I know there are a lot of designers, manufacturers and resellers that read UMPCPortal so this one is for you. Potential Windows 7 Slate customers should also read this. In fact, as a reviewer, I’m learning from this White Paper too!

Windows 7 Engineering Guidance for Slate PCs.

Windows for Devices have reproduced an extremely useful white paper by Microsoft that gives detailed information about what Windows 7 can bring to Slate PCs (note – Microsoft aren’t using the ‘Tablet PC’ term!) and how designers should think about everything from ergonomics and electronics. Windows 7 is one of the only operating systems that provides the Full Internet Experience with a productivity focus and a touch-enabled user interface. It may not be the sexiest but as of today, nothing can touch it for desktop-style productivity.

There are some obvious tips that are useful for designer and buyer…

• “Provide 2 gigabytes of memory on CPU-constrained and GPU-constrained systems.” [which applies to Menlow, Pine Trail and Oak Trail designs in my opinion - Chippy]
• “Slate PCs should use solid-state drives (SSDs) to enable lower power consumption and high reliability in a mobile environment. SSDs also have greater performance than most traditional platter drives.”
• Battery life should exceed 4 hours under normal operating conditions.

…and some not-so-obvious tips…

• To get a Windows 7 hardware logo on a device bigger than 10.2” you need to support DirectX 10
• Ensure handgrip regions are designed away from heat dispersion and venting.
• Biometric logon — Consider including a fingerprint reader for improved ease of access for logon and security scenarios.

The document is rich with advanced tips and inks and is also a recommended read for anyone considering buying a WIndows 7 ‘slate’. Clearly, with Microsoft pushing Windows 7 into this area, with OakTrail offering a super low-power platform and the general slate/pad/tablet wave of interest we’re seeing at the moment, there will be an increased number of offerings in the late 2010 and 2011 timeframe.

Additional information can be found in my article: Things to Consider when Designing or Buying a Tablet-Style Device

Windows for Devices – WIndows 7 Engineering Guidance for Slate PCs

One of the best things about the iPad is that it is seeding great discussions, thought and experimentation. Dr. Juan Luis Chulilla Cano, Director www.onlineandoffline.net [personal blog] , Spain, sent us this article which I’m sure is going to start another good discussion. Thanks Juan.

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I am not surprised at all by of the extraordinary reception given to the iPad. The exaggerated and raptured descriptions are explainable keeping in mind the huge expectations that media groups have about the iPad: if the iPad is the wonder-device which can make pay-per-content solutions acceptable for the first time in the Internet Age, then Media is forced to bomb the population with out of control hype. What I cannot totally understand is how and why the disappointment of late January, when we met the real characteristics of the device and all its shortcomings, has been magically transformed into renewed infatuation and fascination for a lot of tech bloggers, as if this disappointment has gone through a process of double-thinking.

Of course, a good number of bloggers have maintained their critical approach about iPad and what it means for the public. Indeed, the first wave of hype and uber-criticism has calmed down, and it has no sense to repeat the main criticism. Instead of it, I would rather prefer to focus on two linked topics: format variety and PC software model.

I am still amazed about how many people are, well, raptured by the SAME device. Technologically speaking, it is as if one day I get up, get out of my house and I find that most of the people I meet on the street are wearing the Mao suit. Actually, distinction is one of the most important engines of consumption, whether we talk about clothes or cars and people need to buy and use different formats of computers and Internet browsing devices, MID and the like, because they have different requirements and usage environments.

iPad nowadays is very efficient in helping their users to feel themselves different, comparing with the sheer majority of have-nots. BUT all of them are happy with ALL its characteristics and size? I just cannot accept that on the long term.

The second topic (which disturbs me a lot) is the PC software model. The astronomical PC revolution wouldn’t have been possible if all the main vendors would not accept an OS which has no limitations on what can be installed on it besides the development of the application. For sure, Windows is far from perfect (mainly because of its vulnerabilities against malware), but its unlimited software paradigm has been essential for the PC revolution. Linux shares this model, but Apple not totally: although MacOS X has no limits on what you can install on it, you cannot legally install that OS on a non-produced Apple PC. That was not bad as apple sales have been anecdotal in the last fifteen years

I do believe that all this freedom of operation has been essential for the PC revolution. A PC is much more that a browsing and text processing device, and the lack of software limitations have made possible the adaptation of the PC to a huge variety of environments and user requirements.

There, my main concern about the iPad is its tyrannical and obsessive control about what the customer may or may not do with the product they purchased, its theoretical property. As it is well known, the only legal software source for the iPad is the AppleStore, and Apple has full powers to decide what is permissible or not. Besides, recently Apple has reduced drastically the programming languages and environments that can be used for iPad development.

