I guess Wired are still hooked-up on the original Origami device definition and forgot to take a second look to see how things are evolving rather than dying. From UMPCs came Intel’s dedicated McCaslin platform and then Atom, of which the next iteration will be voice-capable and will span phones to netbooks. Meanwhile cellphones have been trying to become MIDs, UMPCs and netbooks by advancing in the other direction. The real story here seems to be that personal mobile Internet devices are being born!
I have to admit, I’ve thought of changing back to the original ‘Carrypad’ name a few times in the last year and if weren’t for the mobile laptops and MIDs, we’d probably have gone under a long time ago! The Origami-style ultra mobile PC market does indeed remain niche.
Thank goodness its all about ‘personal’ computing though and that the ultra mobile space covers a wide area, is growing like mad and will offer exciting choices for everyone. Every device is a winner for someone, even if Wired say they’re dead!
Chippy, I have to disagree with you and side with Wired. MIDs just haven’t materialized with many retailers in most western markets, especially the North American market. To the extent you can say there are 1 or 2 marketed, if you include Nokia’s internet tablet, they’re overpriced considering the features and computing power. Most consumers, if they can afford to buy in this economic climate, will try to get the most bang for their money and, I suspect, buy a netbook or even a lower-cost laptop. I think the dragging of feet in tapping into the market, over pricing, entertainment focus rather than a balanced set of features has ensured this product will be rated as vaporware in a decade-end review in 2010. The economic malaise the world is experiencing is going to ensure that. I also predict that we’re all going to start seeing the slow downward pressure on electronics pricing end–I suspect come next year we may see a trend of steady, small price increases for most electronic gadgets, especially as factories have to reduce output due to a drop in consumer demand. (Their per-cost price will increase as their production output falls and they’re going to have to pass some of it along to consumers.)
I dunno if I’d say UMPCs have been killed by the cellphone there is just a growing conglomeration of products and blurring of boundaries, similar to when the first phone took on camera capabilities. The death of the camera? Hardly!
I’m getting a little skeptical of the quality of some of Wired’s articles. I think somebody high-up needs to reinstigate some serious quality control as certain wired writers are getting plain lazy.
See this http://www.electricvagabond.com/2008/10/lenovo-s10-best-netbook-not-on-my-watch.html
I do think that the UMPC has morphed into something other than its original blueprint. As the previous owner of a Pepper Pad 3 and a Samsung, I finally ended up with a Dell D430 and just bought my wife an Acer Aspire One. Our UMPC itch has been scratched!
A 3″ smartphone screen will never be as satisfying as a 7-12″ screen, except in a pinch.
Most of us drop the phone in a charger when we walk in the door and plop down with a larger-screen device, more and more like the Netbook.
Still, as a longtime Blackberry user I have a hankering for a more satisfying browsing experience so I am weighing the merits of a Storm or iPhone 3G. Once I get that itch scratched, I will be bored for a while.
By the way, Chippy, I enjoy reading your blog more than any other. Your attitude is mature (hear that BGR) and your research, demonstrations, reviews, buyers guide, etc., are superb. A slight morphing of your site to reflect the direction reality has taken all of us probably makes sense. Hmmm….Carrypad his a nice ring to it.
I absolutely agree with the sentiments about the Wired article being poorly written. If UMPCs were more cost-effective, I think there wouldn’t be any problems in the market – there just needs to be one really successful design. I think it’s a niche that is still in R&D. I don’t think that the cellphone has killed the camera either. I prefer not to pay for the subscription that is required to send said photos through my shyster cellular service provider.
Had to chuckle at EV’s reference to the S10 review. I want to purchase an S10, and even I found that review ridiculous and laughable. It won’t be worth the premium Lenovo design (and cost) until it has a 6-cell battery with bluetooth. It would have been understandable if Wired had received the review models that most outfits had gotten (you know, the one with 160gb, BT, 1Gb RAM, and 6-cell battery that is still missing in most markets) and done a legitimate review, but they didn’t! Where are the editors? Are we not aware of the Samsung NC10? MSI? EEE PC? Maybe if they had used your site, Chippy, they might have gleaned, those ever elusive actual facts.
Keep up the hard work. This US reader appreciates it! I frequent liliputing, jkk, and umpcportal often for news. Glad that you all are able to stay on top of it.
Steve,
Agreed and agreed. The reality of the MID market is that there are new categories that are emerging and new product names being given to these products. This trend has not gone un-noticed at Texas Instruments where we take pride in OMAP3’s leadership position in the smartphone space.
Computing performance is no longer a bottleneck which is driving product innovation. Applications processors like TI’s 3rd generation OMAP deliver the same performance as a laptop albeit by operating at a lower clock. Naturally, customers designing MID’s and Netbooks feel the urge for more and more MHz without realizing that higher MHz comes at the expense of bigger batteries. And, we all know what it is to lug a super heavy laptop. We therefore believe that the need of the hour is smart utilization of MHz – one of the many successful approaches is to create a System-on-a-chip approach (a la OMAP) that combines multiple parallel processing blocks on one chip.
