Dynamism very kindly lent us this Asus R50A for review. Note: The unit is said to be pre-production. As you will read in the review below, the hardware seems final except the speakers aren’t functioning. The software build is where the flaws seem to be. UMPC Portal reader Arthur, who owns an R50A, says that he doesn’t have some of the software issues (such as multiple radio connection apps) [...]

Pankaj Kedia is the director, Global Ecosystem Programs, Mobile Internet Devices at Intel Corporation. The information here is from a telephone interview I made on 23rd Dec.

We’ve been trying to track the announcements over the year but it’s been getting increasingly difficult. In an interview with Intel today I was able to get the definitive list of Linux distribution partners that are working with Intel to distribute Moblin. Netbook / Nettop OSVs: Ubuntu, Asianux, Xandros, Linpus. Novell, gOS, Mandriva, Pixart, S2C, Turoblinux MID OSVs: Ubuntu, Asianux, WindRiver More on the Intel interview soon.

Not much to read on the linked article below but there are some nice pics from the Yukyung Viliv S5 launch party. Welcome to one of the first XP-based MIDs (or is it a UMPC!) I’m eager to get my hands on the Viliv S5 for a full test ASAP. Images via the Korean website below. 재승 님의 블로그 :: 네이버 블로그. Thanks Keobuk2

About 8 months ago I had an idea for a promotional project. I called it the ‘MID Summer Tour’ and pitched it to Intel. They were very interested but unfortunately, my timing was terrible. I should have known that projects like this can take an extremely long time to set up so instead of a summer tour, we’ve re-worked the idea and have come up with the MIDMoves project. A [...]

Looking at Steve’s and Jenn‘s tour plan you might start to think that the mobile web is about ‘doing crazy tours through many countries in a short amount of time’ (and that does not even include what that crazy scot Ewan will be doing …). I am not sure how you feel, but I am a bit intimidated yet curious at the same time about how this will turn out [...]

Theres a new Sony teaser ad live on the Sony New Zealand website which promises a product that will change the way you look at laptops. It could be the product that went through the FCC a few weeks ago. Sony teaser site says “revolutionary new VAIO” coming January 9th – Engadget

This week it’s been my great pleasure to be testing another UMPC based on the Intel Menlow platform. It’s not my first as I’ve had the Gigabyte M528, Aigo MID and Kohjinsha SC3 but there’s a couple of things about this Wibrain i1 UMPC that are worth talking about and one of them is a real first in the mobile computing world and has got me all fired-up about UMPCs [...]

If there’s one thing you dont want to find out after you’ve spent a lot of money, its the possibility that you’ve been ripped off. I’m not saying Dell are doing this on purpose because the chances are that the battery maker is the one screwing around here but quality control should not be left to end-users. MyDellMini • Battery capacity 24 Wh, not 32 Wh. Via JKK. Update: The [...]

One of the MIDs I was impressed with at the IDF in August was the Viliv S5. With a stylish design, excellent battery life and a selection of specifications, it appealed. Even without the keyboard. Launch was planned for Q4 but until a few days ago, we hadn’t heard anything. Through Lazion a few days ago we heard that there was a launch party planned and now Lazion have managed [...]

My idea of an adrenaline rush is tearing into a newly delivered portable gadget, not tearing down a rollercoaster track at warp speeds. Even as a kid, when I actually thought it was fun to hang upside down and watch the coins fall out of everyone’s pockets, rollercoasters were always something I white-knuckled my way through with my eyes closed. Something about the cheek-flapping speed, teeth-rattling turns, and that ever-important [...]

Running a website as a full-time job doesn’t give me many opportunities to get out of the office. I try hard to get out once a day but it never works. The odd conference, exhibition and mobile blogging device test help a lot but there’s nothing like being given 4 days to just get away on a busmanns holiday. I did a similar event in 2007 with the Solar-UMPC tour, [...]

Don’t waste time reading this, get on over to JKKMobile where you’ve got a chance to win an SSD. JKKMobile

If you’re looking to run OS X on a netbook, this is a good starting point. In nice easy big-icon graphcs, boing-boing give you the details on what’s compatable and what’s not. I’ve never really found a reason to switch over from Windows to OS X. I’ve been close a few times while i’vebeen routing vurtual audio on PC’s but not close enough. Firefox looks the same on both OS’ [...]

Unfortunately, it’s not me! At least two members of the forums here have received their M528′s. Nalim and Skypeone have both reported that they have received theirs from Expansys and a quick check with a contact at Expansys confirms that some back orders have shipped. Who’s going to be first with pics and first impressions of this device? Guest posts welcome! In related news, the TIM IDOL is now available [...]

So the Viliv is really launching! We’ll try and get some info about the US release dates because the last time we spoke to them they were talking about a U.S. release. 3G for Europe too please Viliv! Viliv S5 info here. Viliv S5 MID launch party set for December 23rd.

Pushing netbooks even further into the laptop space (no-one can really deny that netbooks are the new consumer notebooks now) is the Nvidia Ion chipset. It replaces the existing 945 chipset with a smaller chip and provides a big boosts to the graphics (10x is quoted) along with hardware decoding of video formats up to HD rates and digital TV out. This is excelent news for gamers, CAD artists and [...]