I’m in Hannover, Germany, for CeBit and as I start this article, Sascha Pallenberg of Netbooknews.com is sitting on the other side of our ‘blog apartment’ watching the Windows 8 consumer preview keynote from Mobile World Congress last week. A few evenings ago I was testing Windows 8 on an Atom-based tablet and while all that has been happening I’ve been thinking about Cover Trail W, the ultra-mobile platform that Intel have built to run Windows 8. In dual-core 1.8Ghz build with an SSD and 2GB of RAM I think we’ll have a winner on our hands when it comes to a platform. We can only hope that manufacturers see the potential for new form factors with this platform and operating system combo.
While the ARM-based platforms are approaching the same processing power band as we see on the high-end Atom platforms (Qualcomm’s Snapdragon is looking particularly impressive in terms of dual-core performance) they won’t contain the full goodness of Windows from day one. By that I mean you won’t be able to pick up an ARM-based Windows 8 platform and be able to download and install your favorite desktop apps. Clover Trail "W, on the other hand, is a full X86 PC platform and will act like an Ultrabook or a desktop PC and I believe that Windows 8 will be able to pull some impressive low-power usage figures out of the platform. From what I’ve seen in my testing and listening between the lines to what Intel has to say about Windows 8, it will definitely be ‘Clover Trail aware.’
In my testing of Windows 8 Beta this week I was getting those old UMPC and modular computing feelings back again. Windows 8 is likely to be the first usable ‘smartbook’ operating system on the market. Android always looks great in demos on the ASUS Transformer Prime but there’s a long road ahead in terms of filling the gaps for productivity workers. There’s a Prime sitting on the desk to the right of me now but this article is being written on a Samsung NP350 which is faster, cheaper, and more productive.
I’ll be looking for more information on Windows 8 and Clover Trail W this week. We’ve seen a demo device or two behind glass but maybe now that the public preview is available, manufacturers won’t be so shy with the Windows 8 letting us have hands-on.
Is there any big Windows 8 questions that you think need answering?
I am certainly not qualified to talk in-depth at the Xperia Play gaming experience but I was certainly quite excited to see the hardware controls and game quality. In the video you hear me talking to a Sony Ericsson representative about the product. We discuss battery life, pricing, availability, get a gaming demo and take a look round the device.
The Xperia play runs Android 2.3 on a Snapdragon 1Ghz CPU (MSM8255with Adreno 205 GPU) with a 4” ‘Reality’ display at a true 16:9, 854 x 480 resolution. Note that Android 2.3 brought in some touch responsiveness extensions and enhancements.
What’s important to me is that another major company is now switching to the ARM/Android chassis for another product category which means Android is now in phones, tablets, media players, cameras, gaming devices, TVs and smartbooks. What’s category do you think Google are looking at for it’s next ‘device-specific ’ branch of Android? Set-top-boxes is something I’ve been keeping an eye on.
The HTC Flyer is in no fit state to be assessed right now and I wonder why HTC actually bother showing such a critical device in their portfolio at such big events. The pen system doesn’t work, the software is not complete and even the design of the device is changing. I expect to see this sort of activity from, lets say, 2nd-tier ODMs but not someone like HTC.
So what is there to say about the product? It’s got a 1.5Ghz Snapdragon processor (single-core, apologies for the error in the video) and Android 2.4. Google applications are available and it’s a similar size to the Samsung Galaxy Tab.
IF the pen feature works for both handwriting and ‘snipping’ it’s an interesting idea but the pen has no silo and even requires batteries. I can’t see anyone remembering to take the pen with them or even bother to get it out of their bag when needed. There’s no voice, SMS and MMS capability either.
Yes, the processing speed is good. Yes the HTC Sense adds value to many. Yes, the price will drop soon after launch.
Is it enough to tempt people away from the Galaxy Tab which is likely to be half the price in Europe when the HTC Flyer launches in May or June.
Shuttle already make a couple of tablets as an OED but there’s a few more on show today including two 10″ Tegra devices with different designs. Both of these are available to the OEM with a choice of processing platforms including Tegra 2. There’s a choice of screen resolution too. The new devices are due to be ready in May along with the 7″ device, a non working sample, shown in the image below.
