I’ve been thinking about screen sizes, the web and pocketability again. Is it possible to have a totally converged device?

HSPA has already rolled out deep into the heart of Europe with countries like Germany, UK, France, Sweden and Finland already having a huge coverage of multi-megabit up and download speeds available to customers. The next stage, starting commercially in 2010, is LTE. Long Term Evolution. Where UMTS and HSPA were 3G technologies, LTE is 4G and will bring theoretical speeds way above what most people even get on their DSL and cable connections today. More importantly it lowers the cost for carriers by introducing new protocols and technologies that […]

The guys at UMPCFever have a sample of the Viliv S7 convertible UMPC  (Viliv call it a handtop) a few days before the Hong Kong launch and have started to post reports. It’s an engineering sample so don’t take everything as final. Before we start, lets take a quick moment to think about what we’re looking at here. The S7 is, using current terms, a mobile-focused netbook. It’s an ultra mobile PC. Lightweight, good keyboard, long long battery life, desktop OS, solid state drive and multi-scenario layout.  In terms of […]

Highlighted by the Mobile Barbarian yesterday and recieved by email from Viliv today is news that Viliv have released a software patch to allow the simultaneous use of BT, 3G and Wifi on the X70 EX 3G. Previously this had been disabled in software but now you can 3G route and BT call (tested OK via a BT headset in and outboud) to you hearts content! Downloads: vilivManager Download CubeUI Download Install Guide Download Video: Voice call test on X70 UMPC

Looking like a slightly modified Clevo TN70M and having sizing and specs to match is this variant called the Suzuki 701 M. I’ve just reviewed the TN70M and wasn’t too impressed by the 800×480 screen on it but I know there’s a 1024×600 variant and if it is well priced, it makes a great netbook. The only issue I can see is that Suzuki appear to have a very small 4-cell battery on this. The 4-cell on the TN70M lasts for around 5hrs. The 4-cell on the Suzuki is said […]

Many of you are aware that the graphics performance on the GMA500 GPU included in the Pouslbo chipset, part of the Menlow platform used in most UMPCs, Intel MIDs and even some netbooks like the ASUS T91, is not a great graphics workhorse. 3G graphics performance (from the PowerVR architecture) is extremely poor and under Windows XP, the hardware accelerated video playback capability is left unused by most programs. Intel have just relased production version 3.0.2.32 (6.14.11.1012) of the GMA500 driver to developers and as you’d expect, many people are […]

Geek.com recently published an update to their Moblin 2 review noting some major improvements to the OS. Sure enough, when I revisited it on a Medion Akoya (MSI Wind equivalent) the experience was very slick and trouble-free. It’s a smooth and slim operating system for sure but is it enough for today’s netbook and mobile computer users?

Location, Entertainment, Connectivity and Productivity. The four elements of a MID as proposed by Intel a few years ago (March 2007 although the label was ‘UMPC’ at that point. It changed to ‘MID’ a month later) It’s clear that it’s a winning combination because a lot of people appear to be moving in to cover the same ground…