UMPCs for Kids! $100 UMPCs! 1 million UMPCS go into production!

[update. The CM1 is now called the 2B1. Read more here.]

No, I haven’t gone mad. You havent missed any big news. I’m just writing about the One laptop per child project which has been brought to my attention by reader Michael who is asking – Is the $100 device a UMPC?

So to kick-off, here’s my definition of a UMPC.

A highly portable computing device with 5-10″ screen, wired and wireless connectivity that is able to load and run common Internet, office, media and PIM applications operated through a graphical user interface.

So far, its about the best effort I’ve seen (even though I do say so myself!) at defining a ultra mobile PC but its definitely not the same as Microsoft’s who would like to see Windows Vista on every portable device. They had a project called ‘Origami.’ I’ll stop there though and ask you to read the buyers guide if you’re interested in going further on that topic.

Back to the CM1 then, the question is – is it a UMPC? My answer is answer is ‘yes’

It fits the definition. Furthermore, its more powerful than a Nokia 770, its got battery life than you can only dream of and the screen is higher resolution than any Origami ultra mobile PC available. Its got a keyboard, WiFi with directional antennas, USB2.0, Quick-boot BIOS, Linux operating system and costs $100.

In fact, its an Ultra Mobile PC that we can learn a lot from. Take the screen for example. Its a fantastic example of a component being designed for the job intended. Many current UMPCs use common industrial or automotive industry LCD touchscreens that are cheap but don’t really do the best job in preserving battery power. These screens can take around 5-7 watts of power. The screen being developed for the CM1 will be a dual-mode screen capable of a monochrome 1200×900 reflective mode (using ambient light reflected from the rear of the panel) that takes just 0.2 watts. The transmissive color mode uses LED backlighting technology and runs at just 2 watts.

Other interesting specifications:

• The keyboard is integrated into the unit and is a special sealed rubber membrane unit. Its very thin!
• LinuxBios (fast boot)
• 400Mhz AMD Geode GX x86 processor.
• Flash drive – 0.5GB
• WiFi 802.1b/g with dual rotating coaxial antennas. Built in MESH software.
• 22.8W/hr battery (at least 10 hours battery life)
• Touchpad supporting written input.
• 128MB RAM.
• Thin version of Fedora Core with the Sugar environment

So what’s wrong with the device then? Well, apart from the lack of touchscreen, slightly portly 1.5KG weight, no handwriting recognition, no 3D graphics support, no large NV storage area and inability to run XP, the main problem is that you won’t be able to buy one. Not even for your child. The project relies on orders from governments (presumably to stop a black-market forming and to reduce tax bills) of 1Million units or more. Maybe one day we’ll be able to buy one for a ‘westernised’ price but by the time that happens, we might be reaching the 7.8 million ultra mobile PC units per year that in-sight predicted. The $300 UMPC’s could be common by then!

I wish I’d paid more attention to this project before. I had read a lot about it but never in any real detail. Having read through as much as I can today I have to say I’m very very impressed with the technology going on in this project. It shows us just how ‘fat’ current UMPCs are and how much further they can go. If the screen on a current ultra mobile PC was swapped out for one of the CM-1 dual-mode screens then you’d instantly be looking at over up to (see comments) 5 hours battery life. I love the way that the software is fit for purpose and that the device has been designed for long life (5 years is the planned lifetime of one of these devices.) I really hope that some of the technologies get sold on to ultra mobile PC ODM’s and filter through.

Thanks again to Michael for sending me the email. I’ll be following the One Laptop per child news blog from now on and trying to understand more about the wider aspects of the project. Namely, education of children in developing countries.

Steve / Chippy.

Useful links:

• One Laptop Per Child main website
• One laptop per child news.
• E-Week article about the display technology.

tags: olpc, umpc, cm-1, childrens machine, panel, power

We held-off posting about this yesterday because, to be honest, the news about the ASUS R2H didn’t really seem to offer anyone any more than they already knew.

The R2H was announced on the ASUS global news sites so we can at least be sure that they’re still working on it but there’s no press release, no pricing and no dates yet. Other country-specific ASUS websites aren’t even showing the news so expect local press releases as it goes up on the local websites.

The only thing you can glean from the information is that the R2H will probably be offered in different configurations with the baseline model having 256MB RAM and a 20GB disk. Enough for web-based browsing and applications but certainly not Vista capable. In fact, the low-end model could be there just as a low-price entry point intended to steal the limelight from other Origami UMPCs.

The previously announced fingerprint sensor, single sign-on software, GPS module and other specs remain the same apart from the weight which seems to have gone up rather alarmingly to 830kg!!!

The news release is available [url=http://www.asus.com/news_show.aspx?id=4070]here[/url] Read the full story

OK, the prediction was right. (see previous post)

At last, Asus have formally announced the R2H UMPC.

The important ‘unknowns’ are:

Price: Unknown

Availability: Unknown

Other specs are as were previously announced and available for a good 3 months, apart from the RAM which has dropped to a baseline 256MB.

Thanks to aquabubble and jkOnTheRun for the nudge.

Thanks to ASUS for no new news whatsoever.

