Over the last 4 years, Samsung have consistently produced good quality UMPCs and Netbooks. The NC10 is still a good netbook choice and the Q1 Ultra (image right) was a cracking UMPC. When Samsung announced that they would build an MID or UMPC back in 2008, we were interested to see what would happen. Unfortunately, not much happened. Samsung were a no-show at IDF08 and all we saw in the end was the Mondi WiMax device on ARM and the rather unexciting Q1 EX on the VIA platform.

You’ll excuse us then if we take the report of a new Samsung slate with a pinch of salt then!

A senior Samsung executive in Australia has revealed that they will be producing a ‘slate’ in the second half of the year. The word ‘Atom’ is mentioned alongside keywords like ‘pc-grade’ , ‘consumer’ and ‘connectivity.’

If you ask me, the timing and positioning sounds right for a MeeGo tablet-style device running the Intel Moorestown platform. Samsung have worked closely with Intel on mobile devices in the past and it would be the perfect partner to go alongside LG for a big Moorestown launch at Computex 2010 or even a separate Nokia/Intel/Meego launch event alongside a new Nokia smartphone. (Sidenote: I doubt we’ll see MeeGo+Nokia at Intel’s IDF or MeeGo+Intel at Nokia World. What do you think? Joint marketing could be quite the challenge with MeeGo.)

We know already that the Moorestown platform runs at 600Mhz with ‘turbo’ features enabling it to run for short periods at 1.2Ghz (video) which would make it far more powerful than the iPad (mentioned in the article.) With ‘power-gating’ bringing it smartphone-like always-on features, HD (720p) video encoding and HD video decoding along with the unique feature of being very USB-host-capable (think docking stations) you can see that Moorestown fits in very well with the keywords mentioned above and offers quite the flexible solution.

Personally I hope that Samsung doesn’t go the Windows 7 route. We’ve learned over the last year that Windows 7 + Atom is not the best solution if you want to enable consumer features like Windows Media Center and multitouch. With the mobile-focused hardware/software partnership of Moorestown and MeeGo, we could see some far more usable and consumer-friendly systems.

Source. APCMag

There’s some news out this morning that Samsung will get into tablet PCs next year. They seem to forget that Samsung is already selling Tablet PC’s! I was going to write a short article moaning about the hype and the fact that this subject seems to come up every year but when I checked up on some Q1 Ultra prices I decided to do a promo piece instead. The Samsung Q1 Ultra, 7” Tablet PC with 5hr battery life, 1024×600 screen and weighing just 840gm is available for just £359 in the UK.

[Yes, this article is an infomercial now, I will get some money if you use this offer, but it’s a very good offer and comes completely unplanned.]

The Q1 Ultra is a 7” touchscreen tablet with integrated mini keypad, an excellent, bright, 1024×600 resistive touch screen, the 800Mhz Intel Stealey processor (comparable with a 1.3Ghz Atom) with the GMA950 GPU. There’s a web-cam, [note: no BT too] excellent stereo speakers, a stand, 40GB HDD and in this case, the XP Tablet Edition (Pro+Touch) operating system. Two years ago we were looking (and paying) about 1000 Euro for such a device. I bought one (why?) and even managed to upgrade to SSD and 3G making it a fantastic package. Even the battery life was good. At 5hrs with the extended battery, (7hrs quiet-state) it proved that Samsung had done an excellent engineering job. I would still be using mine today if I hadn’t blown it up in a solar charging experiment.

Really, honestly, I think the Q1 Ultra was the best tablet UMPC ever. Only the Viliv X70 beats it now.

I’m starting to sound like a QVC salesman now but you have to believe me when I say that I nearly spit my coffee all over the monitor when I saw it on sale at Expansys for 313 pounds (360 pounds inclusive tax – 400 Euros today) with the 6-cell battery pack as standard. There don’t seem to be any ‘gotchas’ here at all. This is the full version of the Q1 Ultra.