The issue with x86 architectures is that they were all designed for use in laptops/desktops which assumed a large battery and lots of memory and lots of MHz. For the kind of products that are being envisioned in this new burgeoning category of MIDs/Netbooks, none of these criteria are relevant anymore. Customers want something light, pocketable, lasts all day on a single-charge and handles most of the tasks that we, as consumers, spend 90-95% of our time. Browsing, email, Word, Powerpoint, Excel, listening to music and time permitting, watching video. These functions can already be handled by ARM-based SoC’s like OMAP, so the trick is to package the product in a form-factor and with UI that is intuitive and appealing to customers. For example, smartphones could sport a bigger display while still retaining the thin form factor that makes them pocketable. Consumer electronics platforms like PMP’s, PNDs would retain their large display but would now sport a no-compromise browser, but still focus on Multimedia or Navigation. Laptops would become lighter and cheaper with ARM-based SoC’s (like OMAP) and spawn this new category of netbooks.
Bottom line: Yes, phones will spawn off MID’s. However, let’s not discount the PC and CE segments – they are looking for differentiated ways to sell new platforms, so expect some surprises there.
Wired article is definitelty being poorly written.
I don’t agree that cellphone is killing Camera and UMPC. Smartphone and UMPC killed PDA for sure.
I’ve been using smartphones since long and barely used it for browsing net except for googling around sometimes when I’m not having my UMPC or laptop around.
Fact that most of the websites are not designed for small screens make it difficult to digest that smartphones can kill UMPC.
I currently carry both fujitsu U810 and blackberry curve, but I’ll love to see more well designed and cost effective UMPC like MIU HDPC which have handheld gaming rig, cellphone,eBook reader, digital camera, etc.
UMPC’s and MIDS forgot that form needs to follow function. People do want a full PC small enough to carry in their coat pocket but thumb input or pen input is NOT how people want a PC to function.
What they need to do is just make a simple touch type keyboard pocket full PC that will fit in a jacket pocket. Something like a modern Psion 5mx about 7″ x 3.75″ x 1″ and design the screen and keyboard to be as large and easy to use given that size limit.
UMPC’s indeed have not followed their path of being budget articles.
That’s one of the reasons that today the EeePc 2/4G is still being sold, and not replaced!
Also the European market was pretty slow to respond. I believe because in Western Europe everything HAS to be quality. EeePc 2G isn’t particularly quality, and though the 1000 series and the s101 are, they are a bit overpriced compared to a standard notebook.
I still think European customers think this way.
They are wise spenders.
Ofcourse a minority really wants to buy the device for it’s looks!
But there’s still a large area in europe where people are living without internet, especially in the eastern part.
Many even in the western part say they have been living fine without internet, and will continue to do so, and see no reason to purchase internet for a monthly fee.
Cellphones with advanced capabilities even less!
Even if they buy one, almost 60% of the phone’s capability lies dormant. people just don’t use all these gadgets, and are really not fond of having internet pushed down their throats on their cellphone.
I myself am a bit the same, wanting only a cell to receive text messages, and call quickly.
Long conversations shouldn’t be done on my way(in the car, or whereever)…
Perhaps “Wired” should join the wireless generation and then they will see, as said in the article, that cell phones are trying to become MID’s. UMPC’s aren’t dead, they’re just part of a large gambit of personalized technologies to fit a device to a user. Some want a MID as presently defined, some want just a feature- or smart-phone, some want a UMPC, some want them all. It’s a trade-off between what we want or need and what we can afford to buy.
Regards,
Jamie
It is not about price for most people to me. UMPC’s have not created the right form factor. Ask people what type of input method do they want in a full Windows OS computer that would be ultra mobile and you will not find many wanting thumb input or pen input. Also to differentiate between a sub notebook or laptop they also need to be small enough to carry in a pocket. That to me is clearly the problem not price at all. Right now since the UMPC’s have the wrong form factor not many want want. UMPC’s need to make their form factor more like a Psion 5mx so it would be a true laptop in your pocket.
I think that’s pretty relative .. different to each user.
If you ask me, a mini notebook should have the size of a normal book. between 8 and 9″.
Others would want it to fit in their pockets, but then again,for others devices barely fitting in your pocket still have a too small keyboard.
People who type much would prefer a larger keyboard.
Though I have no problem with the keyboard of the first generation of EeePc’s,other users (who mainly use it for office tasks)might want the keyboard even larger.
For a programmer the keyboard and size is perfect.
For an occasional typer, who mainly wants internet, a thumb sized keyboard should do.
I heard of this disease called ‘Thumbitis’.
A disease that affects the joints, found in some youngsters typing too much text messages on their cellphone…
Way too premature to call the UMPC dead given we see more and more new models emerging. The wired article uses the word ‘was’ which is clearly incorrect… I also disagree with the camera (which had just one of the best years ever).
Lot of new UMPC models are coming out and they wouldn’t if the market was dead now. Also to say the iPhone is a computer with a phone is backwards in my opinion. The iPhone doesn’t come close to a decent VGA pocket pc (e.g. X51V) or any MIDs.
But maybe they have it all backwards in the entire article. The classic cell phone is dead and has been replaced with UMPC/Pocket PC with cell phone capability!