How long will Asus continue to tantalize us with the Asus Eee T91 [Portal page]? It seems like ages ago that we first saw the tablet-netbook that promises to bring the tablet PC experience to the masses. While it seems that the T91 is either already released, or in the process of being released in the UK, we’re still left wondering when it will hit US shores. Regardless of the release date, Asus has seen fit to continue to taunt us by putting up an official product page on their US site. Nothing too exciting here, just some ever tempting images of the (supposedly real) device and some marketing hubbub, and we’re still left wondering if the multi-touch version will ever be released, or if it was just a prototype.

We’ve been slightly distracted by the X70 EX over the last week but next in line for some tender love and testing is the ViliV S5 Premium Air. The 32GB SSD version with the built-in 3G HSPA (high speed upload + download) modem. Where the Viliv S5 with HDD was good, the SSD is even better. The change to SSD is very noticeable and if you an stretch to finding the extra $50, we thoroughly recommend it not just for speed but for additional ruggedness too. Built-in 3G is a matter of taste. Personally I’m still a fan of built in 3G as it’s far more reliable than tethering but you have to pay for it. Another $150 in this case. Considering you can build a 4-6hours personal server/hotspot for all your other Wifi devices though, I’d say it’s worth it for people looking for the smallest tablet UMPC solution.

Dynamism are first up with pre-orders and there’s a little surprise offering in store. Not only do they have the 32GB SSD Premiums-S version and the 32GB SSD+3G Premium 3G version but there’s a mind boggling 128GB SSD+3G version too.

Viliv S5 Premium-S - Intel Atom Z520 1.33GHz, 1GB Ram, 32GB HD Solid State HD, GPS, Windows XP Home
- $649

Viliv S5 Premium 3G - Intel Atom Z520 1.33GHz, 1GB Ram, 32GB HD Solid State HD, GPS, Windows XP Home, Built in HSPA modem - $799

Viliv S5 Premium 3G (128gb) - Intel Atom Z520 1.33GHz, 1GB Ram, 128GB HD Solid State HD, GPS, Windows XP Home, Built in HSPA modem - $1299

Our full review of the Viliv S5 (HDD version)

Dynamism Pre-order page. Availability information not available yet.

Hopefully you’ve taken a look at JKontherun’s X70 EX coverage over the last few days and seen how sleek the new Viliv X70 EX is. I’ve just picked up an X70 EX Air from Viliv (Thanks Viliv!) The X70 EX Air takes the 1.3Ghz Intel Atom platform and puts it inside a 7” casing with a few additional and important elements. Where the S5 has no cam, the X70 has one. Where the S5 has no built in mic, the X70 has one. There’s also a media slot, built-in stylus and a mini USB port that contains a transfer adaptor. Just plug the X70 into your PC and up pops the file transfer software. (Not tested yet) On the AIR model you’ll also find the 32GB SSD and Huwei Mobile Connect 3G Modem. This is the top-end model. Build quality is, as expected from Viliv, top-notch.

Here are a few notes as I wait for my taxi transfer to Taipei airport…

• This model is ‘98%’ ready.
• Screen is soft touch.
• ‘The mouse-pointer stick is not! Again we have a cursor joystick where a mouse pointer would have been better.
• On screen keyboard has haptic feedback.
• The device feels slightly heavy. This is possibly because I’ve been using the Smart Devices Q7 which is super light-weight.
• There’s a small amount of heat build up on the bottom right.
• Stereo speakers are surprisingly loud and excellent quality for a UMPC
• I’m expecting similar battery life to the S5 (The battery is bigger, but so is the screen.)

And a few pics…

After seeing the unit get ripped apart by the FCC and go hands on with plenty of people, Asus has just officially announced it via a press release on their site. While the usual marketing mumbo jumbo is present (they are really pushing it by claiming to have 82GB of total* storage space), we are still left without a price or release date. It seems that Asus is trying to push their touch oriented software hard; we’ll see if it is really useful or just shows off the touchscreen, eventually. At least they were kind enough to leave us a nice table of specs, but unfortunately I’m not seeing anything that we didn’t already know about the T91, maybe with the exception of a “well-designed stylus”… I hope they aren’t talking about the same one we saw in a hands on video a few weeks ago. Hopefully the 5 hour battery life statement is accurate (fingers crossed!).

