Spot the difference. On the top, the Eking S515 available in China and through Mobilx in Europe. On the bottom, the PsiXpda (that’s Sye-Ex P-D-A) which has just been launched by PsiXPDA in England.

Yup, they’re the same device which is excellent news. Why? It means activity, availability and competition which is great for everyone. Lord knows we need some movement in this market.

PsiXPDA has been set-up to bring mobile computing to high end users according to Ewan Spence, a partner in the company. We did some work with Ewan on MIDMoves last year where he tested out a number of mobile devices in his ‘elements’ tour. He’s also involved with writing content for All About Symbian and a number of other websites.  One could say that he’s a blogger that has brought a mobile device to the market where others have failed!

I spoke to Ewan earlier about the project and asked him about target markets, numbers, prices and the future and he was very clear to point out that this device isn’t intended to be a huge mass market product. “10’s of thousands” is the target here which, across a market of over 1 billion people, shouldn’t be too hard. It’s not going to be the only PsiXPDA product either. There’s room for more although Ewan wouldn’t comment on anything particular. We guess that they’ll be spending quite a lot of time going round CES and, hopefully, keeping track of UMPCPortal.

The PsiXPDA will be available from next week in Europe with the same specs as we’ve got for the Eking S515. The operating system will be Windows XP (sensible move in our opinion) and there will be an unlocked 3G modem pre-installed. Pricing is set at the 500 UK pounds mark which includes UK taxes. For a device with 3G included, that’s not bad at all. US pricing is not yet set although if you drop the 15% tax off the UK price and convert to dollars, you probably won’t be far off. PsiXPDA are also looking at Linux options.

On the question of categorization, Ewan held back from using the UMPC term preferring to call the device a ‘Pocket computer.’

One other snippet of information we managed to get out of Ewan was that there’s a docking station coming. We were wondering what that port was for on the bottom! They are expecting it soon and apparently it’s a fairly simple affair with 2xUSB and a VGA output. That’s all that’s needed so if it’s well priced it’s a must-have.

Our unboxing of the EKing branded version of the device is here. Full specifications and information on the PsiXPDA website as is the contact point for orders.

Mobilx have been working hard. Not only have they picked up the UMID and Viliv devices but they’ve just sealed the deal on the E-King S515 tilt/slider UMPC.

It’s the mini tilt/slider form factor that many of us wanted to see when the HTC Shift was around and it’s beaten the similar KAX-15 to the market.

With a similar weight to the UMID M1, one of the lightest UMPCs around, the Eking S515 is one that I really would like to check out further. I’ve had some fingers-on at IDF where it was labeled up as the Digicube Z8. [Hands-on Pics of the Digicube Z8 here] I wasn’t overly thrilled by the build quality and sizing but you’re looking at something that’s powerful and flexible. The 1.2Ghz Atom Z515 CPU will blast through javascript-heavy web-apps like you’ve never seen on your smartphone!

Mobilx are listing the base (non-3G) version with a 16GB SSD for 478 Euros and with an additional 3G module for 536 Euros. These prices are without operating system. From previous dealings with this device we think it has 512MB RAM which means that you’re limited to XP Home or a special Linux build. It’s such a shame that Moblin 2.1 for handhelds isn’t ready yet as a tailored build of that with support for the touchscreen would have been really interesting. I wonder if someone can slip us a copy of the version we saw running on the Aigo at IDF?

Specifications are a bit sketchy at the moment as we’re seeing sizings of 4.3” and 5.0” and resolutions of WVGA and SWVGA but those specifications will be ironed out in just a few days when Mobilx receive their first sample device. Lucky for us, that sample device will be heading to UMPCPortal where the obligatory live session will be held! Expected early next week.

Thanks to Mobilx for the information. (Now on their website)

It is just me or does it seem like Android is the hot thing right now? Motorola and Verizon have been teasing the internet for the last few days about their upcoming Droid phone which is powered by Android (of course). Well the joke is on them as the Droid page seemed to have accidentally popped up ahead of schedule and the folks over at the Boy Genius snagged screenshots of the pages before they had a chance to take it down. Check the Droid’s specs:

• Slider with physical keyboard
• Runs Android
• 3.7”, 16:9, 480 x 854 touchscreen
• 5MP camera with 4x zoom, autofocus, and dual LED flash
• 550MHz CPU
• Included 16GB Micro-SD card
• GPS
• Bluetooth and WiFi

There aren’t too many other details at this point, but with a faster CPU than most Android phones to date, and a 16:9 screen, the Droid is shaping up to be a nice MIDPhone. Engadget also has a video from the site showing the Droid in a 360 view, head over to check it out.