This is the LifeBook U1010 and its Fujitsu’s first ever ultra-mobile PC (UMPC), which sports a fantastic 0.3mm glass LCD screen and just over half-a-kilogram weight.
The LifeBook U1010 is able to be a NB PC, tablet or handheld computer thanks to the convertible swivel form factor.
Do not let the small size and light weight fool you as Fujitsu also claim this UMPC is a power house that can surfing the Internet, video-conference, edit documents, listen to music, watch movies and handle many other multiple functions.
Other features on the U1010 include a glide point pointing device to make interaction easier, a touch-screen that you use fingers not a stylus, a 0.2mm aluminum-plated Qwerty keyboard, fingerprint sensor, 2-level BIOS lock and Intel’s latest Ultra Mobile Platform 2007.
Rational Trader declares "2008 will be the year of the must-have x86-based ultramobile PC (UMPC) and mobile Internet device (MID)." His reasoning is the new processors coming from Intel.
Of course, it has been possible for some time now to squeeze an x86-based PC into an ultramobile form factor, but it hasn't been cheap or attractive. Intel may yet find some success with its 90nm, Pentium M-derived "McCaslin" UMPC platform, which just recently launched, but the party won't really get started until McCaslin's 45nm successor, Menlow, arrives in 2008. Menlow and its successor, Moorestown, will fundamentally change the complex cost/power/thermals/compatibility equation that dictates what kind of hardware goes into a commercially viable pocket-sized widget.
Well known for its range of PDA-phones, the Taiwanese maker may be seeking to make a dent in the UMPC market with the HTC Shift.
Announced together with a trio of new PDA-phone models, the Shift actually looks a lot like the older Dopod U1000 with a thicker keyboard. However, unlike the latter which runs on Windows Mobile, the Shift gets its kicks by hopping onto the Windows Vista platform. Why? Well, try watching someone trying to get work done in a hurry while running Vista on a 800MHz Intel processor and 1GB of RAM. Just make sure that fellow is not armed or he may try to shoot you, then himself out of sheer fustration.
What separates the Shift from the competition are:
It has a built-in HSDPA radio.
It has dual processors: The Intel 800MHz for applications and a 400MHz Qualcomm MSM 700 for the PDA features.
Despite rumors and videos that the Shift has dual OS (Windows Mobile and Vista), the official Web site states that it actually has the new SnapVUE feature that should behave like the Windows SideShow concept.
So how attractive is it? Considering it goes for over 1,000 euros in Europe, don't expect to get this baby for anything less than S$2,500 (US$1,644.01) when it hits our shores come Q4 2007.
Yes, it seems counter-intuitive, but it just might help based on T-Bird's post over at the Origami Project. This is a simple registry change (although you should always be careful in the registry, even backing it up first) and essentially turns off the hardware acceleration on your UMPC if it has that feature. You'll be offloading the graphics work onto your CPU, so I wouldn't recommend any multi-tasking. Give it a try if your UMPC has struggled with video playback; you can always change the registry key back if it doesn't help or if it makes things worse! I'm happy enough with my video performance so I'm leaving things alone for now.
On Monday, handset manufacturer HTC rolled out its Q4 2007 lineup. Topping the Q4 list was the HTC Shift UMPC (Ultra Mobile PC) which will run Windows Vista, and features a seven-inch touch sensitive display screen. Along with the Shift, HTC announced the S730, P6500 and the HTC Touch Dual, a new and more powerful member of the Touch family that integrates 3.5G wireless connectivity.
The HTC Shift is one of the first mobile computers globally to offer Microsoft Windows Vista and push email. “Combining the power of Windows Vista with always-connected 3G/HSDPA connectivity, the HTC Shift delivers unparalleled functionality in a sleek, compact design,” reads HTC product information. The Shift is the first device to feature HTC's new SnapVUE technology. SnapVUE provides instant access to emails, calendar functions, SMS messages and contacts, without the need to fully boot up the device.
Take some known innovators in the tech world, put them in a room with some felt-tip pens, paper and the command to mash up a few topical niches, and you might end up with the seven-strong group that today announced their intention to bring a Linux-based UMPC to the market in early 2009.
Samsung's long-awaited SPH-P9200 UMPC—they think up such sellable product names, don't they?—will sport a Via C7 CPU, 512MB of RAM, a 30GB hard drive, Windows XP home, WiFi, a (user-facing) 1.3mp camera, HSDPA and two USB ports. There is, however, no Bluetooth, which is maybe a blessing in disguise.
