Many of us have been anxiously waiting for news about the VIA Nano (formerly Isaiah) processor from VIA. Previous leaked info indicated a 2-4x improvement in processing power for a similar power drain over the older VIA C7 processors and with the Atom processors barely improving on the previous platform in terms of processing power, pro-mobile users were looking for something to fill the high-end gap.
Eeepcnews.de have been testing, (yes, they had one in their hands!) a 1.8Ghz version of the Nano CPU which isn’t the CPU we’d be looking for in UMPCs but the results give us some new data points. Firstly, here’s the model range. (test results after the image…)
Thoughtfix brings us the news (from The Register) that Moblin will be moving to a Fedora-based distribution. Thats quite a core change in architecture that is bound to upset Canonical and Xandros who have been working on Atom-optimised distributions and have also committed to make a Moblin-based version for netbooks. I suspect that Moblin will run the two builds side-by-side for a while. Dirk Hondel told The Register that "there was no falling out with Ubuntu, but the move to Fedora was a technical decision based on the desire to adopt RPM for package management."
Here’s a list of some of the current distributions running on Atom netbooks.
Suse on MSI Wind and HP Mininote – RPM based
Xandros on Eee PC – DEB based.
Canonical base system (Ubuntu Mobile) for MID development – DEB based
Linpus Lite on the Acer Aspire – RPM Fedora Based (Acer)
Asianux / MIDinux base system for MID development – RPM based
Only Ubuntu Mobile and Asianux are running the Moblin core so far but I’m sure we’ll hear news at IDF next month. I wonder if SuSE will make an announcement.
If support moves towards Moblin, what happens to the VIA and AMD-based devices? Can VIA and AMD contribute drivers for inclusion? Apparently Moblin supports non-Intel platforms so I guess that’s a possibility and seeing as some of VIA’s linux drivers are already open, there’s nothing stopping a Moblin distributor from dropping them in.
We had news from UMPCfever that Wibrain were working on an Atom-based ultra mobile PC and I can now bring you some details in English. The L1 i1 will be based on the B1 design, will have an updated casing design and will include variants of the Silverthorne Atom processor and an HSDPA module.
It’s planned to be launched running on Menlow (Silverthorne/Poulsbo) in two versions, one with a 1.1Ghz CPU and one with a 1.3Ghz version. The usual 30Gb or 60Gb drive options are available and you’ll also have SSD options up to, wait for it, 64GB! It is planned to be built with Windows XP or Linux (version unknown.) Target weight and dimensions are as per the B1 model. 500gm. One specification that many will be happy to see is an SD card slot. Simple but very useful and missing from the previous, B1 model.
As for battery life, we have a document here that says 6-hours browsing. I’m not sure if that’s with the 30Wh battery or the double-capacity battery. Were checking. It is possible that, with an SSD and the 1.1Ghz CPU that they can reach this figure with the standard battery and a low-level backlight but it’s going to be tough. We know that already! (Update: Wibrain tell us it’s 6-hours with the standard battery – Wow. Even if it’s 5, i’m interested!)Availability is planned for October through global channels. (Yes, U.S. is included in the target territory list.)
For those that haven’t read much about the Wibrain UMPCs, they’re good value and easy to use. The touchpad works exceptionally well and the split keyboard is one of the quickest for URL and password entry. If Wibrain reach 6-hour browsing time on the standard battery I’m sure it will sell extremely well. Links and information about the B1, here. I’ll add the i1 to the database ASAP.
As you might have read, I have been very disappointed with the battery life figures on the Kohjinsha SC3. I was expecting a lot lot more from an Ultra Mobile PC built on Intel’s latest battery-optimised Menlow platform but it turns out that under normal use, this device is just as bad as many devices based on the previous platform. Over the last 24 hours I’ve spent a lot of time trying to analyse why and have finally come up with the reason. Invetec, the OED for this device, have cut corners. While the background drain (on the motherboard and power board) is better than on previous Kohjinsha’s, it’s no better than the HTC Shift, Q1 Ultra. All these devices can match the SC3 for background efficiency. About 4W minimum or 5-hours, is what you can expect with everything turned off but the processor.
OK, 4W is good but once the screen is on, boom! Up goes the battery drain by between 80 and 150%. This is exceptionally high drain for what appears to be a LED-backlit screen. Thank goodness that using the screen in a bright room requires only 3/8th brightness but it’s still about 3W of drain which is much higher than it should be.
The second shock comes when you turn the VIA, yes VIA!, USB Wifi module on. Connecting to a hotspot will push the drain up by over 3W. It will settle back to 2W after connection but this is, quite frankly, pathetic. A wifi module that takes more power than the processor is a joke. There are far more efficient Wifi modules out there. Did Inventec think they were designing a cheap netbook?
