Posted on 06 January 2008
I was just thinking ‘its cutting it a bit fine for news leaks.’ when this YouTube channel popped up in some search results. Its a video of the NEW Lenovo MID. Saying ‘Lenovo MID’ doesn’t sound correct given their business-focus history but here’s the proof.
It looks like its running an Adobe AIR app in the demo. Sized like an Everun with what could be a numberic keyboard on the right. There’s also evidence of a accelerometer.
There’s more though. JKKMobile has details of the second video from this YouTube user. It’s even more interesting! Its an Aigo MID that looks a bit like the Compal Menlow prototype. [Edit: Or this Compal proto.] A grown-up Nokia N810. This is definitely one I’m going to be watching very closely indeed.
New Aigo MID/UMPC with Compal prototype shown right/below..
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Posted on 05 January 2008
Getting weak. Can’t resist much longer….
The latest in a long long line of mock-ups. This one grabbing my attention more than most. I think I’m just taken by the design and the thought of Apple whipping the UMPC market into a frenzy to be honest. This one comes from MacRumors.com. I still like this rumor the most though.
Via Gizmodo
Posted on 05 January 2008
…and who are we tracking like a hawk?
CES must be the biggest tech blogger get-together going. Almost every medium to large tech-blog based in the US seems to be there and most of the bigger tech blogs and sites from the rest of the world seem to be there too. Except us! We learned last year that if you want to report on CES, its sometimes best to stay away. Its like a Grand Prix or the Tour de France, the best place to see all the action and to understand the current state-of-play is from afar! Which is a shame because I would really love to be at some of the parties, drink too much, talk incessantly about every possible aspect of UMPCs and make a complete fool of myself on the dancefloor!
With that in mind then, I’ll stay in my studio and follow these people:
- Jenn ‘Consumer Pink’ from Pocketables who’s going to be using a Sony Vaio TZ and a Nokia N810.
- Dan ‘N for Nokia-Nut’ from TabletBlog and UltraMobileGeek who is going with a N810 and N95 combo.
- Kevin and James ‘mobile running’ for jkOnTheRun. James was last seen inking at Houston airport. Kevin will be using a Samsung Q1P along with the a Verizon EVDO USB modem. Good choice.
- Warner and Rob ‘slave driver’ from GottabeMobile are already there. Matt Faulkner is also on his way out there. These guys are all going to be using OQO model 02’s. It will either be late nights typing up posts with a full keyboard at the hotel or microblogging heaven!
- Lora Heiny (and family) driving the ‘meet-up’ at Planet Hollywood on Tuesday. (They also run UMPCBuzz)
- VIA will be there so keep any eye on UltraMobileLife and BrownKnows
Or, just stay tuned here because the ‘team’ (Simon, Kornel and myself) will be trawling and tracking all the sites, all the feeds, all the search results and all the press releases, adding all the new products in to the database and linking out to the rest of the news in the River of Links [RSS] which also appears in the left hand column on the front page of UMPCPortal. We’ve even got a couple of our own spies out there that will be stand-running and reporting for us so i’m expecting a few exclusives too!
Finally, If you want to track everything via RSS, see this info page for an overview of all the RSS feeds available.
Posted on 05 January 2008
Update: News, links, images etc are now being tracked in the Noahpad product page.
I’m taking a long close look at the new info about the Noahpad that Pocketables have posted and I’m thinking …mmmmm…..this really is an ultra mobile PC. Its all about the individual design, the hyper-targeted audience and the fact that its ‘out there’ in terms of concept. Where the Eee PC is probably the most boring UMPC on the planet, despite that fact that it’s lighting up the entrance to the segment, devices like the Noahpad along with the likes of the Samsung SP9200, the Fujitsu Lifebook and the OQO really define what the UMPC segment is all about – personalisation.
I’ll put the full specifications into the UMPCPortal database after I’ve posted this but as far as technology goes, its standard fayre. 1Ghz VIA C7, 512MB RAM (which, thank goodness, rules out Vista!) and a Ubuntu operating system by default. As far as battery life is concerned it looks like E-Lead is going for an external battery solution. The internal battery could be one of the smallest we’ve ever seen in a UMPC which would mean a very short life away from a power source. To fix that, E-Lead are promoting an external battery pack as the way forward. With 2007 technology that’s actually one of the only choices! As for the rest of the specs, watch out for a possible USB-dongle-only Wifi solution and a lack of Bluetooth as I don’t see much mentioned about it being built-in. There’s also a classic line in the ‘about’ page that rings alarm bells:
Striving for the craftsmanship and elegance of the German car industry, we seek to narrow the gaps between people and technology.
So the MD has shares in BMW?
Jenn (Pocketables), Thoughtfix (UltraMobileGeek) and others (there are going to be many many bloggers out in CES over the next 5 days) will, I’m sure, pick up all the details, ask the right questions and have a play on that strange but interesting keyboard.
