I’ve just finished the photo shoot of the Viliv S10….

View the full gallery (70+images) in the UMPCPortal Gallery.

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

The Internet experience has split into two in the worst way possible. The mobile internet is no longer a subset of the ‘Full’ Internet; it is now a separate world offering features that the desktop just can’t offer and the worst thing is that there isn’t a single device and operating system out there that spans the two Internet worlds. In this article I look at the feature-set of the ‘Full Internet Experience’ and how those features impact netbooks and other ‘mobile’ PCs.

Read the full story

Back in August 2009 I took a look at some of the keywords in mobile computing. My top tips at that time were Moblin and Maemo. Obviously I was wrong on that one as both of those two keywords disappeared! My heart was in the right place though and those two keywords merged into another one, MeeGo, that I will also tip as an important one for the next 3-year timeframe.

MID continues to be a difficult term to search for. EeePC and PocketPC continue to decline. iPhone continues to dwarf everything else. Nothing much changed there but the updates I wanted to give you today are based around the ‘netbook’ and ‘android’ keywords. When we last looked at the graph, Android was just overtaking Netbook. Both keywords were on the rise.

6 months later and things are looking quite different…

I’ve removed the search term ‘windows mobile’ and you can clearly see that search volume for netbooks has dropped-off dramatically while Android continues to rise.

Christmas will have caused the peak you see in the netbook graph but look how it was dropping before that and look to where the level has dropped since Christmas. If the graph falls further we could be leaving the peak of the mass-market stage for netbooks and from that point on it becomes a scramble to sell to the remaining adopters. Prices will drop, marketing will get heavy-handed (the 1.8Ghz and DDR3-capable Atom CPU’s appear to be an effort to assist marketing teams in that effort) and there’s a chance that quality will drop as cheaper builds flood the market. There’s also a chance that someone steps in to re-energise the market and that some effort goes into tailoring the netbook experience for different types of user. If the Nvidia ION 2 platform and rumors of dual-core Atom processors for netbooks is anything to go by then there’s every chance that the processor, screen, GPU, memory and feature restrictions will all be dropped. In that case we can hope for some nice high-end netbooks, mobile-focused netbooks, gaming, video other focus areas. To be honest, neither of these moves will really help. One is just an indication that netbooks really are entering the ‘laggard’ segment; the other an indication that netbooks are merging into laptops. It’s highly possible that both of these moves will happen at the same time.

Watch that graph. Where are we moving to next? Tomorrow I’ll be posting an article that looks closely at the possible death of the desktop OS for mobile consumers and professionals which is another reason that the netbook keyword could be on the way out.

Note: This post will update as new solutions are found. Bookmark and check back regularly for updates. The RSS feed for the comments on this post is also worth subscribing too. You can follow me at @chippy and the website @umpcportal

You know the problem. You install a fully featured application on a 1024×600 screen and there are so many status and info bars that you end up with a tiny space in the middle of the screen for content. The same occurs with web pages. Google docs are a classic example of a web app that leaves too much screen space unused. Then there’s the problem of memory usage. With 1GB of memory you need to be careful. A fully featured app running on .net or Adobe Air can easily use 10-20% of your free memory. Even web apps and plugins can take huge amounts of memory. Finally, there’s the CPU problem. Web apps are the killer here and it’s not uncommon to be locked out of your PC while a big AJAX-heavy web site fills the screen. Netbooks and UMPCs need efficient apps.

I’m usually very careful with my UMPC builds and tend to run XP Home with very few background apps running in order to leave as much as possible for my work suite. I use GTalk as my mail and IM notifier and of course, Firefox might as well be in my startup folder too because it will be running within seconds of me booting the device but apart from that, I don’t run anything other than the standard build software.  Apart from a twitter client…

I’ve been testing a number of Twitter clients to try and find the most efficient (based on the criteria above) solution. You’ll probably have your own thoughts and favorites and this post is just as much a stimulus for your comments as it is a tip-list so please help us all by adding your experiences int he comments section below.

