UMPCPortal

Kohjinsha SK3. Ultra-Portable and Portfolio-Ready! (Unboxing video)

Chippy — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:19:46 +0000

I’ve been giggling for the past hour. I just can’t work out if that portfolio case is a masterstroke or just plain silly but one thing’s for sure, it highlights how small this device is.

We got hold of the Kohjinsha SK3 a few hours ago and ripped straight into it with an unboxing video that you’ll find below. So far we’re impressed with the build-quality, the size and weight, the features, the bright and crisp screen and of course that portfolio case. We’re not so impressed with what looks to be low-end battery life (largely due to the tiny battery) and the Japanese language XP build (a nice challenge!) although the speed of the device seems to be good. XP is helping here. The keyboard is exactly the same as found on the SC3 so you’re limited to pecking on the desktop although thumbing and single hand-hold pecking is also possible. The screen mechanism is solid.

Full specifications for the Kohjinsha SK3 along with links to the new gallery, videos and other articles are in the product database.

We’ll be testing more over the weekend so watch out for a full hands-on early next week. A live session is tentatively planned for Monday evening (Central Europe time.)

Kohjinsha SK3 Launched. Chippy’s Thoughts. The Kohjinsha SK3 that we reported on yesterday has been...
Pegatron and Freescale. More pics from Engadget. Video from Notebooks
Engadget seem quite impressed with the Pegatron Freescale-based netbooks. 8.9-inch...
Vye to bring KJS/Kohjinsha to Europe with XP and 3G
Vye Computers in the UK have long had...

Kohjinsha SK3. Netbook or UMPC?

Chippy — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 12:57:13 +0000

The Kohjinsha SK3, the high-end 7″ convertible with a 3mp auto-focus cam (a first) and the smallest and lightest 7” convertible form factor we’ve seen to date has just turned up. In a short while I’ll be recording an unboxing for YouTube but it will be live at http://www.umpcportal.com/live where you can watch ‘behind the scenes’, discuss and ask questions.

Update: Live session over. Unboxing post with video is here.

Specifications here. I see Conics already have it listed for $775 which , for these specs, isn’t bad. The only forewarning I’d give at this stage is about the battery life. At 17wh, the included battery isn’t going to return amazing battery life.

Kohjinsha SC3. First retail Menlow device out of the door.
There it is! The first ever retail Menlow-based device...
UC30 UMPC coming with XP, 1.3HGz Atom. The U2010 / U820 is one amazing bit of tech....
UMPCs 2006-2009 (Video) With twice the battery life, half the weight and half...

How To Be Mobile (and Win an NC20)

Chippy — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 08:36:43 +0000

Step 1. Go to HowtoBeMobile.com

Step 2. Highlight your favourite HD YouTube video and tell them why.

Step 3. Wait to see if you’ve won an NC20

TheNC20 might not be the most ‘ultra mobile’ PC out there (at 4.7 times the weight of a UMID for example) but notebooks in this bracket can make quite a good low-cost travel option so definitely come into the ‘mobile’ bracket.

All the details are at HowToBeMobile. Good luck!

No related posts.

Archos 9 UMPC gets some hands-on time

Ben — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 04:59:02 +0000

Update: Archos 9 is now in the database with all the specs and links to the important news and videos.
Looks like some of the folks over at Cnet.uk had some time to ‘finger’ (their words, not mine) the recently unveiled Archos 9 UMPC. As you’ll recall, the Archos 9 is Archos’ first foray into the world of UMPCs, though they seem to have not realized that there have already been many device like this, and think they are being ‘innovative’ by removing the keyboard from the ‘netbook’ (am I the only one that can’t help but laugh at that?). Actually, let me quote directly from their press release before we move on:

What better innovation for a Netbook than to get rid of keyboards?

Ok, I’ll give you a minute to recover from you inevitable laughter. Got it? Good.

Well then, as I was saying, the folks at Cnet.uk seem to have gotten their hands on an early sample of the Archos 9 and while they didn’t have much time to test the unit for performance, they did snap some pictures for us to examine.

These are the good sides of the device. Be sure to check out the Cnet article for a few more images. After checking out the others, you may agree with me that it appears to be decidedly pre-production. I’m hoping the device will clean up nicely before launch.