Asus Eee T91:

Model
Eee PC™ T91

Operating System
Genuine Windows® XP Home

Display
8.9″ LED-backlit / Resistive Touch Panel

CPU
Intel® Atom Z520

Chipset
Intel® US15W

LAN
Onboard 10/100 Mbps Fast Ethernet controller

Wireless Data Networking
WLAN: 802.11b/g/n
Bluetooth V2.1

Memory
1GB (DDR2)

Storage
Total 82GB (16GB Solid State Drive + 16GB SD Card + 30GB Portable Hard Disk Drive* + 20GB Eee Storage)

Interface
1 x VGA port (D-sub 15-pin for external monitor)
2 x USB 2.0 ports
1 x LAN RJ-45
2 x audio jacks: Headphone / Mic-in

Camera
0.3 M Pixel

Reader
3-in-1 MMC, SD, SDHC flash card slot

Audio
Hi-definition audio CODEC
Built-in high quality stereo speakers
Digital Array Mic

Battery Life
Li-Polymer battery, 5hrs**

Dimensions
225mm (W) x 164mm (D) x 25.2 ~ 28.4mm (H)

Weight
0.96kg

Optional
GPS, TV Tuner, 3G plus (HSUPA)

Casing Colors / Infusion
White, Black

Miscellaneous
Comes with a well-designed stylus

The still upcoming Asus Eee T91 tablet netbook [Portal page] is looking better every day. I’m pretty excited for this device and what it could do to spice up the otherwise (dare I say) boring netbook space. Electricpig has a hands-on gallery of the T91 which looks to be a production model. This is the first I’ve seen of the included stylus as well which looks like a wimpy telescoping pointer. I wish they’d include a more substantial stylus, but I suppose there are many third-part options out there.

[GottaBeMobile]

The much anticipated Eee T91 tablet netbook [Portal page] has just taken one step closer to seeing an official US release. The FCC has gotten their hands all over the computer and given us plenty of nice internal photos as well as the user manual. Looks like the FCC took down the page for the T91, possibly due to too much trafic, or on Asus’ request.

As jkk points out, internal photos show that the SSD is 50mm, which should allow the use of Dell Mini 9-sized SSDs. We can also see the internal GPS module which could be taken out to make room for a GPS+3G module giving you internal 3G without too much trouble. There is also space for a SIM card slot which could be soldered in or may be added to later models. The battery, as we can see, is also non-removable.

The manual on the FCC’s site seems to be the finished English manual. It doesn’t reveal anything particularly new, but does show us much of the Asus software that will be found on the T91. Unfortunately there was almost no mention of the touch interface that Asus was working on (video here) in the manual. No word yet if that means that it won’t be initially packaged with the T91.

[jkkmobile]

Considering the SmartDevices Q7 isn’t a true UMPC and it’s going to be a relatively slow browsing device, it’s getting a lot of coverage on UMPCPortal this week.

Read the full story

After many months of wondering if the S5 was going to be as good as we first imagined it to be, it’s time to review the final retail version and make some conclusions. The Viliv S5 is one of the smallest tablet PC’s in the world. It includes a full PC hardware architecture and Windows XP software. The manufacturer has used a mature design from it’s PMP range and the end result is a solid, well-built pocketable device aimed at media, web browsing and, due to the built-in GPS, navigation.

Vilis S5 specifications, discussion, links, videos and images in the community specifications page.

Read the full story

The $189 Smart Devices Q7 web-pad story gets more exciting today as we’ve received some live pics of the device. ElectroWorld, the strange looking Chinese website that many of us would probably avoid, have come up trumps after we contacted them for a purchase. They also tell us they will have a device ‘next week.’  We assume this will be a sample which could mean a 1-2 month wait for the first production run. We hope we’re wrong but we’ll check it out and get back to you.

At $180, the only real question for gadget fans is, what colour? I’d go for Lime Green just to be disruptive and clash with that brown leather sofa you find in every coffee shop these days.

Click to see full size versions in our gallery.