[Click on the image to use my affiliate link]

This is a great deal for Europeans and I encourage anyone who’s on the fence about a TabletPC to check this one out. The Q1 Ultra will work well on the sofa, in the office (second screen using Synergy is great) in the car (car mount is available) and should (I haven’t tested) work with Windows 7 tablet features. Jolicloud should install too.  RAM can be upgraded to 2GB. It includes rotation for book reading (although the unit is a little heavy for that.)

The Q1 Ultra has been on the market for over 2 years now but it’s still a great device. I can’t say I’m not looking forward to a new Samsung Tablet PC but the Q1 Ultra is still a valid choice.

I want to update you all on the devices I’ve been testing recently. It’s a super range of advanced devices that represent the best in the smartphone, MID and UMPC market. All four are advanced, fun and productive mobile devices.

Nokia N900

Possibly the most advanced device of the four is the N900. It runs one of the newest and most powerful ARM-based platforms out there with one of the newest mobile operating systems. From what I’ve seen, the Maemo teams have done a great job in preparing an operating system for today’s web-focused user. Nokia have also done a a great job in tying it together with some amazing hardware. Camera, keyboard, screen, GPS, accelerometer, FM TX/RX, consumer IR, keyboard, speakers, Wifi, BT, 3G, voice along with strong quality materials and an attractive, if slightly understand, design.

Users considering the N900 need to consider the following important points.

• Battery life. With all that power, it’s easy to end up with a device that can’t do anything after 2pm!
• Applications. While the developer community is active and passionate, there’s relatively few people out there. Android, iPhone and Windows Mobile will provide you with a better application suite at the moment.
• Despite the lack of applications, much of what you need is already built in to the N900. From exchange support to Skype and of-course a full desktop-standard web browser with full Flash 9 support.
• Price. The N900 is up there with the Droid, iPhone 3GS and HTC HD2. (See my post about WVGA phones for more information)
• One-handed use. The N900 is a two-handed device because most of the user interface only supports landscape mode. This can affect use in ultra-mobile situations.

Unfortunately the backlight has stopped working on my test device now but I’ve managed to get together enough material and make enough notes that I can answer most of your questions on it now. Don’t forget to check out my previous articles and videos on it before you fire-away with queries though.

All N900 articles from UMPCPortal including overview, unboxing, real-world testing notes, video performance and more.

Samsung Omnia Pro (B7610)

The global roll-out of the Omnia Pro B7610, a WVGA slider smartphone running on Windows Mobile 6.1 with an 800Mhz ARM11 CPU has been a very staggered, uncoordinated affair, typical of the way Samsung works independently in its different regions.  The only reason I’ve got it is because it was one of the best sliders available when I decided it was time to start watching the high-end smartphone sector very closely. The HTC Touch Pro2 was available but as the Omnia Pro was new in the market (I’m still one of the only people to have written detailed English-language posts on it) so I went for it. Despite talk of the Droid, the HD2 and the N900, It’s still one of the best WVGA sliders available right now and with a recent price drop, represents excellent value but it’s disappointing that the Windows Phone upgrade has delayed the launch in most areas. I’m actually waiting for the Windows Phone upgrade before I do my full review on it but I can tell you that the screen is stunning, the keyboards (hard and soft) are great, the camera and camera software is amazing (i’ve tested it in detail against my current camera favorite, the Nokia N82) and Samsung have done a great job with the Touch-Wiz software. It extends wide and deep into Windows Mobile and is not just a user interface, it’s a subsystem and front-end application suite too. As a day-to-day phone (rather than MID) the Omnia Pro is actually better than the N900. It has longer battery life, is cheaper, has nearly all the end-user features of the N900, has more software and the correct focus on voice calling for most people. It is much slower all round and the browser quality is a big step down from the class-leading one you’ll find on the N900 but for 390 Euros (lowest current price in Europe) it is better value than the N900 for most people.