One interesting thing to note is that the resistive touchscreen on the Archos 9 is apparently so responsive that the people playing with the unit actually mistook it for a capacitive screen, which is about the best news we can hear without it actually being capacitive. Cnet is actually checking for verification just to be sure that it is resistive as stated in the press release (linked above).

Multi-touch comes to resistive touchscreens

Jkkmobile points out an interesting video...
Archos launch 9” Windows 7 Tablet UMPC Breaking news from the launch event in Paris...
Freescale Cortex-based netbook at CES. Aiming for sub $200 by end of 2009.
Pegatron will be showing an ARM-based netbook reference design at...

Attempt to keep your head straight with the Asus Eee PC comparison chart

Ben — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 04:40:26 +0000

We occasionally joke that Asus seems to release a new netbook every week, however, one glance at their Eee PC product comparison chart, and you’ll find that our little joke isn’t exactly that far from reality. The comparison chart lists a whopping 27 (yes, twenty-seven) Eee PCs. You can compare to your heart’s content by looking at 19 different categories and seeing how each different model stacks up to one another. Asus even makes it easy for you by offering the whole chart in the website version or even PDF flavor!

Asus Eee PC T91 official US product page up, US release date officially missing
How long will Asus continue to tantalize us...

Asus Eee PC T91 official US product page up, US release date officially missing

Ben — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 04:14:05 +0000

How long will Asus continue to tantalize us with the Asus Eee T91 [Portal page]? It seems like ages ago that we first saw the tablet-netbook that promises to bring the tablet PC experience to the masses. While it seems that the T91 is either already released, or in the process of being released in the UK, we’re still left wondering when it will hit US shores. Regardless of the release date, Asus has seen fit to continue to taunt us by putting up an official product page on their US site. Nothing too exciting here, just some ever tempting images of the (supposedly real) device and some marketing hubbub, and we’re still left wondering if the multi-touch version will ever be released, or if it was just a prototype.

Asus Eee T91 tablet netbook gets taken apart, manual revealed
The much anticipated Eee T91 tablet netbook [Portal page]...
Hardware overview video of the Asus T91 tablet-netbook

Mobile Computer Mag had a chance to...
Asus S101 "press website", international release dates

The Asus Eee S101 has gotten...

Early Always Innovating Touchbook demo

Ben — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 03:17:53 +0000

As we await news of the supposed imminent release of the Always Innovating Touchbook [Portal page], I wanted to bring attention to a demo of the forthcoming Touchbook from a product launch conference called Demo. The demonstration itself is actually a few months old, and maybe it was just me, but it seems like this video demonstration of the hardware didn’t get much notice. Below we can watch the Touchbook being demonstrated by the founder of Always Innovating, Grégoire Gentil.

It is interesting to note that although this seems to be somewhat early hardware, it has the same red top that is purportedly going to accompany the first batch of units that are due to be released this month.

Always Innovating Touchbook coming next month, full specs
The Always Innovating Touchbook, which made a...
TouchBook Netbook/UMPC/Tablet runs on OMAP 3
I had an update from TI’s ‘Mobile Mover’ Seshu Madhavapeddy...
Gigabyte Touchnote En-Route for Live session and Review.
I had a nice update call from

S5 Premium Air (3G) on Sale July 16th

Chippy — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 20:26:01 +0000

If you’ve been waiting for the 3G version of the Viliv S5, the wait is nearly over. Dynamism have just posted this info:

The Viliv S5 special offer is back for one quick encore, but this time, it’s better because the latest Viliv S5 is better than ever.
+ Now with integrated solid state drive
+ Now with integrated 3G (HSPA) wireless broadband
Available only for the first 400 units ordered starting at 1 PM Eastern time on July 16th, customers will receive a free spare battery, car kit, and leather pouch. Please be sure to sign up for e-mail alerts (above) to stay informed of this special event as-it-happens.

Shipment is expected August 5th

Head over to Dynamism for more info and don’t forget, the X70 goes on sale at Dynamism next Monday. (Shipment expected July 28th)

If you’ve got final questions about the Viliv S5 or X70, keep an eye out for the next live session which is tentatively planned for Monday before the X70 goes on sale.