The 5" display has a 800x480 native resolution, and other features decoded from the Korean-language manual include an "Optical joystick" and "enhanced system tray."
If all that sounds a little low-performance, note that it makes for a 5 hour stint before the batteries die: more than twice what you'll get from, say, the higher-end HTC Shift. Of course, the big hook here is the fold-open keyboard, which presents a full-size Qwerty layout instead of the peck-'n'-poke shrunken version that usually comes with a pocketable PC.
When Fujitsu announced the LifeBook U810 mini Tablet PC, I couldn't wait to get my hands on it and guess what, we just got one in our office. This tiny tablet is amazing. I can't say it would be a permanent replacement to a full-size tablet or notebook, but it is a great travel companion. It runs on Intel's A110 processor and has a 40GB hard drive. The 5.6-inch WSVGA display is small, but still up to Fujitsu's standards, meaning it looks great.
The U810 sports Intel's A110 800MHz processor. It has 1GB of RAM and a 40GB hard drive. Not to bad for such a tiny tablet, but I think I would rather have Windows XP Tablet PC Edition instead of Vista. Don't get me wrong Vista works fine on the U810, but you would gain more performance from Windows XP, which is an option.
The new OQO model 02 ultramobile PC would look at home in a piano bar. We almost thought we heard jazz wafting out of the box when we opened it.
The 5-inch screen is digitized so you can use the model 02 like a tablet PC — if you order the $29 optional digital pen. The pen is included if you order the system with Windows XP Tablet PC Edition, but we think it’s a little stingy not to bundle it with other versions because the screen is digitized anyway.
We really liked the horizontal and vertical capacitive TouchScrollers located at the bottom right corner of the screen. They allow you to scroll by simply sliding your finger over them, so you can read documents or Web pages while in tablet mode.
When you do need a keyboard, the screen simply slides up to reveal it. It’s clear the OQO engineers thought about real-world use when they designed this thumb keyboard. There is a track stick on the right and mouse-click buttons on the left, so you can move the mouse pointer with your right thumb and quickly click with your left.
The system scored a 142 on the PassMark benchmark test, which is low, but not surprising considering the small size of this computer. Customers who buy the OQO are looking for portability over performance. In comparison, the convertible tablet PCs we recently tested scored between 250 and 450.
We were impressed with the amount of features and new technology OQO managed to pack into this tiny PC. Even the docking station is small and portable. You won’t get laptop-like performance or battery life, but for users who need a full PC that can fit in a pocket, the trade-off is well worth it.
The eagerly anticipated Fujitsu U810 UMPC has arrived at TabletPc2.com and I'm happy to report it was worth the wait.
This handy Ultra Mobile PC weighs a mere 1.56 pounds and is roughly the size of a paperback novel. In fact if it were not for the battery it would be smaller than a paperback, which means it is both small enough and light enough to take with you anywhere you go. Don't let the small size fool you, the Fujitsu U810 UMPC is packed with features that let you do anything and everything you need to do, where ever you happen to be.
Another UMPC has joined the fray. This time, the entrant hails from Gigabyte, a brandGigabyte UMPCbetter known for making mainboards. The Gigabyte U60 is probably the first VIA-based UMPC available in Singapore.
This UMPC may be the only one which is capable of running Windows Vista while not using an Intel chipset, unlike AMD-based models such as the Everun and Kohjinsha SA1 which run on Windows XP. However, the 1GHz VIA Esther ULV processor coupled with a non-upgradable 768MB memory may prove to be a bottleneck when it comes to the resource hogging Vista OS. Weighing only 740g with a footprint of 190 x 120.8 x 28.3mm, it comes with a standard two-cell battery that rates only 3 hours of uptime.
Well, folks, a glorious day in the ultra-mobile PC world has arrived: the Asus Eee PC has been officially announced. Earlier reports and original reseller postings hinted that the Eee PC would only be available in the 4GB size, and as we've since discovered, that's not going to be the case: Asus will offer an 8GB model with 1GB of DDR2 RAM also. If you're not digging the original white color, there have been pictures of black and pastel colors floating around as well.
If you're wondering where you can nab one, Reuters claims that the UMPC will be available at Best Buy and Newegg during the next couple of weeks. While it will cost you $299-399 depending on which of the four models you choose, bulk retailers will be able to pick the units up at $199 apiece on the low-end. But who's buying the Eee in bulk? Governments, apparently.
GIGABYTE recently showed the world a glimpse of their Ultra Mobile Personal Computer (UMPC) called the U60 at CeBIT, and again at Computex earlier this year. You can see our teaser preview here.