I assume it will appear in the products section of the websites later today though so keep an eye out.

update: It could be a heavy beast!

Steve

Through GottaBeMobile I see that Digit-Life has reported that the R2H will be launched today.

There’s nothing on the ASUS news sites around the world yet and Friday is a strange day to be launching a product. Maybe the launch team fancied going out tonight to celebrate a long long project!

More news later I hope.

Asus R2H data-sheet.

Steve / Chippy.

UMPCs aren’t at the $500 mark yet but hold on, have you seen the price of some smartphones that are around at the moment. The top-end HTC keyboard-equipped models cost well over $700 which makes a fully-equipped ultra mobile PC at $899 seem like very good value.

And now this. A 1Ghz Toshiba notebook at $2275.

Can I just compare the Dynabook SS S30 specs to an ASUS R2H for a second please. Differences in brackets.
1Ghz processor (ASUS – 900Mhz)
30Gb drive (ASUS – 40Gb)
512MB RAM (snap!)
Weight 1.2kg (ASUS – 1kg)
Fingerprint reader (snap!)
Vista capable – (My guess is that the Asus will uses the Intel 915 chipset which is vista capable.)
Bluetooth 2.0 (snap!)
No touchscreen (Asus has touch and tablet capabilities)
12″ screen (7″ screen)
Keyboard (no keyboard)

The processor, I admit, is a generation better than the Celeron-M and the graphics co-processor is a bit better but if Asus offered the R2H with a Core-solo and 945gm chipset, it wouldn’t be anywhere near $2000. The Sony UX50 (exactly the same CPU/GPU combo) is only $1500.

Did I miss anything? Oh yeah. Battery. 9 hours battery on the Tosh.

It sounds a lot but it’s not really. Lets take the usual 25% off for over-hyped marketing (the Q1 is still quoted as having a 4-hour battery, I haven’t heard of anyone who’s had much more than 2.5 hours) and you get to 6.75hours. Take into account that the 200gms extra weight is about the same as the extended battery for a ultra mobile PC ($100 for 5hours) and you have two devices that are capable of 7 hours (battery swap needed in the case of the UMPC)

Dynabook SS S30 – $2275.
High estimate ASUS R2H ultra mobile PC + 6-cell battery – $1200.

Save your money. Get a UMPC. And a docking station. And a big screen if you fancy. And a nice case. And another 6-cell battery. And a Bluetooth stowaway keyboard. And still have change left over for the bus home. In fact, take a taxi.

Steve / Chippy.

Pay attention everyone. We posted the HiPad news on Monday while Engadget were still in bed!

BUMP! The Data Sheet is also in the product portal now.

And did you miss the review notes for the Founder Mininote/Tabletkiosk i7210? Maybe it was so unexciting that it wasn’t worth talking about? OK I’ll give you that one!

But moving swiftly on to new news, Kevin Tofel and JKK are comparing the Q1 to the e0 v7110 using Battery Eater. Notes here. If I can keep my fingers off the 7210 for the duration of the test, I’ll be running the same test giving us a VIA C7-M, Celeron-M and Pentium-M comparison.

The Mobile Gadgeteer Matt Miller has reviewed the HTC TyTN (Vodafone VPA Compact III, T-Mobile MDA Vario II, Orange SPV 3100, I-Mate JasJam) which is, I have to admit, a nice phone. At 750,-Euro though its not cheap and I think that my Nokia 6280 3G candy-bar slider will make a better companion for a UMPC.

One point of note on the Samsung Q1b. Its going to be more expensive than the Q1 in the UK if the pricing mentioned in the PCW article is correct. That gives that game away a bit because on the surface, the devices aren’t much different. OK, there’s 60Gb and 1Gb of RAM on offer but I think they’ve got something else up their sleeve. Its either a 1.5Ghz processor or very good battery life. My money is on the latter. I think they will match or even beat my previous predictions written up in my April report “VIA C7-M CPU and Battery Life tests.“

Finally for today, I noticed that the ultra mobile PC has been mentioned in the MP3Car.com forums.

After researching carputers for months, I finally figure out ultra mobile PC will be my ultimate solution. It is easy to setup, less wiring and no power issues.

At the moment the Q1 is the only ultra mobile PC device to have a car mount available. Hopefully we’ll see more car mounting options soon because I want to try out that GPS software that was blogged today.

Steve / Chippy.

Tags: Too many!

People have been sending me ultra mobile PC images. Thanks! I’m enjoying them.

Maybe some of those Circuit City salespeople that jkOnTheRun were talking about should have this as a bookmark. All potential notebook buyers should be asked ‘What do you really want to do with it?’ and then shown the images.

I’ve posted them up at the gallery here. Max 640×480 for guests but some are larger. If you want a copy of the big versions, please register in the gallery.

Keep sending in the pics.

Regards

Steve / Chippy.

There’s been a rush of mini-keyboard info over the last week. Here’s a summary post if you’re looking for some options.

Jezlyn from “Late to the Party.” has been out and snapped up a few of them to test. There’s plenty of pictures and a final conclusion on which she finds best.

Is it the Logitech or is it the Solidtek? Take a look.

Steve / Chippy