Meet:Mobility Podcast 68 is now available along with a special first hand-on report from Sascha with an early release of the Asus Iconia Tab A500

In the podcast we discuss some limitations of the AMD Fusion platform the Cedar Trail Netbook platform, attack the pricing of high-end tablets and talk about ‘High Dynamic Range Computing’ Listen in to find out more.

Don’t forget to give us some feedback on iTunes or a tweet to @meetmobility We’re still ad-free!

Listen, subscribe and download at MeetMobility here. The Iconia Tab A500 Special is here.

Meet:Mobility Podcast 59 is now available.

Sascha, JKK and Chippy in a long and detailed podcast about some premium netbooks, the latest Tablets (Tab, Viewpad, Playbook included), and talk about Chrome OS and AMD’s Bobcat.

Apologies for the audio quality on Chippy’s vocals.

On this podcast:

Sascha Pallenberg of NetbookNews – @Sascha_p on Twitter.

JKK from JKKmobile – @jkkmobile on Twitter

Chippy from Carrypad- @Chippy on Twitter

Full show notes, listen and download links at MeetMobility.com

Meet:Mobility Podcast 58 is now available. JKK, Sascha and Chippy discuss the last 4 weeks news (apologies for the delay) and focus on the Galaxy Tab and Netbook Cannibalisation.

Listen or download the podcast at MeetMobility

You can also find the podcast on iTunes (Please, please rate the show on iTunes – it helps get the word out.) You can also subscribe via RSS.

Meet:Mobility Podcast 57 is now available.

JKK,  Sascha and Chippy discuss Sascha’s cow farm, dual-core Atom netbooks (and why they are a winner) along with the Playbook from RIM and a bunch of Windows tablets. Also covered: Smartbooks amd why JKK might not buy the Droid2

Full show notes below and streaming, download and subscribe links over at MeetMobility

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You can also find the podcast on iTunes (Please, please rate the show on iTunes – it helps get the word out.) You can also subscribe via RSS.

On the podcast:

• Sascha Pallenberg from netbooknews. @sascha_p on Twitter
• JKK from JKKmobile, @jkkmobile on twitter
• Chippy from Carrypad @chippy on Twitter

How easy is it to work for a day on a PC. Easy! How about writing 1,000 words and carrying less than 1KG of equipment that costs under €1000? How about doing it while traveling and not carrying any mains adapters?

Next week I have three days on my own and I plan to get away from the home office. I’m not sure where I’m going but I do know that I will be setting myself a challenge – to finish my e-book which is now nearly a year past my planned schedule. I’m also going to throw in some other targets too and it should be interesting for you to watch. Can I work for a full day carrying less than1KG of equipment worth less than €1K.

This isn’t going to be easy because what I’m talking about here is a full mobile office with the following features:

• ‘PC’ with email, web browser, document editing capabilities, storage, screen, keyboard and Wifi
• 3G internet connectivity
• Navigation system
• Camera (minimum 2MP)
• Video camera (MIN VGA)
• MP3 player and headphones

The PC alone is quite the challenge as you’ll see from an article I wrote in the summer. Finding a netbook under 1KG is impossible so you’re left with specialist devices or ARM-based tablets and ‘smart books’ and even then, adding the additional capabilities (obviously via a smartphone) and ensuring you’ve got enough battery power is something i’ve never been able to do in 1KG before. My reporting kits of the past have rarely got close to 1KG. This one was an exception.

I’ve set a few ground rules which also narrow down the choice.

• Screen: 7” or more. In my experience, trying to work efficiently on anything less is going to result in stress, aches and embarrassment as you crouch over the device to read the screen or enlarge the text so much that you haven’t got enough working space. For most people 9 or 10” is entry level.
• Battery life: 5 hours. A full day would be regarded as 8hrs or more by most but there are only a few devices around that could deliver more than that in an always-connected, screen-on scenario. The iPad springs to mind as the #1 choice in terms of battery life but I need to consider other, more business-oriented options.
• Document editing capabilities includes offline text input and formatting capabilities with embedded images and links. In summary: offline rich text.
• Connectivity does not have to be on-board and can be provided via BT tethering, 3G dongle , MiFi or free wifi connectivity.
• Charging: No re-charging. Spare batteries allowed if they fit in the 1K allowance
• Multiple test rigs per day. I know that some of the solutions won’t last for more than 5hrs. In order to get the most out of my 3 days, i’ll be taking multiple ‘rigs’ so that I can switch to a new setup if needed.
• 4 Setups will be tested. If I can’t get a rig working in under 1KG, I will make it as near as possible using the resources I’ve got.

The Shortlist.

