I’ve just written up an article about Intel and MID developments expected to air at CES and it highlights a gaping hole where news about Ultra Mobile PCs should be. Where are the new 7″ ‘pro’ devices?
I really don’t think we’re going to see XP or Vista on anything Menlow-based. As time goes by its clear that Silverthorne processing power will only match or may even be less than Stealey. There’s also talk of small SSD’s too which wouldn’t even have enough space for Vista or even a full install of XP. This is sub GB OS territory. The only silver lining with Silverthorne is that it might scale up to 2Ghz. Quite why you’d use a 2Ghz Silverthorne part instead of a Core 2 part baffles me but it might enable manufacturers to produce two versions of their hardware without changing the board design. One version running a MID-focused OS using SSD and another using a hard drive and offering Vista. Maye that’s what the R3/R50 mystery is all about!
The only other thing on the horizon is the Samsung Q1 Ultra Premium (1.3Ghz, Core 2 – based UMPC.) which I really hope signals the start of Core 2 ULV processors in the ultra mobile PC market. They will certainly remain high in price but should enable some pretty nice video and productivity applications. We’ve seen how successful the 7″ mini notebook design is and I’d love to see that improved to the point where interactive Video, HD video playback, gaming and low-end video editing are possible.
Fingers crossed for more ultra mobile PC news soon. In the meantime, feel free to discuss whether you think the ultra mobile PC market will remain niche (or even die!) in the topic started by ‘HighSpeed’ in the forums.