Some people say that this is a clear benefit for the users, because users need just “devices that work” carefree. This is connected with the prior topic (different formats for different requirements): maybe “mums” can be satisfied with such a lack of options (Cory Doctorow has a smart insight about it in his post Why I won’t buy an iPad), but a lot of users cannot be satisfied with such a proposal. The comparison with Meego is very illustrative: you can install an application in a Meego-powered device (ANY compatible device) from their future “market” (repository is an old-fashioned term these days), or from any other source. It is not going to be any restriction of language or programming environment within the capabilities of a Meego-powered device.

The amazing success of iPhone has affected Apple in a wrong and harmful way. I also find insulting that it is acceptable to treat people as minors with their rights stripped away. PCs have had a fundamental role in the process of Internet adoption for the population, with all its revolutionary consequences. But don’t forget that PC were successful before Internet adoption, and its success is totally linked with their software model.

Nowadays PCs are not the only way of accessing Internet anymore, and they aren’t going to be the main way to do that for much longer. Mobile devices are the protagonist of the next evolutionary wave of Internet, since they link Online and Offline reality in a double way; allowing Internet access anywhere, anytime, and being the basis for generating augmented reality experiences. However, if PC software model is abandoned, if we happily give up the control of our devices to the vendors, it will have negative consequences to the evolution of Internet

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Thanks again Juan. Over to you, readers.

A few months ago I took hold of the 4.1” Toshiba TG01 and said no! It’s too big for my pocket.

It’s the size that really struck me. For a phone, it’s HUGE! There’s simply no way that the average person is going to be able to use this as a 24/7 phone. I don’t mean to imply that the TG01 is meant to be a 24/7 phone but it proves that convergence between the full internet minimum screen resolution of 800×480 and the 24/7 total convergent device is simply not going to happen for most people.

Yesterday, following news on the HTC Leo, a Snapdragon powered 4.3” Slate phone that we covered a while back, WMPoweruser asks the same question.

It seems that most of you readers really are happy with big screen devices.

52% of UMPCPortal readers voted ‘No’ 4.3” is not too big for a pocketable phone.

64% of WMPowerUser readers voted ‘No’ 4.3” is not too large on the HTC Leo.

This drive for convergence doesn’t bring me any closer to my ideal 3-device strategy but I’m happy to accept that there are a ton of people out there that want ONE device to cover phone, MID, navigation, camera and a certain amount of productivity tasks. All I can say is that that the voting numbers probably represent a niche of high-end gadget and mobility users and that I fit into a class of people that doesn’t wear cargo pants!

On a serious note though, I find this drive for convergence a bit cheap from a marketing perspective. I think the long-term practicalities of converged devices are limited, that quality suffers due to physical constraints and that eventually, people end up buying dedicated tools for their tasks anyway. The marketing people just want you to THINK that it can do everything. Don’t they?

I’m guessing we’ll have a good discussion about this below and that someone will say – ‘the best camera/pnd/pmp/umpc/mid is the one you have with you.’ You have a good point. I’m off to have another sleepless night over the matter.

You’ll probably recall that I got my hands on a matte black retail version of the oft mentioned UMID M1 a few weeks ago. In the initial unboxing, I noted that the build quality felt really good on the retail version. There were a few unsettling reports of some poor build quality on pre-retail models, but all of those seem to have been put to rest with the retail version finally sifting through to folks.

That’s great and all, but a well built blending machine isn’t going to bake good bread, is it?

I strive to find a viable use for the UMID M1 [Portal page] that isn’t already filled by a much better gadget. I really didn’t want to lambast the unit, it feels great as a device, but the moment you want to do something with it, there is a sense of “who the heck designed this thing and how did they expect me to use it?” There are glaring design and usability issues here that I just can’t deny, even if this is a pocketable computer that is capable of running a full desktop OS. It is clear to me that the designers of the UMID M1 must not have had a clear idea of who would be using the device, or what they would be using it for.

Keyboard

Aside from removing the keyboard all together, there aren’t many changes you could make to the M1’s keyboard that would make it worse. Before I even begin to explain, let me just set you up with a mental image: Skis on a car in place of wheels. Doesn’t make sense? Exactly. That’s what the M1’s keyboard feels like to me.

The device is plainly small enough that it should have a thumb-board. What is even more ironic about this is that the M1 is actually spacious enough to allow for a great thumb-board. However, the designers of the M1 managed to find the perfect balance of FAIL. I see the keyboard as the perfect combination of thumb-board and touch-type keyboard – if you were looking to perfectly negate the strengths of both and exemplify the weaknesses.

