umpcportal home

Tag Archive | "intel"

Looking forward to a Palm Pre Family


palm-pre The Palm Pre will probably be the most powerful smartphone ever when it launches and browsing is likely to be significantly faster than any other smartphone before it. The browser is built on Webkit so there’s likely to be a good degree of accuracy and the connectivity options look good too so in many respects, this is going to be a great mobile Internet device.

Read the full story

Fingertips or Stylus Tips


One of the big differences between the Compal MID and the BenQ S6 devices is what they expect the primary input mechanism to be. While both of them have touch screens, the design of the user interface shows one clear difference.

The Compal is designed to be used by a stylus, while the S6 is geared for the much larger (and less accurate) finger.

For a long time PDA’s were all stylus controlled in the US (think of the Palm and early Windows CE machines), and a lot of this was down to technology. Screens were in their infancy and had a low pixel per inch density. Your pointer could wander round a bit and still hit the target, even when standing. In Europe it was all about the clamshell with a full keyboard you used on a desk or cradled in your hands. It took until the Psion Series 5 came out that the stylus as part of an interface took off.

In all those cases it was the ergonomics of where a device was going to be used that determined how useful the stylus would be the small Palm and Windows devices could be comfortably held in one hand while the stylus was used, while Psion arguably produced machines to be used at tables.

So what of the MID devices? Both the S6 and the Compal are geared towards being used in the hand the Compal’s screen doesn’t tilt and while the S6 has a small kickstand the location of the scroll strip and buttons under the thumbs gives away the design brief. Neither device is suitable to be used one handed mainly due to their size. So two handed it it, and in my mind that means you’ll be standing (more than likely walking), when using the device.

And a stylus in that situation is pretty useless. The Compal’s interface has buttons and target areas so small that even a little bounce in your step and you’ll be missing where you were hoping to click. Having an on screen mouse/cursor is also very strange, and I think shows the roots of the Compal UI is in a desk based system, with easy access to a stable mouse.

It’s certainly not as well suited to working on the move as the S6 is. With large round buttons, which just happen to be about the size of the pad of your finger, it’s clear that the designers of the S6’s UI have thought about where the S6 will be used and decided that a lot of the time people will be “walking and mid-ing inch and ensured that any frustration will not be because of the UI.

(Although web forms are still tiny, and BenQ did see fit to include a stylus for situations like that)

Having used both devices, the S6 is certainly the more comfortable UI when out and about. Although the Compal feels much more like a full blown computer that has more potential the rough edges will take away a lot of those potential advantages in the eyes of the consumer.

MIDs and Moblin. Where do we go now?


Yesterday’s news that Moblin V2 for MIDs is now delayed until 2010 has me thinking long and hard about what’s going to happen now. Have Intel put their MID plans to one side? Are they confident that Moblin V1 is enough for the current crop of devices? What will the OEMs think? Are they happy to refocus onto netbooks or are they simply waiting for Moorestown? Should I put UMPCPortal on ice and take a year’s holiday?

Moblin V2 is moving forward as planned and as far as I know, it will be ready for OEMs and distributors in Spring. It’s got an extremely high chance of success because most Linux distributors for netbooks have already signed up to use it. Ubuntu, Asianux, Xandros, Linpus. Novell, gOS, Mandriva, Pixart, S2C, Turoblinux have all publicly stated that they will use Moblin and even if only 10% of netbooks are going out of the door with Linux (I suspect it’s between 20 and 30% myself) then there’s a multi-million unit opportunity there. If the predictions are correct and 35 million netbooks ship next year then 3.5 million Linux desktops in one year will be one of the most successful Linux-based roll-outs yet. Given that Intel have hundreds of engineers working on it and have direct access to the people that designed the core hardware, they should be able to squeeze more from it than the average Linux distributor. There’s also a possibility to get that much needed app-store in there too. If Intel can create and manage that then there’s a revenue channel that makes everyone sit up and take notice.

Read the full story

Video: Booting and testing Moblin V2 Alpha on a Netbook.


So, Mobiln is now focusing on netbooks. It’s a huge setback for MIDs to learn that Moblin for MIDs won’t be ready until 2010 but clearly there’s a business case there to focus on netbooks first. I tried the build briefly on a Medion Akoya Mini and here’s what happened…

 

Moblin V2 Alpha-release targets Netbooks


Update: Our worry has been confirmed. Moblin V2 for MIDs is now planned for 2010(See bottom of page.) “Moblin MID is a fully featured platform for next generation smart phone devices built on Moblin Foundations. It is expected for release in 2010.” Where does this leave Linux-based MIDs in 2009. Windows only?

image I was pleased to see the announcement of the Moblin V2 Core Alpha Release today but annoyed to see that it’s “initially targeting Intel(r) Atom(tm) based Netbooks.”

Moblin, the Intel-funded core Linux distribution intended for OEMs and end-users is something we’ve been following on UMPCPortal since it’s launch and we’ve been looking forward to V2 for UMPCs and MIDs but the talk about little notebooks has us wondering if they’re going to ignore the touchscreen altogether. To state that it won’t even work with Menlow, the platform used on small UMPCs and MIDs, is a setback.

