We managed to uncover information about the MSI S20 slider earlier today. We’ve just uncovered the first video of it too!

The video reveals USB3.0, 10-point multi-touch, a weight of “less that 2KG”, thickness of less than 1 inch and Bluetooth 4.

Read the full story

We’ve pulled together as much as we can find on the Acer Aspire S7, the touchscreen Windows 8 Ultrabook just presented for the first time at Computex.

Acer Aspire S7 11.6″ Information          Acer Aspire S7 13.3″ Information

Read the full story

Yesterday we saw the first review of the next-gen Asus Zenbooks. The Zenbook Prime UX31A impressed Laptop and impressed us too with a great set of improvements that brings the Zenbook Prime right up into near-perfect Ultrabook territory. Today we’ve got Anandtech giving us a similar story about the 11.6” ASUS Zenbook UX21A.

If you have any interest at all in Ultrabooks or ultrathins or even netbook-sized devices, read this review…

Read the full story

JKK of JKKMobile has his hands-on video up and he takes us round the Asus PadFone explaining the technology behind the dock and the phone. It’s basically an HDMI screen and USB extender that also provides charging from a built-in battery. There’s an audio, mic and USB port extender too.

Our product page is here. We’ll add information, links and videos as we find them.

via @jkkmobile

Just launched at their Computex press event is the Asus PadFone, a hybrid tablet / phone combination that docks together. We’re getting images and specifications through as the press conference happens. This entry will update with new information, images and videos as we get them. {Update: Launch event video below]

From information available at the moment, it looks like the unit has 3G capability only via the phone (1 SIM card needed) but can use the battery inside the main tablet unit. Both devices run their own OS/processing platform with the main unit switching as the phone is docked.

Update: Engadget have been told that the padfone will be targeted for the end of year and it won’t be running Honeycomb. Ice Cream Sandwich is more likely.

The main screen is a 10 inch module (1280×800)

Press images are available here.

Our product page with links and images is building, as you read,  right here.

Image via Netbooknews.

Hat tip @jkkmobile @gadgetsmagazine

It’s important to note that ASUS aren’t announcing final specifications, a date or a price at the moment so this is very much a concept right now. We’re assuming it’s being built on Tegra2 at this stage.

I liked the ‘landscape Blackberry’ format of this little messenger I saw at the ARM showcase in Taiwan last week. It’s running Maemo on a Marvell 300-series platform (ARMv5 in the same league as the Nokia N810 in terms of processing power) The screen was a little small for my eyes but I think there’s potential for using this purely for mobile social networking where you need a wide range of services, 3G, GPS and a quality browser to support all the links that get passed about. You’d certainly save battery life on your main phone although there’s an argument that says it would be easier to just go out and buy a cheap Android slider smartphone. The LG GW620 for example. The built quality was impressive although the  keyboard would have been better. Unfortunately I don’t have any information about where or when this device will be available and how much it will cost.

I’ll be hosting 2 live sessions today that I hope you’ll be able to join in on. The first is the MeetMobility Computex Podcast with Sascha and JKK out in Taiwan, myself back in the studio and special guest, Joanna Stern from Engadget joining us from New York. That will start at 1500 CEST (9am New York, 9pm Taipei, other times here.) and you can join in by tuning to MeetMobility.com/live It will be recorded and available later today.

The second event is a live open presentation and Q&A on the Dell Streak. That will start at 2100 CEST (Midday San Francisco, 2000 UK, other times here.)  I don’t have a full retail model but the device I have allows me to show you around the device, demonstrate some features, give you some thoughts and answer your questions. So far the device is living up to all my expectations with the extra bonus that the battery life appears to be better than I thought. Unfortunately JKK can’t join us because he’s still out in Taipei and by the time he gets back to his studio on Wednesday, I’ll be away on another commitment until the week after. We might have a few Streak owners from the UK joining the chat though so it will be the perfect chance to get together to talk about the device from multiple perspectives. Video and chat will be running at Carrypad.com/live. I’ll be bringing the Sony Ericsson X10, Viliv S5 and Archos 5 for comparison. See you there.

I got myself a big piece of Intel info-marketing at the Intel Atom Software Summit this week and it’s very clear and very significant that Intel managed to drag something like 200 people away from the Computex show floor for 2.5hrs. Atom, MeeGo and AppUp are such important parts of the Intel strategy now that they are getting pushed hard and it seems to be at least raising some eyebrows. The Intel Atom Software Summit at Computex was aimed at the ODM, OEM and operating system community in an effort bring them all up to date about what you might call the continuum within the continuum. Intel talks about a horizontal line of silicon products that serve different markets (the ‘Compute Continuum’)but there’s a vertical within the Atom segment that includes software, user interface and applications. It starts with 6 Atom silicon platforms that support many operating systems. Windows and MeeGo getting special attention and getting their own application ecosystem which includes an application delivery framework, back-end billing, application marketing and developer support.