The keyboard is designed with touch-type keys. You know, the ones you are used to regular laptop. They are super small, but have a touch-type pitch (the distance the key moves up and down). This means that thumbing the keyboard is very hard. I wish it was more easy to explain, but the short of it is this: because your hands are gripping around the sides of the device to hold it – your thumbs come in on a very flat angle relative to the keys from the sides of the device, instead of nearly straight down as they would on a standard keyboard. The touch-type pitch means that it is really hard to realize when you’ve actually pressed the keys all the way down. It is especially hard to hit the keys toward the center because you must stretch your thumb to reach, and this brings them in at a near 90 degree angle, making it close to impossible to press the key without pressing another key, and let alone recognize whether or not you’ve landed a proper press of the key to register input.

Ok so thumb-boarding doesn’t work out, why not just touch-type? Unfortunately, I would go so far as to say that it is impossible to touch-type exactly as you would on a regular laptop using the M1. It is just too small. If you want to even consider touch-typing, you’ll need to drop a few fingers that you are used to using. So let’s say somehow you are comfortable touch typing on this thing. Great, now you run in to the next fail of design.

(continue reading on page 2…)

I had this send over from someone that was reading the OQOTalk forums. I guess this is one from a design competition that I missed.

Its obviously a rendering as I don’t think it’s physically possible to get a screen border that thin yet and the resolution looks way too high. It’s difficult to get a feel for the sizing of it too as there are no reference points on the image.

If the membrane keyboard was soft-touch, it could be used nicely in one hand but it, somehow, looks too wide for thumbing.

Anyone like it?

Source: OQOTalk. Thanks EC.

I’m a very lucky person. There are about 8 UMPCs in the house at the moment but at times it gets to be a pain because I’m swapping around too much doing tests and trying out my latest ideas. Sometimes it’s almost impossible to choose a device. The SC3 because its small, has a good outdoor screen and looks good? The MSI Wind because its comfortable on a table or the Everun Note because its so damn small and powerful?

Today though it was different and I really surprised myself. I had about 5 minutes to decide on a device for the journey to a family outing and there was no question that extreme Ultra Mobile computing was the order of the day. A 3 hour car journey with no power and no WiFi. There was only one matching weapon in my arsenal, the Samsung Q1b. Based on the original Q1 design but using a 1Ghz VIA C7 and having a built in factory fitted 1.8mbs 3G module. The 6 cell battery was fully charged so it was an easy decision. In ultra mobile situations you need the best antenna and the best battery life and that’s what the Q1b always delivers. It was the perfect choice on the rough going Solar UMPC Tour last year and it was the perfect choice today. Email inbox cleared on the way out. Reader, Mail and a GTalk chat with JKK on the way back. 3hrs battery life left when I got home.

Boom! Reality kicks. 6 hours wifi-on with extended battery, a strong factory fitted 3G module and a sub kg weight in a tabletable form factor. The screen res was actually ok in the car as it was a bumpy ride but I’m always happier to bump up font sizes on a higher resolution screen so 800×480 isn’t perfect. CCFL backlighting is pretty horrible in daylight too so its really got me thinking about my requirements again.

As I lie here in bed writing this I’m wanting an SC3 with built in 3G and 6hrs online battery life.  A 3g Expresscard wont solve the problem as you cant hold the device and thumb the keyboard as I’ve been doing with this article. An extended battery isn’t good enough as it only gives  4-5hours on online battery life. The Everun Note with the extended battery is even worse and I really want that tablet mode. M912M wont work either as the internal 3G slot is BIOS locked and its too big for thumbing or two-handing,. The U2010 has a 5.6″ screen that i find too small, doesn’t have a factory fitted 3G option and its simply out of my price bracket. Q1 ultra HSDPA is the nearest I can think of at the moment. It doesn’t have the keyboard of the SC3 or Everun Note but seeing as I almost exclusively use thumbing or an on-screen-keyboard now on my UMPCs, does it really matter?

I miss my old Q1 Ultra and keep revisiting the thought of having another. Lack of keyboard backlight and pathetic mouse aren’t ideal but Expansys have some B-Stock  HSDPA XPTE units at just over 500 quid including organiser pack which is tempting me so much that it hurts. Especially as I have a couple of spare batteries, an SSD upgrade and a 2GB stick that I’ve just taken out of my old, broken Q1 Ultra. I’ll make my decision tomorrow but if anyone wants to buy my Kohjinsha SC3, please say so now and make my decision easier. Cost to you? Just over 500 quid of course!

One of the great features of a UMPC is it’s ability to provide multiple and flexible input methods. You get the choice of a totally personal computer tailored to how you want to work, where you want to work. Combining touchscreens, thumboards and keyboard accessories in multiple ways is why UMPCs can go from desktop to car to bed to garden to bus and provide you new ways and new places to be entertained, productive and a comfortable and efficient manner. Along with battery life, weight and processing platform, choosing a keyboard is one of the most important decisions you’ll have to make when buying a UMPC. The starting point is to decide whether you need a keyboard at all because given the right operating system and touchscreen type, its possible to use on screen keyboards or handwriting recognition but in this article I cover, in detail, the more popular route of including some form of keyboard input.

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