I’ve been focusing heavily on the Omnia Pro in a side project called ‘MyOmniaPro‘ If the B7610 slider interests you, there’s no better resource than the one I’ve created over there!

Viliv S7

The Viliv S7 has been an extremely hard device to review. My wife is simply in love with it and has even nicknamed it ‘Willy’ (That’s Villy in  her German accent!)  The result is that I can’t prise it out of her hands for long enough to be able to write about it. Fortunately, Ben, the co-editor here at UMPCPortal, did an excellent full review for our friends at Pocketables.net and has covered everything I could have ever said about it. I will be writing up an article which focuses on the unique features of the S7 (power/weight/battery life ratio, 3G, convertible touchscreen) but for the time being, take it from me that the Viliv is a solid device, has amazing battery life, great return-from-standby speeds, reaches the usual build-quality standard that we’ve come to expect from Viliv and is a lot of fun to use. Out of the box it’s a much faster device than the U820 and I’d argue that it’s more productive than the Sony Vaio P-Series. Viliv needs to know that the white finish isn’t getting many fans from the male-sector of our readership and as that makes up the most of our readership, maybe they should think about toughening up the looks a bit. The white-leather case just makes the matter worse!

One last note on the S7: Speaker quality and volume…WOW!

Archos 5 IT

If there’s one device that’s proven to me recently that there IS a market out there for dedicated MIDs and that my 3.5 year-old Carrypad idea still has legs, it’s the Archos 5 IT. It also highlights something else that I believe and that’s that ARM-based devices will have the upper-hand in the MID market during 2009. That will carry through until Moorestown finds its feet in late 2010.

Combining a great browsing experience, high-quality YouTube experience, one of my favorite mobile Twitter applications (Twidroid,) good media playback, 32GB storage, WiFi and Bluetooth on an interesting mobile operating system with some interesting applications it shows how the ARM platform has really come of age in the ‘full web experience’ market.

I wouldn’t recommend this as a pro or business-level product to anyone but for those looking for social and entertainment activities at home, in the car, on holiday and in the coffee-shop, I don’t think there’s a better device out there. Only gaming is missing from the line-up of web, music, video, navigation (could do better) and social internet capabilities. At 230 Euros for the 8GB version with Wifi and Bluetooth it sets a new pricing level for MIDs and I’m excited to see what follows. The Dell Streak certainly looks like it could be a better device (keyboard, camera) but the price is still unknown.

When you read about the Motorola Droid/Milestone and the great web experience on that, remember that the Archos is faster and more comfortable due to its bigger screen. It also plays YouTube videos like no other device in the smartphone, MID, netbook or even low-end laptop category. I haven’t bought the TV docking station for this but I’m very close. The DVB-T adaptor is on my list too.

Not a converged, voice-capable or 100% stable device but if you’re into mobile gadgets, this is probably the best Christmas present you could give yourself this year. Go for a low-end SSD version and drop a 16GB Micro-SDHC card in for the best value.

Coming up soon.

We’re looking at the Eking S515 (review unit secured. arrival in the next week), the Viliv S10 (review unit probable. Timescale unknown), Wits A81 (we’re 50:50 on this one as we need to buy it to review it), UMID M2 (need to chase a few people about that one) and Evi Group Pad (contact made. Review unit likely at end of November) and praying for the Dell Streak to just turn up at the door here! We’re also working on the HTC HD2, Motorola Milestone and KAX-15 and as always, waiting for a iPod Plus.

Many of you know that I’m re-cutting my teeth in the smartphone world over at MyOmniaPro. What better way to track the smartphones as they move closer to MID and UMPC territory than to buy one, write about it and talk to the smartphone fans and experts out there. I even joined my first ever smartphone podcast this evening with WMpoweruser, PDA.pl and UnwiredView.com. It was great to talk to those guys about features, user requirements and operating systems. Running a blog at the edge of your core catchment area is a great way to keep a balanced view.

