I got an email from a regular reader this morning and it was interesting to read thoughts that so closely echoed my own. It centers around frustration at the lack of MID hardware on the market so on a day where we’ve seen a lot of MID-related software announcements, it seems right to talk about the lack of hardware.

I wrote last month about the delays and said I would re-visit the issue at the end of October but I’m sorry to report that nothing much has happened. Sure, the Aigo MID is now shipping out of Japan as an export (without 3G) and the Benq MID is available in Italy (without a keyboard) but where’s the Gigabyte M528 that so many of us were looking for? The Kohjinsha MID, the Abit, Tritec, and the rest of the 33 MIDs? What about ARM-based MIDs. The Archos 5G? Where’s my Firefox-enabled, sub 400gm, 3G-enabled, 4+hr mobile Internet device? My Carrypad?

What amazes me is that the only device out there that is available and gets close to the mark is one that’s been on the market for over 18 months now. The Raon Digital Everun. I had one and enjoyed it [review] for a long time, but I moved forward to a Q1 Ultra for productivity reasons. Now that I have a netbook for my tabletop and productivity work, I need a 3G-enabled MID more than ever. Why am I not able to highlight anyone else’s devices? Has the netbook market taken so much grip that all focus has been diverted to squeeze out the consumers Christmas cash with cheap laptops? Do I have to go back to the Everun?

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Intel scored 3 wins for Moblin earlier this year when Linpus, Canonical and Xandros announced that they would all move to Intels, Atom-optimised Moblin core. Then, just a month later, Intel decided to make big changes to Moblin by changing the build architecture and moving to an RPM-based software packaging system. I’m sure that didn’t please Xandros and Canonical (who both run deb-based distributions) and can’t have helped anyone because since then, the only thing I’ve heard about Moblin (V2) is that changes will feed in until the full release in Spring next year. I also heard from one Linux vendor that the process would be very slow. With OEMs wanting fast response on solid, user-friendly OEM builds for, potentially, millions of machines, its not difficult to imagine that moving to a new core build is not their top priority.

Maybe that will change soon though as gOS are announcing that they are going to have a Moblin-based build by the end of the year and that they are partnering with a ‘major’ OEM. Whether that means we’ll see Moblin on a netbook by the end of the year is open to question. A press release from Good OS states that David Liu, the founder  "will announce details of a new partnership with a major OEM using Moblin for Intel® Atom™ Processor-based NetBooks. David will be speaking from 10:20-11AM in Room 201B at the Taipei International Convention Center, and will provide more details about a gOS based on Moblin that will be available at the end of this year."

gOS aren’t new to the netbook space as earlier this year they shipped their distribution with the Everex Cloudbook. It didn’t appear to go down to well. Since then they launched gOS Space which was received well at Laptop magazine in May.

Keep an eye out for the gOS announcements tomorrow.

gOS website.

Update: gOS will be working with Mitac.

Following up on the previous story I did about the 12" Dell Mini, it looks like it really is going to happen.

The size and form factor is of no interest to most readers but what’s going on underneath is very interesting.

Up until now, the performance of Z-series-based PCs running XP or Vista has been less than exciting. Video playback and 3D performance is almost non-existent in devices like the Kohjinsha SC3 and way below what people are seeing on the cheap Atom-based netbooks. In theory, it should be a lot better. Many people have been waiting for fresh drivers for the system controller hub (SCH, Aka Poulsbo) chipset under Vista and for XP-lovers, there’s absolutely nothing out there except rumours. Intel have no choice now but to ship good quality drivers otherwise they will have a big customer problem.

So why are Dell using the Z-series Atom processors? Battery life. Atom Silverthorne and the SCH offer much higher power efficiency so it gives Dell’s engineers the best possible chance to produce an 8hr device. The SCH also has the video decoding hardware built-in so we could be looking at a great long-haul video playback device here.

For those looking for Silverthorne/Poulsbo drivers, keep an eye on the Dell 1210 driver download page.

Source: CSM Report.

I’m in the middle of writing an article about the T-Mobile / ASUS 901Go (the free 3G-enabled netbook) and am looking at an unboxing video wondering who would buy the Aigo MID, the Mobile Internet Device that doesn’t include mobile Internet due to lack of a 3G module. I’m also asking myself, ‘Where’s the damn Gigabyte M528 that does have the 3G!’

After I’ve finished the 901 article and posted some more customer challenge responses, I’ll watch the 12-minute video and join JKK for a live session tonight. Hopefully we can work out how Midinux performs and see if the Coolfox browser and video playback work. Is it better than an Archos 5 for Internet browsing?

If Intel can prevent OEM’s from using the Dual Core CPU in their netbook and notebook designs, how come they can’t stop Dell using the Z-Series Atom in a notebook? Just as the Dual-core CPU could damage notebook sales, so to could putting a 12" screen on a netbook, even if it didn’t have a dual-core CPU inside.

