Mobile World Congress is going to call for a significant refinement of my ultra mobile reporting kit (see below for previous versions) which means leaving the netbook in the hotel safe and traveling as light as possible. I aim to be roaming with only a man-bag and with about 1KG/2.2lb of equipment which is quite a challenge. Quality and speed of reporting during the day may suffer but I’m prepared to take the hit in order to be mobile and quick. Here’s a detailed look at my MWC setup as it stands just a few days from travelling.

The initial kit list looks something like this:

Hardware (825gm / 1.8lb)

• UMID BZ as PC and USB power source. Including mains charger cable.
• Nokia N82 as camera and backup 3G tether.  Including spare battery.
• Mifi 2352 as primary 3G hotspot
• USB cables for charging and connecting

Optional (about 500gm due to heavy aluminum mic.)

• Samson USB mic for interview recording
• Digutus auto-focus USB snake cam
• Headphones (small)
• UMID VGA adaptor

The bag

Oh the stress of choosing a bag. Right now I’m leaning towards the Jack Wolfskin one because it can be worn in on the back or front of the body and it looks, well, less man-baggy!

Capabilities

• Text blogging
• Photo Blogging to blog, twitter etc.
• Video Blogging
• Live video streaming (as per V6 of the reporting kit – See sample video at base of article)
• Normal PC activities.

Live one-take Video demonstration (15 mins)

Here’s how I would use the kit to post images and videos with text.

Yup, problems occur but in previous and recent tests it  looks like it will take about 5 minutes to do a 2-paragraph blog post around a photo. Video really depends on Internet bandwidth but with the mobile reporting kit I can close the lid of the UMID and leave it to continue posting to YouTube. You have to be careful of time-outs in this case because re-starting the uploads usually requires a full upload again.  Here’s the image I took during the video. As you can see, quality is excellent (click to enlarge.)

Other notes

Weight including adapter cables: 829gm (1.8lb)

Cost

• UMID BZ: $549
• Photo camera: Around $300 but get one with BT and Xenon flash.
• Mifi: $250

Improvements and optimisations.

Could a Motorola Droid/Milestone do all this? Yes. Photo’s to Flickr and editing and re-posting from Flickr is easily possible. Video also possible. Live video using QIK also possible. Text entry with Droid keyboard also possible. Cost: Around $500 including an extra battery (or two!) It’s a great single-device option and way, way lighter than what I’ll be carrying.

The issue with using a Droid is that you don’t have a PC with you for ‘everything else.’ That includes basic video editing, 100% full web access, USB accessories support (printing, usb sticks, usb cam for example) high quality audio recording using USB mic/audacity, audio/video streaming using UStream, connectivity to LCD screen and full size keyboard and use of all the normal desktop client software such as Firefox, Tweetdeck, Paint Shop, LiveWriter, Skype and anything else that a PC would be flexible for. It’s basically a trade-off. Using the UMID is way more expensive but it gives that flexibility to use to a full desktop tool-set if required and that, to me, is worth it’s weight in gold. If either the N82 or UMID die, I’m left with one working device which is a nice backup strategy.

The N82 video quality (test video here) could be improved a lot. I’d love to see a photo camera with high-compression, 720p video recording and checking across the range of smartphones available today, the Omnia i8910 would make a better choice for video with it’s 720p capability. File sizes could be a problem though so HQ VGA at about 2mbps H.264 would be perfect. Anyone out there done extensive phone-cam testing?

Battery life is an issue and will require careful management. Fortunately the UMID BZ is proving excellent in that respect and just by closing the lid I can make it go into standby or hibernation. Returning for these standby modes is 5 and 20 seconds respectively. The UMID is returngin a regular 4.5-5hr in-use battery life. Despite that, I’ll carry a mains charger with me because I may have to charge the Mifi or the N82. Both can be charged via USB which is a huge bonus. The Mifi can even be used while it charges.

Update: In a 34 minute test I saw 17% battery drain indicating 200 minutes of battery life. About 3 hours! (Device closed with screen/touchscreen off)

Embedded 3G in the UMID. Yes, this would be great. No question. There’s no need for a Mifi if you’re only using one 3G-capable device but even in that scenario, i’d probably have the Mifi with me as a backup. The antenna on it is superb and it comes in really handy for a table of five net-less bloggers!

Your suggestions welcome.

Please feed-back in the comment section below. I love to hear how people are using their mobile kit. Are you mobile blogging at MWC? If so, lets meet and have a chat about the kit on video.

I’ll post a follow-up after MWC.

Previous versions of the ultra mobile reporting kit.

V6 (Jun 2009) is here.

V5 (March 2009) is here.

V4 (Sept 2009) is here.

V3 (Feb 2008) is here.

V2 (Sept 2007) is here

V1 (March 2007) is here.

Hat-tip to Jenn at Pocketables who successfully used the flickr-to-blog method at CES 2008.

Thanks to UMID for the loan of the BZ. If I didn’t have the UMID here, I would have replaced it with the Fujitsu U820 as a second choice. The BZ really is the best choice out there right now.

