard drive. That’s what happened to me!!
Lots of very small designs being shown there. Intel have really left the original UMPCs space. I think they want to leave a safety gap between laptops and UMPCs.
According to a brief released by Intel, more than 15 industry leaders are investing in UMPC and MID development:
Intel Announces Strategic Collaborators for MID and UMPC Categories – In a sign of growing momentum in the industry, Chandrasekher announced more than 15 industry leaders which have embraced Intel’s “Full Internet in Your Pocket†vision, are investing in the UMPC and MID categories, and are expected to bring products over time. These companies included system manufacturers such as Aigo*, Clarion*, Fujitsu*, Harman-Becker*, Hitachi*, Lenovo*, LG Electronics*, NEC*, Panasonic*, Samsung*, and Toshiba*, and service providers such as Clearwire*, KDDI*, Korea Telecom*, NTT DoCoMo* and Sprint.
That’s a nice list of collaborators. No Apple though ;-) The ‘Fact Sheet’ contains more notes from today’s keynotes and is available here. (PDF)
This is something that Epiacenter and UMPCPortal have been working on for a while now and finally I’m able to bring you the video of Otto’s Berkes (info) presentation and an interview we made at the VIA Technical Forum 2007 in Taipei. Otto Berkes was the leader of Microsoft’s 2-year long Origami project that has given the Ultra Mobile PC segment so much of a boost in the last year and a half. While the focus appears to be switching to smaller devices than those that we saw in March 2006, its really a result of the momentum that Origami gave. In part 1 here we have a video and slide-set (courtesy VIA Technologies) from the presentation that Otto gave. 