My Top 5  Twitter clients for netbooks and UMPCs.

Echofon – Firefox plugin. An extremely lightweight plugin that takes a very small amount of memory, sits quietly in the status bar and offers 3 tabs (Friends, Mentions, Messages) of 6 tweets of variable size (see image) when clicked. Each tab is scrollable and everything can be controlled using keyboard shortcuts.  The refresh rate is adjustable as is the notification sound. There are the usual reply, retweet (both types) and a handy button for pulling the current tab URL into a tweet. It supports multiple accounts and you can change the font size too. Missing is list support, the ability to limit notifications to mentions and messages (useful if you follow tons of people like me) and URL shortening.

iTweet.net – Web-based client. Light on memory and CPU with a nice format for a 600-pixel wide screen. The great thing about iTweet is that it’s very feature-rich and it offers the user a great layout of basic and extend-able information areas. It includes automatic updating although I don’t see any way that you can set it to notify via pop-up or sound. There’s also no way to collapse the input and sidebar which limits the screen space slightly but for for the memory and CPU footprint, it’s one of the best featured solutions I’ve found. A Chrome tab running iTweet takes between 25 and 35MB of RAM which is about 1/3rd of what Tweetdeck takes.

Note: The above two solutions appear to complement each other well. One, a simple notifier and the other, a great web-based search, list and research tool.

Hootsuite – Web based client. This one is for the power user! It’s a huge web application with features that I haven’t even tested out yet. Multi-column and multi-tab support with search, lists, notifications, stats and support for multiple social networks including Facebook and Ping.fm. It’s got everything you would expect from a fully featured client. It certainly takes some CPU to get the application running but once it’s stable and you’ve collapsed the status box and gone full-screen with the browser it provides a good working area. 36MB – 70MB in a Chrome tab in my test.

Twhirl. Adobe Air application. Twhirl used to be my favorite twitter app. It runs in about 70MB (which, like all the solutions here,  can rise as you use the app) and allows multiple account windows and variable font sizes. Searches can be interleaved into the tweet stream too which is great for following an event but there’s no list support which, for me, is a major limitation. It’s still in my arsenal of apps but I rarely use it now. One also gets the impression that Seesmic, the company that bought it, are focusing on their other products.

Dabr.co.uk Web Application. Dabr is a no-fuss web application. Quick and easy with various screen layouts and good support for lists, trends and search. Many photos can be shown inline but there’s a text mode that works very well on even the smallest screen. It will run in a Chrome tab in about 20MB which is about as small as a Chrome tab gets! In Firefox you can throw up three tabs with friends, a list and a search result in about 50MB of RAM and very little CPU load. Tip: Bookmark multiple tabs in one folder and it’s easy to open all the bookmarks in a folder in one go. No auto-refresh available on this application.

The ‘not-so-good’ list.

I’ve taken a look at some of the more popular web and windows-based solutions and these are the ones that didn’t work out well on my UMPC or netbook.

Brizzly. Web-based client. Basically, Brizzly is a screen space hog. On my 1440×900 monitor here I saw a total of 5 tweets on-screen. Can you imagine how that looks on a netbook?!

Tweetdeck.  Adobe Air application. Tweetdeck is a fantastic twitter application and up until today, it’s been my most often-used solution but it’s not very CPU and memory-friendly. Expect 150MB or more of RAM usage. If you’re on a limited RAM budget, 150MB is way too much. This application is the reason I started the search for something more efficient.

Seesmic Web. A great web-based application and comparable to Hootsuite above. It’s not as screen friendly as Hootsuite as it includes a permanent top and sidebar. It does have a nice single-column text mode though which is good for getting a lot of tweets on the screen.  Memory footprint is comparable to Hootsuite although I get the feeling (untested) that it’s putting a bigger load on the CPU.