Read the full story

Some of you will have seen that I’ve started a blog called ‘My Omnia Pro.’
I’ve been tracking smartphone technology since I started blogging about UMPCs but the idea of the new blog is to publicly get my hands dirty in this area. I want to retain a balanced opinion about every technology and operating system and I want to connect with other people working in this area. I’ve chosen (and bought) the Samsung Omnia Pro B7610 as my test device and will be writing about my experiences on the new blog.

A full set of photos is up already but watch out over the next weeks for posts about web performance, applications, keyboard and a whole clutch of other important features.

Note: I’m talking to JKK to try and arrange a ‘smartphone and beer’ live session on Friday evening. HTC Touch Pro2, Nokia N97 and Omnia Pro will be demonstrated if the session happens.

There’s a strange excitement over the Samsung Mondi [specifications]. It’s basically a PocketPC and yet that MID form factor, the hi-res screen and the slide out keyboard make it look incredibly appealing for mobile internet work.

Jenn at Pocketables has just received hers and posted a set of unboxing pics. She’s happy with the build quality and pleased at the surprise set of car mount accessories. We’ll have to wait for her to dive into the software and give her feedback on the user experience, speed and of course, the keyboard.

Unboxing the Samsung Mondi (SWD-M100).

Meanwhile, Vincent Nguyen of Slashgear has posted his first impressions of the device along with an overview video that I’ve embedded below. Vincent is, like Jenn, impressed with the build quality but isn’t convinced about the keyboard. A full review is promised.

Specifications and more related articles in the Samsung Mondi product page

Welcome to this week’s netbook roundup. In this space every Monday I’ll highlight netbook news items from around the web.

• AT&T Rolls Out Barely-Subsidized Acer, Dell, Lenovo Netbooks Across the Country – AT&T fires up a bit of netbook subsidization, offering the Dell Mini 10 [Portal page], Acer Aspire One [Portal page] and Lenovo S10 [Portal page] for $200 with a two-year, $40/month (minimum) contract.
• ASUS Eee PC T101 tablet reportedly facing uncertain future – Though the Asus Eee T101H [Portal page] was seen quite a long while back on an Asus’ Eee roadmap, it seems to have a questionable release at this point. Most likely the success or failure of the Asus Eee T91 [Portal page] will decide what comes of the T101H.
• Samsung Go (N310) reviewed, gets 8.5 hours battery life – The Samsung N310 [Portal page] which we saw several months ago is being branded as the Samsung Go in the US. Apparently its standard 6-cell battery is good for 8.5 hours which is quite impressive.
• Sony- Netbooks are Here to Stay; Touch Enabled VAIOs This Year – Sony recently hoped into the netbook game after sitting on the sidelines since the genre appeared. Now they are recognizing the netbook as something that they need to get involved in. In addition to the release of their VAIO W [Portal page] netbook, they are planning on releasing touchscreen computers after Windows 7 lands.
• Asus Finally Launches the Eee PC 1004DN – Another one that we’ve known was coming for a while: The Asus Eee 1004DN [Portal page]. Asus’ first netbook with optical disk drive and the Intel GN40 chipset. Asus has now released it in Taiwan.

There are two ways to look at the Samsung Mondi, the oversized slider-style PocketPC with built-in WiMax. Either you wonder why Samsung didn’t go all the way with the convergence theme by adding in the cellular voice capability or you look at it as a flag-bearer in the Smartphone and MID market. One of the first devices that promotes the use of internet based services for all your communications and a real benchmark for pricing and capability.

Read the full story

My first impressions from this review are ‘oh crap.’ The most important element (in my mind) has turned out to be sub-par. The keyboard.  “…as I started tapping away an e-mail, I was immediately disappointed; the keys are too flushed into the phone’s hardware, making them difficult to press.”

A few more thoughts:

Does it really do voice?

