jkOnTheRun ask a valid question this morning: “Maemo 5: Do We Need Another Mobile Platform” It got me thinking about why I’m so interested in Maemo. With Android, Moblin, a huge range of Linux distros, Iphone OS, Symbian and other platforms on the scene, what makes Maemo so different for me? First and foremost, like Moblin and Android, its a tightly controlled Linux distribution and if Linux is going to be successful in the consumer world, it needs quality control. I like that. Secondly, its the fact that Maemo is […]

The UMID Mbook is a ground-breaker. The first pocketable clamshell device to be able to run Windows or Linux-based software on an Intel platform is a great achievement and a huge step forward in technology. It’s also an attention-grabber. People are immediately drawn to the form factor and immediately understand that this could be a fun, productive and flexible device. It first appeared in Nov 2008 and went on sale in Korea in late Feb 2009. After a recall due to build quality issues, it’s now appearing in Ebay channels. Resellers are also getting export retail samples and this is what we’re testing here. The UMID Mbook M1 in export retail finishing sent over by Mobilx.eu

Looks like a Chinese OEM called Routon has two upcoming MIDs that will run on Android and provide users with 3G connectivity. Slashgear covered the P760 during CES but Routon just recently showed a very similar looking MID, the P730, which will drop off the hardware keypad of the P760, but be otherwise identical. Routon hopes to bring both MIDs to market in May. Both MIDs look like nice little web companion devices: 677MHz Samsung S3C6410 CPU 256MB of RAM 4/8GB SSD 4.8 inch 800×480 touchscreen WiFi B/G, Bluetooth 2.0+EDR […]

Selling 200 Viliv S5’s at $599 in 2 hours in a financially unstable period is no mean feat. In fact it looks like Dynamism were hit much harder than they had expected yesterday when the rush for the 200 pre-sale offer packs started. Dynamism have responded quickly with an apology and a new offer.

I stumbled across an interesting looking little program called GMA Booster while browsing the MicroPCTalk forums. Apparently devices which have 945GM/GME/GMS/GSE or 943/940GML/GU Express chipsets are ULV versions of what is normally called the Intel 945 chipset (and can be found in many of the netbooks and UMPCs out there today), and they all feature the same GMA 950 graphics, but for the ULV chipsets, GMA 950 is underclocked to help improve battery life among other things. A nifty little app called GMA Booster (website no longer exists) steps the […]

Ever since we outed the Samsung Q1EX I’ve had trouble positioning it. After an unboxing (see below) a 4-hour live Q&A session (1hr video below) I still cant see why Samsung created the Q1EX. It’s a fine tabletPC but in the last 3 years they’ve learned a lot about the UMPC market and they know that Tablet PCs can be a hard sell. What made them go back to the no-keyboard form-factor?

The API is ‘frozen’ and the feature set shouldn’t change now that the Maemo 5 Beta is out so it means developers can start to work on applications and widgets without having the rug pulled from underneath them. Here are the details…

Dynamism are starting the pre-order period for the Viliv S5 today. Presale begins 1:00 PM Eastern time on April 27th. In this article i’ve also included a new video from Intel and information about a Live session today where the S5 will be present.