Click to Play Using the Everun UMPC its possible to build a portable car/desktop PC with quality keyboard and a 15-hour battery life for about $1100 and 1.5kg of weight. Formats available: Windows Media (.wmv) Tags: umpc, carpc

Click to Play Using the Everun UMPC its possible to build a portable car/desktop PC with quality keyboard and a 15-hour battery life for about $1100 and 1.5kg of weight. Formats available: Windows Media (.wmv) Tags: umpc, carpc

This could be one of those territory naming issues. (Remember that the SH6 and K600 were the same device from Kohjinsha?) because what I’m seeing being reported by Aving looks like old news. The SA5 is the latest version of the AMD-Geode SA1 that was released in 2006 and has a 1024×600 touchscreen instead of the 800×480 and it’s already available at the Kohjinsha Japan website. Aving, however, are reporting about a ‘new’ E8 that will launch at the end of Feb. The only thing that looks different is the pricing. What this could be is a re-positioning exercise following the Inventec takeover of KJS (Kohjinsha) and a move down into the cheap PC market or, even a clear-out of the old AMD Geode-based devices before the Menlow-based devices turn up. (You can guarantee that Invetec are looking at Menlow and Diamondville platforms for cheap and ultra-mobile solutions and they’ll need to make space for these new models.)

Assuming the E8 is a re-badged SA5 (still with me?), its a solid device and can take huge 2.5″ disks, has a convertible 1024×600 touchscreen with dual mouse pointers, fast CF and SD slots and a big 4-hour (wifi-on) battery life. (8 hours with the extended battery.) Aving are reporting that it will launch in Korea for between 500,000 and 600,000 Korean Won. That’s between $530 and $635. The downside is that the AMD Geode is a fairly low-end CPU which, while fine for browsing, emails, office 2003 apps and Divx playback, has no 3D support and very limited processing power for video formats other than MPEG4

I’m thinking that in this part of the market, price is everything and Kohjinsha won’t be able to make much impact on the Eee PC sales by adding bells and whistles to the equation. It could be enough to push through some easy profits for them though as I’m sure there’s a lot of people out there that would pay for a crisp 1024×600 screen.

Information on the SA5 (including links to gallery, reviews of the SA1 version) available here.

Not the first time we’ve heard about HP and UMPCs in the same breath it’s certain, but at least Crave are reporting what looks to be first-hand information about a UMPC launch.

Spec-wise, it disclosed… absolutely nothing. But digging deeper between the lines, we suspect the company’s maiden voyage into this niche segment is likely to be competitively priced

The days of market-testing with expensive consumer devices are over now. ASUS burst that bubble and now its a race to grab the first round of early adopters and 2nd-PC buyers. We’ve got HP on our list for CeBIT so if there’s any news, you’ll hear it here.

My wish – The T-Swivel UMPC at $400. Dream dream dream….dreeeeeeaaaamm!

Source: Crave.

As I said in the video, Linpus Lite should make a great starting point for people wanting to tailor a Linux distribution for UMPCs. On the Q1 Ultra it’s almost there and needs some tweaking for Wifi and screen size. In fact, if you download the Ubuntu Mobile distribution too, you’ll probably get all you need in terms of drivers for the Q1 Ultra and other, Stealey-based UMPCs. Having said that, Ubuntu Mobile is due for release in April and a lot of effort has gone into the UI and power efficiency on a Q1 Ultra. Maybe, for this model of UMPC, it’s better to wait for that!

Question: Would you pay 115 Euro for an extra 50GB disk, a touchscreen an XP Pro upgrade and a Voip module as a point-of-sale upgrade to your device? Personally, I think I would.
The choice is available due to the arrival in Germany, of a second Ultra Mobile PC based on the VIA Nanobook platform. The Belinea S.Book appeared some weeks ago for 800 Euro but has since dropped  down to 625 Euro and this week, the Packard Bell Easynote XS20 [umpcportal review] has appeared at online retailers stores for 490 Euro (lowest advertised prices.)

As I said, I prefer the S.Book but although it might appeal to me and other gadget lovers, I think the Easynote will sell the most out of the two.

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Click to Play This is the WiBrain B1H UMPC keyboard in use. The main problem is getting used to the key locations but it is possible to improve over time.  The main keyboard uses slightly rubberised plastic keys that have a good feel. The mouse pad is very good quality and very easy to use.  Formats available: Windows Media (.wmv) Tags: umpc, wibrain

I have trouble imagining what customer actually want’s one of these but, for some strange reason, I like the idea of having one despite the fact that I know I would never use it! It’s basically an iPod Touch /  Nokia N810 mix that could find a good home on campus or with people that carry small, feature-starved fashion phones and still want to be able to communicate while in the cafe. For teens that aren’t permitted PC’s in their bedrooms this could also make the perfect gift from a […]