This weekend was a good one for UMPC fans. Especially keyboard loving ones like us!
Eo battery problem fix?
Firstly there was the news from TKK in the Origamiproject forums that he’s getting much much better battery life from his Amtek-unbranded Eo/Easybook UMPC. It looks like Amtek have provided him with a device that is either modded or updated becuase he’s having no problem getting over 2 hours with normal use. Discussion and comparison of drivers and hardware details continues on Origamiportal.com. This is great news for Eo owners because there’s now a possiblitly of a swap-out rather than just having to return the device. It also good news for us here because it means our UMPC power predictions and VIA C7 power analysis was correct.
New Carrypad-like device.
Secondly, I was speaking to the CTO of Coxion in Finland who, apart from making me jealous with his talk of cheap 3G unlimited data plans, was telling me about the existing CE-based WebBook (pic above.) Its aimed at ‘vertical markets’ but the core design is even closer to the Carrypad concept than the Clio NXT which we were investigating. He might have also whispered in my ear that they were looking into an XP version of this which puts it right in the middle of the Origami camp - with a keyboard!
Nokia, Google and Tablets.
The third great bit of news, and this is really significant for the consumer market, is that Google is teaming up with Nokia to provide ‘a version’ of the Nokia 770 internet tablet with Google Talk software pre-installed. The Nokia 770 has been knocked for being underpowered in the past and Nokia have, for a long time, been public about the fact that they are looking at bringing a new internet tablet to market with a keyboard. Could this be the upgrade that will boost the Nokia 770 into more advanced UMPC territory?
Sony UX teaser video.
Finally, and again very significant news for the consumer UMPC market, is that Sony have a new UMPC device in the wings. With a keyboard and a smart design!
Its a Sony Vaio UX and it looks stunning. There’s no specification available yet, so everyone is watching the Sony website and teaser video for more information. Jkontherun is watching closely too.
The new devices will go into the UMPC product portal today and of course we’ll be updating it with important news links as we get them. The all-product RSS news feed is available here.
