Archive for November, 2006

I’m listening to a podcast that was announced on Hugo’s blog tomorrow!

Dr Neil’s Notes #31 is live. 

There’s plenty of UMPC application talk and all the usual banter.

Sometimes I wish these were live because I always want to join-in. Guys. I’ve dropped ie7 and here’s my applications list that I use on a daily basis to perform my work on Carrypad. (My UMPC is my main PC)

• Firefox (which is my interface to email, calendar, RSS reader, documents and spreadsheets, CMS)
• Putty (SSH client)
• Trillian (might switch to Meebo through the browser)
• Windows LiveWriter (can’t quite get the efficiency needed with blogger beta.)
• The Gimp
• WinScp
• Remote Desktop connection
• Skype
• Windows Media Player

Steve.

Dr Neil and Hugo Ortega are back together for another of their frank and passionate discussions.
This time they’re talking about applications for the UMPC.

Its a great podcast and you can find it [url=http://drneil.blogspot.com/2006/11/dr-neils-notes-31.html]here.[/url] (more…)

PocketPC’s have been used as media devices for years. I used to load up 128MB of Mp3’s for a days listening on my Cassiopeia E-115 and even used it for QCIF videos for a while until I got bored of the video conversion process. Now of course, we expect full media players on our devices and it looks like the Nokia 770 has just got what it deserves, a nicely presented media player application. Canola.

Take a look at Thoughtfix’s video and then take a look at some of the videos on the developers blog. It proves that the 770 is more than just a browser!

This makes me want that Nokia 870 even more. With a little bit more power and development over the 770, it would make the perfect PMP,navigation and browsing device.

The coolest thing about this player is it appears to support UPnP. That’s automatic discovery and sharing of music and video files through the Universal Plug and Play method. Something that is well supported under Windows Media Player 11 and other media players.

More info about this really nice looking app at AV Media, Anytime, Anywhere! which has now been added to my RSS feed list!

Steve

The i7210. How does it feel after 2 months?

[img]http://www.carrypad.com/gallery/d/1347-4/tk-i7210.jpg[/img]

[quote]I have been extremely impressed and a little surprised at how easily it has fulfilled the desktop role and how capable it is with many many tasks. [/quote]

sounds good…

[quote]No device is perfect though and I want to review these issues now because potential buyers need to be aware that these issues are still outstanding.[/quote]

sounds not so good!

Full details at Carrypad - [url=http://www.carrypad.com/journal/2006/11/i7210-umpc-long-term-testing-notes.html]i7210 long term test notes[/url] (more…)

Here’s some information about new Dell Axims. The info comes from Brighthand and I have to say ‘well done’ to Ed Hardy who spotted this.

There was one important line in an IDC report:

The company [Dell] has finished phasing out some of the older models from its portfolio and is concentrating on developing the Axim X51 platform with faster processors and more memory.

Ed expects to see Axims running Windows 5.5 but personally I’d like to see then push the platform up to 800×480 with a 5″ screen. If then can do the 800×480 trick (a la DualCor with its 800×480 WM5) then things will look rosy for uber-smartphones.

I’ve always liked the Axim range of PocketPCs. They were well specified and well priced. From the top of my head, I think they were designed by HTC so maybe some of that HTC Athena magic is rubbing off on them.

Steve.

This is fantastic news via PocketPCThoughts. The Next Generation of XScale: Monahans Is Here!

Three new Marvel Xscale processors have been announced.

Mummy, Daddy and Baby Monahans! Daddy breaks through the 1Ghz barrier.

•PXA320 (Monahans-P)- 1.2GHz scalable down to 806MHz, general applications processor; [Update - Only 806Mhz for the time being. 1.2Ghz has been tested though.]
•PXA310 (Monahans-LV) - multimedia processor, supposedly capable of 30fps H.264 playback in VGA resolutions; and
•PXA300 (Monahans-L) - the budget line

This kind of messes up the term ‘Ghz class’ because there’s a vast difference in processing power between a RISC and an advanced x86 instruction set but [update: maybe not!] its superb news for the uber-smartphone and low-end UMPC market. 30fpx 640×480 video is high quality (assume about a 2mbps bitrate) and will look fantastic on a 5 or 6″ screen.

This will also enhance full quality rich browsing with flash, dynamic pages and quick render-rate at 800×480.

Products using these chips are planned for availability in the first quarter of 2007. CeBit perhaps? I guess the big push will come with WM6 in 2008 though.

Bring it on HTC !

Update: There’s some more detailed info over at TechArp.

Steve.