Update:

Live test recording: Video/Audio stream recorded by Ustream

Meet:Mobility Podcast 41 is now available. Recorded on 1st Feb 2010, JKK, Sascha and Chippy talk around the iPad and other mobile computing news including the Aspire ONE 532H, Archos 7, Dell Mini5, iPad, ExoPC, NetbookNavigator, Firefox for N900 and Adobe Flash.
Detailed show notes below.

SUBSCRIBE:
You can also find the podcast on iTunes (Please rate the show on iTunes.) You can also subscribe via RSS.

Full show notes available at Meet:Mobility.

I learnt a huge amount when I did the Solar-ultra mobile PC tour back in 2007. Not only about solar energy (and it’s terrible efficiency rate) but also about using a mobile computer while on the go. I learnt about form factors, screens, ergonomics and productive processes. I’d love to do another tour this year so over at Solar-UMPC.com, the journal I used for the tour, I’ve taken another look at the ultra mobile PC sector to see what devices I could choose from. I’ve also given some thought to transflective screens which really help in this scenario. So much so that I’d take a weight hit just to get that Pixel Qi screen. The Viliv S7 would be the sensible all-round lightweight choice but if netbooks get Pixel Qi screen first, I’d probably use one of those despite the weight advantages of a UMPC.

I talk a little about the advances in smartphones and sadly, also see that some things haven’t changed at all.

Check it out here.

If the ‘iPad’ is launched tomorrow there’s one thing that’s certain to happen. As senior editors prepare their copy and aim to boost SEO value by focusing on the current keyword trends, the many tablets that already exist in the market will be completely overlooked. Some tech journalists will remember that something tablet-like existed back in 2006 and mark it as a failed category but of course, we know different.

The number of tablet devices in the market has grown considerably in the last 12 months and we’re now at the point where we have 46 of them fully-specified in the database with screen sizes of 4.8 to 10 inches.

Prices range from $200 to over $1000 with processors based on RISC and X86, operating systems based on Windows and Linux and battery life ranging from 2-10 hours. Our favorite so far The Viliv X70. What’s yours?

Click for a full interactive list (updated daily) and please, don’t forget the tablets!

We’ve seen several Viliv S10 [Portal page] units in the past [gallery], but it looks like the retail version was on display at CES this year. Naturally, jkk got his hands on the device and has a video of a brief rundown and some quick impressions on the unit (also don’t miss his video with the Viliv N5). This is one of the first netbooks I’ve seen that has a capacitive multitouch screen which should offer improved touchscreen consistency than we’re used to with most large touchscreens. Still no word on pricing or availability but the best we can hope for is soon. Without ION, it feels like Viliv has missed the optimal time to bring this great looking convertible to market — if they don’t hurry up they might not have a chance to capitalize on what could have been a significant device for Viliv.  Jump over to jkk’s site to check out the video.

Jkk sounds really excited to be checking out the upcoming Viliv N5 that was recently announced, saying that he feels confident that this is “the ultra mobile PC that we’ve all been waiting for inch. He has a quality 5 minute video looking around the hardware of the device. Jkk estimates a few weeks until the N5 will be available, but at this point there isn’t anything official about pricing or release dates. He also mentions that there will be an 800×480 low-end version in addition to the 1024×600 model that he plays with in the video. Jump over to his site to see the hands-on, and I’m sure Chippy will be having a look at this as well to give you his impressions.

Another CES ‘leak.’ This time it’s the UMID BZ 4.8 inch clamshell ultra mobile PC which is very similar to the Viliv N5 we’ve just reported on.

The BZ has also been known in the past as the M2 and also sells as the Onkyo BX and it improves on the M1 design by adding an optical mouse pointer and mouse buttons, standard Line-out and USB ports and a slight modification to the casing design.

The unit runs on the Intel Atom Z520 (1.2Ghz HT-enabled) and battery life tests by Lazion are showing 5hrs figures. According to the report the BZ will be available in mid-Jan 2010. Pricing of $499 has been mentioned in previous reports but this is unconfirmed.

For more images and a translation, head to Lazion.

We’re planning to get both the N5 and BZ in a side-by-side hands-on at CES in just a few days.

Thanks very much to Mobilx.eu who have sent one of their first Archos 9 devices to us for a week of testing and hands-on. You’ll remember hearing about this earlier in the year and getting a launch at IDF in September but it’s taken a long time to reach the hands of end-users. There are a few early devices out there already but not many hands-on and unboxing videos. Here’s my contribution.

Live Review was recorded and is available here.

I’ve been testing a lot since doing the video and haven’t seen anything that has changed much from my last testing session with it. Battery life is a very sold 3hrs (wifi on, screen 50%), the Windows 7 build is ‘Starter Edition’ it comes with a 60GB hard drive, 1GB RAM and the 1.1Ghz Intel Atom processor.

I will be preparing the device for a full hands-on demo and Q&A for tomorrow’s live session. Hope to see you there.