Cars are one of the many places that UMPC’s fit in very well. Only a short session browsing the forums at MP3car.com gives you an idea of how popular car pcs are becoming. As I write this there are 450 people actively reading the forums, they have 50,000 members and have nearly 900,000 postings. That’s huge and until now, all they had were hand-built PC’s. Now the UMPC is on the scene, I think it will open up the possibilities to many many more people.
The Vega UMPC is a good example of a UMPC that would work well in a car. Its small enough to sit on a dashboard and (given a bluetooth adaptor) can support Navigation, Video, Internet access and audio.
Navigadget wrote a brief article the other day on a Korean UMPC that appears to be aimed directly at the auto market. Its the Uren V1.
Its got a typical UMPC specification list comprising 1Ghz processor (type unknown,) 7″ screen, 30GB drive etc etc. There’s a GPS built in, a camera and as its a Korean device, it has DMB digital TV support.
There are no buttons on the frame which, although it makes the device look very slick, won’t help with two-handed operation. Its obviously designed for mounted operation using touch or pen (or attached USB keyboard and mouse.)
What I really would like is that screen mounting solution and the remote control. All UMPCs aiming a consumer market should include these as they hint at some of the usage scenarios that are possible, give it a consumer feeling and, of course, enhance its input/output mechanisms.
The car-based PC market is going to grow rapidly in the next 3 years. Once manufacturers squeeze the last out of the pocketPC platform for Navigation units in cars, you’ll start to see more and more enhanced car-pc options becoming available. Coupled with a Bluetooth enabled car stereo and a 3G mobile phone, there are a ton of possibilities.
Navigadget have more pics and details.
Steve / Chippy
September 9th, 2006 at 3:31 am
Where can I buy this? I love the size and form factor. Is there a distributor for an English version?
September 9th, 2006 at 4:07 pm
At the moment I can’t find any info about suppliers.
My suggestion is to drop an email to dynamism.com. They have offices in asia I think and might be able to source one or get you more information.
Regards
Steve.
September 10th, 2006 at 7:57 am
I thought Nintendo got it wrong naming something “Wee” but I ‘d rather have wee than “urine.”
January 16th, 2007 at 9:14 am
Hi, this is canny hwang, salesman of UREN. For your understanding, i will summarize as follow,
1. UMPC + Navigation
2. Windows XP Home Edition
3. 7″ WVGA TFT LCD, Touch screen
4. 1,8″ 30GB, 695g, 800X480
5. 1.5h(V1), 2.5(A1)of battery life
6. FM Transmitter
7. 2 USB2.0 ports, SD slot, Video out and the like
8. 801.11b/g, Multi-tasking available
9. Built-in GPS antenna, wired/wireless LAN
10. Others
I would like to detailed information concerning UREN. Could
you, administrator, please let us know the opportunity?
There is no camera function on our product. Fault should be changed.
January 16th, 2007 at 9:18 am
Administrator, i would like to post our script on this page or somewhere.
Could you please let me the how we could do?
canny@innowell.co.kr is available.
Contact me concerning UREN at any time being.
January 16th, 2007 at 9:30 am
For your reference, Our web, http://www.uren.co.kr/www.innowell.co.kr are in the process of making English version. Therefore, please wait a little to surf our info.
August 7th, 2008 at 12:49 pm
Hi,
I buy this V1 in China but I’m from Poland. I put Polish Xp but I don’t have any drivers and program (Uren Space, etc…). I try login in uren.co.kr but I must have Korean ID. Where I found this?
Best regards