Seesmic Windows Application. Running initially in about 75MB of RAM I found Seesmic to be a big load on the CPU. Using my U820 as the test bed (for all the apps here) I noticed the fan coming on more than is usual. Fan noise is a good indicator of battery drain so I dropped it fairly quickly.

Yoono. Firefox plugin. Plugins are usually small little applets that do one thing very well. Yoono is different. It’s a full suite of social tools in a plugin and it’s got the memoryfprint to prove it. After installing it, my startup Firefox memory usage went from 39MB to 140MB.  I uninstalled it.

There are thousands of Twitter applications out there. The Twitter Fan Wiki is  great list if you’re looking for something specific.

Tip: As with all Web-based apps, choose your Web browser carefully. Firefox 3.6 and Chrome are working out well for me right now as they seem to process web applications a lot quicker than other browsers. Opera 10.5 is also good and includes the great mobile-friendly ‘turbo’ and ‘fit-to-page’ feature but it has a big memory footprint which is probably because of Opera’s Unite and Link integration.

Security Note: Authorising via Oauth or passing your username and password to multiple applications is a sure way to increase the risk of your account being hacked. It’s already happened to me through a previously authorised web application that was hacked and it’s not funny to see rude and spam tweets going out from ‘you’ to your friends. When you’ve finished testing out a series of twitter apps, change your password and revoke the Oauth permissions through your Twitter connections page.

As I mentioned before, you might have already settled on a Netbook or UMPC solution for twitter. If so, tell us about it below and I’ll be happy to update this post. (And don’t forget to follow me: @chippy)

I had hoped to get a big big updated version of the mobile computing guide out before the end of 2009 but time was definitely not on my side. I’ve done a lot of work on it but it’s going to take many more hours before it’s finished. In the meantime, the late 2008 version is still available as a re-flowable PDF and is still worth reading if you’re thinking about buying a mobile computer, tablet, MID or other mobile computing device this year.

Click on the image to download the free 28-page PDF.

If you want to view it online, use the links below.

Part One: ‘What is an Ultra Mobile PC.’ We give you a history of Ultra Mobile computing, show you how the devices break down into segments and show you what each segment is capable of.

Part Two: ‘Details and Choices.’ It covers the form factors, the keyboard, storage, the screen and connectivity elements of an Ultra Mobile PC. You’ll find a good overview and a lot of tips that will help you refine your choice.

Part Three ‘Details and Choices continued‘ continues the details about the components and covers CPU (including a detailed overview of the currently available solutions) GPU, memory, battery, weight and cost.

Part Four: ‘Additional Information and further reading.‘ In this section we cover some of the less commonly found features on Ultra Mobile computers and give you information and links to further reading resources.

If you find the buyers guide useful, think about donating. It all goes back into making UMPCPortal a better place.

Full model details and pricing range is unknown at the moment but we’re now one step closer to launch of the Viliv S10 multitouch convertible. Dynamism have put up their pre order page.

Pricing starts with a 60GB HDD and XP at $699 which appears high for a device that isn’t much more than a 10hour version of the Gigabyte Touchnote that I’m using to write this. SSD versions start with a 32GB Windows 7 version and go right up to the 64GB version with the 2.0Ghz CPU and built-in HSDPA. Clearly pricing is going to be much much higher for that version so we’re probably looking at the $700 – $1200 range here folks. Lets hope it’s a little less at the high end!

As I said, full details aren’t known and availability is stated as ‘soon’ but we have been promised one of the first samples so you can expect an extensive live review session when it turns up here at UMPCPortal.

For a reminder on the specs, a gallery, some videos and related links from around the internet, check out our product information page for the Viliv S10.

We’ve had ARM-based mini-notebooks and tablets for years and in recent months we’ve even had the chance to test out some new, high-powered arrivals. The Netwalker, Wirelession 1060, TouchBook and many more. The potential has always been there to make a killer product but no-one has executed correctly yet. The Mobinnova Beam gets close but there’s a lot missing from the OS on that one.

