This is totally unplanned so it should work out perfectly!

Update: The Live Session is over.
I’ll be writing a follow-up soon but please check out the recorded videos on YouTube – They’re well worth watching.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?p=PL21405378FDB03DF9

Late notice: Sascha has turned up in my neighborhood with the Playbook, Transformer and iPad2. I have the Tab 7, HTC Flyer, and Iconia Tab A500 in the studio so it makes sense, while we have the opportunity,  to go live!

We are live right now! Meetmobility.com/live

The chat is open already so if you’re looking at a tablet purchase in the next weeks, get over there now because this is a rare opportunity to see the best. The tablets aren’t bad either!

Spread the word.

@chippy and @Sascha_p on Twitter for latest information.

The HTC Flyer I ordered on Friday has literally just arrived at the door and Im looking forward to ripping this open and seeing how it compares to the Galaxy Tab which is currently the most popular 7″ tablet on the market and has been a very good companion to me for over 6 months now. Expect an unboxing video soon. The Live Review will be held on Wednesday evening at 2100 CEST (Berlin.)

In terms of features, there are definitely a few to talk about and some that are unique to the Flyer ensuring at least some sales. The #1 feature is the digitizer input layer and active pen that integrates with a special input mode on the Flyer. Annotations and notes.made though this layer can be captured into the Evernote cloud storage, OCR and search application. It’s a well known and well trusted application and the integration will carry a lot of value. I hope a full Evernote license is included for offline notes.

There’s also the 1.5Ghz CPU to consider. It should provide a noticeable jump in performance over the Galaxy Tab.

There are two major issues to consider and either of these could be show-stoppers. Firstly, assuming you want to use a 7″ tablet for pen input (something I’ve never been a big fan of over the years that I’ve been reporting about tablets) you’ve got to remember to take the pen with you. There’s no integrated.storage which is really quite an issue. I’ll have to test that all-important palm rejection too.

Then there’s the price. As i write this, the Flyer 16Gb WiFi version is €499. The Galaxy Tab WiFi is available for €269. This issue will reduce over time as margins reduce but it may never catch up with the price of the Tab due to the screen technology used. You’ve got to be a pen-input fan that remembers to take the pen or someone that really really needs the extra CPU power.

Or are the other features worth considering? It’s true that not many tablets offer video content for download and streaming so HTC Watch will be an important service to check out. If the content and price is good, it’s a great feature. OnLive-CloudGaming is also a feature to check out. Dual-location on-frame buttons (that enable and disable depending on rotation) Skype video and HTC Sense are also unique features.I’ll also be interested in the ‘HD’ video recording  support and other hidden features that are sure to crop up.

On the downside, it looks like there’s no voice stack (I assume that includes SMS, MMS and Video calling (over UMTS) support. Its something I use a lot on the Galaxy Tab thatnks to Multi-SIM. I get the same number on my Tab and my smartphone.

Is there enough to entices people here? As time goes by and the price comes down into the same range as the Galaxy Tab and Acer Iconia Tab A100, I think there will.

Stay tuned here for the unboxing or subscribe to Twitter, RSS Facebook, or YouTube for notifications.

Thanks to everyone (350+ people) that dropped in on the live session with the Acer Iconia Tab A500 last night. I have to say that there’s no better way than to spend a focused 3 hours testing a new device than with a camera and knowledgeable audience!

We recorded three sections of the live session and the important notes and videos are below.  I will continue to test the A500 and if I find anything of major importance, will report it here. You’ll find further reports on Honeycomb over at UMPCPortal as I take on the task of tracking productivity apps that become available in the ecosystem.

So far I’m seeing good hardware from both looks, materials and an efficiency perspective but a number of software problems from the OS to the apps level that really fall below expectations. At 499 Euro I would expect to see multiple video codec support, a supplied micro HDMI cable and at least a simple stand or case. With the stability issues and application issues seen,  it raises a red flag at the moment. Unless you need the Iconia Tab A500 (and this applies to the other 2 Honeycomb Tablets available right now) I’d say wait for two things. 1) Price drop of about 15-20% should arrive within months. 2) Asses ongoing firmware updates and progress of Android applications for Honeycomb. Of course, you’ll also need to track future products from competitors. The Galaxy Tab 10.1 is likely to be available in the next week or two.

Notes:

• Battery life: 6hrs full use. WiFi, 50% screen, testing. I suspect you could run it dry by gaming on it for 5 hours but on the other hand, you might get more than 6hrs use if you’re gentle on it.
• Battery life: 100hrs on, WiFi,  screen off. In idle state, with the Wifi on and screen off and with the device set to synchronize various apps, it will last between 75 and 100 hours. (Up to 4 days.) That’s a good figure.

Here’s the battery drain graph showing our testing, an overnight ‘sleep’ and some work I did with it today.