PocketPCThoughts have some great news today. There’s 3 items I want to relay. Firstly, the W-Zero3 from Sharp.

This is very much how I imagine the HTC Athena will be, but with a bigger screen and a magnetic keyboard cover instead of the slider. I had forgotten about this high-end Smartphone from 2005. Its not a UMPC (VGA screen and Windows Mobile 5 unfortunately) but there’s a lot to learn about form factor it in. PocketPC thoughts are reporting that it made top 5 in a trend tracking magazine. More info here. I can see why.

Steve

Writing detailed reviews should always be a long-term process. Often its not possible though. Even after spending many many hours with a device, you don’t find out about everything that an owner would.

This has been true of the TabletKiosk i7210 UMPC which I still use as my daily PC in docked, mini-PC, extended-screen mode. I’ve had it for nearly two months now and I think I’ve finally found out pretty much everything there is to know about it. Good and Bad.

I have been extremely impressed and a little surprised at how easily it has fulfilled the desktop role and how capable it is with many many tasks. I can run 6mbps videos while blogging. I can edit images without restriction using The Gimp. Backups to another PC using a crossover cable and a Gig-e interface are faster than any of the other notebooks I have had and I have memory and disk space a-plenty. As a mini-PC, the i7210 is near-perfect. I would even expect the i7209 to perform just as well in this role.

 
i7210 set up as my desktop mini-PC. Coffee cup is usually empty!

The ergonomics of the i7210 are still feeling good. Although I’m a bit spoiled now that I have the Pepperpad to lounge around with (The thumbboard is such an advantage,) I am very happy with the casing, the fingermark-free finish, the great mouse pointer, the buttons, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. The screen quality is excellent too and I love the soft-touch screen. I don’t do much handwriting but the diagrams and annotations I’ve done have been perfect. Because the screen is so small you can rest your palm on the frame and avoid any issues with palm-touch.

No device is perfect though and In the review of the i7210, I outlined some outstanding issues which I had also brought to the attention of TabletKiosk. I want to review these issues now because potential buyers need to be aware that these issues are still outstanding. In the order they appear in the review, here they are.

Screen backlight. It is not possible to adjust the backlight down to zero. The lowest setting is about 20% which, in low-light conditions is still more than is needed. This is not a major issue in my opinion as you can turn the screen off completely with the lock switch.

Screen off/standby/Hibernate issues. This continues to be one of the two major issues with the i7210. I can not rely on this device to go into standby. And even worse, when you put it manually into standby with a hibernation setting set, it will come out of standby to hibernate but get stuck. You end up with dead battery, a loud beeping noise and, if you’ve packed the i7210 away in a case, a very very hot device. This really needs to be fixed. I should not be expected to shutdown the device completely after every use. Especially as under battery power, there are other issues that make booting a very slow process (see below.) Apparently Tablet Kiosk are working on a fix for this.

No floating TIP. This problem is fixed with the use of floattip.exe. Its because the BIOS is not a tablet PC bios. I can live with running another program in the background.

Loudspeaker quality is poor. Not only poor but so quiet that I have problems listening to podcasts on it. I don’t expect this to ever get fixed. If you need better speaker output, you will want to invest in a small external speaker set or headphones.

BIOS throttles CPU under battery power. Here is the most serious issue with the i7210. Under battery power, the performance drops so much that it gets annoyingly slow. It appears that the BIOS takes over the ACPI control and throttles the FSB speed (or multiplier, I’m not sure which) down. I am rarely able to get the CPU to rise above 600Mhz. Even under 100% CPU loading and regardless of BIOS settings, power-saving settings or third party CPU control software. I use the i7210 under external power for about 80% of the time and so I don’t find the problem occurring often but, when it does, its really noticeable.  Boot up time takes 50% longer, video performance drops down to the point where even a 1.5mbps video is a problem. (Take note here because the 500mhz Raon Digital Vega, can run a 2mbps video very smoothly for 4 hours on one battery.) Even skype video or other webcam activities are unuseable. The i7210 may be one of the most powerful UMPC’s under external power but under battery power, its very slow indeed. You won’t find this ‘feature’ mentioned anywhere in the marketing materials!

But why? Why have ECS (Original Equipment Designer for this UMPC) throttled the CPU under battery power? Isn’t that what ACPI is there for? Or is the load so high that the battery would be dead before it booted up!  Please, ECS and others - don’t use CPU throttling tactics to reach desired battery life.