Viliv S5 Offer Oversubscribed. Dynamism Apologises, Extends Offer. Selling 200 Viliv S5’s at $599 in 2 hours in...
Viliv X70 EX Special Offers at Dynamism. July 6th. Dynamism have just announced a special pre-ordering offer for all...
Viliv S5 @ Dynamism. Pre-order starts today. Live Q&A. New presentation video. Dynamism are starting the pre-order period for the Viliv S5...

Mobile Microblogging Devices. A List that Doesn’t Include Intel.

Chippy — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 12:38:30 +0000

Back in Feb, I listed a set of devices that should be high on your list if you’re thinking about mobile microblogging. It included MIDs and UMPCs. As the market for mobile social networking, mobile web search, mobile content creation, location based services and lifestreaming (my rough definition of Mobile Microblogging) gathers steam we’re seeing more and more devices coming into the segment and it’s mainly from the smartphone sector. UMPCs and MIDs aren’t getting a look-in. In fact, in my latest list, below, you won’t find a MID or UMPC.

Smartphones with bigger, higher resolution screens and high-end processors are appearing on the radar almost every week. Smartphone-based mobile software development is increasing too as more and more mobile device application stores tempt developers with easy-to-use, rich SDKs and APIs, a channel that reaches right down to millions of users devices and a good cut of any earnings.

What’s really interesting about the Mobile Microblogging phenomenon is that very little software development is happening for today’s Intel MIDs, the very devices that were targeted into this segment. Intel have stopped work on the Moblin OS for them and they’re effectively UMPCs. You could even argue that there are no Intel MIDs any more! They are being totally left behind in both software and hardware until Intel push the reset button when Moorestown MIDs with Moblin hit the market. Until then, it’s desktop operating systems for MIDs and UMPCs.

You won’t find an easy-to-use, small-screen, GPS-enabled search service on Windows. You can’t even link Google Maps to a GPS on the browser. Forget the thought of a compass helping with augmented reality, an accelerometer, an FM receiver with RDS or, if you’re into internet photography, a half-decent snapshot camera. There’s no application store either. Only on smartphones will you find the creative software and hardware that is driving the mobile microblogging market and making it exciting, fresh, competitive and, quite frankly, desirable.

Moblin-based MIDs do have a chance as do Maemo 5 based devices but you won’t find any on the market yet so it’s going to take time for the developers to warm to those platforms. Come back in 2010 to discuss that!

Apple and Android have done a lot for the new generation of mobile internet devices and usage scenarios and so it should be no surprise to see smartphones dominating this Mobile Microblogging segment to the point where UMPCs and MIDs don’t get a look-in. UMPCs and Netbooks still have big advantages for general purpose, day-to-day productive computing but if mobile creativity is your thing, there’s nothing better than the new generation of smartphones.

One could argue that smartphones have grown into the MID segment but for me it was always about usage scenarios rather than device categories. As Intel said, communication, location, entertainment and productivity. It’s a shame that Intel’s MIDs aren’t living up to their own hype yet. (see my recent Moorestown article for thoughts about 2010)

(continued on next page…)

Intel calls iPhone a MID. Obviously Preparing for Moorestown Marketing.
I enjoyed this article at APCMag. There’s a lot...
Why buy a MID?
An interesting article over at PCMag.com has author Tim...
The ‘Ring of FIE’ and the Perfect Mobile Microblogging Device.
I’ve been thinking about this subject for a while...

Dell’s Internet Device. No news.

Chippy — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 08:23:16 +0000

Clearly the person leaking the Dell MID information to the NYT has no idea what’s going on there and has probably just walked through one of the research labs at Dell and got a bit over-excited. I’m sure if you got to walk through Apple’s lab you’d see a few Google Android-based devices too.

‘Could be scrapped’ or ‘may begin selling the device later this year.’ That’s called ‘evaluation’ I believe.

‘Dell may use chips based on designed licensed from ARM Holdings PLC.’ Shock!

‘Dell has considered selling the product through cellular carriers’ Now there’s a new idea to consider!

