[update March 8th 2007: The Q2 appears to be real now: Samsung Q2 information here.]

A German news site has just reported about new UMPC’s that will be launched later this year. It looks like a copy of information thats already been available apart from one line – ‘Das Modell Q2 von Samsung wird knapp unter 1000 Dollar landen’.
Translated – ‘The Model Q2 from Samsung will land at just under $1000.’

There’s no other info available anywhere. Does anyone know anything about this? Is this the VIA or AMD-based device that was rumored?

Steve.

Ctitanic has been keeping us well updated on the recall of his Tablet Kiosk eo. We’re waiting to see what difference its going to make after they admitted there was a battery life problem and promised to fix devices that were sent back. Is it going to be better that the battery life we saw on the Paceblade Easybook P7 we tested?

He’s just reported that his eo is on it’s way back to him so keep an eye on his blog because I know he’ll be one of the first to report on it.

Regards
Steve / Chippy.

Wait, isn’t that a picture of a device thats already been released? No apparently its another company releasing an AMtek created UMPC.

According to a report on [url=http://www.arnnet.com.au/index.php/id;1921807887;fp;2;fpid;1]http://www.arnnet.com.au[/url] a company called
[url=http://www.pioneercomputers.com.au/products/info.asp?c1=3&c2=108&id=1739]Pioneer Computers[/url] recently announced that they have a new ultra mobile PC called the DreamBook Ultra Moblie PC 700 coming to market.

Nothing overly exciting about this release over the other Amtek device (eo, it’s Mobile, SmartCaddie) but at least it has a cute name.

Read the full story

Stephen Manes of PCWorld.com wants more keyboards.

Many people have written about it and I too, strongly believe that UMPC’s need keyboards. Take the Psion 5 and Sharp S-CL3200 designs as examples.

However, unlike Stephen Manes, Stephen Paine wants keyboards, touch-screen input, speech input, configurable buttons and a mouse pointer on his UMPC. A device that allows freedom from a desk, should also allow freedom of choice for input mechanisms.

Regards
Steve / Chippy

I’ve just read the ChannelInsider article about the ‘second-chance’ that Microsoft is giving its UMPC’s. I was going to call it a headline-grabbing article but thats maybe a bit too heavy. Since when is a ‘second wave’ a ‘second chance’ though?

‘Second chance’ would imply that a first-attempt has been, gone and failed. I’m not the biggest Microsoft fan but come on guys, give them a break.

The Origami project team completed its first deliverable – a standard for the partner manufacturers to work to – and since then it’s been up to the manufacturers to make devices and market them as they want within this specification. We’ve only seen two Origami ultra mobile PC devices hit the market so far but we’re only 3 months on from the launch and we’ve known for a while that there are already other things in the pipeline. Anyway, its no wonder thats there’s been a pause in the product releases, the mainstream press gave the project such a knock-down that it would make any product manager postpone a launch and double-check the marketing plan.

One other point that continues to crop up is that people believe that ‘Haiku’ is a new project. Its not. Its the name given by Otto Berks, the Origami project manager, to an early concept. This concept was (and probably still is) the main target of the Origami project. I’m not sure of the current status of the Origami project team but if they are still together, one of their tasks will be to continue to promote the Haiku concept to the partners.

So, in summary, it seems to be business as usual with project Origami and its UMPC’s.

Article found through GottabeMobile

Regards
Steve / Chippy

Here’s the reason I haven’t posted much this week. Its the buyers guide that I’ve been working on. There’s too much confusion about what is and what isn’t a ultra mobile PC and what a ultra mobile PC can and can’t do. For that reason, I’ve put together as much info as I can in order to help those that are new into the ultra mobile PC market, those that might be looking at the devices for the first time and those that might be considering one for purchase. Maybe a few mainstream journalist might want to take a look too! (Maybe not, they’ll moan at all my grammatical errors!)

Its not deeply technical (you can read some of the other articles for the really technical stuff) and its a long article, but as I mentioned in it, if you’re looking to buy a UMPC, you’ll probably want to understand as much as you can of the ultra mobile PC category. For those that don’t already have a mobile PC, its available as a PDF version to printout and read on the bus!