The Dell Mini 5 and Apple iPad might change that and in the world of 4-10” ultra-mobile devices are likely to be the biggest sellers this segment has seen for at least the last 5 years. They combine some unique features over X86 devices that I discuss below. These niche-market devices may not see multi-million sales but there are still big opportunities.

Up at the 10”  netbook segment though there’s a well-established market for low-cost, portable, low-end internet-focused mini laptops. Netbooks have 40 million or more sales to-date and over 100 million sales predicted for 2013. Prices are low, battery life high, performance acceptable and even style is playing a role. Netbooks are just cool and very easy to justify. This is where ARM partners have a superb opportunity…in the Social Netbook.

ARM-partners aren’t in the netbook game yet but they do have a big chance if they use some unique weapons that Intel will have to think carefully about in their next-gen netbook platform. The ‘Social Netbook’ is a huge opportunity for ARM partners.

For the first time this week I finally saw an ARM-based netbook that executes well on what I think are the important unique and ‘lock-in’ features and the device slots neatly into a category of ‘social’ netbooks. Jolicloud beware because the Compaq Airlife 100 is good.

The 4 ARM-Centric Features of a Social Netbook.

1 – Point of sale

First of all we have the point-of-sale element. Selling applications, books, videos, music and other online services adds value to the customer and  value to the sales-chain which, in turn, can bring the price of a product down. Android, iPhone OS and other ARM-centric operating systems have proven that the model works and is important for the future. Windows-based netbooks aren’t POS devices. Intel and Nokia are working on this via their Intel Atom Developer Program and app-store framework but it’s in it’s infancy and needs a lot of marketing, development and commitment from OEMs before it becomes interesting for developers and customers. Point-of-sale is a lock-in feature.

2 – Location Based Services and Social Networking

LBS is becoming very big business and customers are starting to catch on to the idea of local search, local social networking and other location-based services. There ARE solutions for Windows-based netbooks but they are few and far between. Take Google Buzz for instance. The only way you can use the location aspect of this service is to use it on an ARM-based smartphone. Windows just doesn’t lend itself to these services and despite efforts to include ‘sensor’ support in Windows 7, developers are just not developing with this in mind. All the action for LBS is exclusively on ARM-based platforms using operating systems built with this in mind. Intel and Nokia do have a solution in MeeGo but like the Intel Atom Developer Program, it’s a long way away from developers minds right now. LBS is a lock-in feature.

As for social networking, although the majority of it still happens on the desktop, the growth in mobile social networking is phenomenal and combined with LBS is something that an Intel/Windows netbook just can not do right now.

3 – Dynamic User Interfaces.

What’s more interesting? A static workbench or a tailored ‘active’ screen with dynamic wallpaper, active widgets, finger-attractions, location awareness and a neat integration and interleaving of notifications from device and external services? Despite Windows 7 being capable of all these things, it’s not delivering a dynamic, exciting, social-centric experience. How many usable finger-centric overlay packages did you see for Windows 7?  What platform are developers looking at when they want to make a dynamic, mobile friendly UI?  The answer is simple. Most of the work is going into ARM-focused operating systems right now and you only have to look to peoples reaction to ‘Sense’, the UI layer from HTC to see what a difference it makes. Funnily enough, Windows Phone 7 Series won’t be offering tailored overlay layers either so in terms of dynamic, evolving mobile user interfaces, Android is in the best position possible. Again, MeeGo is tackling that issue but again, it’s a long way away from developers minds right now. Dynamic user interfaces are a lock-in feature.

4 – Always on.

I’ve left the best until last. Always-on is a killer lock-in feature and the primary trojan horse for ARM-based products. Always-on is not about in-use battery life, it’s about staying connected and active when you don’t use the device. It’s the smartphone usage model and it’s the reason that many of us, despite having laptops with us, will choose to browse the web or do an email on a smartphone rather than on a mobile computer. We’re simply lazy.