Justin Scheck of the New York Times didn’t exactly get a ground-breaking factual story and yet it got to #1 on Techmeme

Nokia, Microsoft, Apple, Samsung, ASUS, Acer, Sony and many others will be doing exactly the same as Dell right now and evaluating the market for a non-voice Internet device using Android, Maemo and Moblin with ARM or Intel cores running HSPA or WiMAX technologies for Web, Navigation, Ebook, PMP and Gaming. Mobile Microblogging is a huge topic and the company that makes the first device to dovetail with this market stands to win a good lead. My money is on Nokia for Europe and Apple for US to be the first major players but because of the diversity of users, locations and applications, there’s an opportunity for many others out there.

Chrysler offers 4 mobile devices for $2000. But are they the right ones?
Chrysler are introducing a ‘web-edition’ mobile Internet device...
BusinessWeek on MIDs
Business Week summarises the current position on Intel-based MIDs nicely...
Acer confirms netbook running Android in Q3, shows it off at Computex (kind of)
There has been a lot of discussion lately...

Fennec. Beta 2 for Maemo. Alpha 2 for Windows Mobile

Chippy — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 09:57:38 +0000

If I was running the Fennec project, I’d be thinking carefully about accelerating development for more than just the Maemo platform too! Its not that Maemo is a dying OS (although at this point you could say that Maemo is already dead with the ‘old’ N810 being the only Maemo device on the market and very little news about any new devices based on Maemo 5) it’s that Fennec needs to position itself where the customers are in order to get brand recognition. Windows Mobile, due to the terrible built-in browser offering, is a great place to start. They need to do it fast though because Opera Mobile and Skyfire are fast becoming de-facto choices.

Mozilla released Alpha 1 of the Windows Mobile browser in May and last week set free the Alpha 2 version. People have already started testing and giving feedback. Clearly, Alpha 2 is a long way away from a full release (late 2009 timeframe would seem a reasonable estimate for full release, much later then the original plan) but it will be interesting to see if the development accelerates to meet the new range of powerful smartphones that are coming out. LG01, Omnia Pro, Touch Pro 2, Acer M900. They all reach into the same ‘mobile microblogging’ arena as the Nokia Tablet. [More info on the Omnia Pro a it later today]

For some information on how Fennec is performing on WIndows Mobile, check out Mobility Site. For information on the Maemo version, check out this thread on the Maemo.org forums. I won’t be trying it on my N810. I’m holding out for new Nokia Tablet hardware. (Please!)

Watch out for #mozmae this weekend. The Mozilla Maemo developer weekend starts tomorrow and will be...
Maemo 5 hints at new Nokia Tablet features and timescale.
Maemo.org has just released the first Pre-Alpha of Maemo...
Mobile Firefox (Fennec Beta 1) demo [video]
The first beta of Mozilla’s mobile focused browser...

Windows 7 RC works well on the TN70M

Chippy — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 22:40:01 +0000

I’ve installed Windows 7 on the Clevo TN70M and it’s working very well. Auto screen rotation isn’t working yet but everything else seems to be. Even tablet features started working fully after I installed the touch drivers. I’ve tested the beta graphics drivers and it even enables Aero. (But causes problems with Windows Media Player so I rolled back to the standard drivers.)

The fact that Windows 7 works is more significant than with many other devices because you can buy the TN70M without an operating system for just over 400 Euro. This makes the Clevo TN70 with its excellent touchscreen the cheapest tablet PC available today. The wide frame and palm resistance help too so although it’s not the ultimate handwriting pad, it’s a fantastic entry point. Even if you’re not into handwriting, there are some nice features in Windows 7 that help with finger navigation and mobility. I just wish that auto screen-rotate software was working. It hasnt been working under XP either so it is possible I have a faulty unit here.

There’s not much more to say at the moment because it’s early days. I want to upgrade the RAM to 2GB because although Win 7 seems much more gentle on hard drives than Vista, it’s not as gentle as XP is. A fast 32GB SSD would be a better option than the 60GB HDD in my opinion and would really help Win 7.

Optical pointer, webcam, mouse pointer, fingerprint reader, touch, brightness, volume, sleep, sd card, audio, BT, Wifi. Check! Everything working.

What a bargain this is turning into. I have a broken Q1 Ultra here. I wonder if the 1024×600 would swap into it! I’m tempted to buy this little budget baby just to try it out because that’s the only thing that would need changing in order to make this a very compelling little UMPC.

