Ultra Mobile Life - UMPC Blog

HP 2133 UMPC starts at $549

Mon, 31 Mar 2008 12:01:41 +0100

Engadget uncovered this spec list for Hewlett Packard's 2133 UMPC which seems to confirm that it will be running on the VIA Ultra Mobility Platform. Of course this is still unofficial, but it certainly looks accurate and spot on for what most people were hoping for. As you can see from the sheet the linux version with the 1.2 GHz VIA C7-M processor is coming in at $549. Tack on another $50 and you get Windows Vista Basic. The one that I've got my eye on is the 1.6 GHz version with 2 gigs of RAM and the 6 cell battery which is going to give me an awesome battery life. And the other great news is that it's supposed to be available April 7th, which is just one week away.

MIU breaks out new UMPCs

Tue, 25 Mar 2008 22:41:54 +0100

MIU has just announced their M*Free UMPC which they're dubbing a Hybrid Dual Portable Computer (HDPC). It's a dual-booting UMPC that comes with Windows XP with an additional Windows CE install or Linux. The Linux flavor of choice is Qplus which is an embedded version of linux that seems to be popular in Korea. Under the hood they've got a VIA C7-M CPU at up to 1.0 GHz, a 30GB hard drive and a sweet seven hours of battery life. It loks like this device is ready to do everything that you'll want a UMPC to do, from GPS to VOIP as well as video conferencing. Look for this one at the beginning of the second half of this year coming in at around $500.

PHOTOS - Gigabyte M704 UMPC

Wed, 19 Mar 2008 18:42:47 +0100

I've just uploaded a set of images of the Gigabyte M704 UMPC that was launched at CeBIT 2008. This is the 2nd VIA based UMPC that features a 1024x600 native resolution. It's also got a very nice sliding QWERTY keyboard, a multi-card reader, 2 USB ports and VGA-out. All of that at just 768 grams. This is one UMPC you're going to want to keep your eyes on.

VIDEO - Wibrain B1's docking station and GPS enabled car cradle

Tue, 18 Mar 2008 17:11:12 +0100

Wibrain had a big booth at CeBIT this year, and it sounds like their UMPC is a big hit. In this video you'll see some of the B1's accessories including the car mount that includes GPS (brilliant idea!) and a docking station with built-in DVD-RW. Another interesting tidbit in the video is that the B1 UMPC will be available with both Windows XP and Linux. Remember, I wrote about the Wibrain B1L that was scheduled for a Korea only release. This video makes it sound like we just might be seeing a Wibrain B1 running Unbuntu outside of Korea afterall.

CloudBook with free shipping from CircuitCity

Tue, 18 Mar 2008 16:47:20 +0100

If ordering the CloudBook UMPC from Walmart doesn't seem palatable to you, now you can get free shipping from Circuit City. It doesn't look like they're going to have the CloudBook in stores, but free shipping sure sounds good to me. If you don't like either of those options there's always Newegg who have always had an awesome return policy. Hopefully we'll see some of these retailers selling the CE1200J which was announced yesterday.

Japan gets the CloudBook with Touchscreen

Mon, 17 Mar 2008 17:50:09 +0100

Everex Japan has just announced that they will begin selling a Japanese version of the CloudBook in Japan on March 22nd. This is one hot looking little device, they've taken the developers version, complete with touchscreen, and opted for the webcam module. This means you've got the trackpad up front and you can add in the VOIP handset, HSDPA modem or even GPS module to let you expand the connectivity of your CloudBook. They're calling it the Everex CloudBook CE1200J and it's clocking in at ¥59,800 for a VIA 1.2GHz C7-M, 1GB of RAM and a 30GB hard drive. Additionally, the CloudBook CE1200J will come with Windows XP instead of gOS which has been taking a bit of flak on it's rough edges.

VIDEO - Negroponte predicted UMPCs 24 years ago

Mon, 17 Mar 2008 17:25:32 +0100

I just bumped into this video of Nicholas Negroponte from 1984, it's a presentation from TED where he talks about the future of computer technology. It's really quite amazing how well Mr. Negroponte predicted a lot of the products and technologies we're seeing on the market today. He was so accurate on some of these issues that one might be tempted to give him the nickname Nicholas "Nostradamus" Negroponte. Listen to him talking about touch interfaces and you'll hear him say, "There are certain things you can do with more than one finger input." which we all recognize today as the multi-touch on our iPhones and the most talked about feature that people expect Apple to put into a UMPC if they decide to enter the market.

Now, Mr. Negroponte has been instrumental in making sure that some of his predictions came true, but I don't think he had any idea that his visions would ultimately result in the UMPCs that we see today. In the video you can see him talking about a new kind of book, a CloudBook if you will, that is interactive and is an in-depth resource for whatever topic you want to read about. Of course many of you know about the OLPC program that Negroponte has been running, and this program has had a significant impact on UMPCs in shrinking the form factor, increasing the battery life, and driving prices down.

Have a look at the video. Doesn't Negroponte sound like he's talking about our beloved UMPC?

CloudBook floats into Indonesia as the Zyrex Ubud

Fri, 14 Mar 2008 19:05:56 +0100

CloudBook UMPC brings us news of another CloudBook variant this time from Indonesia, one of the hottest countries in southeast asia. It may set you back a little more to get it in Indonesia, at Rp.4,999,000 or $545 US but it will be coming with Windows instead of Linux. Which version of Windows isn't entirely clear, there are rumors that it will be running Windows Vista Starter Edition, while the Zyrex website lists it as being equipped with Windows XP. Hopefully there will be multiple options for the operating system to cater to people's needs and price ranges, but you can always install something different once you get it home. Specs on the site list the Ubud as coming with 1GB of RAM, a 1.2 GHz VIA C7-M, and a 30GB hard drive which should be adequate for Vista and more than adequate for Windows XP or Linux.

More photos after the jump.

Aristo pico740 UMPC for Poland

Thu, 13 Mar 2008 18:35:18 +0100

Who said that the Polish always miss out on the fun? Aristo in Poland is now selling the pico740 which is based on the VIA NanoBook reference design. It comes equipped with a 1.2GHz VIA C7-M processor, 1GB of RAM and a 40GB hard drive. Of particular note is that the pico740 will be available with Linux or Windows XP although it's not clear which flavor of Linux it will come with. Prices start at 1,649 zloty which translates to roughly 699 USD. I'm not sure when it's shipping, but maybe one of our readers can clue us in.

VIDEO - Noahpad vs eeePC startup time

Thu, 13 Mar 2008 15:47:48 +0100

Mini PC Pro has just released this video shot at CeBIT of a comparison between the Noahpad UMPC and the EeePC bootup times. The Noahpad posts a very good boot up time of 33 seconds with its 1.8" disk-based hard drive compared to the 27 seconds of the flash-based eee PC. Both UMPCs were running Windows XP, and the timing was done from the initial Windows XP boot screen until the background showed on the screen. 30 seconds is a very respectable boot time, typical PC boot times clock in at over one minute. It would be interesting to see how the Noahpad performs with a SSSD as most solutions in speeds up boot times by 50%.