When you are setting up a new Tablet PC or UMPC one of the things on your check list is to make sure you have all of your drivers moved to the new device. This little utility, DriverMax, might just be the cool tool you need to make that chore a little easier.
DriverMax lets you export all (or those you choose) of the drivers on your XP or Vista system to a folder or compressed file. Once you’re ready to move the drivers use the import function.
When Fujitsu announced the LifeBook U810 mini Tablet PC, I couldn't wait to get my hands on it. This tiny tablet has been getting rave reviews and after spending some time with it I can see why. I am not saying it would be a good permanent replacement to a full-size tablet or notebook, but it is a great travel companion. It runs on A110 processor and has a 40GB hard drive. The 5.6-inch WSVGA display is small, but still up to Fujitsu's standards, meaning it looks great.
The screen of the OQO model e2 measures 5in across the diagonal and slides up to reveal the keyboard. When closed up, the device looks like a miniature Tablet PC, and the model e2 does in fact support full Tablet functionality if users purchase an optional digital active stylus. The screen is left exposed, however, which could possibly lead to it being damaged, unless one of OQO’s carry cases is purchased.
I briefly exchanged emails with Trace Choulat, who is organizing the Educause Handheld & Mobile Computing Constituent Group session. People interested in or already using mobile PCs, Tablet PCs, ultra-portables, & UMPCs are welcome to attend to exchange ideas about uses in higher education. The abstract has now been updated to reflect the range of mobile computing devices and PCs that people are now using.
Diskeeper Corporation today announced the launch of Diskeeper® 2008, the most automated performance enhancement defragmenter ever built. New features include the ability todefrag in the most extreme levels of low free space or the highest levels of crippling file fragmentation. Intelligent defrag dynamically chooses which software engine will net the most performance gains on a given system or environment. This is all done completely transparently, in real time, tapping the full power of otherwise unused idle resources with a highly advanced background processing technology called, InvisiTasking™.
The U810 adds one more feature to its repertoire: The screen can rotate 180 degrees, essentially making it a convertible tablet. At 5.6 inches, it has by far the largest screen of the devices I mention here, though reading text on it is still a recipe for eyestrain.
The integrated QWERTY keyboard is essentially a 66-percent laptop keyboard, not the
BlackBerry-style
keys you find on the OQO and FlipStart, and definitely not like the flattened keys on the Sony. Interestingly, the U810 offers the best typing experience of the crop.
Imagine getting the functionality of a desktop PC or a typical laptop in a device you can slip into a coat pocket. With these Ultra Mobile PCs, that concept may not be such a pipe dream.
Here's a prediction: Desktop replacement laptops will eventually be replaced by handheld PCs that will rock the latest games, edit your high definition video, and keep you connected with the rest of world. It may sound farfetched, but the day may soon be coming, especially with the newest crop of Ultra Mobile PCs (UMPCs). The obvious hurdles are whether or not keyboards and screen sizes will be effective enough to mount this takeover. The Apple iPhone gave us a taste of virtual keyboards that could very well be the solution for UMPCs, when tactile feedback catches up to physical keyboards.
Right now, performance, usability, and high price tags are what hold UMPCs back from mass adoption. They're mainly used as communication devices, to browse the Web at above VGA resolutions, attempt a video chat, and be able to open at-tachments in an e-mail. You can even transcode audio/video files, if you're willing to push these devices to the limit. Aside from that, Smartphones have many of the other bases covered, at a fraction of the cost. Still, there are some neat fea-tures that users can take advantage of. For example, the
Fujitsu Lifebook U810
is a convertible tablet that fills the length of your hands. Its tablet func-tions, combined with typical laptop capabilities, make this 1.5-pound device one to look out for.
WebGuide is one of my favorite software. I'm actually using it more than the Media Center itself. In this video I'm showing some of it's features, on UMPC of course.
GBM Forum member cbodhi has picked up a USB Studio Microphone (the MXL USB.007) and turned in Samsung Q1 Ultra into a mobile professional recording studio. cbodhi seems quite pleased with the results. Check it out here.
Samsung is going strong on education markets. Few weeks ago I told you about Isley High School giving over 200 Q1Bs to students, but that was just the tip of the iceberg..
Windows Journal is a basic note-taking application designed so you can handwrite, search those notes, convert to text when needed, insert images, and even print other documents into Windows Journal for annotating. It is extremely handy for freeflow notes or brainstorming, just as you would use a piece of paper.
The low display resolution of a UMPC gives you an added bonus — the Windows Journal page is approximately the size of an index card. This is useful for organizing project topics, references, or relationships.