As I mentioned, there isn’t a netbook out there that can do this so we’re looking at UMPCs. The Viliv S7 (830gm), Sony Vaio P11 (632gm) and Viliv X70 EX (660gm) head up the list of PCs that I could choose from although there’s a good chance that the Tega V2 will turn up here in time for the test. That would be an interesting one at 800gm and with a nice 10” screen. Adding a keyboard and the phone would probably take it to 1.2KG though. We’ll have to see. There are some other non-windows devices too. The Toshiba AC100 runs for 7hrs and weighs only 800gm. I would only need to add a smartphone to complete that setup in under 1KG. The Viewsonic Viewpad 7 would be a very very interesting option. It would only need a keyboard to complete the set-up as it already has GPS, 3.2MP cam, navigation, voice, SMS and 3G built-in. I will try my best to get hold of one of these for the test. There’s the iPad to consider too but getting a stand and keyboard in under 1KG could be a challenge. I’ll see what I can do about getting an iPad setup for the test.

Current shortlist:

• Viliv S7
• Toshiba AC100
• Tegatech Tega V2 – Depending on availability
• Viewsonic Viewpad 7 – Depending on availability
• FM600 or iPad
  

More K’s?

The 1K challenge starts on Saturday and I’m thinking of adding one more ‘k’. Can I travel 1000 kilometers while I do this?

Sponsorship.

Naturally this project is open to sponsorship. If you’re a reseller of mobile computing solutions and want to put your name or products forward, please contact me. German resellers, I’d especially like to meet you! Lass uns zusammen ein bier trinken! Get in contact with me via the contact form available through the link on the site header

Help / Meet-and-greet.

If you live in Germany/UK/Netherlands and have a Vaio P11, an iPad 3G or another solution you want me to consider, (UK or German OS please) get in contact with me via the contact form available through the link on the site header. If you live in Duesseldorf, Hannover, Stuttgart or some other major city and you fancy a mobile blogging meet-up, let me know and I’ll try to plan it in.

Stay tuned to UMPCPortal for more information on the 1K challenge later this week.

Meet:Mobility Podcast 48 is now available. Recorded on 23rd April 2010.

JKK, Chippy and guest, Chris Davies from Slashgear talk about netbooks, the iPad, new news from Dell and why Chippy paid 520 Euro for an Xperia X10. We also cover the question ‘Are netbooks getting boring?’

Full show notes and playback options over at Meet:Mobility.

SUBSCRIBE

You can also find the podcast on iTunes (Please rate the show on iTunes.) You can also subscribe via RSS.

On the podcast:

JKK – JKKMobile.com

Chippy – Carrypad.com

Chris Davies – Slashgear

Meet:Mobility Podcast 45 is now available. Streamed live (meetmobility.com/live) on 12th March 2010 with special guest Charbax (Twitter, ARMDevices.net)

In the podcast we talk about the mobile computing highlights of CeBIT including the Archos 7, four convertible netbooks, the new Atom processors and ION GPU options and much more.

Full show notes and links to download/listen are at Meet:Mobility

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 (1500 GMT+1) You can catch these guys at UStream.Tv/channel/mobiletechroundup

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…

MeetMobility Is Mobile at CeBIT. Live in the Studio. | Meet:Mobility.

I hope you enjoy the coverage and I look forward to chatting with you in the chat channel.

What a fantastic start to the year we’ve had at Meet Mobility. First we’re live in Vegas at the Runcore booth and then a few weeks later, we’re running four sessions in Barcelona at the Intel booth at Mobile World Congress. I think I can speak for the whole Meet:Mobility team when I say that joining our individual web forces for podcasts and events has been one of most rewarding and exciting things we’ve done. You can guarantee we’ll be organising more of these events and as I write this, Sascha and JKK are trying to organise something for CeBIT next week so stay tuned.

My favourite session at MWC last week was the 30 minutes we spent with Scott Apeland. Scott is Director of Intel’s Developer Network and was able to answer most of our questions on the Intel Atom Developer Program, the AppUp Center Beta and the MeeGo announcement. The session is split into three parts and is available over at MeetMobility.

I’ve just got back to the hotel after hosting the MeetMobility podcast 43 live from the Intel booth at MWC where Sascha Pallenberg (NetbookNews), Matthäus Krzykowski (Agora 9 Group and contributor to VentureBeat,) Hubert Nguyen (Ubergizmo,) Monty Metzger (Ahead of Time and founder of Mocom 2020) and myself talked over the important topics coming out of MWC. We took a few minutes to put together and agenda that included hardware, software and business. We steered clear of pure phone-related topics (as is normal) for the podcast and ended up with this set of bullet points which is a good representation of the top mobile-computing news at MWC.

Products

Dell Mini 5 – Well-equipped 3G enabled MID running Android.

Compaq AirLife 100 – Android-based touchscreen netbook-style device that introduces the ‘always on’ model of computing.

Qualcomm Mirasol E-Reader – Color ereader device with Mirasol display technology.

Acer Aspire One 532G – First Pinetrail netbook with Nvidia Ion2 GPU and HDMI-out.

Software

MeeGo – The joint venture between Intel and Nokia to provide a single Linux-based software stack that can be used across multiple device segments using different CPU architechtures.

Flash 10.1 – GPU-aware version of Adobe Flash arriving soon on a number of devices and platforms in including Android (the new HTC Desire for example.)