Just what does this mean: “The WiMax connectivity made browsing the Web, fortunately, a zippy experience… pages like ESPN.com or CNN.com load correctly—a pleasure compared with other popular phones, including Apple’s iPhone 3GS”

The subsidised price is a crime. Just $100 off ($350) for a 2 year lock-in? Are U.S. customers worth so little? [Info from sidecutreports]

There are lots more questions outstanding and I look forward to detailed reviews that cover battery life, screen brightness, web browsing speed, camera quality and more.

Hands-On With the Samsung Mondi – PC World.

As time goes on, more and more of my time is being taken up reading very interesting smartphone news. WVGA, Android, WM6.5 and Cortex are the important keywords and every time a device comes up it becomes clearer that the push towards the MID market is greater from the Smartphone manufacturers than it is from the Intel-based MID and UMPC market. With Menlow in a strange UMPC-like state (with no Moblin support now) there’s a long wait until consumer-focused MIDs come out on the Moorestown platform in 2010. It’s even clearer than before that ARM will have the upper hand in the MID space in 2009 by building up from existing products and brands that already sell millions of devices. Intel will have to sit back and wait for the time being.

Today has been particularly active in the ‘MIDPhone’ space.

As I was updating myself on the status of my Samsung Omnia order (no delivery date in sight) I took a quick look at other options that are available and the Toshiba TG01 (soon available in the U.S.) jumped up at me. With a screen size of 4.1”, a resolution of 800×480 and  processing power that is 2-4 times as much as the Nokia N800 / N810, it’s difficult to ignore. Pricing is now under 500 Euro for an unlocked version and 02 in Germany are selling it for 150 Euro with a 25 Euro / month contract. Add 15 Euro on top for Internet and you’ve got an interesting option that you I could walk out and buy tomorrow. Chris over at SlashGear has just finished his review and although he wasn’t impressed with the UI and predicts that the WM operating system could be an issue, I still think that the device represents great value for mobile internet fans. When Windows Mobile 6.5 comes along it could make it even more interesting, especially if Opera 9.7 works on it. I’m looking forward to seeing some browsing speed tests on this one. Note: No keyboard!

As I was finishing up reading Chris’ article a news item about an HTC Leo popped up. The Ai.rs blog has posted what they say are the specifications for this new HTC device. I don’t know who Ai.rs are but everyone seems to be following up the story. WMPowerUser (a blog I frequent more and more these days) says that the device is the HTC Firestone. All I know is that it’s rumored to have a 4.3” screen and run a Snapdragon platform at 1Ghz. This is definitely another one to add to the MID list. Again, it looks like there’s no keyboard.

Only a few minutes later I read the news that the Samsung Mondi is launching. The Mondi is an even bigger device with a slider form factor and a 4.3” screen. Samsung are dropping a WiMax module inside and handing it over to Clearwire for a launch in Las Vegas. It’s an ARM11-powered device running Windows Mobile again. No pricing, No availability details. Style and feature-wise it’s not too exciting and in fact it doesn’t even support voice so this is really focused at mobile internet activities.

The Mondi’s compact design provides the user with a more mobile form factor and ease-of-use than the typical laptop or netbook. While it is small enough to fit into the user’s hand or pocket, the Mondi packs an impressive Web browser, powered by Opera 9.5, which takes full advantage of the device’s 4.3-inch touch screen.

I’d like to see this with HSPA, Android, a high-end CPU and a big fat battery for all-day mobile internet use!

Press release. Via.

Finally, in addition to all that, there’s news about a Sony Xperia X3 which had previously been known at ‘Rachael.’ Dutch blog ‘All About Phones’ found the information in an Expansys we page and it’s quite the interesting read, largely because it’s going to be running Android and will have a 4” 800×480 screen. As yet, the CPU information is unknown. If you’re thinking about an HTC Hero, you might want to wait for final specs and pricing on this one.

Breaking: Xperia X2 news is coming in

None of these devices represent the ultimate MID yet but you can see where things are going. The 4” to 5” space is getting very busy already. I’ll beadding some of these (if not all!) to the database very soon.

