Not only am I lucky enough to be going to The Next Web Conference and Mobile Dev Camp in Amsterdam next week but, with the help of Moblix, I’ve managed to pull together one of the best collections of MIDs and UMPCs I’ve ever had. 
- Viliv S5 (#1 most popular on the Portal)
- Gigabyte Touchnote (#2)
- UMID Mbook (#3)
- Aigo P8860 (With XP)
- Raon Digital Everun Note
- Kohjinsha SC3
- Nokia N810
- Fujitsu U820
And to round-up the device list I’m going to pick up an iPod Touch before I leave for Amsterdam.
But what exactly am I planning to do with these devices in Amsterdam?
The main reason is to show developers and get their thoughts on the platforms from both a hardware and software perspective. Are mobile application developers interested in pocketable X86 platforms? What would they look for before they considered it as a platform to work with or to buy for personal use? Do they want to see market penetration or Interesting APIs and hardware? What if a mobile device offered them access to processing power that they’ve never been able to use before? Screens that contain 4-8 times more space? Higher capacity storage and memory? Longer online battery life? I certainly don’t expect an overwhelmingly positive reaction to these ‘disruptive’ devices but I do promise to let you know what people are really saying.
Secondly, it’s to get real-life mobile-use hands on with the UMID and Aigo with XP. Although I had devices in Austin at SXSW, it was very difficult to get good 3G usage time. I’ll have a local Vodafone card (or two) in Amsterdam so there should be no problem staying connected all the time.
Finally, I want to let people get hands-on. There are few opportunities to be able to try before you buy so I’ll be available for anyone that wants to see them and ask questions. They’ll be at the sessions and the parties and if you want, at your preferred location in Amsterdam. If you want to meet up with me to check the devices out, contact me –tnwdemo@umpcportal.com – and I’ll arrange it. Hopefully we can pull together a few mobile gadget geek sessions. As mentioned above, i’ll be at the Mobile Dev Camp on Wednesday 15th.
Many thanks to Mobilx for shipping over the Aigo, Touchnote and UMID for testing next week.
Footnote If you’re arranging a mobile web / computing event in and you think people would be interested in a demo and discussion around the MID and ultra mobile PC segment, contact me and we can talk about logistics, presentations and other possibilities. The segments UMPCPortal works in are shown in this PDF.
New article: The Cream of MIDs and UMPCs in Amsterdam http://cli.gs/s4YYmG
Chippy, is the Aigo the production XP type or modified linux type? I’m really interested in getting an XP Aigo.
Its a modified XP type. WIthout working Wifi I understand.
Wifi is also working after installation of the “Marvell sd8686 Wireless LAN SDIO Adapt” driver in its official version, which can also be easily found at:
http://www.mobilx.hu/download/raondigital/wifi_sd8686.zip
HI,
If only were that simple. Wifi doesn’t work by simply installing the drivers. It actually requires Hardware modification. Apparently there was a disign error on the original Aigo, which prevents Wifi to work on Windows XP. It looks like its something to do how the hardware is powered. Its works fine on Linux but on XP hardware power seems to be handled differently so it makes it freeze.
Still waiting for a full confirmation on this, but everything points to be true…
All the best,
Joao
Chippy – are you getting to keep the umid on loan for a testing and a live session?
The UMID will be with me for a few weeks yes. Live session as soon as I get the chance.
may the “force” be you – take our ideas to “the men”.
Thx. Usually I get really good feedback from Web2.0 types. These people are so creative-minded that they instantly see where something fits in. It’s usually a pleasure so i’m hoping for good, constructive feedback.
S.
So, is there any production xp Aigo?
It’s coming soon. Expected in May. Maybe even April.
Steve
8 PCs, 2 phones, power bank, camera and more now in my backpack ready for #tnw http://is.gd/skOU Anyone traveling up today?