More notes:

• Honeycomb observation: Why no HD available through YouTube application?
• Stability. When using a USB keybaord the device crashed 4 or 5 times. I also saw the A500 crash twice without the keyboard but under heavy testing. Stability could be better.
• Screen resolution and viewing angles are very good. Color, contrast too. Brightness average.
• PDF one-page view is readable. That’s something you can’t do on a 7″ tablet, whatever the resolution.
• Speakers clear, loud
• Finish of design is excellent. Metal back gives it a stylish look and feel.
• MicroSD card works. 3G Card slot is blocked off on this Wifi-only model.
• Docking port was a surprise. No details of what is passed through that though.
• No MicroHDMI cable supplied to test the HDMI output.
• No extra codecs. (WMV, Divx and other formats don’t play) Have yet to see a 1080p file play back on the device.
• Camer quality and video quality is so-so.
• Gtalk video quality also, so-so. Easy to use though.
• Weight (and this applies to many 10″ tablets) is still too heavy for one-hand holding for any length of time.
• No built-in, or supplied stand
• No USB mouse support
• USB keyboard and mass storage supported. 3G dongle not tested.
• Honeycomb apps seem few and far between. Existing apps in Market are often for portrait mode only and do not use all the space well.
• Performance is comparable with other Honeycomb/Tegra2 tablets.
• There’s possibly a Gyroscope sensor that improves responsiveness in games that use it. (Unconfirmed)
• Compass, GPS confirmed.
• Skype audio works without headset (built-in mic and speakers work. Rear faceng speakers help cut down feedback)
• Google Earth impressive
• No noticable heat build-up
• Power cable only 1M in length
• Approx 28GB of 32GB free for user storage.
• Acer includes non-standard multimedia apps.

Videos:

Part 1 – Overview

Part 2 – Testing Browser and Performance

Part 3 – Further testing. Video, Cam, Batt, USB

Thanks to Techdepot who reached out to us yesterday we’ve got a Galaxy Tab in our hands. Well we think it’s a Galaxy Tab we haven’t opened the box yet!

Expect an unboxing video later today and then at 2100 CEST (Berlin time) [Update: Live session postponed until Friday, 15th] lets sit down together and go over the device in detail. We’ll turn the cameras on the device and give you a chance to watch some detailed testing. We’ll also have a chat channel open for Q&A as we go.

Live at 2100 CEST on Friday 15th Carrypad.com/live – Tega V2 too!

Watch out for the unboxing video on Carrypad later today.

Unboxing now live here!

In about an hour I’ll be starting the live blog from Intel’s developer forum here in San Francisco. You may have read new from the keynote yesterday but today’s keynotes are the more important ones for those looking at the Atom ecosystem of mobile-focused computing. We’ll see Rene James announcing a number of important progressions in the MeeGo, AppUp and Appup Developer Program (formerly Atom Developer Program) and all indicators point to big news. We expect AppUp to be announced as final (‘Gold’, out of beta) and we expect to see some new software partners on stage. Gaming and tablets will be on stage (WeTab has to make an appearance as the first MeeGo product.) Following Rene we’ll hear from Doug Davis from the embedded and communications group. I hope to hear about Moorestown, Oaktrail and Medfield in this keynote but we might see it more focused towards in-vehicle entertainment and SmartTV. They use different Atom-based platforms.

Live blogging with test and images will start in about an hour from this post. After the keynote i’ll be attending a special session with the AppUp teams so expect some more details later.

(Refresh this page to update Sorry, no auto-updating!)

0850: We’re seated

0905 Intro Recap of Day 1 Rene James comes on stage after intro video highlights user experience.

0907 Rene – “Computing has transformed from something we do to something we feel inch

"Evolution of tablets"
Tablets are not new.
Have been around or 20 years (old tablet shown)
WeTab now on screen
Breakthrough is due to touch, user interfaces.

Rene moves on to Intel Software strategy and the acquisitions: Cilk, Wind river, Havok, Virutech and more

[Note: We’re having some problems uploading from the keynote.]

Rene  highlights investment in developers and tools.

‘Support for Android’ mentioned.

Andrew Bond of Havok on stage talking about immersive computer games. They make game middleware.

0923: Demo of ‘cloth technologies’

Amazing cloth simulation demo. No more short skirts in games?

Havok announces that their technology will be freely available for people developing for AppUp store

0930: AppUp

450,000 users in AppUp
23000 members
Windows and Meego platforms.
Runtime applications are supported.
Rewards are mentioned. E.g. Developer challenge.

Grand Prize winner announced – Goal! Demonstrated on screen. I’ve played with this and i’m sure that there’s better to come.

Goal also demonstrated on MeeGo
Ported ‘within a few days’

Prize is shown – they win a car!

0933: MeeGo

Highlights:

DeviceVM Splashtop Meego Remix announced.

Rene highlights netbooks, netbooks. Gentech mediaphone (OpenPeak) also highlighted.

New tablet —- WeTab also highlights.

Stephan CTO of 4tiitoo (WeTab partner and the guy I was on the plane with coming over!) is on stage.