Hands-on first impression and video here.

Kohjinsha SK3. Ultra-Portable and Portfolio-Ready! (Unboxing video) I’ve been giggling for the past hour. I just can’t...
Windows 7 RC1 Testing on the Gigabyte Touchnote and Kohjinsha SC3 (Intel Netbook and UMPC) If you had dropped by the live page earlier you...
Aigo MID -> UMPC? Aigo MID XP drivers available
For everyone considering the Compal/Gigabyte/Aigo MID and looking for XP...

Always Innovating Touchbook coming next month, full specs

Ben — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 17:52:11 +0000

The Always Innovating Touchbook, which made a decent amount of buzz several months ago, should be seeing its first batch of devices released next month, in July. The device is quite unique as the screen can be removed from the keyboard and run as a standalone slate tablet.

Always Innovating just released some new info stating that the first batch would be out in July, however the software isn’t yet finalized:

We are very excited to have nearly finalized the Touch Book hardware. As you know, we are at the cutting edge of innovation with a new processor, a new architecture, a new design and new applications. The Touch Book Operating System will continue to be a work-in-progress over the next few months. As beta software (and not beta à la Google News), you should not expect a flawless experience by July. But don’t worry, we will be here to provide support, and we intend to push frequent updates so as to continue improving the user experience. With your feedback, we will be able to test, refine, and prepare for a final software release later this year.

It is an interesting situation that they have essentially finished the hardware before the software and will now be pushing units out to get feedback from early-adopters. We should be receiving a Touchbook from the July batch, so stay tuned for coverage. Full device specs below:

Texas Instruments OMAP3530 with Micron 256MB (RAM) + 256MB (NAND) Memory
8.9” 1024×600 A+ screen
Main storage: 8GB SD card — we decided to change from Micro SD to standard SD, so that you can easily upgrade it
Internal USB wifi 802.11 b/g/n powered by a Ralink 3070 chipset
Internal USB bluetooth class 2.1
FCC, CE, UL-certified, 5V, 3.5A power adapter
8.9 inch pressure sensitive touch screen
US Qwerty 24cm-large keyboard — around 95% of the size of a standard keyboard
Cirque Touchpad
Two Owolff high-quality internal stereo speakers
3D accelerometer
Two internal batteries 6000 and 12000mAh — it can be replaced with a screw driver
7 USB ports: three external, four internal, three of them may be reserved for wifi, bluetooth and keyboard
Bi-color silver/black case — see photos — with a beautiful dark-red back cover (we decided to go only for red for the first batch as it really jumps out, you won’t regret it).
Secured attachment system of tablet into keyboard
Independent magnet system for the tablet — we don’t want your Touch Book to un-magnetize all your credit cards while carrying it in your bag!

I bolded ‘pressure sensitive’ in the touchscreen spec above as I’m not 100% sure what they are trying to imply. One could say that all resistive touchscreens are ‘pressure sensitive’ because they sense a certain pressure on the screen and translate that to input. However, the specific denotation of ‘pressure sensitivity’ in these specs almost seems to imply that it will have several layers of pressure sensitivity, like that of a graphics tablet. While I think it is unlikely that is the case, it would be quite interesting to have several levels of pressure sensitivity in a small slate unit.

The new info also lists the software that will be shipping with the early units as well as software that is on its way:

Linux 2.6.29 with all the required drivers
Xfce 4.4 desktop environment
A unique 3D interface for starting applications with your finger
Firefox 3.0 and Fennec beta 2
Youtube and daily motion support
A video and music player
Abiword and Gnumeric
A chat manager, Pidgin
Mypaint 5.1
An ebook reader, Fbreader
A printer manager, Cups
All usual accessories (zip, picture viewer, dictionary…)
Support for most standard USB accessories
Java support

Good to see that Fennec is going to be on the device. If you’ll recall, Fennec is a mobile version of Mozilla’s Firefox which focuses on touch input. See our short video demo of it here.