Welcome to this week’s netbook roundup. In this space every Monday I’ll highlight netbook new items from around the web.

• Lenovo IdeaPad S10-2 reviewed, deemed a mixed bag – Looks like the second version of the Lenovo netbook, the S10-2 [Portal page], has been reviewed by Laptop Magazine, and while Brad of Liliputing thinks that is scores pretty well in Laptop’s tests, it seems that the reviewers didn’t like the aesthetic appearance of the unit.
• BenQ Lanuches Joybook Lite U102, Rights Wrongs – From netbooknews.com, we see that BenQ releases the Joybook Lite U102, which brings some evolutionary upgrades to the table over the previous U101 model.
• NEC’s latest netbook boasts an 8.5 hour battery – NEC’s LaVie Light Lui netbook runs for nearly 8.5 hours on a single charge. Pretty good, specs are predictable netbook specs (Atom, 1GB of RAM, 1024×600, yadda yadda…)
• NVIDIA ION Netbooks from Computex – A video from netbooknews.com that shows three NVIDIA ION based netbooks.
• Asus Seashell Eee PCs to Come in Four New Colors – Looks like the Asus Eee 1005HA [Portal page] and 1008HA [Portal page] will be released in a total of 6 colors, 4 brand new ones including pink, blue, ruby red, and sapphire blue. Swing through the link to see images of the netbooks with their new colors on. I like the sapphire the best!
• Shadowy modder gives Eee PC a risky back alley trackball implant – Pretty interesting mod puts a trackball directly into the case of an Eee 901. More interesting yet: the trackball is from an Apple ‘Mighty Mouse’. It is just me or does that ball look to big to be from one of those mice? Maybe its just me… looks to be good for scrolling regardless.
• How-to: Internal 3G to Samsung NC10. The easy way – Jkk helps you understand how to get 3G in your Samsung NC10.

The CommunicAsia expo is happening in Singapore right now and Samsung have taken the opportunity to show off a previously ‘leaked’ product, the Omnia Pro B7610.

Like the HTC Touch Pro 2, it’s got a slider keyboard, an 800×480 screen and Windows Mobile. it’s got a 5mp camera and an 800Mhz CPU. 800Mhz sounds quite hefty but the CPU architecture details aren’t known yet so don’t get too excited about this being the ultimate pocketable browsing device.

It’s said to ship with WM6.1 but Samsung have promised an upgrade to WM6.5 which should keep this device current for a good year or more. While some of you might not like Windows Mobile, I still find it a productive and relatively open environment with a great software ecosystem. It should also be capable of running Opera Mobile 9.7 too which is one of the most advanced mobile browsers out there.

One more thing. The screen is a 3.5” AMOLED type which will provide great indoor color saturation but may not be the best choice for outdoor use. Expect a release in Q3 or even Q4 and keep your fingers crossed for 720p recording and the high-end processor that could make Opera Mobile a truly slick mobile browser experience.

Via Akihabara News

More thoughts on pocketable communications solutions from the smartphone bracket in this article.

This is not a UMPC but could make a nice Portable or CarPC. The FitPC has been upgraded to use an Intel Atom 1.1 or 1.6 Z-series CPU so if you load up XP and plug in the USB Powered (apparently) Samsung frame/mini monitor you’ve got quite a cheap modular PC. Quite a cute solution for around $400.

Composite image. Not to scale.

FitPC news source. Via
Samsung monitor news source.

I was recently on a trip which took me on one of those big coach buses. A friend inquired to me as to whether the bus driver was using GPS or if he just knew where he was going. I assumed that he’d be using some sort of GPS, but I wasn’t expecting that he’d be using a popular UMPC at the center of his navigation solution. It was interesting to see a Samsung Q1 Ultra [Portal page] in the wild, and apparently being used quite effectively. I was able to snap two quick images with my iPhone; sorry about the quality, the lighting was not in a favorable position.