Known Issues:
  • The user interface is under heavy development. The final user interface will look very different than the current user interface and will not be based on XFCE.
  • 3D performance is known to be slow.
  • Currently, Wifi is not supported on Asus eeePC 901.
  • Platforms with GMA-500 Graphics chipset are not supported.

(My emphasis.) Netbooks are slowing down innovation. Obviously netbooks have been on the roadmap for Moblin for a long time and if Intel can provide an efficient core then it’s likely they can get the distributors to standardise. This brings in the possibilities of app stores and unified dev communities but it just turns my stomach to see MIDs pushed to one side in this way. Innovation is important.

If anyone want’s to give this a spin on their netbook, the downloads are available here. It fails to boot on a Samsung Q1P but I’ll give it a shot on a few other devices today.

From the Moblin website:

The Moblin Project is happy to make the Moblin Core Alpha for Netbooks available for testing and taking the bits out for a ride.

Moblin is a community open source project, initially targeting Intel(r) Atom(tm) based Netbooks.

This Alpha release is the first chance for the larger community to start multiple-level testing of:

  • The core Linux O/S, boot process, inter-process, and package interactions.
  • The new “Fastboot” feature of Moblin, which fundamentally improves boot time and allows for unprecedented speed for a general purpose Linux.
  • Connectivity and networking, using the new ConnMan connectivity manager.
  • Kernel 2.6.29-rc2.
  • The Moblin Core Components (first look at this), including Clutter and all other UI development tools.
  • Xserver 1.6 (with DRI2).
  • New Moblin Image Creator (MIC2) and installation tool.
System Requirements:
  • CPU: Intel Atom or Intel(r) Core(tm) 2 CPU (support for SSSE3)
    (Note: Moblin will not work on non-SSSE3 CPUs)
  • Graphics: Integrated Intel graphics (915/945/965)
  • Network Adaptors:
  • LAN/Wired:
    • Intel e100/e1000/e1000e/iXGB
    • PCNet32 (Vmware)
    • RealTek 8139/8169
    • SIS 900/190
    • Broadcom ATL1/ATL2
  • Wireless/Wifi:
    • Intel 3945/4965/5000
    • Atheros 5K/9K
    • Broadcom 4300
    • RealTek 8180/8187
    • Ralink 2400/2500/61/73

Moblin also supports various external, USB-based Wifi devices.

Unboxing The Benq S6


Day three and four of my Mid Moves tour and I’m switching devices. The Compal and it’s slide out keyboard stays behind, and is replaced with the BenQ S6. What’s in the box in hear you ask?

Let me show you…


Mid Moves (Ewan) – Unboxing the Benq S6 from Ewan Spence on Vimeo.

Now to see how the S6 copes on the road. If you’re keeping track, today’s element is AIR and the transport is BUS.

OQO 2+ on its way thanks to Intel and MIDMoves.


oqoe2 One advantage of running an Intel-sponsored MID event is that I get some nice kit to play with. In fact, the whole team gets some nice kit to play with on the tour. Between Jenn, Nicole, Ewan and myself we’ve got 4 different MIDs to test out. The Compal MID (not sure which ‘brand’ this will be yet) the Benq S6, the ClarionMiND and the OQO 2+. There’ll be 2 of each to be shared out and I’m getting an OQO 2+ and a Clarion Mind. The devices have been shipped by Intel from the US and we’re expecting them very soon. Jenn is also getting an OQO 2+ and I guess, as she’s in the US, she’ll be getting it first so watch closely over at Pocketables.net

The MIDMoves tour starts next Monday, the 19th and MIDMoves will be the place that we’ll all be reporting about the devices first. If I have time before the tour I’ll fire up the studio (still warm from CES coverage!) and do some live work with you. If I don’t have time during the tour, expect lots of coverage after it.

If you’ve been following MIDMoves, you’ll see that I’ve been getting into final planning. Roaming 3G costs have meant that I’m having to change my tour itinerary but there are some exciting things happening. In my latest post, I’ve been talking about geographically aware applications and services.

T-swivel still alive!


Jenn spotted that T-swivel UMPC. It’s still doing the rounds. First hands-on was nearly 2 years ago now. Will someone just sell it, please?

T-swivel ultra mobile PC concept at Marvell booth.

Follow Chippy on  TwitterFollow Chippy on  YouTube

Popular mobile computers on UMPCPortal

Acer C740
11.6" Intel Celeron 3205U
Acer Aspire Switch 10
10.1" Intel Atom Z3745
HP Elitebook 820 G2
12.5" Intel Core i5 5300U
Acer Aspire E11 ES1
11.6" Intel Celeron N2840
Acer C720 Chromebook
11.6" Intel Celeron 2955U
ASUS Zenbook UX305
13.3" Intel Core M 5Y10a
Dell Latitude E7440
14" Intel Core i5-4200U
Lenovo Thinkpad X220
12.5" Intel Core i5
Acer Chromebook 11 CB3-131
11.6" Intel Celeron N2807
Lenovo Ideapad Flex 10
10.1" Intel Celeron N2806

Find ultra mobile PCs, Ultrabooks, Netbooks and UMPCs quickly using the following links: