It’s so good to be able to finally bring you some mobile computing news over here at UMPCPortal. The lions share went to our consumer-focused site, Carrypad [see all our consumer tablet news from IFA here] and to be honest, I didn’t see a single UMPC-style product at IFA. It’s telling.

There are a lot of positive points to pull out of IFA though. 1 Android products are getting better and all the major manufacturers are committed to getting some tablet and smart book products out there. Some will reach the market in the next month. 2 –  As we get nearer towards Android 3.0 the developers must be thinking about the opportunities and i’m 100% sure we’re going to see the productive end of the Android applicaton spectrum blossom during 2011. 3-  We also saw some progress from Moblin. The first Moblin-based product is about to launch [WeTab – Details] and the feedback from the product developers was very positive.  Again, we’re going to see some good developments in the AppUp market here so that’s good news for 2011.  [Sidenote: We’re participating in AppUp Elements next week so we’ll have the latest info for you then.] Finally, I was extremely happy to see the 1KG Samsung N350 at IFA. Having recently written a report on mobile netbooks, I’m confident in saying that the N350 is the best solution out there. Dual-core Atom is going to bring Windows 7 application fluidity and enable basic use of video and audio editing apps. It might also allow me to finally step up from VGA to 720p in my video process. I’ll be testing it as soon as I can.

Full gallery here.

Previous article on the Samsung N350 here.

When the details have been added to our database, they will be here.

The N350 offers 1024×768 (So say Samsung. More real estate at the expense of vertically-squashed pixels?) with a non-glossy finish. No digital a/v out is offered but VGA is there. You’ve also got an easy RAM upgrade slot and the promise of 3G / 4G (which means there’s a swappable module in there somewhere.) Battery life is said to in the region of 13 hours for the 6-cell battery. The 1KG version will have the 3-cell battery and offer, in real-terms, about 4-5hrs. The screen / price / power / battery life ratio there is unbeatable. Expect about 100-150gm extra weight for the 6-cell battery still an unbeatable combo in my opinion.

The N350 on the show-floor was only running an N450 so its not possible to tell you about the performance but even the N455 model I tested was smooth. There’s obviously a fast SATA drive in there which could easily be swapped out for an even faster / more rugged SSD if needed.

Base pricing (lets hope it’s not for the N450 model) is 400-450. If the pricing is for an entry-level single core version then you’re looking at 499 Euro for the dual-core version. Add about 80 Euro for the 3G version which might not be available immediately.

How about this: Samsung N350 with Dual-Core N55 and added 3G, SSD and Pixel-Qi screen for about 5-6 hours of 1KG of 10 inch  productivity. It sounds like a real possibility to me after IFA this week.

Me and chippy mentioned on Twitter just the other day that more power was needed from netbook based systems and Gigabyte may have just come up with the goods in their T1000 series refresh.

The T1005M comes packing Intels newest Atom processor, the N550. Its a 1.5GHz dual-core chip with 512KB of L2 cache, DDR3 support and hyperthreading to get you multitaskers moving along nicely.

Other specifications from this convertible netbook include, 2GB DDR3 RAM, 320GB hard drive, WiFi 80211b/g/n, Bluetooth, 2x USB 2.0, Windows 7 Home Premium and a 10.1 inch capacitive multi-touch display running at 1366 x 768 pixels resolution. What is also notable is the inclusion of one USB 3.0 port and optional inbuilt HSDPA.

Based on these specifications I think we have found chippy a new convertible, assuming he’s willing to stump up the $798 USD premium.

The unit weighs 3.3 pounds, measures in at 10.4 inch x 8.4 inch x 1.6 inch and comes with a 6 cell, 41Whr, 7650mAh battery.

Gigabytes T1005M is already available in Australia, although curiously the retailer is showing the product as discontinued. When it will grace European and US shores is yet unknown but watch this space.

[via Liliputing]

Meet:Mobility Podcast 54 is available.

In this show recorded on Friday 20th August 2010, Chippy, JKK and guest, Joanna Stern (Engadget) attempt to round-up 6 weeks of mobile computing news and talk about the netbooks and tablet possibilities for Q4 2010

Full show notes, listen and subscribe links over at Meet:Mobility.

You can also find the podcast on iTunes (Please, please help us by rating the show on iTunes.) You can also subscribe via RSS.

As I was counting the netbook articles on Liliputing this morning (2 on the first 2 pages of 18 headlines) I wondered again if the netbook market might be having more than just a summer break. The push to more powerful devices (and slightly higher prices) with the next-gen CPUs and platforms seems to me like it breaks everything that the netbook was. Its over and all that remains is the momentum of the tag (which of course will be carried forward by everyone that has invested in it.)

Sasha, my good friend and fellow MeetMobility podcaster is one of those that has a lot invested in the keyword so it’s interesting to read his thoughts on it. In an article today he highlights the advances that the new platforms will bring and assures us that everything is going to be fine. If you can wait until February, he says, you’re going to have a big selection of new devices to choose from.

I have a certain amount of my business effort invested in netbooks too. If the netbook hadn’t have arrived my company would have been dead a long time ago and, like the iPad, it makes people think and mobility, size and usability. I’m not so bullish on the future of netbooks though. There are a couple of data points I’m considering and a number of other thoughts.

Google Trends

Google trends is hardly the best indicator of sales but it does indicate popularity amount searches and popularity amongst news items. Netbooks are certainly taking second place to tablets in terms of news right now and it seems that the slow down in news is also affecting users awareness of the platform. That will have a direct impact on sales. Searches for ‘netbook’ are now running at less than one fifth of searches for Android or iPad. This time last year, Android and Netbook were attracting exactly the same level of search queries. Having said that, there are almost the same number of queries for netbook as there were one year ago. Only the number of news articles has fallen.

Number of Netbooks.

By analysing the German netbook market SKU numbers and the distribution of screen sizes over the last two years it can be clearly shown that the sub 10 inch market is long gone. The 10 inch market is flattening off in terms of new products and only the 11 inch segment is rising significantly. In this months analysis it’s also clear that the total numbers of products is flattening off which could be an indicator that growth has stopped in Germany. Again, the underlying trend is one of ‘flat’ rather than growth or decay. If this can be maintained, the netbook market will remain healthy but with new product launches sowing, it will be difficult to keep momentum. Of course, if devices are simply dropping the ‘netbook’ tag in their marketing then the devices may must be selling as ‘laptops’ although that in itself indicates that the netbook trend is over.

Based on simple screen sizes and weight figures, the traditional netbook market is already over for me.

On the day that I stepped outside with my netbook to connect a solar panel and thought ‘hmm, a PixelQi screen would be nice,’ along comes a DIY article and test from Engadget on how to fit a PixelQi screen. Joanna Stern also gives some thoughts about usability and runs some tests to see just how much battery life the new screen would save over the old. It matches what we expected.

Installation on a Lenovo Ideapad S10-2 seems very straight-forward and the results in the outdoor scenario are fantastic. Viewing angles are as tight as I experienced them at CES earlier this year though so you’ll have to be using this at the correct angle to get the best out of it. Indoors, the screen performs much like any other LCD, LED-backlit screen.

The interesting thing about Engadget’s report is the battery life testing. A lot of people have been raving about saving huge amounts of power by turning the backlight off and yes, expect 1-2 watts power saving in this test but it’s not a real-world scenario. In a normal office scenario with reasonable lighting, you’ll still need the backlight on to view the color. Given that the screen only accounts for 20-30% of battery drain, the maximum that can be saved is 30% but in indoor use, with a 30% backlight setting, you may only save 0.5-1W. On a modern netbook that’s about 10-15%. Engadget’s test shows a 25% difference in battery drain with backlight on (70%) and off. That’s in-line with what we predicted.

Based on battery life alone, it’s not worth the money but how much is it worth to be able to finally use the device outdoors? For mobile computing or even train usage, we think it’s worth it. Interestingly, on a ‘smart’ device like the Airlife 100, the battery life savings would be more significant. You could expect usage to rise from 10hrs to 15 or more as the screen backlight forms a larger part of the power envelope.

Full how-to and report at Engadget.

The MeeGo core code 1.0 and Netbook User Experience builds have just been released.

Obviously I’m downloading it as I write this and i’ll be reporting on it as soon as I can (lots happening this evening though. I might have to leave it until Thursday.)

One of the big changes is that there’s a version available that includes Chrome. Chrome has been chosen as the default browser for MeeGo going forward. Watch out for the Chrome Web App store!

The SDK has also been released (for netbooks only at this stage)

Download links

Let’s get testing!

Once again, it looks like my trusty Gigabyte Touchnote, my Canon S2IS and my N82 will form the hub of my mobile computing gear at Computex this year. Despite great advances in technology, I’m the mobile-tech-blogger with the old kit and the reason is process.

See previous editions of my mobile reporting kit here.

I’ve been using these devices successfully as one process unit for so long that if I replace any of them I’ll break a delicate chain. If I change the camera I can’t hook it up to the the netbook and use the remote capture facility that allows me to drag images on-screen into Livewriter in live-blogging situations. I also won’t be able to record in the simple but high-quality MJPEG format that works with Movie Maker out of the box and allows me to edit without issues on my netbook. If I upgrade the netbook I’ll be using Windows 7 which doesn’t have Movie Maker and will probably be slower than my XP build. FInding a netbook with touch, a fast SSD and good 3G isn’t easy or cheap either. If I change the phone, I’ll be left with something that doesn’t have a Xenon flash, good low-light capability and free navigation without the need for an internet connection. As for the MiFi, well, it’s the MiFi and it’s worth taking everywhere!

Of course, there’s a lot of other bits and pieces that go in the kit bag. Tripod, cables, chargers, USB Mic, toolkit, spare battery etc etc etc. Necessary evils!

I am also thinking about two other bits of kit. The UMID BZ, a device I’ve been getting great use out of in the last 4 months. That could serve as a backup PC, pocket PC and bedside PC.  I can get away without it though. The other device, and one I’m more likely to take is the Xperia X10. That will serve as a MID, backup camera, phone and comms device and I might use it for quick videos that are in the correct format to be able to instantly send to YouTube. It might become my primary phone too because I really only need the N82 for quick images and navigation.

For 3G, I’ll be using the same service as last year. I picked up a local Taiwan Mobile 3G SIM at the airport. It was cheap and worked well. I doubt it’s still active so i’ll probably have to sign up again.

It’s a relatively old set of kit now and at some point in the next year I’ll be looking to upgrade. Battery life on my netbook needs to be improved (I only get about 8 hours total from the two batteries I have) and low-light capability on my main camera needs improving too. As for the mobile phone, I have a feeling that I’ll forever be carrying two devices. One MID-focused, the other a backup device.

If you’re going to Computex, i’d love to hear and write about your kit list. Let me know below (or in a blog post) and I’ll round up the information in a post here on UMPCPortal.

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 and the links to the two extended segments are included below that. Check back on Carrypad tomorrow for a review article.

Full specifications, gallery and articles list is available in our Airlife 100 tracking page.

Part 2 is available here. (More general testing. Q&A.)

Part 3 is available here. (Video, audio testing. Apps testing)

Note that while Ustream provides a fantastic free live streaming service, streaming of recorded videos is sometimes a little hit-and-miss in our experience. Early morning viewing is recommended!