jkOnTheRun ask a valid question this morning: “Maemo 5: Do We Need Another Mobile Platform” It got me thinking about why I’m so interested in Maemo. With Android, Moblin, a huge range of Linux distros, iPhone OS, Symbian and other platforms on the scene, what makes Maemo so different for me? First and foremost, like Moblin and Android, its a tightly controlled Linux distribution and if Linux is going to [...]

The UMID Mbook is a ground-breaker. The first pocketable clamshell device to be able to run Windows or Linux-based software on an Intel platform is a great achievement and a huge step forward in technology. It’s also an attention-grabber. People are immediately drawn to the form factor and immediately understand that this could be a fun, productive and flexible device. It first appeared in Nov 2008 and went on sale in Korea in late Feb 2009. After a recall due to build quality issues, it’s now appearing in Ebay channels. Resellers are also getting export retail samples and this is what we’re testing here. The UMID Mbook M1 in export retail finishing sent over by Mobilx.eu

Looks like a Chinese OEM called Routon has two upcoming MIDs that will run on Android and provide users with 3G connectivity. Slashgear covered the P760 during CES but Routon just recently showed a very similar looking MID, the P730, which will drop off the hardware keypad of the P760, but be otherwise identical. Routon hopes to bring both MIDs to market in May. Both MIDs look like nice little [...]

Selling 200 Viliv S5’s at $599 in 2 hours in a financially unstable period is no mean feat. In fact it looks like Dynamism were hit much harder than they had expected yesterday when the rush for the 200 pre-sale offer packs started. Dynamism have responded quickly with an apology and a new offer.

I stumbled across an interesting looking little program called GMA Booster while browsing the MicroPCTalk forums. Apparently devices which have 945GM/GME/GMS/GSE or 943/940GML/GU Express chipsets are ULV versions of what is normally called the Intel 945 chipset (and can be found in many of the netbooks and UMPCs out there today), and they all feature the same GMA 950 graphics, but for the ULV chipsets, GMA 950 is underclocked to [...]

Ever since we outed the Samsung Q1EX I’ve had trouble positioning it. After an unboxing (see below) a 4-hour live Q&A session (1hr video below) I still cant see why Samsung created the Q1EX. It’s a fine tabletPC but in the last 3 years they’ve learned a lot about the UMPC market and they know that Tablet PCs can be a hard sell. What made them go back to the no-keyboard form-factor?

The API is ‘frozen’ and the feature set shouldn’t change now that the Maemo 5 Beta is out so it means developers can start to work on applications and widgets without having the rug pulled from underneath them. Here are the details…

Dynamism are starting the pre-order period for the Viliv S5 today. Presale begins 1:00 PM Eastern time on April 27th. In this article i’ve also included a new video from Intel and information about a Live session today where the S5 will be present.

There’s an interesting line-up in the top 5 on the product portal today. 5 devices, all with touchscreens. 3 of which are convertible tablet PCs. I haven’t seen this kind of line-up for a very long time! Read the article for more information.

Presto, the pre-OS that we reported on about a month ago has lost the beta tag and is now selling the first official release, version 1.0. As we mentioned back in the article about the beta, Presto is a quick booting Linux operating system that is easily installed with a simple download and run of the installer right inside Windows. Presto said that after the beta period the pre-OS was [...]

I had a visit from a good friend from England this weekend and stepped back from news and articles but it’s time to catch up now and prepare for another big UMPC week.

With twice the battery life, half the weight and half the price of UMPCs of 2006, the advances in UMPC technology have been amazing. Here’s a video summary of what’s happened in the last 3 years.

What would happen if you handed someone $50,000 and told them to make you the ultimate portable computing device? Let’s say the device was built to your exact needs and could fit in your pocket. Great, the perfect device, but with such a great cost, can one really call it portable? This question popped into my head while I was testing the Vaio P [Portal page]. The P was incredibly [...]

Post updated with information from a reseller that claims there will be no OQO 2+ and no further production of OQO UMPCs.

Firstly, let me thank the 380 people that passed through the live session last night. Your interaction and feedback during these live Q&A sessions is invaluable to us and the other listeners so please make sure you drop in on the next one. It wouldn’t be half as much fun without you. For those that didn’t get to drop in or only had a chance to see a small part [...]

Obviously it’s a sure-fire way to attract eyes to a product. ‘What was that? A new iPod?’ but take note of that optical mouse. When done well, these little controllers are excellent for navigating on hi-res screens.

I just reported that Mobilx have the Eking i1 available to order and now they tell me the Clevo TN70M is coming too. It’s raining new devices today! The TN70M is a device that JKK and I tested over a year ago at CeBIT 2008 (video) and we were very interested in the specs. How does it look today though? The TN70M reminds me of the Kohjinsha SA5, the touchscreen [...]