Have you seen the Uren Auto UMPC unboxing video over at UltraMobileLife?   Bjorn Stromberg, who runs this VIA sponsored blog, got hold of the Uren and gave us a good intro to the physicals of the device. The first information on the Uren came out in September (see Navigadget) and it was the first time that a UMPC was offered with dedicated car accessories, a port replicator and remote control. Personally I [...]

If you’re following UMPC-related information on the ‘net then you’ve probably seen the Uren Auto UMPC unboxing video over at UltraMobileLife.

Bjorn Stromberg, who runs this VIA sponsored blog, got hold of the Uren and gave us a good intro to the physicals of the device. The first information on the Uren came out in September (see Navigadget) and if our memory serves us right, we ha a little laugh at the name and then concluded it was cool. For the first time we were seeing a UMPC being delivered with dedicated car accessories a port replicator and remote control.

Its a VIA C7-M device with a simple design (presumably to reduce its surface area when placed in the viewing line on a car dashboard) and the all-important overlay software. Just as StreetDeck, RoadRunner or even program launcher do, it simplifies touch access to the most commonly used programs. This is absolutely essential for in-car use.

Other specifications include 30GB HDD, built-in GPS, DMB receiver and rear-mounted (forward facing) camera all in a 700gm package. The only thing we think is missing is a cellular modem which is important for the Google/live look-up, live traffic info and messaging capabilities.

The Uren is unfortunately only available in Asia for the equivalent of about $1000. Hopefully someone will pick up on it and put it or a similar device through the FCC/CE/ROHS certifications and ship them over because there’s a serious lack of decent car-focused software and hardware at the moment.

All the known specifications are listed in the Carrypad UMPC database.

A few pounds heavier (thanks Mum.) and with a huge number of emails and feeds marked for attention, Chippys back. I’m quite surprised at how much news there has actually been over the last week and while going through the feed-reader a lot of thoughts and opinions came into my head that I need to write down. Here’s a quick run down of things that I want to look in [...]

As a Christmas gift to all here is UMPC Cast #6 – UMPCs in 2007 and Beyond.

We talk about new changes going on with the site and what new UMPCs will be released in 2007. Plus our usual bantering about nothing.

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Or just download the [url=http://www.origamiportal.com/origami/podcasts/OrigamiPortal.com_-_UMPC_Cast_6_-_2007_UMPCs_and_Beyond.mp3]MP3 directly[/url].

And if you just want to catch up on the old shows, they are all available in the [url=http://www.origamiportal.com/modules/tinycontent/index.php?id=1]Podcast Section[/url]

Look at me. What an embarrassment. This is what I wanted to take to the UK.  I need to drastically reduce this mess. Let me try to pare it down a bit…. Look on the right hand side. That’s all power-related rubbish. I know what my first project in the new year is. 2 universal 12/110/240v adaptors with multi-voltage and multi-tips. Preferably with an integrated AA battery charger.  How would you reduce [...]

Rob Bushway of GottaBeMobile has a few nice CES/Origami tips for us today.

He points to a ZDNet article where its said that Mr Gates will mention Origami devices in his keynote speech. These, apparently, will be UMPC’s running Vista.

There’s also a hint from MS that there will be a focus on devices with slide out keyboards. We’re not surprised at that. The keyboardless computer is a tough sell. The Yahoo-Go partnership UMPC could be one of these.

There’s also a hint from TabletKiosk that they will have a new rugged device to show off at CES. TK have an association with ECS (the i7200 series came through that) so maybe ECS have new devices to show off too. The other possibility is that they’ve taken the Mobits VX3 design and used that. We’ll have to see.

Read between all the lines at GottaBeMobile.

Here’s one that slipped through the net at Computex.  I just got a tip-off on these images that were obviously taken at Computex 2006. Its got a UMPC form factor and I had never seen or heard anything about it until now.  The original website is here. (This product appears half-way down.) It says ‘UMPC’ on the front but it looks like its running WM5   I’ve tried to find details but [...]

I saw it high on Tailrank at one point yesterday which means a lot of people must have been talking about it and now i’ve had time to dry my trousers I can sit down and analyse what we’ve actually got here. There seems to be two sets of specifications floating about. One with a 3.5″ screen and a 320×240 resolution and the other with a 5″ screen and 640×480 [...]

Jenn (Pocketables) has already made a post on this but I’d like to follow it up with a little more technical info. Firstly, can I just say - 3Mbps MPEG-4 performance! Yup, they updated the mplayer package and its really boosted the performance. I noticed it when I played my favorite 2mbps - Xvid/AC3 encoded “Best of Top Gear” DVD Rip. It was smoother than before. I checked the CPU performance and it [...]

From the articles from a week ago department comes a posting from [url=http://onlyumpc.com/news/mac-os-x-on-asus-r2h]OnlyUMPC.com[/url] showing Mac OSX running on an Asus R2H.

The system is functional but has incorrect screen calibration and device issues.

OnlyUMPC also has a video of the system running, so go check it out [url=http://onlyumpc.com/news/video-mac-os-x-on-asus-r2h]here[/url].

This isn’t bad. Its a ‘UMPC Verse’ by Ultranauts. We won’t spoil it by posting it here so pop over and take a look. Well done lads. Now step away from the brandy butter and get back to work!

Update: I’m tracking the latest info on this HTC Athena datasheet. Look! There’s many more pics here. As Grandpa Joe said in ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’: ‘PRAISE THE LORD. We’ve found the Golden Carrypad. Possibly.’ I have to leave the office now. I’m looking forward to reading what the blogosphere thinks about it. Many thanks to ‘Fragles’ who tipped me off. More Carrypad news about the Athena here and [...]

I’m still highly skeptical about the transparentness of Three’s X-Series service. There’s too many marketing words floating around the product for my liking. ‘Unlimited Web Browsing’ instead in Internet Access. ‘Fair Use’ and other such warning signs. Ewan Macleod who runs SMS Text News uses the X-Series product and is really putting it through its paces. He’s posted a number of really interesting and honest articles and this one from [...]

Did anyone see this on DigiTimes? The stock price of VIA rose nearly 7% to close at NT$27.15 on December 19 due to rumors that the company will partner with High Tech Computer (HTC) on development of a new UMPC. The price reached a three month peak. HOW MUCH? 7%. To me that seems a huge effect. While I personally think that VIA are best positioned to dominate the x86-based ultra-mobile [...]

The latest HTC Athena specs shown at The Unwired now match closely to the specifications I’ve seen and I feel quite confident that these are true. Rather than the 3.5″ screen, its got a 5″ screen at VGA resolution and there’s the 624Mhz Xscale there rather than the Samsung 400Mhz CPU. 5″ Screen. Its going to challenge the Nokia Communicator/E90 perhaps? Shame its not an 800×480 screen but it should [...]

Here’s an interview that GottaBeMobile did with Rochelle Wheelan of Intel’s Ultra Mobility group. Battery life was the main topic (as always!) and I had to laugh a little at Rochelle’s spin on the issue. Do you remember back at IDF, Intel announced that they would have processor components that would dissipate about half the power of 2006 components. A lot of people got excited and assumed that it meant double [...]

TabletKiosk have just launched the MP3400 power bank that can be used with  many portable devices including UMPCs. For $159 you get a 56W/hr battery (more than twice the capacity of the standard battery on the v7110 and i7200 series UMPCs) along with a number of tips for using the battery with different devices. There’s also a mains adaptor. The battery is adjustable for voltages between 9 and 19V and [...]