So from a background drain of 5W, if you want to surf the net in a bright room over Wifi, the battery life drops to a depressing 2hrs. This is an average drain of 10W which is no better than the devices mentioned above.
I missed this one a few days ago. UMPCFever are reporting that NeoSolar, the new owners of the Wibrain brand, will market a new version of the Wibrain with Atom, HSDPA and a makeover. Apparently the info appears on a Wibrain website.
The styling on the rendering that appears on UMPCFever’s article looks a lot better than the old version. I hope the back and sides get the same treatment! It would probably have to be a Menlow platform to fit into the Wibrain casing and it would depend on the clockrate as to how powerful it would be. Lets hope for 1.33Ghz and above where hyperthreading and the 533Mhz FSB kicks in. The existing Wibrain has a big, 30wh battery so if they achieve some efficiencies over and above the existing device, it could be a 4hr in-use device. They might solve the heat problems too as it certainly isn’t the coolest and quietest on the block.
We’ve been in contact with Wibrain but haven’t had any response yet. One of our reseller contacts might have some more info for us next week though. Stay tuned.
In other WIbrain news, apparently the 32GB SSD versions of the existing version are arriving in stock in Europe (and we assume in other territories) this week.
Oh by the way, if you’re wondering what the big black lollypop stick is all about, it is probably a 3G antenna for use in fringe areas. A great idea.
Jenn and I have been having a private race to see who was first to get the SC3. She won! On the upside, it’s made me even more excited to get mine. It’s looking like a real peach of a device. My worry about Vista is fading away too. Here’s what she says about that:
"Keeping in mind that my review unit has 2GB of memory installed, Vista Home Premium SP1 runs extremely well on the 1.33GHz Atom processor. I’d even go so far as to say that it’s downright zippy and on par with what I’m used to (which isn’t much). I’ve experienced no disk thrashing, lagging, or slow-loading menu items and icons. Anyone expecting Vista to perform on the Atom the way it did on the A110 will be pleasantly surprised."
This is in line with what JKK is experiencing with Vista on the Atom-based 901 and very good news indeed. Tablet lovers are going to get very excited as Vista brings significant advantages over XP where a touchscreen is concerned.
I’m looking through Jenns review and thinking…why would anyone by an HTC Shift, Q1 Ultra or Fujitsu U1010/820 now? It’s tiny!
Efficiency is in-line with what I extrapolated from the marketing figures. 2.5hrs battery life on a 20wh battery. Bear in mind though that the battery is smaller than one you’ll find on an Acer Aspire. The 4-cell version, still small, will give you 5 hours of work time.
A backlit keyboard, built-in 3G and on-frame mouse control would be the only things that would make this device any better for the pro-mobile user. The 3G requirement is arguable as you’ve got an ExpressCard/34 slot to play with on the SC3. Note also that the keyboard is relatively small. Smaller than the old Kohjinsha keyboards and the ones on the Asus 701/900/901. This may not suit those that need to input data over a long period of time. There’s also a heat-build on charging.
I’ll stop there as you need to go straight over to Pocketables to see it in all its ultra mobile PC glory. Well done for winning the race Jenn. See you on the next starting line ;-)
D.F.J – Direct From Japan, an exporter of mobile solutions direct from the Akihabara district have a Willcom D4, one of the neatest ultra mobile PC solutions we’ve seen yet. I’ve been in touch with DJF today and they’ve been kind enough to send over some first-opinions about the device. Before you read through them though, let me highlight one very important figure. Last week it was reported that the D4 was returning just 1.5 hours on the standard battery (7wh) DFJ report that this is under WWAN conditions. Running without WWAN and Wifi is a different story. We’re working on getting some better battery life reports out soon so don’t give up on the D4 just yet. Continued after the pic…
The guys over at Gottabemobile.com have found a video showcasing some of the intended applications of the new Panasonic CF-U1. The video is surprisingly high quality when it comes to scene and prop setups, but the acting is, dare I say, pathetic. Still, the video gives a pretty good idea of how the U1 is designed to be used; shown in the video is a wide range of industry applications. It’s a shame that Panasonic hasn’t spent time making a consumer oriented UMPC; the U1 is packed full of features but it has a premium price and is definitely on the bulky side. The video didn’t show any good keyboard use so we’ll have to wait and see how well that turns out. Something interesting to note in the video is the 4-bay battery charger, and confirmation that the batteries in the U1’s dual-battery bay are hot-swapable, meaning you will be able to swap out batteries without ever turning off the unit.
Edit: My apologies, video has been updated to the English version.