Anyway, to all the readers that know exactly what a ultra mobile PC is, I invite you to take a look and comment if you’ve got the time. To all those discovering this post while on your google learning journey through the zillions of UMPC-related web-pages, I hope it helps you make the right decision and if you have any further questions, don’t hesitate to email me at info@carrypad.com. If I can get through the spam that that email address is now going to attract having published it on a web page, i’ll answer all your queries as quickly and as well as I can.

One extra point, the Wikipedia definition of Ultra Mobile PC is Microsoft focused and could do with a re-write (in my opinion.) If I get enough positive feedback, i’ll re-format some of the article for Wikipedia.

Regards
Steve /Chippy.

A brief rundown of important ultra mobile PC market news this for this week.

HTC own brand
We commented on the strength of HTC earlier this week in our Via OnDemand report. It seems that HTC are now moving into distributing their devices under their own brand. This is a good indication of the strength and direction of the company. If they do move into the ultra mobile PC market as predicted, we expect to see some strong marketing and high quailty industrial designs. HTC re-iterated their commitement to mobile carriers so maybe the UMPC’s could be sold both direct and through carriers with subsidies.
VIA, being a closely related company, stands to do well out of this if it happens.

Averatec AHI. late Q3 launch
We got in touch with Averatec this week regarding the AHI to see if there was any new news. All they could tell us is that they plan to formally announce the AHI at the end of Q3 and begin shipping ‘shortly thereafter.’ We’ll keep hounding them for new information.

Another Amtek T700 product.
The Amtek T700 original design has been used by at least 4 resellers now. SmartCaddie, Easybook, Eo, It’s and now the Dreambook. Its sold by Pioneer Computers in Australia. Info via GottaBeMobile

ultra mobile PC definition.
Following a few posts this week about the real definition of the acronym ‘UMPC’, no-one seems to have challenged my final comment. I’m assuming that other people feel the same. If not, let me know! If Samsung put an AMD processor in the Q1 case, would it still be a UMPC?
[update: Craig Pringle has now replied in his blog here.]
Following up on that theme though, i’ve decided to write a Buyers Guide to UMPC’s which i’ll post on the main portal very soon. I hope this helps people that are taking a first-look at UMPCs understand exactly what Ultra-Mobile PC’s are.

Mobits availability Sept. 7″ only for now.
We got some more info back from Mobits about the ‘X15’. Although they didn’t answer our specific questions about product name, screen res and reseller, they did say that the production line for the 7″ version is being prepared and they expect the first run in September. I’m trying to find out exactly who is going to resell this device.

ultra mobile PC Linux.
Speaking to Sasch Pallenberg, founder and MD of Epios, the company that produces via-optimised Linux distributions, he said that he’s considering developing a ultra mobile PC version of the distribution. When asked about touch screen and hardware specifics he told us that it should be no problem. They’ve already produced and demonstrated an embedded version for touch panels so I guess he knows whats what! We’ve agreed to stay closely in touch on the issue of Linux on UMPC’s as its something both Carrypad and Epios feel positive about.

Apple Rumors.
And finally, what week wouldn’t be complete without an Apple rumor? This time it’s the re-surfacing of the Apple ultra mobile PC rumor. Timescale: Jan 2007. We’ll report on it when we hear concrete details.

Have a nice weekend everyone.
Steve / Chippy.

[img]https://www.umpcportal.com/origami/images/sony%20umpc/sony_umpc_ux_small.jpg[/img]

According to [url=http://jkontherun.blogs.com/jkontherun/2006/06/sony_ux180p_ava.html]JKontherun.com[/url] the U.S. Verison of the Sony VGN-UX50 (the UX180P) is now [url=http://www.compusa.com/products/product_info.asp?pfp=BROWSE&product_code=337635&Pn=VAIO_UX180P_Notebook]listed on CompUSA[/url] for preorder.

It can also be [url=http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000FTLOR4/sr=8-1/qid=1150331738]purchased at Amazon[/url]

According to CompUSA.com the expected ship date is July 10th so it’s right around the corner.

The US version of the UX features:
* Intel Core Solo Processor U1400 (1.20 GHz)
* 512 MB RAM and 30 GB (5400 rpm) hard drive
* 4.5″ Wide SVGA LCD, Touch Screen
* Integrated WLAN, WWAN, and Bluetooth technology
* Microsoft Windows XP Professional Read the full story