In general I’m happy with the i7210 as I use it mostly via mains power as a portable mini-PC. In this fixed scenario its fantastic but this is supposed to be an Ultra Mobile PC and in mobile scenarios I’m really dissapointed about how slow it is.

More info, news, gallery and links for the i7210 here. i7209 here.

Steve / Chippy.

Sorry to all of you that are still subscribed to the old RSS and email feeds. I’ll be turning them off today.

The new, more complete, RSS and Email feeds are active though so you just need to switch-over to carry on getting the content.

 For the email subscription (a daily Email containing the last 24 hours postings.) use the form below.

For the new RSS feed, please use this link.

Thanks and sorry again for messing it around.

Steve.

The R2H will not budge from the top of the UMPC table. On the Carrypad product list it gets more than twice as much attention as any other Ultra Mobile PC.

I’ve had the ranking system in place for a while now and its interesting to watch things go up and down. Generally after some news, a device will climb a place or two but there is a definite pattern forming. Devices are settling in to some fairly persistent positions. Here’s the current 7-day-averaged popularity ranking based on a 10-point scale of clickthroughs on the portal. Click on the images for more info.

1st place.

ASUS R2H

Not only does the R2H have a very complete specification but its well priced and heavily marketed. If you are on the look out for a UMPC you really can’t avoid it!

2nd place.

Sony VAIO UX Series

The Sony UX has been climbing slowly up the chart despite it being a relatively old device. There is also an entry for the UX280P in the chart so combined, the Sony UX has a very strong showing.

Samsung Q1b

Over the last few days, interest in the Q1b has risen considerably. With 4-hour battery life it has a unique advantage against other Origami-based UMPCs. HSDPA version available in Europe soon.

3rd place.

Raon Digital Vega

The Vega is consistently high in the rankings. I think its really appealing to consumers especially after the good reports the I, and others, have made. I hear that its selling extremely well in Korea.

4th place.

Pepperpad 3

The Pepperpad 3 has had a lot of attention on Carrypad so its no surprise its up there. Its a new device too so it could be a honeymoon period.

Fujitsu P1610

The P1610 is another device that’s also new on the market. Its one of the most technologically advanced mobile PC’s you can buy right now. One of my favorites. Watch out for the LG C1 though.

Kohjinsha SA1F00A

Here’s another of my favorites. Its not a touch-screen device but its got that convertible form factor that satisfy’s. I want to get my hands on one of these.

Notable entries at 5th place include 3 devices that aren’t available yet. The Averatec AHI, the Samsung SPH-P9000 (Foldable umpc/phone) and my best tip for a good consumer-level UMPC, the Arima UM650UV1/Medion RIM 1000.

Missing from the top 5 is the Samsung Q1 which may have had the wind taken from its sails by the R2H Also missing are all of the Amtek T700 variants although if you added those together, you’d find it up there in the top 5.

Nearer to Christmas i’ll do an all-time list but you already know what’s going to be No.1 don’t you.

Steve / Chippy

It was reported on AVING news network in Korean but the article appears to be about a Wi-Bro conference and not the device.

Anyone know anything about it? It looks cool. Not sure about the flat keyboard though.

Steve.

UMPCs like you’ve never seen them before at TabletPC2

Tablet PC 2 has a summary of many of the UMPCs in a festive photo-shoot. I like it. Makes me want to go and put my decorations up!

Steve.

There’s a new blog being written about the Raon Digital Vega which is building up nicely. Snave, the blogger, has a Vega and has been posting tips, ideas, images and news. Check it out at My Vega.

Vega with Zune theme.

Raon Digital Vega specifications and links.

Steve

Firstly James Kendrick of jkOnTheRun sells his UMPC and now Matt Miller is selling his too.

What’s up?

At the World of Mobility expo I spoke to a number of resellers about the UMPC and they are all having a hard time selling it. On one hand, its not big enough for many commercial users and ink lovers and on the other hand, it hasn’t got a keyboard for the rest of us consumers. The unique usage scenarios and advantages of the UMPC just take too much money to promote to consumers. It cuts out the profit margin. Its not worth it.

Many of the journalists that reviewed the UMPCs in the March/April time period were right (and I agreed with them then too.) Its not that a UMPC needs a keyboard to be used, it just needs a keyboard to be sold.

You may not see many more 7″ consumer UMPC devices like the Q1 and R2H in my opinion because 1) Its too expensive to promote at low (mass market) profit margins and 2) Browser based applications will get more popular thanks to Google. This will enable simpler 5″ browser-based Internet devices to perform most of the functions that consumers want.

Steve.

If you’re reading this, you’re on the new Carrypad server!

Steve.