Posted from WordPress for Android with the Galaxy Tab
The ASUS EeePC 1215b might be outside the 10” and 1KG limit we generally apply on UMPCPortal but there’s a few things to note. 1 – This could be one of the lightest, and cheapest devices you could use for mobile 720p video editing and 2 – The technology could filter into high-end, if quite large, UMPCs.
I didn’t get a chance to do a Crystalmark test for a quick overview of the system performance but I did check out the Windows performance score. The CPU is the lowest of the scores, pegging the index at 3.8
Targeted for end of May with a €499 entry price, this is the Asus Eee Pad MeMo running dual-core, 1.2Ghz Snapdragon and showing the Bluetooth handset. Voice apps also feature on this device.
Posted from WordPress for Android with the Galaxy Tab
ECS, an ODM who designs products for others to brand and market have interesting 10″ and 7″ Oaktrail products here among the dust on day 0 at CEBIT.
800gm for the 10 Tablet feels quite nice. Availability (for ECS customers) is planned for April. Here are some pics and specs. We’re back for some video-time tomorrow.
Posted from WordPress for Android with the Galaxy Tab
CeBIT is a very traditional, business-like show. Suits dominate and after-show parties are few and far between. Companies like Microsoft often present purely business-focused products and strategies and if you’re expecting another huge pile of consumer tablets, you’re probably going to be disappointed.
For readers of UMPCPortal, our pro-level site (that has, I admit, been pretty dry on news lately) it’s good news because products like the Fujitsu Stylistic Q550 get a chance to shine.
We’ve got the full, official specs in the database now and wow, this is not your average tablet PC.
A 400-nit screen IPS screen, 2GB RAM, remote security, capacitive/digitiser input, fast-charge, removable battery options, 4 USB ports, Gobi 3G option, SSD, docking port and an array mic are just some of the advanced features you’ll find which indicated a pro-level, industry focused solution. It also gives you clues to the price.
The price isn’t available right now but the Q550 has already launched in Japan with a availability stated as March/April. A CeBIT launch is also planned and we hope to get a pricing indicator next week. A guess around the 1000 Euro mark for entry-level configuration is probably not far off.
Note that there’s a lot of talk about 8 hours battery life but a Fujitsu sales site in Japan makes it clear that this is with the extended battery (38wh) in a JEITA (largely idle) test. Take 30% off that for real world figures. With the standard battery, a 19wh unit, you’re looking at 3.5hrs max. That isn’t going to impress many but at under 900gm for a 10” PC, it’s good.
We hope to get some good testing time in with the Q550 and bring you information on graphics, SSD speed and more battery life thoughts.
I just wanted to drop you all a note to let you know we’ll be doing a MeetMobility podcast in a few hours. At 1200 GMT+1 on Meetbobility.com/live you’ll find Sascha, JKK and myself talking our usual mobile computing talk with a focus on what happened (or didn’t!) at CeBIT. We guess you guys in the US are still going to be tucked up in bed but don’t worry, it will be recorded and will probably be available by the time you hit that power button. (The reason we have to do it so early is because it’s late in Taipei and that’s where Sascha is.)
Following our podcast and dovetailing in very nicely is the Mobile Tech Roundup Podcast. James, Kevin and Matt will be doing their first live podcast a few hours after us at 0800 Central time (1400 GMT+1) You can catch these guys at UStream.Tv/channel/mobiletechroundup
In this video from Webciety, at CeBITSascha Pallenberg (Netbooknews, Meetmobility), Joanna Stern (Engadget), JKK (JKKMobile,MeetMobility), Carmen S. Villadar (What’s Up Android) and Arno Glompner (Blackberry) talk about the Challenges of Mobile Work. Unfortunately I had to sit in the studio so couldn’t make the panel but next year, I’ll at least be in the audience to heckle!
Two important points I picked up from the Video:
Home and work life is now interleaved. That’s clear right? There’s no 9-5 for many people any more and even if there is, there are private things that get slotted into 30-second breaks in every work day.
The cloud is not mobile. This is something that many people forget. The cloud is great. Mobility is great but the two rarely go together seamlessly. This is extremely important.
If I had just 30 second on this panel I would have brought up the following point:
The biggest challenge for future mobile internet users will be the choice of scaling down the desktop environment for mobile use or scaling up the mobile environment for desktop use. There has been a huge shift in the last two years. The mobile web didn’t really take off as new phones proved it was OK to browser full-fat websites but because of sensors and applications and time-slicing, there is now a mobile web world that you can not re-create on the desktop.
I’ll be updating my 2007 ‘What’s the FIE’ article to reflect this very soon.
CeBIT is a little different for me this year as I’m staying home on ‘baby alert.’ Assuming my wife doesn’t go into labor early I’m going to make the most of it by taking the opportunity to get some good overview coverage going. I’ll be working in the studio covering news as it comes in and then, every two hours I’ll be pulling together a 10 minute update for MeetMobility. The MeetMobility team are already on the ground in Hanover, we’ve tested all the equipment and we’re ready to go. More information on our live sessions at MeetMobility…
CeBIT is a little different for me this year as I’m staying home on ‘baby alert.’ Assuming my wife doesn’t go into labor early I’m going to make the most of it by taking the opportunity to get some good overview coverage going. I’ll be working in the studio covering news as it comes in and then, every two hours I’ll be pulling together a 10 minute update for MeetMobility. The MeetMobility team are already on the ground in Hanover, we’ve tested all the equipment and we’re ready to go. More information on our live sessions at MeetMobility…
We’ve just had word from Archos’ German PR company that Archos will announce two new Android Tablets at CeBIT.
…wird ARCHOS zwei brandneue kostengünstige Android Tablets, die speziell für den Gebrauch zu Hause designt wurden, vorstellen.
My translation: Archos will introduce two brand new, good value Android Tablets that are specially designed for use in the home.
So we know about the Archos 7 (I’m hearing rumors that the design doesn’t follow the same lines as the Archos 5) but what will the other one be? Archos 9 Android Tablet? Will they beat Apple to the 9” market?
One down-side to the news is that it looks like we won’t see any 3G-enabled tablets being announced.
Welcome to this week’s netbook roundup. In this space every Monday I’ll highlight netbook news items that might not need their own individual posts but may still be interesting.
Rumor: Verizon and HP Readying Subsidized Netbooks – Cheap netbooks due to subsidizes from cell phone carriers are fairly common outside the US, but it seems like HP might be teaming up with Verizon to offer a discount on a netbook if the consumer wants to start a Verizon contract. If this comes to fruition, we’ll probably see a USB WWAN card offered with the netbook, but I think most of us are hoping for a more elegant internal solution.
Update: It looks like we got the model name wrong. It says S32 on the product info sticker underneath the device!
Kohjinsha weren’t present at CeBIT but we found a few of their products on the Taiwan Excellence stand. The SX3 was there (Sascha and JKK have a video of that that they will post soon) but I took the time to take a closer look at the SC32 having heard that the pricing has been slashed and that a 3G version is now available in the UK. You can see in the video how Kohjinsha have implemented the 3G module. After we did this video we popped off the battery but couldn’t see a SIM card slot so I can’t guarantee that this is how it’s happening with the KJS-UK version. Looking at their spec sheet (PDF) it shows images of a removable 3G card so it could be the same. We’ve got a query out with KJS-UK to confirm this.
With the built-in 3G module and rotating screen, this could make an interesting car navigation device or photographers tool (great screen, geo-tagging with the GPS, good storage, fast SD slot) but with just 2hrs battery life (standard battery) its difficult to use it as a long-term mobile device.
More details, along with our review and images are available on the SC3 information page.
I’m in Hannover, Germany, for CeBit and as I start this article, Sascha Pallenberg of Netbooknews.com is sitting on the other side of our ‘blog apartment’ watching the Windows 8 consumer preview keynote from Mobile World Congress last week. A few evenings ago I was testing Windows 8 on an Atom-based tablet and while all that has been happening I’ve been thinking about Cover Trail W, the ultra-mobile platform that Intel have built to run Windows 8. In dual-core 1.8Ghz build with an SSD and 2GB of RAM I think we’ll have a winner on our hands when it comes to a platform. We can only hope that manufacturers see the potential for new form factors with this platform and operating system combo. 
