ABI: 11% View Netbooks as Primary Devices

ABI surveyed 1000 people about netbooks. According to their results, only 79% see them as a secondary computer. 11% see them as a primary computer proving that there is a significant overlap an direct impact on notebook sales. No surprise…

349, Euro. MID avec solution Internet 3G+ (Compal MID for 349 Euro?)

This is more a call for help from the French readers than anything else.

It seems to me that my French neighbors can pick up an SFR-branded Compal MID with 3G for 349 Euros without a contract commitment. The only thing…

» Sidekick LX 2009. Potential MID?

This is an unconfirmed rumor but if it’s true, we might have another smartphone ‘MID’ on our hands here. 3G, 854×480 screen, GPS, Qwerty keyboard, slick design. No info on processor at the moment. I’ve never tried a sidekick as…

Benq S6 unboxing and testing.

I really want to test out the BenQ S6. There’s no keyboard on it but its by far the cheapest 3G-enabled MID available. 299 Euros for a 3G, Wifi, Firefox MID is great value. Unfortunately it’s only available in Italy…

Microsoft prepares to move on to next steps of Windows 7 - beta availability to end

From Windows Team Blog:

The shutdown of general availability for the Windows 7 Beta will occur in 3 phases over the course of the next few weeks:

• Starting January 27th, the Windows 7 page will be updated with a warning that time is running out on downloading the Windows 7 Beta and that we will be limiting downloads shortly. People will be encouraged to register and start the download of the Windows 7 Beta sooner rather than later.


• February 10th, new downloads of the Windows 7 Beta will no longer be available. People who have already started their Windows 7 Beta download and have not yet finished will still be able to finish their download and are encouraged to do so.


• February 12th, people will no longer be able to complete their download of the Windows 7 Beta. Anyone who hasn’t finished downloading the Windows 7 Beta will be unable to do so.

OQO 2+ One week Round-Up

If you’ve been wondering why it’s been a but quiet around UMPCPortal for the last week, you might not have noticed that I’ve been working over at the MIDMoves project. Myself and three others have been playing with MIDs and…

Mix09 looks to be a winner: Bill Buxton to give keynote

I probably won’t be able to attend Mix09 (March 18-20, 2009 Venetian Hotel, Las Vegas) again this year–with chemo I just can’t plan that far ahead and by the time I know if I can go, Mix has been sold out. This year looks like it’s going to be the same. But of the last couple years that I’ve missed going to Mix, I think I’m going to regret this year the most. Why? Because leading user experience advocate Bill Buxton is going to give a keynote.

You might know Bill Buxton from his book “Sketching User Experiences: Getting the Design Right and the Right Design.” Very creative. I’m hoping that the Mix team puts his keynote online. I’ll be sure to watch. As an aside: I wonder if he’s going to have an open dialog or roundtable with any of the attendees. I understand he’s fascinating to listen and talk with.

For those of you interested in going, Mix09 appears to be less than many of the other recent Microsoft conferences. With early registration (before Feb 13), we’re talking $999. Actually, in today’s economy let’s be fair, even $999 is going to be rough. I see that there’s a $595 rate for students. Hmmm. Why don’t they include unemployed people at this rate too, kind of like the IEEE is doing with its conferences?? Sure would make sense to me. Of course, even $595 is going to be tough for many when there’s no income coming in. Maybe if Microsoft were to be upfront about a good swag bag the price and opportunities could be justified. Eh, since Mix has sold out in previous years, I guess there’s probably no reason to give anyone a break like this. Might as well make as much money as you can off of those willing to pay.

Anyway, March 18-20. Put it on your calendar.

Some Korean UMPC Has Maybe the Best Box Art Ever

At this point, we could really care less about a Korea-only UMPC, for obvious reasons. Unless the box art looks like this. Take notes, US gadget manufacturers. [Engadget]

OQO 2+ screen brightness and battery life.

I’m beginning to doubt that I really do have an OLED screen on the OQO 2+ here because the power drain test I just performed showed some relativelt poor results. I knew that OLED screens could be tweaked for power or…

New EEE PC Touch Interface is amazingly awesome

Prepare to watch one of the nicest interface demos ever created. This 5 minute demonstration shows the new interface meant for the touchscreen EEE tablets, and it is quite spectacular. Every gestures seems thought out, and there is more eye…

OQO Model 02+ First benchmarks.

The first of the MIDs are arriving at the doors of MID Moves doorsteps and one of the first to get attention is the OQO 2+ with it’s OLED screen and 1.8Ghz Atom CPU. Jenn has pushed out some benchmarks already…

Water-resistant Internet Viewer prototype by Toshiba

This Toshiba mobile internet device may look just like any other, with one major difference. It can be submerged in water and still operate.

Finally! A water-resistant model!

This prototype is just a concept, nevertheless, good to see.

Engadget goes hands-on with the Dell Mini 10

At CES 09, Engadget managed to get some hands on time with the recently announced Dell Inspiron Mini 10, which I am looking forward to. I see now that the mouse buttons are built into the trackpad which adds another…

Thanks to the CES bloggers.

