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Gigabyte U60 ready for CeBIT

Gigabyte confirms the launch of its U60 UMPC at CeBIT

Michelle Thatcher Former Senior Associate Editor, Laptops
Tech expert Michelle Thatcher grew up surrounded by gadgets and sustained by Tex-Mex cuisine. Life in two major cities--first Chicago, then San Francisco--broadened her culinary horizons beyond meat and cheese, and she's since enjoyed nearly a decade of wining, dining, and cooking up and down the California coast. Though her gadget lust remains, the practicalities of her small kitchen dictate that single-function geegaws never stay around for long.
Michelle Thatcher
Gigabyte U60 UMPC
Clubic.com

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 its VIA C7-M processor. The affordable alternative processor is used in a number of European portables, but we don't see it here in the States very often. Unfortunately, the last VIA-based UMPC we saw, the TabletKiosk Eo, had performance and battery life issues that forced us to scrap the written review altogether (though you can still watch the video). Here's hoping our second sample fares better.