Source: Pocketables
Posted on 04 January 2008
An N810, a WiBrain, an Everun, an Archos 605 Wifi and a Q1b HSDPA accompanied me for the the longest break I’ve ever had from UMPCPortal over the last 10 days. It was a very relaxing time but it’s over now and its time to get back to work. Many thanks to Kornel, Simon and all the tipsters that helped while I was away. It really was great to know that the site was still living while I was lazing around on holiday ;-)
During my trip, the Q1b HSDPA did very well as the work-horse (using a 3 UK pay as you go 3G broadband connection which cost me just a fiver for the week. Is there any need at all for WiFi hotspots in the UK?) and proved to me that I should keep it. A 7″ 800×480 touchscreen device is useful in so many situations and with the organiser pack, great battery life and HSDPA I still think its one of the best all-round UMPCs I’ve had. The easy-to-use Archos 605 Wifi did a great job with mp3, video playback (car, bed) and photo gallery duties. The Everun was used in the car for navigation, the WiBrain was used as the on-the-go device (mainly due to its 60GB drive) and the N810….well, it just sat there looking good. At the end of it all though, I think I could have done everything with a 60GB Everun with a better HSDPA antenna and my Samsung Q1 keyboard. More processing power would be good but battery life is far more important to me!
But that was then and this is CES build-up week. New devices are on the horizon. The buzz is building. People are already on flights to Las Vegas and the amount of CES-related email in my inbox is almost overwhelming. Tonight I will be getting in touch with Kornel, Simon, JKKMobile and a few other people to work out a game-plan for what I think will be the most significant month so far in the life of the UMPC. Between CES and MacWorld I really think we’re going to see the whole UMPC landscape changed with smaller handheld devices (MIDS), more notebook format devices and the use of UMPC technology in budget and low-end notebooks. Thanks to these developments, more doors into the UMPC market will be opened to consumer and professional customers alike. WiMax, mobile Internet, high quality video and social network will become topics that people speak about in the same sentence as mobile PCs. Intel will re-state their intentions to lead the technology and I even expect Microsoft to show that they haven’t forgotten about the segment with possible announcements from their Origami team, the Windows Mobile team and, hopefully, the desktop operating system teams.
Right now though, I’m about to finish setting up the studio (new heating, new printer, another screen, comfy chair, new microphone, tidy-up cabling) ready for the next few weeks of hard work. I have honestly never been so excited about what could happen in the UMPC space and together with the rest of the team, I’m ready to bring you the best possible UMPC news, information, research, opinion and device information that you can find.
Posted on 02 January 2008
The BBC news website has compiled a list of the 5 top “Technologies on the rise in 2008”. Its a list of predictions for the year to come and it makes for interesting reading.
The part which caught my eye, unsuprisingly, is that the BBC lists Ultra Mobile PCs as number two on its list! The writer makes some fair points about several devices over the years failing to “fill the role between a PDA and a full-blown laptop” but goes on to say that devices such as the Asus EEE have caught people’s imagination like never before.
The BBC also make the good point that falling prices of SSDs are likely to push forward the UMPC genre.
Top of the BBC’s list is “The Web to Go” which focuses on taking online applications and making them available offline, such as Google’s Gears software which allows users to use services like the Zoho Office package without being connected to the internet.
That’s interesting stuff and I will be watching this area with interest. Perhaps 2008 is the year that I will do without Microsoft Word on my UMPC.
Continuing the mobile theme WiMAX and Mobile VoIP are 4 and 5 on the BBC’s list. If they’re right, this is going to be a fantastic year for the mobile worker. Armed with a UMPC, Web on the Go, Mobile VoIP and a WiMAX connection we’ll be good to go! And what can we do with our new found portability and fast connectivity…perhaps we can use the only remaining item on the BBCs list. That’s item 3; IPTV!
Read the full BBC item here
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Posted on 01 January 2008
Posted on 01 January 2008
As we all recover from last night, here’s a recap of a few news items we didn’t cover here.
– There is a new L series, which includes the original AMD based models such as the SA1, but now with a nice high res 1024 x 600 touch screen. That should make chippy happy, as the SA1 was one of his favorites.
– The new V series will essentially be the current models based on the Intel A110 processor, but now with built-in GPS. Shame it’s not HSDPA, as I’m sure many of us would have preferred that over GPS.
Next we have the Noahpad UMPC, a strange design with a keyboard that can be used while on the back of the device. I think someone already patented that. Anyways it runs on a VIA processor and operates on Ubuntu. Specifications, pictures, and info over at
pocketables. There will be more on that one during CES.
Last we have official pictures of the Asus EEE accessories courtesy of
JKK. Nothing that we haven’t known already, and the only one that will be worth buying is the extended battery.
Enjoy the rest of your day everyone.