There is also some upcoming software improvements which they hope to bring to the 1.0 release. Those include the following:

Skype compatible application
OpenOffice 3.1
A full Adobe Flash solution
Recognition of the Touch Book by iTunes to synchronize your music and video
A Google-maps-based application with GPS support (GPS USB not included)
Some 3D accelerometer-based iPhone games

The ‘iPhone’ games mention is a bit iffy. I’m doubting that they are talking about having actual iPhone games on the phone, but instead probably some accelerometer based games, and maybe some based on existing iPhone games.

I suppose we’ll find out the answer to our questions in July when we get our hands on one.

Multi-touch comes to resistive touchscreens

Jkkmobile points out an interesting video...
Fennec. Beta 2 for Maemo. Alpha 2 for Windows Mobile
If I was running the Fennec project, I’d...
Fennec + Moblin2 news.
Fennec, the small-screen version of Firefox, is important...

Intel and Nokia Answer a Few Questions About Their Partnership.

Chippy — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 12:31:02 +0000

The Intel and Nokia announcement the other day had us all excited about new devices and Atom-powered smartphones but after the dust has settled its clear that we’re looking at something a little less thrilling. At least in the short term.

It appears to be all about positioning and software to me. Intel and Nokia are sending a strong message out that they will be working hard together in the mobile internet arena and will be sharing software and information. I’m sure that marketing data is in that agreement too. From my article on Tuesday:

Nokia and Intel want to co-develop a new class of Intel Architecture based mobile computing devices.
Collaboration in Open Source projects. (Maemo and Moblin)
Intel acquire Nokia HSPA device license.
“Leader in computing. Leader in mobile communications” coming together.

Having read this Nokia Conversations article though, i’m not so sure about the first point. ‘”This collaboration isn’t a deal to use Intel chips in Nokia devices” says JBC. So what does it mean when JBC says “The first step in this exciting development is the creation of new device and chipset architectures.”

For me it appears that the focus is on everything BUT the CPU It’s all about getting the peripheral hardware and radios working under Linux; Specifically Moblin and Maemo. It sounds like Maemo and Moblin will eventually come together at the core level and have the same ‘upstream’ for many of the software packages used within. Maybe they will work on the API/SDK together too. That could be very interesting for developers.

I put a few software-focused questions to Doug Fisher, VP of the Software and Services Group, to see if I could get a bit more detail. I missed the mark on a few of the questions though so i’ll try and get something out of Nokia the next time I see them. Here’s what Doug has to say.

Chippy: Do you see the possibility to merge parts of Moblin and Maemo and consolidate and focus the effort on building one API layer with two (ARM , X86) cores or will the two projects simply share closed code for intel/nokia hardware?

Doug Fisher: What we announced today is a cooperation in several open source software initiatives in order to develop common technologies for use in the Moblin and Maemo platform projects. This includes alignment on a range of key Open Source technologies for Mobile Computing such as: oFono*, ConnMan*, Mozilla*, X.Org*, BlueZ*, D-BUS*, Tracker*, GStreamer*, PulseAudio*. Collectively, these technologies will provide an open source standards-based means to deliver a wealth of mobile Internet and communication experiences, with rich graphics and multimedia capabilities. Enabling common technologies across the Moblin and Maemo software environments will help foster the development of compatible applications for these devices – building on the huge number of off-the-shelf PC compatible applications.

Chippy: Intel have never had a back-end social networking, contacts, file sharing and app store for Moblin. Do you see Nokia’s OVI effort fitting in here?

Doug Fisher: Please ask Nokia about their OVI plans.

Chippy: How will the Linux Foundation link with Maemo? Will they take stewardship of the Maemo project too?

Doug Fisher: Please ask Nokia.

Chippy: Moblin has a lot of engineers working, Meamo too. What’s the total combined manpower for your mobile software efforts now? Are you the biggest Linux software ecosystem in the world?

Doug Fisher: We are not disclosing specific numbers. We have been working closely with Nokia for years on R&D and this effort extends that relationship. You may assume that this is a substantial effort based on the strategic nature of the engagement and the business opportunities for both companies that lie ahead. Turning specifically to Moblin, there are thousands of developers taking part in the Moblin project. Fifteen OSVs have announced Moblin-based operating systems and thousands of standard Linux applications run on the Moblin platform.

The message seems to be clear on the software side. The projects oFono, ConnMan, Mozilla, X.Org, BlueZ, D-BUS, Tracker, GStreamer, PulseAudio and going to be worked on together and will be common across Maemo and Moblin.

