If a Viliv X70 MID isn’t quite your thing, you might like its smaller counterpart–a Viliv S5 which works in about the same as it but comes with a smaller screen. In the above video, Intel’s Dan Sakols can be seen using it with a cool-looking lightweight “flight sim” game and with a program called live videocaster with which a user can broadcast live video via an Internet connection. That might sound cool on paper, but it’s even cooler when you see it in action, which you can by watching the video above.
Need a cool mobile Internet device running Windows XP? Look no further than the VIliv X70 MID. Intel’s Ultra Mobility Group marketing manager Rama can be seen in the above video playing with it and showing off its programs on top of the Windows XP operating system. The video description on YouTube goes:
Rama from Intel’s Ultra Mobility Group shows how she optimized an Intel Atom processor powered Viliv X70 mobile Internet device for microblogging, accessing entertainment and touch screen finger writing recognition apps for enjoying the full Internet on the go.
Hit play on the above video yourself to learn a thing or two about the Viliv X70 MID with Windows XP.
The rather unimposing xpPhone that a company called ITG is currently working on has just gained new features ahead of its (as of yet still unknown) release date. While it’s already known that it will have a 4.8-inch WVGA touchscreen display, AMD Super Mobile CPU and Windows XP pre-installed, ITG is set to offer upgrade options for everyone who orders, which include adding a 5-megapixel camera onboard, a 7-inch touchscreen, and even Windows 7 for an OS. Sounds pretty neat, but only time will tell if a device such as this really clicks with consumers (and not to mention our wallets). If pricing and release info come out in the next week or two, we’ll let you know.
The UMID M1 might not be the best handheld device out there for mobile computing, but there are certainly people willing to pay for it. So of course, there are also people willing to sell it. French technology group Sagemcom wishes to have a piece of the small UMID M1 pie and so have decided to rebrand it as the Spiga PocketBook, a variant with a 1.1GHz Intel Atom CPU, 8GB SSD storage and built-in 3G connectivity. It’s going to be priced €499 (about $742 USD) and might possibly go for lower if carrier subsidies happen somehow. It’s not a bad little contraption, but as Pocketables points out it makes little sense to get the Spiga PocketBook for about the same price as a “real” (non-rebranded) UMID M1 that offers more. But well, people have their reasons.
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.
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