The bus driver was an older man who looked to me nearing or into his 60’s. I wasn’t sure if the Q1U based navigation system was devised by him or supplied by the bus company. Again to my surprise, the system was set up by the bus driver himself. I suppose the old “book by its cover…” adage is suitable here. I exchanged just a few quick words with the driver about the setup. I wasn’t able to capture all of it, but it sounded like he was using some pretty powerful industry navigation software to map routes effectively. I believe he was using a Bluetooth GPS unit to obtain nav data, and I saw an AT&T branded unit which I’m assuming provided 3G data, but it looked a bit old and could have been EDGE only.

Nearly every part of the setup was mounted right on the windshield, it was pretty cool. The Q1U looked to be using a suction mount designed specifically for it. There was a DIY looking sunshade to block direct sunlight and make sure that the screen stayed readable. The sunshade looks to consist of two separate pieces and be resourcefully held together with velcro, which I would imagine makes it easy to break the setup down and pack it away. On top of the sunshade was a USB hub which provided four USB slots, in one of them a USB memory stick was plugged in. The GPS unit and AT&T data unit were both mounted to the windshield as well.

Pretty cool to see this nice navigation setup. I imagine that the driver is able to do much more than similar drivers who are using simple consumer GPS units.

Is anyone else out there using a UMPC for their in-car navigation needs?

The Samsung Q1EX is due to head on to its next review appointment so it’s time for me to round-up my coverage of  it by giving you some performance test results and an overview. It should at least give a reference point for future VIA Nano-based products and an idea of where this device fits in. It’s a difficult device to position but when compared with peer devices, it offers improvements all round at a good value price.

Overall performance levels as measured by CrystalMark are in the netbook class which is good for a UMPC. I saw CPU results coming in at what I’d normally expect from a 1.3Ghz Atom Z-series CPU but similar clock-for-clock results when compared to, say, the older Pentium-M. It’s nearly twice as powerful as the VIA C7 at the same clock speed according to the results. The summary is shown below and the details can be seen here.

Read the full story

The Omnia HD is something that all MID fans should be taking a close look at. It highlights how close the ARM-based platforms are to Intel’s MID platforms. In fact, in many ways, the Omnia HD looks like one of the best MIDs so far with longer battery life, smaller form factor, 720p video recording and a mobile-focused software suite that addresses new mobile markets. It’s an incredibly converged product but at the same time, you could call it a tweener. Neither a 24/7 phone or high quality mobile internet device.  I intend to re-visit the Omnia HD by testing it in full in the near future but in the meantime, take a look at the specifications when placed side-by-side with the most popular tablet MID of the day and lets think about how the Omnia HD highlights that there is no such thing as a tweener.

Omnia Image via AreaMobile.

Clearly the Samsung Omnia HD has specifications that are very close to one of the best Intel-based MIDs on the market. You’re looking at an extremely capable hardware platform that provides consumer-focused MID, PMP, PVR and PND-like capabilities in a 24/7 voice-capable form factor.  It’s also got mature, consumer-friendly mobile-focused software that tackles new mobile usage scnearios and it’s reached the market before anyone else could with Intel-based MIDs that are targeted at the same usage scenarios.  For some it’s going to be seen as the ultimate converged device and one of the best ‘MIDs’ on the market.

Look at it from another angle though and you see a different story.  If you want a 24/7 phone,  the Omnia HD is very very expensive and for most people, too big.  If you’re looking for the best quality mobile web browser, PND, PMP or microblogging device, it falls short on either screen size, keyboard or software. As with most converged devices, it takes new, exciting usage scenarios and lever’s them into compromised form factors.

What I see with the Samsung Omnia HD is a device that underscores exactly the emerging  scenarios that MIDs are targeted at. It’s providing a taster of things to come.  If these scenarios develop, the new ecosystems created could support dedicated devices that fit in the space between the smartphone and the netbook. With technology like the Texas Instruments OMAP 3 platform and Intel’s Moorestown available to OEMs, it will only be a matter of tweaking the design, the software and applying the right marketing to slot the variants into the new ecosystems.