MeeGo for TV now highlighted. This is something new.

New platform for Smart Television. Is this SmartTV?

Video being shown.

Amino now on stage demonstrating the MeeGo TV system. How does this sit with the Google SmartTV project? Confusing.

Amino system looks good. Smooth. HD. Cloud content integrated. Its shipping now apparently.

AppUp goes live / gold

Announces that AppUp Developer Program is the new name for the program.

Peter Biddle announces that AppUp is Gold.

0945 AppUp Experience and ApUp Elements event (we’re doing a podcast there on Thursday) is highlighted.

New partners announced for AppUp.

Dixons Retail will use the AppUp

Currys will use AppUp

Croma will promote AppUp

BestBuy will promote AppUp.

Sega is in the AppUp store! Megadrive classics coming.

Barnes and Noble coming

Unity coming to AppUp store.

More details on these announcements later after our private session at 11pm.

Rene finishes. Doug Davis on stage now. Here’s the Atom section.

Doug Starts with Atom in the compute continuum and some future thoughts. Telemetry, Digital Signs, home storage networks. Suprises us all (!) by telling us these products are real and are all internet connected.

Again, there’s the ‘port of choice’ capability statement. Windows, MeeGo, Android, VXWorks etc.

70M Atom cpus have been shipped into netbooks.
E-Series is a new series for embedded apps. I guess its Tunnel Creek

Boxee Box announced as an Atom-based product. Others too:

More talk about TV

10:09

New media-focused platform announced CE4200 (Aka Groveland)

Partner and products announced too.

Mobile Devices:
Doug talks about the launch of Z6xx series CPU.
10x in thermal power 50x platform idle power we’ve heard before.

Aava phone shown on stage.

‘We’re on track’ for smartphones.

Tablet PCs now being highlighted.

Exopc, CIUS, WeTab etc.

Oaktrail for tablets Looks like a streak!

Doug talks a lot about Windows 7

2 devices running Oaktrail shown.

Both running windows 7

Dell turns up on stage with new tablet.

10 inch Dual-core Windows 7. “Most powerful 10 inch tablet inch

OK. Everyone got a bit excited there. Full Dell 10 inch tablet image set here.

https://www.umpcportal.com/2010/09/first-pics-dell-10-dual-core-win7-convertible/

Now we’re looking at embedded platforms and applications. Intel announced Tunnel Creek as the new E-series Atom range.

More information on that here.

We’re winding down here. ‘Whats next’ says Doug.

Stellarton sneak peek. FPGA on-die with Atom CPU for major flexibility.

That’s it. Thanks for watching.

Looking forward to some hands-on with the Dell Tablet if possible.

We’ve got a day off from the chaos of IFA today while we participate in the Intel Developers Day in Berlin.(Facebook page)  We’re hearing about Atom, Meego, AppUp and other elements of the ecosystem. We’re also trying our best to stream it out via MeetMobility. Check out Meetmobility Live for the current stream. Some will be  in German and we’re at risk from bandwidth limitations.

WeTab is also here:

Tegra2 testing begins tonight because within the next 3 hours I expect the AC100 to be delivered. It’s on the DHL truck roll so unless anything unexpected happens, we’ll be unboxing a true retail package (yes, one we bought ourselves)  later.

The Toshiba AC100 is the first Tegra2 device to hit Europe and only the second true smartbook to hit any global market. We’ve already reviewed the Airlife 100 so now its time to see if Toshiba and Tegra can bring anything new to the table.

Oh, and of course we’ll be running an Email Notification Rave so bring a few beers and join in. “‘Here come the emails!”

Live VIDEO Q&A and chat session on Carrypad.com/live tonight at 2200 Berlin time (1600 New York, see other locations. Approx 11 hours from the time of this post.)

JKKMobile will join to help moderate this independant review session.

We’re sorry for the late notice but with IFA creeping up on us it’s now or never! We hope you can drop in. (parts of the session will be recorded.)

First things first, Pocketables have a full review of the Viliv N5 up. They seem to be very happy with the device although there’s confirmation that there’s no video-out port. It’s been blanked-off. Click-through for the full review.

After you’ve read the review, don’t forget that despite the high possibility that my N5 won’t turn up in time, JKKMobile is getting his and we’re planning a live session. This will happen today (Monday 28th) at 2130 CEST (1230pm San Francisco. Other times here.) on the UMPCPortal and JKKMobile live channel.

Update: Live review is finished now but the recordings are available.

Specifications, information, images and links for the Viliv N5 here.

There will be a live video and audio feed along with a chat channel for questions and discussions. I hope you can make it. I hope my Viliv N5 can make it too! If not, my UMID BZ will be there as a comparison. We’ll try and include comparison thoughts about the UH900 too.

We will try to record the main part of the session.

See you on the live channel and follow/check here for any late announcements/updates.

Update: Live review is finished now but the recordings are available.