If you’re looking for a convertible tablet that is not too big and yet can still function as a netbook with a real keyboard, you might want to consider the Kojinsha PA Series. This UMPC/MID sports a 4.8-inch WSVGA touchscreen and runs Windows XP Home.
The Kojinsha PA Series MID/UMPC also features a 1.33GHz Intel Atom CPU, 512MB of RAM, 32GB of SSD, 7.5 hours battery life, SD slot and 1.3MP webcam.
The Kojinsha PA Series is slated for a November release in Japan. It will set you back for around $758. You may pre-order one now over at Geeks4U.
The Tablet UMPC is going to be relevant again, with the announcement of the Archos9, the first 9-inch Tablet UMPC running Microsoft’s Windows 7 OS. This sexy little machine is billed by Archos as a MiniPC that does away with keyboards in exchange for a virtual on-screen keyboard and stylus support on a resistive touchscreen display. As it comes pre-loaded with Windows 7, multi-touch is going to be one of its top features, though we’re not exactly sure if that’s such as good idea with the screen being resistive and all. It still looks like a pretty interesting offer, though, as the Archos9 is equipped with Intel’s new Atom Z515 processor, 80GB hard drive, built-in Bluetooth and two DVBT TV tuners with “diversity reception,” as Archos puts it in its press release. Besides on-screen controls, it also has several hard buttons on its sides for easier access and controls. Archos hasn’t announced a price or release date, but from the looks of it, we’re betting a lot of people are going to save up for one. Watch out for additional details here.
While Archos jumped late onto the netbook bandwagon by releasing the 10-inch Archos 10 netbook a couple of months ago, the company looks like it wants to be the first one to come out with a full working Android Internet media tablet. At least that’s what one can gleam from Archos’s latest press invite for an event that is scheduled for June 11th in Paris. The fact that Archos is working on Android should be no surprise, given the popularity the platform has these days from open source software advocates, but it’s interesting how Archos has chosen to work on an Internet media tablet instead of netbooks like many other existing netbook makers. Perhaps they see more success in tablets, or less competition, or bigger profits. There are no clear info on specs right now, except what were announced last February by TI in a press release. We’ll have to wait for an official Archos announcement to get the full list of features.
The Fujitsu Lifebook U2010 UMPC was first announced with a 1.6GHz Intel Atom Z530 processor last year, but now it’s also available with a 2GH Intel Atom Z550 processor, which should boost the performance a bit, though whether it is worth it or not is still in question. The rest of the specs are still the same–there’s a 5.6-inch convertible touchscreen display, 1GB of RAM and up to 120GB storage. The slight upgrade to 2GHz on a Z550 chip requires a buyer to add $383 to the overall purchase price, so I’m not counting on this “feature” to catch on any time soon.
Back in July of last year, Michael Arrington of TechCrunch proposed that a “dead simple Web tablet” be built for about $200 so he can surf the Web and do other lightweight tasks like send instant messages and make quick calls with Skype on the go. Fast forward to April 2009 and this concept for a cheap mobile Internet device looks like it’s closer to becoming a reality than most people are willing to think. While some might say that the TechCrunch Tablet (a.k.a. the “CrunchPad”) is nothing but vaporware that will never see the light of day, these photos (along with several others) prove otherwise.
Pictured above is a new prototype of the CrunchPad that touts a 12-inch capacitive screen, Intel Atom processor, a custom WebKit-based browser and pretty much all of the specs that were first considered at the product’s conception. Michael Arrington is careful to note that they are still not ready to launch this device and they can’t put the pin on a price point, but whenever they’re ready, I think we just might see another revolution in the computer industry. Or maybe not. Either way, this seems like an interesting product, and I can’t wait to try it out.
Not more than two weeks ago, we showed you a netbook that we thought was called the Wistron Firstbook. As it turns out, it was actually the Wistron Pursebook, and it was demoed at CTIA 2009. Like we already mentioned, this device runs on a 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor and Linux, and looks much like the trackpad-less Sony Vaio P (measures about the same size, too). For those of you interested in learning even more about the device, a video demo is now available. Follow the links below to watch it.
Quick confession: I’m a fan of Sony’s instant-on mode for the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable. With a push of a button, I can go ahead and access all my favorite games and media in mere seconds. So I was a bit surprised and glad to hear that Sony has implemented the same technology on the Sony Vaio P. The Vaio P’s instant-mode gives users the ability to browse the Web on a Firefox-based web browser, access photos, videos and music, make VoIP calls with a built-in version of Skype, and chat with their buddies using the inbuilt Pidgin instant messenger. Above is a video demonstrating how it works, courtesy of UMPC portal.
While there are three different configuration of the Sony Vaio P available all over the world, recently published benchmarks show that these don’t differ much in reality. They’re only remarkable differences, in fact, lie in their disk drives instead of their differently configured Atom processors. You can use the above pictured stats for reference. This was first posted by Pocketables, gathered from users of their forums.
If Russian site Mobile-Review’s editor Eldar is to be believed, we won’t just see ARM’s multi-core Sparrow processor on netbooks by 2011, but also on Nokia’s very first Linux-based MID. Pictured above is a mockup the guys at Unwired View did of the device, which is said to be a multi-slide keyboard and display equipped computer and cellphone hybrid. Its keys are small, diamond shaped and elevated, and they change with every application running on the device’s display. All this is based on info Eldar spewed after he got the chance to play with a prototype in one of Nokia’s closed booths at Mobile World Congress 2009 in Barcelona. He also revealed a bit of the juicy stuff, but there’s surely more to know that he just won’t say. It would be interesting to see how Nokia’s final, finished product turns out. We’ll be giving updates on this as we get them, but for now, check out the sites linked below for more info.
Not feeling netbooks but still want to do an ample amount of computing on the go? Then a UMPC in the form os the UMID M1 might just be the right device for you. At the cost of several hundred dollars more, it will give you true portable computing, since it’s much more pocketable than its folding netbook counterparts. Word on the street is that it will go on sale in different configurations, and the base config costs at least $500. That comes with 512MB of RAM, a Linux OS and a 1.1Ghz processor. Add-ons such as Windows XP, extra RAM, a faster processor and built-in 3G will cost extra money, bringing the price up to $800, which is in line with the prices of other devices in its category. At the moment, though, the UMID M1 is still not on sale anywhere, though both Dynamism and Mobilx are expected to have it on stock sometime in the near future.
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