I first experienced this always-on computing model with a productive device back in 2008 with the WiBrain i1 which was able to achieve a nearly all-day connected usage scenario but it got hot, was a little temperamental and was hardly the most attractive design. Since then we’ve started to see netbooks achieving a regular 8-hour connected battery life and we’re moving to the point where that is going up to 10 hours with designs based around Pinetrail and Menlow but they are all 1.2KG or more, all have huge 6-cell (expensive) batteries and all use an operating system and platform that aren’t designed for the out-of-use scenario. With the current mobile operating systems you get always-on in a much more efficient manner (expect connected active-standby times in days on an ARM netbook) and the OS is designed for that usage model too. From core OS functions to notifiers and the ability to light lamps and buzz buzzers when necessary – even based on location. Users understand these OS’ as ‘always-active’ whereas with Windows 7, users are associating a desktop usage model and power-down after use.

Always-on usage is one of the best advantages ARM-partners have in this space and the primary lock-in feature for ARM-based netbooks.

And…

Also worth thinking about are casual gaming, in-use battery life advantages, weight, design flexibility (smaller, fanless designs) carrier channels and subsidization models.

Meet:Mobility Podcast 41 is now available. Recorded on 1st Feb 2010, JKK, Sascha and Chippy talk around the iPad and other mobile computing news including the Aspire ONE 532H, Archos 7, Dell Mini5, iPad, ExoPC, NetbookNavigator, Firefox for N900 and Adobe Flash.
Detailed show notes below.

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

Full show notes available at Meet:Mobility.

With options for 2.0Ghz Intel Atom CPU, multi-touch, SSD and 3G, a 1366×768 screen, 10 hours of battery life, 1.2KG in weight and a very good looking and well-built form factor, it’s no wonder that the Viliv S10 beat the Lenovo S10-t3 and the ASUS T101H to become Laptopmag’s best of CES netbook. The question is though, how much will the Viliv S10 cost in fully stacked form?

The S10 is a device I’m watching carefully though and if it turns out to be significantly faster and more usable than the Gigabyte Touchnote i’m using right now, it might be my next laptop.

Viliv tell me that it should launch very soon in South Korea with a follow-up launch in the US in Feb. Full pricing details are still unknown.

Here’s a video I made at CES that demonstrates the multi-touch capabilities. I’m still not convinced that multi-touch screen is better than multi-touch mouse pad but i’ll have to test it out in tablet mode when we get one for testing here in the next few weeks.

Viliv S10 Specifications and links in the product database.

It’s not confirmed right now but the Mobinnova Beam could be the first non-voice Android device to get the full Google seal of approval and if it does, it could become quite the mobile all-rounder.This is the lightest 8.9” laptop-style device we have in the product database!

The Beam is coming to AT&T with HSPA and Android with a 3D UI and a super light weight of around 820gm. That’s lighter than any other netbook out there thanks to the small, 24Wh battery and fanless processing platform based on Nvidia Tegra 2.

Sizing-wise, the Beam is slightly deeper than the  EeePC 901 but significantly thinner. In terms of battery life, we’re looking at an on-net, in-use life of 8-10 hours (estimated) which means you really could leave this device on, and connected, all-day.

Pricing and availability is unknown right now but we’re watching this one very carefully. If it gets Google approval, it could signify the start of Android-based productivity and that’s why we’re reporting it here on UMPCPortal. This has pro-mobility potential.

Full specs, article links, videos in the Beam product page.

We’ve seen several Viliv S10 [Portal page] units in the past [gallery], but it looks like the retail version was on display at CES this year. Naturally, jkk got his hands on the device and has a video of a brief rundown and some quick impressions on the unit (also don’t miss his video with the Viliv N5). This is one of the first netbooks I’ve seen that has a capacitive multitouch screen which should offer improved touchscreen consistency than we’re used to with most large touchscreens. Still no word on pricing or availability but the best we can hope for is soon. Without ION, it feels like Viliv has missed the optimal time to bring this great looking convertible to market — if they don’t hurry up they might not have a chance to capitalize on what could have been a significant device for Viliv.  Jump over to jkk’s site to check out the video.