This isn’t going to be a fast browsing device, the build quality needs to be checked out and there will be limitations on the China-focused software stack but if they get the quality right, (a big ‘if’) and offer some better colours, this is a no-brainer for the coffee-table. I’m thinking TV-Guide, auto-updating Friendfeed, Last.fm radio, public transport timetable, picture frame (tuned to the Flickr UMPC tag of course!), there must be a thousand uses. What would you do with it?

Can you imagine what a dev community would add to this? Maemo, Mer and Android communities would love it. I’m sure ARM’s partners, Techcrunch and the old Pepperpad teams are paying attention too!

Update. I have had further contact with Electroworld and have decided to order. They offered me a Paypal option so I have payed $240 inclusive delivery. Ill have German import tax of 19% on top of that. No dates yet but Electroworld have promised to send more specs when they get the sample on May 12th. First production run will, as is normal, be limited.

Update 2. Electroworld have said that shipment could be next week. Soon after 12th May.

It looks like SmartQ are going to offer their SmartQ 5 device in a 7” version which not only looks very attractive but could really find a useful place on the sofa or coffee table of many a modern home.

Kindle, Pepperpad, Crunchpad, Archos 7, Samsung Q1EX and Apple Tablet come immediately to mind but the Q7 is slightly different. It uses an ARM11-based core (according to reports I’m reading on translated forums around the net) which will give it a long, long battery life. It has nice styling (note that these pics are renderings.) It will be light (I estimate 1lb.) It’s targeted at Web-only usage and if the $150 Q5 is anything to go by, could come in at an extremely attractive price.

At first you might think the Q7 uses an old, underpowered platform and then you might compare it to the $200 netbooks that are around but if you think about where you might use this, on the sofa, breakfast table and in bed or even as a picture frame or constantly updating  newspaper, it’s not the same ‘urgent’ usage model as you have with a MID or smartphone and it’s not for table top productive usage like a netbook is. You have more time and patience in these home-based scenarios and you don’t notice slower page loading times so much. This is something I learned when I hooked the Archos 605 up to my TV. It’s not a mobile device, it’s a home device.

Based on hardware and industrial design alone, I think this is an extremely interesting sofa surfer or information pad that could be very competitively priced. A conversion to Android or Maemo could make this even more interesting. I’ll be in Taiwan for Computex in June and if I see one of these for sale, I’ll definitely buy one.

I’ve made the assumption that the Q7 is based on the Q5 hardware and added it to the database. Take a look at the specs, think $250 (my estimation) and let me know; Is it something you’re interested in?

Via Pocketables. Source (translated)

I spent a few hours researching and pulling together  information on the SmartQ5 this morning and feel more positive about it now than I did a few weeks ago.

The SmartQ5 looks good and has an amazing price (local price in China – approx $132.) It has a good screen size/resolution and with Ubuntu (ARM), an good supply of software. As a media/internet/e-book reader/photo browser/travel device, there’s definitely a lot of pocketable value there. The 667Mhz ARM11 CPU should make it faster than the Nokia tablet devices and the large 7.5wh battery should keep it running for a long long time between charges.

If it was ever available in Europe or US though, you’d be looking at something like $199 which puts it close to the offers that occasionally float around for the N810. (cdw.com have it for $226 as I write) With GPS, keyboard, camera, a healthy user-base and local-country support, the N810 is the better MID option in my eyes but that’s only if you can find an offer.

It’s difficult to comment with any authority when you’ve never even had hands-on so if you’ve been thinking about the Smart Q, keep an eye on the new SmartQ5 product page where we’ll be adding info, images and links as they come along. One of the first to be added was an unboxing photo-set from Kam Leung. There’s also an unboxing from ‘Sky’ over at UMPCFever. [translation link]

If you see any more interesting content about the SmartQ5, please take the time to submit it ifor inclusion in the database.

Before I say why I think Eldar Martazin didn’t see a 2011 Nokia MID, let me take the chance to tell you a little bit about ARM’s ‘Sparrow’ platform.

When I first heard news about it a few weeks ago I was a little confused about where it was positioned on the scale of ARM cores as it looked to overlap the ARM11 MPCore designs. I fired off a query to a contact in ARM and they came back with some information that has enabled me to better position it.

