Yesterday, in Part 1, I talked about 3 tablet products. Today, there’s more and the first one is something that shouldn’t be a surprise because Smartbook AG have released a ‘Smartbook.’ The only problem is that I don’t see this as a smartbook. A smartbook to me would be in the laptop/netbook form factor and have an advanced CPU that brings enough power for a quality web, gaming and application experience along with an application store. Smartbook’s Smartbook Surfer runs an ARM11 based Telechips CPU and has a basic Android 2.1 install with, as far as I know, no Gmail, maps or marketplace. That’s not to say it’s a bad product because at 170 euro with GPS (possibly not in the 170 Euro version) HDMI-out, stereo speakers and a case, it’s worth considering for basic coffee-table and holiday duties. If you’ve looked at the Archos 7 Home Tablet.

The final 7 inch tablet to talk about is the Viewsonic which is in a different league to the Smartbook Surfer. It’s a rumor but looks likely to me considering the Viewsonic branding we’ve seem on prototypes around the trade shows this year. Stuff.TV indicates that it will be running Android 2.2 and have 3G, hi-res cam and GPS options making it a competitor to the Samsung and Huawei slates. They say that is will launch in the UK in about 2 month. Again, this is a rumor, but it seems likely.

Before I move on to the other news items I want to talk briefly about smart books. I’ve been very positive about the possibility of ARM and Android bringing an always-on, social, fun and lightweight netbook alternative to the market but as yet we haven’t seen anything that really hits the mark. The hardware is there in my opinion but it was always the Android build that fell short. Both the Compaq Airlife 100 and Toshiba AC100 were build on open-source Android and included none of the important, even critical elements of sync, Gmail, maps, marketplace and other Google software. For a category that would benefit from software re-writes, not having a software delivery channel means no developer is going to bother with the opportunity. I’m 100% sure that Google and ARM know about this and the stars seem to be pointing towards Android 3.0 (codename Gingerbread) as the solution. It will finally branch Android out to non Smartphone devices. Why the delay? I suspect Google is re-writing some of its apps to suit WVGA and higher resolutions just like Apple did with their apps on the iPad. As for timescales, I suspect we won’t see anything until the last weeks of 2010 which is just about when MeeGo/Moorestown based tablets will hit the scene. The differences between the two hard/soft platforms will be clear at that point.

Did you see the new renderings of the Eking slider UMPC? It looks similar to the design we saw in plastic form with Wibrain (sold to Eking) in Sept 2009.

It also looks a lot like the Mui HDPC. I remember using the Amtek U650 in 2007 and liking it a lot. If Eking can bring this to market on Oaktrail with some quality engineering and better aesthetics, it has a chance in the ultra mobile PC market but maybe it would be more successful as a ‘smart’ product on a Cortex A9 core with Android 3.0? Slimmer, always-on, great for Android gaming? Just a thought.

Here’s something about MiFi-a-likes. I’ve been using the MiFi for over a year and it’s been a great product but I’m disappointed that there haven’t been any upgrades since launch. The GPS remains unusable, I get the occasional lock-up, it gets very warm, it’s impossible to remember to indicator meanings and the battery life needs to be more than 4 hours. Novatel will fall behind if they don’t watch out because the new Huawei E583C looks to match the MiFi’s current capability and offer an OLED display panel on top. The idea of an on-board application processor sounds attractive with the MiFi but there’s no software for it yet so why bother? I’d rather save 40 or 50 Euros and take the E583C to be honest.

Other news I’ve ‘starred’ over the last few days of catch-up time…

Clearwires Apple-centric 4G hotspot.

Motorola-Verizon Tablet with FIOS TV.

Nokia’s take on the MeeGo handset UI.

Android 2.1 on the Dell Streak

ExoPC slate update.

‘Watchlist’ and ‘Events on the next page…

Over at Meet:Mobility, Sascha, JKK and I have just posted another podcast. An hour of netbook, MID and ultra mobile PC discussion with a focus on IFA and IDF. We hope you enjoy it.

Topics covered:

• IFA overview.
• Viliv S7.OVerview
• Android Tablet.
• Mobinnova N910.
• $100 smartbooks.
  http://www.itpro.co.uk/615184/new-arm-chip-promises-100-netbooks
  The real story – Dual cortex A9.
• IDF

Meet:Mobility Podcast 33

Considering it’s one of the biggest consumer electronics shows in the world and one of the last before the Christmas buying season I found IFA to be very underwhelming this year. At least in the mobile computing segment.

A so, so Windows CE Tablet from Toshiba that certainly won’t provide users with productivity or anything near a complete web experience was the ‘highlight’ for most reporters along with the Japan-only Sharp Netwalker and an Google Android MID. Even in the netbook segment, news seem to be centered around 11.6 inch screen device which moves them even further away from mobile usage. Portable, yes. Mobile, no.

Here are some highlights.

Sharp Netwalker. Video from Netbooknews.com. JKKMobile is trying to get hold of one for testing. The hardware looks great and Ubuntu shuld allow a lot of flexibility. Performance is the question though.

Smit Android Tablet. (Video from Charbax) Personaly i’m not too excited by Chinese Android mods. Trying to get on in the western world with a stable, English language OS is not going to be easy. Support, even less so.

Optima Maemo MID. For China Telecom. Again, another Asian-focused device that will be difficult to get here. Not high on my list. (Video from Charbax.)

Sony X series. It’s a table-top device but weighs less than a lot of UMPCs. Unfortunately it’s way to big to be using while standing up but if you’re desk-hopping, this is one of the lightest laptops you can buy. Video at netbooknews.com

Samsung NC130 NC140 netbooks. 10 inch devices at 1.25KG which look good, have long battery life and follow-on from the very successful NC10. Video at netbooknews.com

All in all it was a very quiet week for MIDs and UMPCs but there are a few things to look forward too.

That silence will probably be broken this afternoon when Apple announce their new iPod Touch line-up. If they include the fast processor and software upgrades that you find on the iPhone 3GS (one of the fastest browsing devices based on an ARM processor) then a lot of people will consider it for social networking, microblogging and sofa-surfing. I just wish that Apple would boost the size/resolution a little. A 5 inch version makes so much sense. Especially if you’ve got a Mifi on your pocket! Gdgt.com are live from the event later today.

On the 15th, Archos will be holding an event. We’re expecting to see the Archos 9 to become available along withthe launch of the Archos 5 Android-based devices.

On the 21st, i’ll be at IDF09 in San Francisco for a week-long Intel Atom-fest. Coverage kicks off on MIDMoves very soon (Ben will be following up on UMPCPortal too) so stay tuned over there for that because I’ve already had information that tells me we’re going to see some new devices.

If you’re at IFA for the last day of the event today, please keep your eyes out for a brown Gigabyte T1028G. It was stolen from the Netbooknews team as they waited around in a press area yesterday. More important than the hardware is the valuable video and image content on it. Many hours of work have been lost.

Sascha shares the details in a German-language post at netbooknews.de but the important thing is that if you see a Touchnote (they are easy to spot as they are brown and there aren’t many of them around) at or around IFA in Berlin, give @sascha_p a ping on twitter and let him know the details.

JKK and I talk about the press day at IFA where the Fujitsu Amilo Mini and LG X110 Netbooks were launched. We also talk about the Samsung SSDs. The recording was made over Ustream which isn’t the best for audio quality but the MP3 is extracted and linked below.

Direct playback and download: MP3, 21 Minutes