As for the future, no-one really knows. Nokia and Intel are huddling in the mobile internet space and it looks like Microsoft aren’t going to get a look-in. As many others have said, this is a major win for Linux.

Intel and Nokia Announce a Long Term Strategic Partnership.
Don’t get too excited at this stage. No products. No...
Novell to develop for Moblin
SUSE-Moblin for MIDs and Netbooks?

Another Linux software distributor has...
Ubuntu-MID to switch from Moblin to Mer. News from the Maemo weekend in Copenhagen; Canonical will switch...

Clevo TN70M Hands-on Surprises.

Chippy — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 09:57:08 +0000

When you read about the TN70 in the umpc and netbook community you’re likely to hear references to the T91 and the Sony Vaio P along with words like ‘ugly’ and ‘cheap.’ You probably won’t hear much mention of mobility but if you’re thinking about mobility, umpcs and tablet PCs I encourage you to pause for a moment and take a closer look because this bargain basement device (that I’m calling a UMPC) has surprised me by turning out to be well designed and very, very usable. If you think back to the Wibrain B1/i1 you’ll remember a similar story. It certainly didn’t look attractive and the reason was that Wibrain designed something to be usable rather than marketable. The same is true of the TN70. It’s a very usable and very good value device.

The TN70N has been supplied for review by Mobilx. Their information and ordering page is available here.

Our TN70N product page which includes links, images and videos.

Before I get my first impressions down though I have to do a comparison to Kohjinsha SA1. When I bought it 2.5 years ago it cost me over 1000 Euro, ran on the Geode LX500 CPU and served me well until I ran out of patience with the slow processor. The TN70M costs less than half and brings a swivel touchscreen, way over double the processing power, hd video decoding, a fingerprint reader, rotation sensor, optical mouse, web cam, expresscard/34 slot and a much much better keyboard. It even has the same, great battery life. If you’re buying pre-tax, you’ll pay just 337 Euros today. That’s without an operating system but if Windows 7 release candidate runs, (i’ll be testing that today) then why bother with the OS. 405 euro is the price including tax. Seriously, if you’re thinking about a cheap netbook for mobile duties, stop! This Clevo is more mobile, more flexible, more usable than any netbook in almost all mobile scenarios except long-term desktop use.

Let’s put a few things in perspective though. It only has an 800×480 resolution screen so you’ll be experiencing dialog box problems. You’ll also hit problems with some software installs until you switch to a higher, non-native resolution. It’s also pretty ugly. A large screen frame houses useable controls but makes it look like a toy, especially in the white coloring.

In our 1hr live evaluation last night (video here) we discovered the following:

The keyboard is good. Better than the Kohinsha SC3. Not as good as most netbook. It only has 1 shift key.
The fingerprint reader works and the software captures password too.
The mouse pointer on the frame is a very good optical type which gives you great control in two-handed or tablet mode.
Has strong Wifi reception. (b/g modes)
Appears to have about 5hrs battery life (although the battery indicator doesn’t show times)
Has a soft touchscreen with a good level of palm rejection. The screen is matt but has a typical milky appearance in sunlight.
Includes a rotation sensor (although the drive software appears to be broken on this model)
Is as fast as any 1.3Ghz Menlow device for browsing. Sub 10-second average page load times.
Includes a hard drive with a max throughput of 28MB/s
Was silent for the whole 1hr testing session
Has a removable back allowing RAM, HDD and PCI-express mini slot.
Speakers are of acceptable quality.
Microphone level seems low (tested with Skype)

Initial CrystalMark test result:

The graphics driver is extremely old and causes crashes on flash full-screen so i’ll leave you with some images and run down to the studio to install Windows 7. Wish me luck!

Thanks to Mobilx for the TN70M review device.

Check our product page for the latest info and links.

Clevo TN70M convertible netbook available. 472 Euros.
I just reported that Mobilx have the Eking...
Wibrain i1 shaping up to be first ‘All-day’ UMPC.
One of the distributors of the Wibrain i1 has...
Eking i1 (Was Wibrain i1) UMPC Available from Mobilx. Price. Mobilx, the ever UMPC-loving resellers from Hungary have negotiated a...