New information released by Intel today includes release date, sizing and power efficiency details. There’s still no information on the GPU and the CPU is largely unchanged.  Don’t expect major real-world improvements.

It seems like we’ve known about Pinetrail for a while but at least most of the details are being confirmed in the latest Intel Press Release now.

You’re going to see a lot of news about this over the next few weeks and an incredible amount of hype through netbook-related PR as companies combine this new platform with Windows 7 and a CES launch to try and sell you a completely new netbook experience that it likely to be similar to the last one.

The new Atom N450 CPU with integrated GPU and memory controller runs at 1.66Ghz with 512K of Level 2 cache.  Memory bus speed goes up to 667 Mhz from 533Mhz but what does it really mean?

Power.

This is the keyword you’re likely to hear the most. Power means two things. 1) Power usage. 2) Processing power.  According to Intel, average (we assume platform) power usage has been reduced by 20% which means an improvement of 5% or less on a netbook. It’s a minor change. In terms of processing power, expect 10% improvements based on the new memory architecture and a slightly increased bus and clock speed.

Design.

The new Intel Atom netbook platform has been designed to reduce size, allow for easier thermal design and to reduce the cost. By moving from a three-chip solution to a two-chip solution and implementing the graphics core into the same die as the CPU the amount of silicon used is less. Silicon size is down by 60% according to Intel.  Not only will the cost of the platform be less, the cost of designing a netbook around the platform will be less. Designers will not have to include a fan and will have to worry less about passive cooling. Less space is required on the motherboard too.

Cost improvements are not likely to filter through to end-users at this stage so don’t expect any price drops.

HD video.

There is no support for hardware decoded video on the new Intel Atom Netbook Platform meaning that it doesn’t use the GMA500 GPU that we were expecting. Although details have not been confirmed, it is highly likely that the GPU will be the GMA3150 core as seen in some D510 CPU-based motherboard specifications. HD decoding was not included in the previous Intel netbook platform but as internet video becomes more important, we see this as a significant limiting factor for end users.

3D Support

Moving to a new GPU core means new capabilities. Details on the GMA3150 are very thin at the moment but real-world tests using 3Dmark06 indicate similar results as with the GMA950. Some basic support for DX10 is expected.

Target Market.

Indications are that Intel are being very careful to target the Netbook platform well away from their other laptop platforms. Marketing material talks about 7-10.2 screens and an ‘Internet’ focus. Netbook manufacturers are likely to ignore this though and we should see 10-12” devices with a range of features. The Broadcom BCM70012 HD video module and Nvidia ION GPU will be important options and likely to be used for up-selling.

Mobility.

With a TDP of 7W (down from around 14W including chipset) and a much smaller silicon size it should be possible to make some extremely thin and light mobile computers with this solution.  Menlow still retains better power (energy) characteristics and includes HD video support but the cost of the new netbook platform might make it interesting for some 7-10” mobile computing devices running Windows 7 or Moblin. The new platform won’t be interesting for MID development. Moorestown includes better integration and the new ‘power gating’ feature which is needed for always-on operation in the MID world.

We are actually rather intrigued by the Kohijnsha dual screen DZ series netbook as a pro-focused mobile productivity device and hope to be bringing you some first hand coverage soon. For now you can take a look at some good videos from Wow-pow-blog which has a three part DZ series video review. We’ve got the first embedded below, and you can view the other two parts by jumping over to Wow-pow.

