On behalf of the team I would to wish everyone a happy new year. Let’s make 2008 even better than 2007! Next stop: CES.

See you in 2008 everyone! 

– Kornel

I was just about to go to sleep when I saw the post in the forums. Here it is. The first EEE PC with built-in HSDPA. Not much more to say here, go see the full how-to and pictures over at JKKmobile.

If only I knew how to solder…

On behalf of the UMPC Portal team I would like to wish everyone a great holiday. We hope you have fun spending time with your families and relaxing. 

Like many other sites we are taking some days off and will be back soon.

Now…. Did you get anything UMPC related under the tree? Tell us in the comments, we would love to know 

 

P.S. Was anyone geeky enough to buy a usb christmas tree? No? It must have just been me then… 

…At least in terms of aesthetics.

The story of the ugly sofa started over a year ago with this:

and now it looks like this:

Miubit, the manufacturer of the HDPC, will be at CES so ill be directing my robots over to their stand to see if its worth some attention!

The only info I could find was on their web page (translation) but there’s not much in terms of concrete info.

I’ve been staring at the specs for at least 5 minutes and I can’t work it out. Why is the Q1 Ultra HSDPA with XP Tablet Edition the same price as the Q1 Ultra Vista (without HSDPA) in Germany? In the last two weeks the lowest price for the HSDPA version has dropped about 100 Euros and in the last month, the lowest price has dropped from 1400 to 1170. Is Samsung making space for the new Q1 Ultra Premium?

Q1 Ultra HSDPA around the world: UK price: 1000 pounds (inclusive case and keyboard.) In the US its not available yet but pricing apears to be around the $1500 mark. France 1250 Euros. Australia – Not available. Canada – Not available.

Anyone spotted it anywhere else?

Pricing source (Germany): Geizhals new UMPC section.

Despite the shear excitement factor in the story that Apple will be using the Menlow platform, I have to say that I think the story by Apple Insider is a little over zealous and probably doesn’t relate to MIDs or UMPCs. I won’t go as far as to say that Apple Insider are keyword-stuffing or trying to grab attention but in my opinion its off the mark.

The core of Apple Insiders story is this line: “Apple has taken a liking to the upcoming 45-nanometer (nm) “Silverthorne” chip, agreeing to use it in not one but multiple products currently situated on its 2008 calendar year product roadmap” which they then extrapolate to: “two seemingly apparent contenders appear to be the second-generation 3G iPhone and the much rumoured Newton successor / ultra-portable slate computer.”

There’s no way Menlow will be used on a 2008 iPhone. No way. Its too big, too hot and too powerful and as for the Ultra Portable Slate, well I think its too early for Apple to be doing that. They have a good line in the iPhone and iPod now and those are both ARM-based devices. Running an x86-based iPad alongside these products wouldn’t make sense just yet. It would be far better to wait until Moorestown is available and develop an absolute killer product with that. Intel think so too. I do hope we’re both wrong though! The MID party starts in a few weeks and we need some sharp-dressers to set the scene.

One nice side-effect of this story though is that a number of top blogs followed up on the story. Digital Daily, Cnet, Dvorak. Are they all getting ready for a UMPC-fuelled 2008 or is it just a slow day for news?

Update: Maybe they mean Silverthorne in a different guise? Canmore for AppleTV? Silvethorne is also said to go to 2Ghz so maybe its ideal for an ultra slim notebook? I’m trying hard not to get dragged into the Apple rumor-mill but its bloody hard not to!

Source: AppleInsider.

I was just having a quiet little surf in bed when I saw that JKK has completed a how-to on installing a touchscreen layer on the EEE PC screen. Thank goodness I’m on the Wi-Brain. I didn’t even have to sit up to let you know all about it! Check out JKKMobile for more info. 

I’m going back my late-nite surfing session with ambient music provided courtesy of the N810 streaming radio channels!

Now that sounds like a fun exam. Students at the Brigham Young University were presented with the task of designing a Dell UMPC as their semester final in industrial design class.  Different teams had to design devices for different purposes. These included an outdoor device, a device for college students, a device for creative professionals, and one for young adults. What’s most ineressting is that while the students were presenting their device mockups, top Dell executives listened via a conference call. Considering Dell just released a tablet, a UMPC may not be far off. Let’s just hope the price won’t be as outrageous.

Follow the link for more pictures

 BYU News Press Release.