Update: On cue: UK press event was today. Launch May 1st. Price UKP329 for Windows or Linux (see specs)

The Eee PC launch schedule (vr-zone) is one to take note of. Apparently the Eee PC 900 launches in Hong Kong and UK today. Looking at the details in the forum thread, the source looks to be credible.

Update: HK press event has happened. Specifications via UMPCFever (thanks guys!) on the right here. Availability is said to be next Saturday (19th April)

UMPCFever have an English report. Let us know if you spot any press event reports in the UK.

International Launch Schedule
Hong Kong – 15th Apr
UK – 15th Apr
France – 17th Apr
Taiwan – 22/24th Apr

UMPCFever were at the press event for the Eee PC 900 earlier today and have been able to confirm the availability date in Hong Kong. Start queuing for availability on the 19th April. The specifications have also been confirmed. (see right.)

Two flavours. XP with 12GB and Linux with 20GB. Both for the same price and both with 1GB RAM.

Eee PC 900 product pages will be updated to reflect the new information.

Source: UMPCFever. Thanks Joe.

Update: Move-on! Its a WinCE device. Thanks JKK.

AkihabaraNews are showing images of LUI, a video entertainment system from NEC. The handheld component, that must be some form of media client, looks like one of the MID/UMPC prototypes that Intel have shown before.

It’s clear why you might use Atom/ISH for a portable video device but once again I ask myself, Why Vista? Especially in this scenario.

You’ll find a stack of pics over at Akihabaranews.

I find this a little suspicious. ASUS Germany are now selling the Eee PC with the smaller, 4400mah battery to improve availability according to a German report. The price of the 701 remains the same.

My suspicion is that they are holding back the high capacity batteries for the Eee PC 900.

If you’re buying an Eee PC, anywhere in the world, make sure you know what battery will be included. The hi-cap battery is the 5200mah version.

Via Golem.de.

In additition to the previous story.

Short story: Akihabaranews are impressed with the Sharp Willcom D4 after getting some hands-on at the product launch. Except, that is, for the performance. Like many people have suggested before, XP would be a better choice for low-end devices like this. Do marketing departments still believe that there is value in putting out a low-end device with Windows Vista or is Microsoft twisting the bulk prices so far that OEMs save a serious amount of money by going with Vista over XP. At the end of the day, it’s doing no-one any good because the user experience is going to suffer and that includes the initial batch of reviewers that set the tone for the device on the Internet.

Source: Akihabaranews.

‘Oh my God.’ AkihabaraNews’ first words about this Windows UMPC. ‘What time is it.’ My first words to JKK when he called me about it about 15 minutes ago. ‘Holy crap it’s a Carrypad.’ My first thoughts on seeing it.

The Willcom D4 is a 1.3Ghz Atom-based slider capable of running Windows. With 1GB of RAM and a 40GB hard drive, 5″ 1024×600 screen. It weighs 470gm and is Centrino Atom certified. It’s wide though. The size is 192x84x26 which is 20mm wider than a Raon Digital Everun it could be a disadvantage, it could be an advantage as the keyboard looks quite useable in a Psion-5 kind of way. [See full specs.]

If Sharp don’t make this available in Europe, I think i’ll have to arrange a little holiday! I’m putting the specs and information together in the database right now but in the meantime, check out a ton of live images from Akihabaranews. Thanks for waking me up JKK.

Update: Official specs in the D4 product page. Press release (translation)

More images after the break.

I was taking a look at the promotional PDF for the CoreExpress Atom-based Single Board Computer [Lippert] on Friday evening and couldn’t help noticing the very impressive video playback rates that are presented. The video playback figures seem to be far better than any embedded graphics co-processor has achieved in a small form factor pc to-date and they appear to be better than any dedicated PMP has been able to achieve too. As far as I can tell, it’s even better than Apple TV. Over the weekend I’ve been doing a little more research and sure enough, the figures are confirmed in official Intel documentation.

Woot.com, one of the most popular deal-a-day sites on the internet, is offering a refurbished Samsung Q1 UMPC (NP-Q1-V002) today for $699 USD (sorry, they only ship to the US). This keyboard-less first generation UMPC features a 7″ touchscreen with an 800×480 resolution, 60GB HDD, 1GB of RAM, and comes installed with Windows XP Tablet Edition. For more detailed information, check the Q1’s product page right here in the Portal. Remember, the deal is only good for today, or until stock runs out!