Here are some notes from the software summit that I hope outline the key points that Intel is trying to put across. The full slide set is available here. (PDF) More information links are included below.

Session notes

Navin Shenoy VP Intel Asia Pacific introduced the compute continuum (Xeon, Core, Atom) by saying that “Software is the difference between success and failure inch [slide: “User Experience inch] and introduced Doug Fisher. VP Software and Services.

Doug presents…

[Slide: Mobile Internet is driving, possibly 10B units. ] The message here is that there’s a significant opportunity within the internet-connected device category.

Intel is a ‘Port of choice. inch Multiple operating environments are offered. MeeGo Android Windows and Chrome were highlighted. [Sidenote: Chrome and Google are starting to appear more in the marketing i’m seeing.]

Value proposition Slide:

For OEMs:

• Open platform critical for value
• Best internet Experience
• Faster time to market

For Service provider:

• Strong ecosystem
• Reduce Churn consistent environment across ecosystem

Value for Developers

• Revenue opportunity.
• Consistent tools and API.

MeeGo, joint OS build and UI framework highlighted. May release achieved. 1.0 reviews were good. Highlighted. on slide.

Doug introduced some partners who highlighted their experience and expectation for MeeGo. As you would imagine, all three partners highlighted good experiences and expectations!

Novell’s Guy Lunardi talks about MeeGo 1.0

Telekom Italia: We are participating with MeeGo on Cubo Vision. The product was ready in 4 months.

Orange and MeeGo;   Talks about value-add. Truly cross-platform device. No talk about real products. We can assume something is coming I guess.

Doung introduced demos of MeeGo 1.0 on netbook, IVI and Tablet.

Message to developers: Amount of work to move apps to move from one product to another is minimal. Only 20% of code base re-write needed (user interface)

Tablet Demo:

See video from yesterday for more on the MeeGo Tablet UI.

[Chippy sidenote: I think this is known as ‘Info Launcher’ and is a product of the MeeGo Enabling Center in Taiwan. It should be available later in the year. Note too that user interfaces are being developed alongside MeeGo and don’t fall into the 6-month update cycle planned for MeeGo.]

AppUp The Intel framework for application stores on MeeGo and Windows operating systems.

Peter Biddle demonstrates AppUp on MeeGo for tablets AND handhelds (video) first time ever.

Peter: We see phenomenal market in consumer software. We are engaging with Dev community. How:Dev program includes tools, sales channel and marketing.

Plea to audience: Work with us to create customers. Peter highlights this as the kick-start. [Chippy sidenote: Intel needs AppUp to be pre-installed on devices to succeed]

Peter talks about the efforts being done. The work to connect with top iPhone devs. Intel have hired some iPhone devs to help define ‘small’ developer requirements. See slide below.

Biddle: We need to enable devs to get reputation because that is a significant requirement for many small devs.

Soma Games on stage: demo game:

Konami on stage: Joe Morris talks about poetential. [Chippy: Would be great to see Konami games on the AppUp store.]

Peter continues on AppUp:

• Planning on coming out of beta soon.
• Not worried about our ability to attract developers. We need consumers.
• Online user awareness campaign has started.
• AppUp.com relaunched.
• AppUp demo on a Moblin smartphone (port to MeeGo is not complete yet)

Ellis Wang of Asus on stage:

Highlights the launch of Asus Access Cloud: Built on AppUp for notebook and Eee PC customers. Enhanced AppUp.

Note that ASUS and Acer have committed to releasing products that use MeeGo so one would expect that this service will appear there too.

Presentation ends.

At an after-event, we were given the opportunity to ask questions.

• Is multi-user support going into MeeGo? Yes, it will be added to the roadmap.
• MeeGo 1.1 will be released in October and will include always-on, sensor and gesture support. (It will support Oaktrail and Moorestown)
• 4 main user interfaces are being worked-on by user groups. [Chippy sidenote: I’ve heard of 5. Handheld, tablet, netbook. In-vehicle and TV]
• Intel has no position on the threat of patent issues with MeeGo (i.e.. No comment when I asked them whether MeeGo is guaranteed to be free from intellectual property issues.)
• AppUp is not something that will go into Intel’s Android build.
• Intel’s Android build is an official part of the Android work and work done will be sent back upstream.
• Intel’s intention is to have X86 Android devices recognised by Google. (i.e. marketplace, maps , sync etc.)

The summary here is that Intel want to enable a choice of stacks that can run on Atom solutions. Intel wish to enable an application ecosystem for Windows and in Meego, another, free software choice for some selected markets such as in-vehicle, tablets and handhelds. The big take-away for me though is that a huge amount of Intel marketing effort is going into MeeGo and AppUp.

Related:

My hands-on overview of MeeGo 1.0 on a netbook.

A close-up demo of MeeGo’s tablet user interface on an Oaktrail platform.

Intel official slide set from Atom Software Summit

Intel Fact Sheet – MeeGo* and Intel AppUp^SM Gain Momentum at Computex