It’s a symmetric multi-processing platform that uses cheap (read simple) cores with the ARM V7 instructions set used in the high-end Cortex cores. I liken it to a multi-core Atom CPU which is focusing on cheap, small, low-power and ‘reasonable’ performance. ARM say that it will enable performance as you see today in the high-end Cortex devices at a much lower cost. The multi-processing element will, I assume, allow cores to be dialled in and out for either power-saving or processing power. Its going to offer 2009 high-end performance at feature-phone sizes and prices.

Read the full story

Three years ago today, Microsoft’s Origamiproject.com went live as a teaser website. [See original teaser page] One of the people to spot it was ‘Designtastesgood‘ who appears to have lit the fuse by sending a link to Robert Scoble who effectively posted another teaser. Engadget’s editor-in-chief at the time, Ryan Block, picked it up, added an image he’d acquired and wrote an article that evening which has 190 comments on it. If you have time, scan through them!

“So today Microsoft officially flipped the switch on the buzz machine for their Origami Project — an atypical viral marketing manuveur for a company whose products are usually known about years ahead of time. Scoble says its a device, the Internet’s lighting up with rumors — is it the Xbox portable? Well, we dunno, but as usual got our hands on some pictures. And as usual we can’t guarantee they’re the real deal, though we are pretty confident in their source. So, let’s go over it: these were sent to us detailing it as a Microsoft portable media player, which wouldn’t be too far off from what Jobs and BusinessWeek both prophesied Microsoft doing (despite being pretty broadly denied from within).”

Read the full story

Mobile Computer Mag had a chance to check out a prototype model of the upcoming Asus T91 tablet-netbook [Portal page] and they captured a great hardware overview, with commentary, on camera. Have a look below:

Something interesting that we see in this video is a SIM slot built into the device. As they mentioned, it isn’t clear yet if this is something they are testing, or something that will be available when the unit launches (we’re hoping for the latter). I’m excited to see the convertible tablet form factor making its way down to netbooks. It seems like a low cost tablet-netbook could be a great way to expand the tablet-PC user base. It is also good that one of the first of these that we are seeing is coming from a reputable netbook maker, Asus. It seems like it will still be a balancing act to get a good price:quality ratio compared to current netbooks when you consider the fact that you need to get the touchscreen and swiveling lid on the unit.

If you are interested to see what the software end of the netbook will look like, don’t miss this post.

[Liliputing]

Update: English press release now available (PDF)

Tucked away in a press release about a 10″ 19mm-thick 10″ Atom-based Netbook to be launched in April is an announcement that Archos will be bringing a 17mm-thick 9″ Tablet to the market. It will be based on the Z5xx processor (the one used in MIDs) will include an on-screen keyboard and touch pointer mouse.

Translation from German press release

Following the product launch and the ARCHOS 10s, is in the 3rd Quarter
9”a revolutionary mini-notebook Tablet launched. This provides a
integrated, virtual keyboard and handwriting recognition. The new design
make the traditional mouse and keyboard redundant [uberfluessig] and
replaced it with a touchscreen keyboard and a TrackPoint mouse.

With the new 9”Mini-Notebook Tablet ARCHOS once again exceed the
Boundaries in terms of design, form and functionality. And with a device,
the only 0.8 kg and 17 mm thick. The 9 “Mini-Notebook Tablet
is thus one of the thinnest and lightest fully-functional
Mini-notebooks in its class. He is the great competitors in nothing
after and offers a disk size from 60 to 160 GB and has also
on the Intel (r) Atom ™ Processor Z5xx the series and the Intel (r) System
Controller Hub.

We assume that this will be a Windows-based device but given Archos consumer focus, is likely to be style-oriented and presumably, well-priced. The Techcrunch tablet team will have to watch this one. The press release then goes on to talk about a Moorestwon-based product in 2010.

The processing [advances] of the Intel Atom processor in the mini-notebook line
2009, showed that in the future ARCHOS want to work with Intel platforms, such as the
“Moorestown” platform of the new generation, and the new
Products will be launched probably 2010. The performance and the
Compatibility of the “Moorestown” platform makes it possible ARCHOS, the
Innovation with increasingly smaller, thinner designs and to continue the
Purpose of the devices to constantly expand.

