Samsung makes some info available about the Q1b.

One of the problems of working in the European timezones is that after I go to bed, all the good news comes out!

I woke up this morning to read all the great news about the Q1P. Wow! 5 hours battery and built in Cellular data options. That’s just what everyone wants.

Having missed the original news item, I decided to have a dig around the Internet to see what was new. Sure enough on the German website, there it is! A presentation about the Q1b. Lucky I live in Germany!

First things first. It looks like someone got their P’s and Q’s mixed up. Its the Q1b. Not the Q1p that Samsung announced at the IFA yesterday. At least there’s no mention of a Q1p in the Samsung IFA website so I assume someone mis-heard it.

5 hours Battery life. Yes, it looks like the VIA C7-M is finally being used to good effect. They are quoting 60% more battery life.

That roughly translates to - Advanced Energy management technology. 60% longer than the battery life of the Q1. With the Standard battery. Q1 3hours, Q1b 5 hours.

So it looks like the same battery is being used. Samsung originally quoted the Q1 battery as 4 hours so they’re playing with their figures a little there but what the hell. If they get to 5 hours, everyone will be happy.

Next up, LCD brightness. Nearly 30% more brightness. That’s going to be a noticeable difference and great news for outdoor fans.

It says: Despite a newer, brighter LCD filter being used, the energy use remains the same. Brightness Q1220nit Q1b 280nit.

And what about cellular. Here’s some great news for those wanting the total mobile Internet experience. Wibro and HSDPA will be available. I’m not 100% sure about the WiBro standard. I think it’s  South Korea only but I could be wrong. Anyway, HSDPA means 1mbps here in Germany. Streaming radio in the car, live traffic info on Google maps and streaming TV could really be possible with this.

Translation: WiBRO/HSDPA available. Stay permanently connected with Email and Internet. 802.11b/g and Bluetooth 2.0 support.

Unfortunately there’s no talk about the VIA processor or hard drives but we’ve already had this info from other sources. VIA info here and hard drive/RAM info here. Its going to have 1GB RAM and 60GB hard drive according to the British press. We also know that the Q1b will be introduced in the UK for just 100 pounds more than the current Q1. If that info is true, its a superb price. I suspect that the Q1 will be phased-out or, even better, reduced in price. UKP100 discount on the original Q1 would put it at the right level and stimulate the market. I suspect ASUS will be looking at this very carefully and maybe even holding back for a few more weeks to announce pricing.

Remember that with processors, ram, HDD info, battery life info and pricing, there’s a lot of scope for errors. For example, the pricing could be for a base model with users having to pay extra for HSDPA module for example. At the end of the day though, this is a great step forward for UMPCs.

The Samsung IFA webpage is here. Click on the arrow underneath ‘Entdecken Sie die Moglichkeiten.” for the presentation.

Steve / Chippy

Carrypad data sheet - Samsung Q1b

tags: Samsung q1b, Samsung q1p, q1b, umpc