Confirmed, the R2H Pentium stock is gone. Asus will start selling the R2e in November. The R2e uses the A110. It’s almost identical to the current R2H, the major difference is that the R2e will include HSDPA.
Over the last year or so there has been much talk about low cost computing solutions targeted at the education market and emerging nation markets. First there was the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) that was intially ballyhooed as the $100 computer. Then came the Asus Eee PC, (aimed somewhat at education, but also as a low price consumer model) which originally had a price target of under $200. Both prices climbed a bit in reality, (the OLPC to under $200, and the Eee PC to between $299 and $500.) Packard Bell is also weighing in, but at a little steeper price and that price seems to keep fluctuating a bit.
Om Malik asks the same question I’ve been pondering for awhile about these low priced portables. What impact will they have on the mobile computing market?
Book: The Impact of Tablet PCs and Pen-based Technology on Education, 2007: Beyond the Tipping Point (2007) whatisnewLast week at Educause, I stopped by DyKnow’s booth to get a couple of copies of The Impact of Tablet PCs and Pen-based Technology: Beyond the Tipping Point (2007) for the Microsoft booth. I ended up giving those copies away to interested parties along the way back to the booth. If you’re looking for a copy, Amazon.com has inventory. Very popular and helpful to those who want to learn about work in this space.
A wide variety of disciplines are embracing Tablet PC’s and similar pen-based devices as tools for the radical enhancement of teaching and learning. Deployments of Tablet PCs have spanned the K-12, undergraduate, and graduate levels and have dealt with an amazingly diverse range of subject areas. This work is aimed at identifying best practices in the educational use of pen-based computing so that all educators may benefit from this next generation of technology.
It was a little over a year ago we first brought you word of the Roper Mobile Technology SwitchBack. This rugged little PC is now commercially available.
The SwitchBack is a Windows XP-based PC in the Ultra Mobile Personal Computer (UMPC) format. Technical features of this little monster include a 1.0 GHz Intel Celeron M processor, 2GB of 400 MHz DDR2 and up to 120GB of optional storage. You’ve also got a smaller QWERTY keyboard and 5.6-inch WSVGA touch screen with stylus.
The Ultra-Mobile PC is portable, lightweight, and configured to connect on the go. It’s the device that you’ll always want with you.
Do everything
Featuring full Microsoft Windows XP functionality and the ability to touch, write, or type, the Ultra-Mobile PC is a powerful companion that lets you communicate, accomplish your tasks, and stay entertained and informed wherever life takes you.
An Ultra Mobile PC is a new category of mobile devices optimized for specific usage models such as Internet-to-go, Entertainment-to-go, and Education-to-go, while providing full PC capability and versatility. UMPC devices are expected to be small enough so they are easy to carry, deliver long battery life so you can access information for extended periods of time, have multiple wireless options so you can be connected anytime, and are location aware so it can adapt to your personal needs.
You can access your favorite online games, videos, music, TV shows and more on the go, with the quality you are used to when you are in front of your PC. The UMPC also connects you to people via email, VoIP, Instant Messaging and texting. Additionally, the UMPC platforms are expected to have GPS capabilities which allow it to recognize your whereabouts and provide you with local information.
was the HTC Shift UMPC (Ultra Mobile PC) which will run Windows Vista, and features a seven-inch touch sensitive display screen. Along with the Shift, HTC announced the S730, P6500 and the HTC Touch Dual, a new and more powerful member of the Touch family that integrates 3.5G wireless connectivity. 
hands on it and guess what, we just got one in our office. This tiny tablet is amazing. I can't say it would be a permanent replacement to a full-size tablet or notebook, but it is a great travel companion. It runs on Intel's A110 processor and has a 40GB hard drive. The 5.6-inch WSVGA display is small, but still up to Fujitsu's standards, meaning it looks great.
been officially announced. Earlier reports and original reseller postings hinted that the Eee PC would only be available in the 4GB size, and as we've since discovered, that's not going to be the case: Asus will offer an 8GB model with 1GB of DDR2 RAM also. If you're not digging the original white color, there have been pictures of black and pastel colors floating around as well. 
degrees, essentially making it a convertible tablet. At 5.6 inches, it has by far the largest screen of the devices I mention here, though reading text on it is still a recipe for eyestrain.
Impact of Tablet PCs and Pen-based Technology: Beyond the Tipping Point (2007) for the Microsoft booth. I ended up giving those copies away to interested parties along the way back to the booth. If you’re looking for a copy, Amazon.com has inventory. Very popular and helpful to those who want to learn about work in this space.