It looks very much like Archos is keeping it’s fingers in both X86 and ARM pies. Their recent announcement of an Android-based MID device on an ARM-based CPU leads us to believe that they might look to cover all angles in the mobile computing space from netbooks down to smartphones. It will be hard to keep the device capabilities from crossing over each other but will give Archos every opportunity to see content through their back-end content systems and attract European mobile carriers and that’s probably the real long-term focus here.

Read the full story

I can’t really let the day finish without mentioning the Techcrunch Crunchpad. Although it’s a relatively  big and non-mobile tablet, there’s a few things to mention.

Mike Arrington’s original focus for the design was web activities so it’s not suprising he’s gone for a PC-based solution. Web-based activities are getting to be some of the most CPU-intensive daily tasks that people do so a strong CPU is a must-have. The VIA Nano is, clock-for-clock, likely to be much more powerful than an Atom so a  good choice for processing power but with it’s relatively high thermal power rating, it’s going to need some cooling. That means fans and airflow space in the chassis. Not a good sign for bedtime browsers! Having said that, the low-end of the VIA Nano range at 1Ghz might be just right and I’m sure there’s scope for lowering it further if necessary. This would be a nice win for VIA if they can pull it off.

Why didn’t Techcrunch go for an ARM-based solution? It would allow for a much smaller and longer-battery life design. Maybe it’s because the high-end of ARM isn’t quite up to performing at the sort of levels that consumers expect? 5-10 seconds per web page load is probably just out of the reach of one of the latest ARM-based platforms.

The battery life is going to be a problem too. With a 4-cell, 2200mah-per-cell (a high-end, heavy-sounding  2p2s 7.2v) battery pack he’ll be looking at the  4-hour range with that huge screen. The backlighting budget will probably run to 5W and I’m sure that when you’ve added the relatively high-end CPU in and connected it to a Wifi hotspot, you’ll be draining 10-12 watts average. Possibly more when you’ve got flash content taking up CPU cycles. As many others have commented today, it might be better to settle with a 1024×600 8.9″ screen and maybe reduce the battery capacity to  save weight. It wouldn’t be perfect in portrait mode but landscape mode would be fine and you’d probably save 2W in backlighting and 300gm in weight. Overall though, you would probably lose battery life. It’s a tough balancing act.

Aesthetics play an important role but as we can all remember from ‘Origami’ in 2006, so do keyboards. I could write for hours about that but I’ll just say that if you need sales numbers, you’ll probably want to think carefully about the form factor and include,somehow, a  physical keyboard. The T91 or T101H from ASUS might bite Techcrunch in the bum unless they can get excelent on-screen keyboard software and some good early reviews about it.

All in all I think Techcrunch have set themselves tough targets for the device. While not impossible, I suspect it will be more expensive than planned, will have so-so battery life and could be a little too heavy for most people. They’ll need to convince an investor that they can sell hundreds and hundreds of thousands in order to hit the parts budget and that convertible netbooks or MIDs won’t be a threat.

Fingers crossed for Techcrunch though. I’m enjoying watching the project, am hoping it tends towards a 9″ device and I and wish Techcrunch and VIA every success with it.

Looking for a PC solution for your mobile home? Perhaps an MP3 for that mobile disco business? Or perhaps just something for the kids? Plug in a USB keyboard on this one and you’re in business. Grab and go without worrying about knocks and spills.

The RT7V is designed to meet the IP54 international standards for liquid and dust protection. The RT7V magnesium case protects the system’s components from damage due to drop. The tablets IO ports and connectors are all sealed to protect them from damage. The tablet comes standard with a 7” WVGA sunlight readable touch screen LCD and supports up to 1920 X 1080 external video resolution. The RT7V’s “fanless design” allows for extended battery life and the most efficient data processing possible. The Durabook RT7V, the fully rugged tablet workplace solution.

Not recommended for the coffee-shop or for looking up the last bus home when with your lady friend.

The 1Ghz VIA C7 (fanless) will give you a basic Windows XP experience although you’ll be able to store plenty of movies and audio on the included 2500GB 7200RPM drive.

More details here.