The rest of the podcast was spent talking about the developer community. Matthaus had some great input from his work with mobile start-ups and we hope we can bring you the full podcast soon so you can hear that important input. We had some problems recording the full show on Ustream due to poor Wifi coverage but we have another source that we’ll edit-up and bring to you on the usual MeetMobility podcast channel as soon as we can.

That’s what we’re seeing from within MWC. How are people seeing it from the outside? What news is rising to the top for you?

Image credit to Frank Gruber.

For the next 6 days, Intel are sponsoring me to attend Mobile World Congress where I will join with our podcast partner, Sascha to learn more about the Intel Atom Developer program, Moblin and the AppUp Store. We will also present some sessions where we will talk about the IADP ecosystem an try to help developers understand where it does (and could) fit in.

I’m already here in Barcelona (tweeting and buzzing) and Sacha from NetbookNews is on his way from the airport as I write. We’ll be doing some work under our MeetMobility banner and also taking time to check out everything else that’s happening here. 3G is already sorted out (7-days unlimited via Vodafone ES for 18 Euros) and we’re packing some of the best mobile kit we could lay our hands on. We’re also looking forward to meeting our peers at the networking events stay tuned over the next 5 days for a full update on how mobility is spreading hard and fast beyond the mobile phone.

A few dates for your diary:

• Sunday evening: Showstoppers and press events.
• Monday morning: Joint Intel and Nokia Press conference.
• Monday evening: Pepcom event.
• Wednesday 11am: Live Q&A with Scott Apeland, Director of Intel’s Developer Network. (We’ll be watching the chat channel for your questions.)
• Wednesday 2pm: Live MeetMobility Podcast. (here.)

Meet:Mobility Podcast 42 is now available. Recorded on  10th Feb 2010. Podcast notes below.

Listen to the podcasts by clicking on the mp3 link or download/play via the link. Subscription info below. (RSS, iTunes)

SUBSCRIBE

You can also find the podcast on iTunes (Please rate the show on iTunes.) You can also subscribe via RSS.

Show Notes:

Netbooks

Samsung N150, NB50  arrived at netbook news
Info and test coming at Netbooknews.com

Battery battle. Marketing. Differential between marketing and real-world getting too wide.
Steve Jobs said that 10hrs is enough – Overnight charging is good enough. Really?

Smartphones/Smartbooks/MIDs

Android stuff
- multitouch to maps browser etc
- Milestone to 2.01 camera fix, new lock etc hacks
Archos goes Linux
Joo Joo to ship by end of Feb. App store

There are now 40+ app stores in total

UMPCs

UMID BZ now shipping from Dynamism $549
ExoPC, Nav 9, Evi Group Pad.

MWC

Dell Mini 5
Inbrics
HP new 3G device. Tablet.
Notion Ink latest-gen NVIDIA Tegra chipset and Pixel Qi’s (Slashgearnews)
Meetmobility event:
http://meetmobility.com/2010/02/09/meet-mobility-at-mwc-2010/

We had to split up the 1.5hr Meet:Mobility podcast 40 because there was just too much to talk about! In it we (that’s JKK, Sascha and myself) cover CES with a focus on netbooks, MIDs, smartbooks, tablets and ereaders in the three-part podcast that you can download or stream at Meet:Mobility.

Don’t forget to vote for us on iTunes and subscribe to the feed!

iTunes

Subscribe via RSS

Sorry about the late notice on this one but we’ve found a slot and we need to jump on it.

At 2100 (CES) tonight (about 4hrs from this posting) we’ll be sitting down to prepare for a Meet:Mobility podcast (broadcast live) followed by (at approx 2230) a live videocast of the E-King S515.

JKKMobile and Sascha will be joining and we’d love you to join too.

See you on the live page later:

View the broadcast time in your location

Over at Meet:Mobility, Sascha, JKK and I have just posted podcast 34.  A half-hour of netbook, MID, smartphone and UMPC discussion with a focus on IDF, the N900 and the rush of tablet-style devices hitting the market at the moment. We hope you enjoy it.

One point I wanted to highlight from the podcast is where Sascha reminds us that although there’s a tablet buzz going on right now, not many of the devices have hit the market yet and there’s no proof that any of them are or will be successful. Worth thinking about.

Note that Sascha will be moderating the Netbook World Expo in Paris on December 8th. I’ll be at the Mobile Dev Camp in Munich on October 31st.

Finally, we’re still looking for a sponsor for the Meet:Mobility podcasts so that we can make it a regular bi-weekly event. If you’re interested, contact us for details.

Meet:Mobility Podcast 34

Podcast 29 is now available.

58 minutes of detailed discussion about Computex 2009. Many people called it ARM’s Computex but was it all just PR? Sasha, JKK and I talk about that, how Intel and Moorestown will compete in the same space and cover the main UMPC and netbook news.

MeetMobility Podcast 29 – Computex 2009 | Meet Mobility.

P.S. Sorry about my voice quality on this podcast. No amount of electronic wizardy or 20th century drugs could fix it!