umpc

This week's Intel Developer Forum has yet to officially get underway (it's only 3:00 a.m. in Beijing), and already blogs are buzzing with news of a new category of ultramobile PCs. Called an Mobile Internet Device (MID) and described in an Intel presentation (click here for the PDF), the new small-form-factor PC will offer a few different features than its highly publicized UMPC (a.k.a. "Origami") brethren. First, while the UMPC was aimed largely at business users, the MID targets consumers with such features as mobile TV, cameras, GPS and built-in navigation, VoIP, … Read more

Intel isn't giving up on the ultramobile PC (UMPC) concept. According to a couple PowerPoint slides at HKEPC.com, Intel is set to release new processors and chipsets for UMPCs on April 18 at the Intel Developer Forum (IDF) in Beijing. The new platform, dubbed McCaslin, will shrink the size of the CPU and chipsets, which should allow room for more features and better battery life.

Space is at a premium on UMPCs. Intel's current CPU and north and south bridge chipsets take up a total of 2915mm squared. The McCaslin platform will occupy roughly a third of … Read more

HTC, maker of high-concept phones (excuse us, "Microsoft Windows Mobile-based smart devices"), such as the T-Mobile Dash, is bringing Windows Vista to UMPCs with the HTC Shift, announced this morning at CTIA 2007.

The company describes the device as about the size of, "a couple of DVD cases," and it sports a 7-inch wide-screen display, 30GB hard drive, and every flavor of wireless connectivity you can think of, including, "Tri-Band UMTS/HSDPA, Quad-Band GSM/GPRS/EDGE, Bluetooth 2.0 and WiFi."

We've already seen Windows Vista in the promising, if not entirely practical, … Read more

Sometimes it seems that every company wants to play the tech industry's version of Survivor with super-tough products. But rather than offering something of limited use like a USB key, TabletKiosk has ambitions to take over the whole island with a new rugged tablet computer.

The "TufTab" line, despite its Playskool-sounding name, is a reinforced version of its "eo v7110" ultra-mobile PC that's been toughed up with a rubberized case to withstand "rain, dust, humidity, extreme temperatures and vibration," according to the company, as well as a biometric fingerprint reader for additional … Read more

The sun never sets on Crave. Our British counterparts are in Germany this week, attending the big CeBIT show where they spent some hands-on time with Samsung's latest attempt at turning the potential of the ultramobile PC (UMPC) concept into an actual product that actual people might actually use. (We've yet to review a UMPC that isn't awkward, underpowered, and overpriced, including the Samsung Q1.) Samsung's second-generation UMPC, dubbed the Q1 Ultra, brings some improvements to the table, which--to their surprise--left our British Cravers somewhat impressed.

First, it's a bit thinner and lighter than the … Read more

Everything's coming up UMPC for CeBIT--at least, that's how it feels today. In addition to a rumor that the Samsung Q2 will be announced at the show, Taiwan-based Gigabyte has started hyping its own U60 UMPC on its CeBIT page. The company's release [PDF] offered only a teaser's worth of details, describing a 6.5-inch LCD screen, built-in wireless, and a sliding QWERTY keyboard. Earlier rumors add that the U60 has 802.11b/g Wi-Fi, two USB ports, and an SD/MMC slot.

The most unusual element of the 1.6-pound U60, though, may be … Read more

Engadget has posted details and photos of the rumored Samsung Q2, a follow-up to the Q1 ultramobile PC that launched last year. If the leaked details are accurate, the Q2 stands to outshine its attractive but poor-performing predecessor. The new model's 7-inch touch screen will feature a finer 1,024x600 native resolution and beefed-up components that include 1GB of RAM and a 60GB hard drive (all the better to run Windows Vista Home Premium). Borrowing an idea from the Sony VAIO UX, the Q2 will also have two digital cameras--1.3 megapixels for photography and a lower resolution for … Read more

I got a chance to play around with OQO's new baby, the Model 02, at last night's SF Tech Sessions meet-up, and boy, is this gadget hot. Well, sort of. It was surprisingly not that hot considering it was smaller than a paperback book and running Windows Vista.

The Model 02 was announced a couple of weeks ago at CES, and the upgrades from the Model 01 are noticeable, especially the scroll sensor on the bottom right of the display, which makes browsing large Web pages like Crave a breeze. Its 800x480-pixel screen can handle a fair amount … Read more

In what seems to be the Swiss Army knife of portables, the S-XGen ultramobile personal computer (UMPC) from Seamless Internet includes an Intel PXA270 Xscale 520MHz processor running Windows CE 5.0 operating system, Microsoft Office Mobile, 256MB of RAM, a 20GB hard drive, Wi-Fi (802.11b), Bluetooth and tri-band GSM/EDGE/CDMA EV-DO network access, Ethernet and USB ports, a 4-inch TFT LCD touch screen, a 280 pixel Web video camera, and a fold-out QWERTY keyboard, all of which collapse into a package measuring 6.5x3.8x1.25 inches and weighing 14 ounces.

Eight hours of battery life accommodates … Read more