How about dropping the Omni HD’s internals into a Nokia N810-like form factor and increasing the screen to 4.8” with 250 DPI to improve the focus on mobile geo-enabled social networking? How about adding a powerful photo flash and video editing software to enhance mobile photo capabilities and add how about adding a daylight-readable 6″ screen for a move into the ebook market? Think about an iPod Plus, a Kindle with a fast browser and think about the next Nokia Tablet. A Techcrunch Crunchpad or  a Google Lattitude Social  Tablet.  A Canon/YouTube device  or even a dedicated Vodafone/BBC iPlayer.  I don’t propose that all of these are winning business opportunities but I bet there are a few opportunitues in that list for dedicated devices that people have called ‘tweeners’ in the past.

The real story here is three-fold. The Omnia HD highlights how advanced and flexible the latest smartphone platforms are.  It highlights that new usage models are emerging and that if these ecosystems grow, there will be opportunities for dedicated devices. Thank-you Samsung for highlighting that the MID concept is on the right track and that the end of the Tweener-era is nigh.

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?

From a TabletPC perspective, the Samsung is actually a very good all-rounder. I called it the ‘20% device’ in our live Ustream Q&A because that about sums up the improvements overall. 20% less weight, 20% less cost, 20% more GPU, 20% more battery life, 20% better looking!! All excellent incremental changes for the TabletPC market but there are silly things that appear to have been left out.

A 1.3mp cam on the rear means it’s no good for Skype video and not high enough quality for photography. The stylus slots into the lanyard which means you need to leave the lanyard attached, affecting the smooth looks of the device. The hard drive is neither fast (in comparison with some of the SSD’s we’re seeing now) nor does it have a very high capacity. The touchscreen doesnt run full tabletPC-compatible drivers meaning the input panel doesnt float and you get low sample-rate handwriting recognition. The organiser pack accessory bulks it out to a size that’s than most netbooks and finally, I managed to push the CPU/GPU combination so hard in a Cooliris test that I got the battery life meter down to 1.5hrs! It bounced back up to three when I stopped playing with Cooliris but it shows that the power envelope of the Q1EX is very very wide.

Full specifications and links in the product page.

On the positive side, the push/scroll wheel is the best implementation I’ve seen yet for an on-screen control panel. Changing brightness, volume, rotation is a breeze. The weight is down to one-handed usage levels meaning you can flip this one into portrait ‘reading’ mode. I was seeing over 4hrs battery life in this, no-radio, quiescent state. Also, the touchscreen has some palm rejection capability. For my ‘pinky on the screen’ left-handed writing method, it didn’t work but it’s clearly a lot better than other touchscreens for handwriting. In fact, one-handed portrait mode usage with a stylus is probably the #1 ‘feature’ over other UMPCs.

Considering that this is entering the market at $750, I would expect to see this discounted like many other devices have been over the last two years. In fact, I think this is very likely. It looks to me like this was a project by Samsung to put a new tablet out there for a specific market, a market-research exercise or even an industry request. Resellers have decided to price-up the device (still below all the other Samsung UMPC offerings) in order to get the most out of the early, mostly commercial, buyers but based on the fact that a VIA-based Samsung NC20 can sell for 75% of the price, there must be room for a sub $500 or even sub $400 price point. That would be pretty close to that CrunchPad that Techcrunch are working on.

What do you think? Is there a usage model that jumps out at you or is this simply targeted as a good quality, well-priced, TabletPC? Here’s the unboxing video…

For a more detailed look at the Q1EX, check out the Ustream recording below. (If the video is not showing below, go to the Ustream page. I’ve been seeing some problems with the UStream embedded videos today.)

Thanks to VIA Technologies for sending the Samsung  Q1EX over for a test.