The Enso ZenPad (AKA Evigroup Wallet) [Portal page] is now shipping from enso-now.com. Lot’s of new info about this device now that it’s shipping: Though the device is essentially a WiFi-only Android MID, it appears as though you can equip it with internal GPS for $25 on top of the starting $155 price. Additionally, it looks like 3G and voice [UMTS/HSDPA/EVDO (850, 1900, 2100 MHz) or GSM/EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz)] is available on the device through an external micro-USB dongle which is available for purchase at checkout for […]

Tying-up the rumors of an Intel, Google, Android project today is the announcement that Google will launch Google TV on Intel hardware. While the product is not important for mobile computing fans it does prove that Android on X86 has had a lot of investment and is ready for mainstream. It’s a potentially huge win for Atom. Google TV is probably using  the Intel CE4100 processor formerly known as Sodaville. The CE4100 processor can deliver speeds up to 1.2GHz while offering lower power and a small footprint to help decrease […]

The last time I considered Chrome OS I called it a dumb OS. Too simple. Nothing Unique. OK, you’ll never need to update those web-based apps (although you can expect downtime when apps are upgraded) but is that the compelling reason to use Chrome OS? Clearly there won’t be room for an Android-like application store so it will rely on web applications written in JavaScript, html5 and other web components. Google has given us a glimpse of the way they want to package and market web-based apps in the Chrome […]

If you haven’t been following the to-and-fro related to video codecs and HTML5, let me give you a quick update. There’s been a fight over whether H.264 or OGG Theora should be used as the video codec and two problems exist. H.264 is currently free to use but it has to be licensed. In 2015, those license may (or may not) cost money. OGG Theora on the other hand is open-source and will remain free. The problem with OGG Theora is that there are questions begin asked about whether it […]

Thanks to over 500 people that stepped into the live Open Review of the Compaq Airlife 100 yesterday. We spent 2.5 hours going over the device and tested as much as we could. Thanks also to JKKMobile for joining-in via Skype and helping out. During the session we made three live recordings which are now available at Ustream. They’re relatively long but hopefully interesting to people looking towards the ‘smart’ devices sector. There’s a lot to learn from this ‘always-on’ device segment. I’ve embedded part 1 of the session below […]

As promised in the last post, I’ve unboxed the Compaq Airlife 100 that turned up today. It’s 20 minutes long but is detailed and shows some of the features of the device including browsing and application installing. Tonight (18th May) at 2200 CEST I’ll be doing a live session with the Airlife so please, drop in and ask questions. More details about the live session in the last post. The recordings of the Open Review are available in the Meet:Mobility UStream Channel. I’m writing a full review right now. Expected […]

The Compaq Airlife 100 just arrived from Spain It’s one of the first true smart-books / social netbooks (*1)  and a device I believe will show us exactly how touch, always-on, always connected and social networking will play a role in netbooks of the future. It will be available soon in Spain through Telefonica’s Movistar service provider. Here’s the plan. The unboxing and overview is done and uploading now to my YouTube channel Later, I’ll get down to the studio for a LIVE video and chat session. Lets say, 2200 […]

Sad news from Viliv today. We’ve just heard that the launch of the clamshell handheld, the N5, has been pushed back to June. This follows a series of delays and means that availability is not likely until July. I know many of you are waiting for it so the only thing I can say is that I’ll be in Computex in a few weeks and will be meeting with Viliv where I’ll try and get the latest information and try to find out what their next move is. Remember at […]