Before it gets too late and CES becomes a distant memory, I wanted to thank all the bloggers that were out in CES providing detailed news, images and videos for the rest of the world to see and enjoy. You…

UMID M1 Photos

During CES, Intel's Mobile Internet Device Group displayed over 50 UMPC, MIDs, and Netbooks in its Intel Atom cafe. Some products, such as the OQO model 2+ you can order now. Other products were on display by ODMs like Compal, and in search of an OEM to produce. Other products, like the UMID M1, may be produced by an OEM - a hint was dropped about Samsung and availability by Q3 2009, but that was not an announcement. Nevertheless, the UMID M1 is an attractive clamshell PC and it is worth sharing its photos and specs.

UMID M1 Specifications

• 4.8" display


• 1024x600 display resolution


• Intel Atom processor Z5xx series


• 512MB and supports up to 1GB of memory


• 16GB SSD


• WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS option, HSDPA (regional), WiMax / WiBRO option, DVB-H, T-DMB, DAB, DVB-T option


• Windows XP Home or Windows Vista

UMID M1 prototype in red enclosure with white keypad.

UMID M1 prototype in white enclosure with white keypad. The keypad is standard QWERTY with reliance on function keys for extended use.

The UMID M1 comes with a stylus for you to use for navigation. This unit is running Windows XP Home. If it were running Windows Vista there would be access to Tablet technology, such as Microsoft Journal, TIP onscreen keyboard, etc.

Stylus storage area.

UMID M1 is extremely well balanced and can hold with little effort.

Left side

Power on button on far right, top of keypad. Wireless and bluetooth on / off button to the left.

What is the right way to hold and type? Thumbs.

SIM card slot on front, left.

Right side has USB port, audio jack, and power connector.

The UMID M1 has a touch screen (single point). You may navigate with a fingertip.

Pressing the Windows XP Start button with fingertip.

The UMID M1 is slightly larger than the Apple iPhone, yet runs a full operating system - Windows XP Home or Windows Vista.

Dell Mini 10 shown CES, goes beyond cookie-cutter netbook specs

What do you do when the Dell Mini 9 [Product page] and Mini 12 just aren’t enough? Well the only logical thing to do is come out with the Mini 10. The Dell Mini 10, shown at CES, has (obviously…

Toshiba displays 12", 13.3" & 16.1" notebooks with multi-touch

When Microsoft releases Windows 7, Toshiba plans to offer notebooks that support multi-touch. Toshiba has concepts of two of these three Notebooks on display.

The first was the familiar convertible Tablet PC, Toshiba Portege M750 with a working prototype of a Wacom digitizer that supports multi-touch, using capacitive touch (fingertips).

Then, they showed another with standard clamshell design using the same digitizer. This one has a 13.3" display, and Intel Core 2 Duo processor.

The third, not on display, will be a 16.1" display and will use a Wacom digitizer too.

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPhone]

Chippy at CES 2009

Chippy at CES 2009, originally uploaded by UMPCPORTAL@CES2009.

Its me, live, at CES!

Image taken by our friend on the ground, ‘EC’

I think he’s going round tuning every browser into the /live session. Way to go EC!

…

Skype Beta 1.0 for Mobile Internet Devices

Good news for people wanting skype on their MID.

Hopefuly there’ll be a way to install this on all Linux-baed MIDs but for the time being, it looks like it’s an option for OEMs.

Skype is working with Intel to deliver its…

Nova Side Arm 2 details

It has been a while since we’ve seen anything about the Nova Side Arm 2, but I have some info on the rugged business oriented UMPC. We already got the basic spec rundown of the Side Arm 2:

800 x…

NEC’s Power IC’s to assist Moorestown MIDs

If you’re into the discreet component level of MIDs, you might want to check out this press release from NEC.

NEC Electronics America, Inc. today announced that it will highlight its power management IC (PMIC) technology at the International Consumer Electronics…

13.4″ ‘netbook.’ No details here!

It's always the marketing teams that have the last word when categorising a product...

Ultra Mobile Podcast 23

CES CES CES!

Sascha and myself give you a CES warm-up and tip-list for netbooks, umpcs and MIDs.

The show is just over an hour long and covers the CES UMPC Watchlist, the CES Netbook watchlist, news, some news about MIDMoves and a…

More Sony Vaio Pocket Leaks: Screens That Sweet Don't Come Cheap

While we knew much of Sony's new netbook's specs already, the price was still a mystery. But new leaks put the Vaio Pocket awfully close to the $1000 mark, which makes it a pricey toy indeed.

The leaks confirm the 1.33 GHz processor, and specifies it as a Z250 Atom, as well as the ultra-sharp 1600x768 8-inch screen. It'll be packing 2GB of memory as well as GPS, which suggests it'll at least have an option of Windows Vista. But the juiciest detail is the price: 700 Euro, which comes out to about $970 US. That'd make it one of the most expensive netbooks out there, and aside from the screen, it's not a huge bump in specs over HP or Dell's offerings. These are still unconfirmed rumors, so we'll have to reserve judgment until Sony rolls out the official announcement. Here's hoping that price isn't quite right. [UMPC Portal]

New Sony UMPC info includes specs and a sub $1000 price.

Our podcast partner, Sashca, from EeePCNews.de (which has just relaunched as netbooknews.de) reports that he’s secured some new info on the Sony UMPC.

Wie ich schon auf Eeepcnews.de berichtete, wird der Sony Vaio P eine Atom Z520 CPU (1,33 Ghz) aufweisen,…

Sony P-series UMPC. Possible leaked image.

If you scroll down on this CNET Asia article you’ll see an image of an ultra-wide Sony UMPC. There’s no confirmation that it’s the real deal but it looks like its about the right dimensions to match previous leaked info.

Also…