[NewGadgets.de] via [Liliputing]

As screen sizes and weights increase, the netbook products drift further and further away from the mobility sector. The number of sub-1KG devices has almost dried up. Despite that, the netbook sector remains an interesting one in terms of technology (screen, platform, connectivity, operating system) and business models so anyone interested in small, productive computers should be keeping an eye one what’s going on in the netbook world. Will ARM-based ‘smart’ netbooks and mini laptops move into the space? If so, will they remain productivity-focused or are we going to end up with a bunch of toys on the shelf that are no good to anyone that actually wants to get some work done? Will the Pine-Trail platform offer an option for UMPC manufacturers or does Menlow remain the only choice? Will OEMs continue to use the Menlow platform for extra efficiency? What OS do OEMs see as the ‘best fit’? How will low-cost multi-core ARM platforms impact the market. Will Android or ChromeOS become a productivity platform?

I should be at the Netbook World Summit in Paris today but I’m not so instead, I’m following our MeetMobility podcast partner  @sascha_p who’s MC’ing the event. I’m also following the keyword ‘nws09’ on Twitter. There’s currently no live stream but the session are being recorded so we hope to have video to show later.

The live twitter stream is shown below. (Auto-updating)

Ben posted an excellent review of the Viliv S7 at Pocketables a few weeks ago and it follows my thoughts to the letter. The Viliv S7 has been working flawlessly here so rather than produce a copy of that review I’ve decided to take a different angle on the device and talk a bit more about the scenarios that best fit the S7 and the types of customers that might be interested in the device.

Firstly though, let me take you few of the key features in a short summary of the device. We have the S7 Premium here with 3G and SSD (non-rotating) storage.

• The Viliv S7 is an extremely small and light laptop style PC; smaller and lighter than any netbook.
• It’s not really an ultra mobile computer as it needs a table to get the best out of it. Micro-laptop is probably the best name for it.
• The S7 includes a touchscreen that can rotate and close back on itself to create a ‘tablet’ that hides the keyboard.
• The storage is based on fast SSD technology which is quieter, more rugged and uses less power than traditional hard drives.
• The fast SSD also gives the device fast boot and return from standby.
• Viliv have used the Intel MID platform which is more efficient than the netbook platform although the CPU is slightly less powerful than a netbook.
• Viliv have designed a high quality battery pack that can support the device for 5-10 hours and keep the device in standby for many many days.
• In the version we’re testing here, there’s an integrated 3G module.

Click through for full specifications and details on the Viliv S7

On the negative side, there are two major trade-offs. Screen size and keyboard. Both are very high quality items but the size of them means that they can’t be used for long-term stress-free input or application usage.  The S7 is, in essence, a high quality, highly mobile short-term use PC.

Full gallery available here.

More on page 2.

You may have seen the Kohjinsha dual screen netbook concept floating around the web recently, but apparently they are actually going to be putting this thing on the market. The unit will go on sale as the Kohjinsha DZ, and at first I saw this unit as novel, but after seeing it function on video I realize that this could really be useful for some people out there.

Maybe I just missed it before, but this thing is also a convertible, and while it doesn’t have a touchscreen, the screen will still spin around like you’d expect. See toward the end of this promotional video from Kohjinsha’s site.
Looks like the DZ will be running Windows 7 Home Premium, an AMD Athlon Neo CPU, 160GB HDD, 1GB of RAM, and have BT/WiFi.

If I was shopping for a new netbook for blogging, I’d seriously consider the Kohjinsha DZ. If you’ve ever had to write a paper while referencing other sources on a single screen, you know it can be a major pain to flip back and forth between the two. I’ve got a dual monitor setup at home, but if you need this same functionality on-the-go, the DZ can actually provide that in a netbook sized package. Have a look at the impressively designed DZ screen below. There are no goofy steps to go through, just slide and you are ready to work.

The only issue is that you are getting a unique feature, and you are going to have to pay for it. The Kohjinsha DZ will apparently be sold in Japan starting December 11th for ¥79,800 which is aprox. $925 or €617. Hopefully we’ll see some importers pick this one up to make it easy to purchase in the US and abroad.

via Liliputing and Netbooked