I was alerted to this misnomer [hmmm wrong word perhaps. Anomaly?] today via a brief news item today from Tony Smith of The Register who draws the conclusion that the name of a leaked Dell device that will go on sale at UK supermarket Tesco,  the Z530, means it will have an Atom Z530 inside. Actually he’s right because if you look back to the early leaks, you find a 12.1" ‘E-Slim’ device based on Silverthorne. Dell are actually going to throw a device right into the middle of the consumer laptop arena and give it netbook-style pricing. This is the danger zone and possibly the beginning of the end for netbooks as we knew them.

Why the Silverthorne CPU and Poulsbo chipset though? Style, Battery life and video. It’s going to be a normal laptop aimed at ‘pro-sumers’ and the ‘Youth social networking/entertainment’ customers. They are aiming for a cheap, super-slim device with ‘all day’ battery life with high-end video playback support and the only way they can do it is to move to the latest Intel MID silicon. I like the idea myself. I have a ultra mobile PC (Still haven’t pulled the trigger on a new Q1 U HSDPA yet though) and a stylish, 12" ultralight with long, long battery life and high-end hardware decoded video playback would suit me as a partner device to take to conferences and to use for hot-desking.

Why am I even talking about this 12" notebook on UMPCPortal though? Apart from it further bluring the edges of the, once well-defined, netbook category, there are a number of other reasons. The main one for us is that it will be running XP and that means drivers! Those of us waiting for drivers for the SC3, D4, SX3, M528 and Aigo MID are going to finally have XP drivers for the chipset. One can assume that if Dell is the customer, the device will have working drivers too! The second point is one that I alluded to earlier and one that I’ve just detailed in an email report to UMPCPortal sponsors and donators. The netbook market is going to be damaging because consumers are finding that they can use a netbook in place of a normal laptop. It IS powerful enough for many. Consumers are truly finding peace with netbooks. When devices like this Dell cross over into the larger netbook market, they bring with them the low-cost pricing and that immediately damages the main notebook market. We end up with a pricing war that, in the long run, reduces funds for R&D, quality engineering and niche products. While the 12" Dell netbook device may look good for consumers now, it could cross over into the danger zone and cause real problems for the future.

You may have seen some news over the last few days that Intel has started to ship a dual core variant of their Atom processor. To some of you that may sound like good news for the mobile world as nearly every new netbook seems to be running on Atom, and who doesn’t like a boost in performance? Well, as jkk points out, unfortunately the dual core Atom CPU is not for netbooks, they are actually for nettops, or low cost desktops.

In the beginning, there were two types of Atom chips, the kind that focused on low power consumption, low heat output, and small size, and the others (which we see in all the recent netbooks), focus on low power consumption, low heat output, and low price. Now the Dual Core chips present a new focus, which is primarily keeping prices low and performance high (relatively), or course keeping the low power consumption/low heat output out of the focus means that you have a CPU that isn’t suitable for a netbook, which has minimal cooling, and limited power to be consumed. For comparison, the Atom CPUs that we are used to seeing in netbooks, have a TDP of 2.5w, while the dual core version has an 8w TDP. So not only does that mean more power drain on your battery, but also there might not be enough cooling to keep the chip from overheating in a netbook.

On top of all of this, jkk says that he has gotten word that Intel is actually telling OEMs not use Dual Core Atom CPUs in netbooks. Looks like we’ll need to wait for the next round of Atom CPUs in order to see anything new for the netbook wave.

Checking out a mini-review by Andario, one of our members on the forums today made me realise that I should put together my own objective long-term review of the Akoya Mini that I’ve been using off and on for a while. It deserves it as its been working well and trouble free since I queued up for it at the beginning of July.

I’ve already called the Akoya Mini ‘near perfect’ and I haven’t changed my mind. Having played with most of the netbooks its clear that it hits the consumer mark more centrally than any other netbook. Its cheap, stylish, has a keyboard that really shouldn’t be that good for that price and the 10’2" screen makes for very comfortable tabletopping. In short, if you need a low-cost, small notebook, you really won’t be unhappy with the XP/Hard drive version of the MSI Wind, Medion Akoya Mini, Zen ID, Advent 4211 or any of the variants that are available. [Article continues after the images…]

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A great overview video from JKKMobile on the SX3. Its attractive, has a good hardware design and impressive set of specifications and features. Does it perform though?

My take-away thoughts from the video are that its a stylish, useable form factor but if its going to use Vista, a 1.6Ghz is the entry point, not the 1.3Ghz provided. I also question the need to include a DVD player when they could have slotted a bigger battery into that space. Slightly too heavy for comfortable one-handed use. Inventec, Kohjinsha, Intel GET THOSE DRIVERS SORTED OUT! People should not be expected to put up with sub-standard drivers.

More info and links on the product page.

Source: JKKMobile