This story is getting more interesting by the minute. We told you yesterday that Oqo.cc appears to be set to launch a Model 03 OQO ultra mobile PC in Q3 2010 (more specifically, August, according to the site). Now it looks like the official US OQO site (which hasn’t seen any updates since the company went out of business in April, 2009) has been tampered with.

According to a comment on the story on Engadget, the site was briefly updated with text at the bottom stating “We did not sell out to Audiotone. Anything by them is a Clone. inch This text has since been removed, however a peculiar link on the site remains (which certainly wasn’t there yesterday before our story). At the bottom right of each page on the site, a single word, “Brains! inch links to: http://www.brains4zombies.com/ which appears to be a parody page of Amazon, and is somehow connected to the web comic hosted at http://www.goats.com/.

A very odd hack if you ask me. I’m unsure of exactly what to make of this, but if you know something more about these sites than we do, definitely let us know in the comments.

The entire site is in Chinese, but I’ve extracted as much info as I could using Google Translate.

Oqo.cc appears to be the official Chinese arm of OQO An article on the site dated December 12, 2007 notes that “Austrian Technologies Co., Ltd. Beijing Century OQO exclusive commissioned by the United States, will complete the Greater China business. inch It would seem as though Oqo.cc went into hibernation after the US OQO went out of business, but now they have returned.

In an article dated July 18th, 2010, the OQO’s return is heralded with the hilariously translated headline “Return of the King! OQO Model 03 heavy equipment listed! inch The new Model 03 is of the Atom variety and features a 1.2GHz Z515, 1.6GHz Z530, 1.86GHz Z540, or 2.0GHz Z550, depending on the edition. Other notable changes include Windows 7, “WCDMA \ EVDO \ TD-SCDMA and other 3G network support inch, and supposedly a multi-touch screen. The same article says that this device will be launched in the “third quarter of 2010”.

Check out the specs list for the top end “Special for the Version of Industry inch model (I think it’s safe to assume that this means Special Industry Edition):

Looks cool huh? It’s still going to be an ultra-premium product just like the Model 2+ that 31,888 yuan is around $4700 USD!

As far as I can see, there is nowhere to purchase any of the OQO’s that are offered on the site at the moment. I’ve dispatched an email to the company to see if they really will be selling the Model 03. Fingers-crossed for this legendary UMPC. We’ll keep you updated as we find more info.

One of the guys from the Viliv Boys’ Blog has put Windows 7 on a recently aquired OQO 02, and claims to be thoroughly enjoying it. The interface definitely looks cramped on the OQO 02’s 800×480 screen, and despite some initial issues it sounds like everything is functional. Just goes to show that a great ultra mobile PC will never die, even if the company behind it shuts its doors.

This is strange. I was thinking about the 1.86Ghz version of the Atom CPU this morning and wondering why there hadn’t been many devices using it. The OQO 2+ was the only device I’ve ever tested with it and it worked well, even with windows Vista!

The first story I find on Yahoo News this morning is one about the OQO 2+ sales on Ebay. We’ve already reported on one that sold for 4.5K after the company went down but it seems that there’s another one on ebay now, presumably coming from an ex-employee or partner that had production samples. Bidding for this one has already passed the 5K mark which is rather stupid considering this isn’t a one-off device and if it’s from the same production run that I tested will have a few issues. Battery life, heat and noise weren’t quite 100%!

“It’s not a final production sample and therefore it’s impossible to talk about battery life, noise and heat with any degree of accuracy. I have been a little disappointed that the device wouldn’t reach 3hrs online on a single charge but I also get the feeling, after looking at detail at power drain on various components, that there’s another 10-20% to be squeezed out of the device” [One-week with the OQO 2+ review]

More info and links here for people that are thinking of buying. Oh, and if you see this sticker on it, it’s the one I had! [Maybe that serial number helps to ID the device on Ebay?]

Is OQO Model 2+ Becoming a Collector’s Item? – PC World.

I hope the answer is no, however, if yes someone has already beat you to the punch.

As you’ll recall, the OQO Model 2+ was shown off at CES 09 where it made a pretty big splash around the web with its OLED screen and Intel Atom CPU. Unfortunately OQO went under before the Model 2+ made it to market.

A pre-release model made it way onto Ebay, and the ensuing bids pushed the unit up to $4,500 for the winner. It would be pretty cool to be one of a few people to actually own a Model 2+, but I think for most of us, it would be hard to justify that price!

[Engadget]

What a shame. One of the companies at the core of the ultra mobile PC movement and with a history that goes back beyond my first blogs about the topic has gone under. The confirmation came through GottaBeMobile and all we’re left with is the thought about what could have been with the OQO 2+ Atom-based ultra mobile PC that we first spotted on stage at Intel’s IDF Sept 2008.

The economic slowdown, netbooks, the increasing capabilities of smartphones and the introduction of some lower-cost ultra mobile computing options were obviously too much to bear for a company that kept a tight focus at the top end of the ultra mobile PC market with their innovative designs. From the high quality keyboard including sticky keys with indicators to pulsing LED power cables, external battery chargers and desktop docks, they always put the extra effort in to make the whole product suite as complete as possible.

OQO is trying to seal a deal for the technology and engineering teams so we keep our fingers crossed that they managed to find a new, exciting venture for them. We also hope they manage to find a way to repair and return owners broken OQO devices that still haven’t been recieved back by the owners yet.

Originally posted 15th April.

It’s been confirmed today that OQO is seeking a buyer. Naturally, this affects the OQO 2+ which is not likely to go into production until the financial problems are sorted out.

The company’s cash shortage could delay the delivery of Model 2+, said Bob Rosin, OQO’s senior vice president of sales and marketing told with The Wall Street Journal.

There arent any more details at this point.

Update: 23rd April. BuildYourUMPC.com send out a note on the 22nd April saying:

We have been informed that the 2+ will not be released and all pre-orders currently on file will be cancelled.

We also will not be receiving any new OQO inventory. Any remaining inventory has been discounted and posted in our Open Box/Clearance section on our website.

OQO have not responded to our requests for an official statement.

Struggling OQO seeks buyer News – PC Advisor.

jkOnTheRun have relayed some rumors from the OQOTalk forum that there are problems over at OQO. The rumors have been around for a while and we even contacted OQO about them a few weeks ago but at the moment there’s nothing much that we can be sure of. The official line from OQO was that the OQO 02/e2 was no longer being produced and that the production line was being re-tooled for the OQO 2+. We also found out that the UK-based global sales manager is no longer with the company.

With devices like the Aigo and UMD around and a global financial slowdown in progress, it’s not difficult to imagine a scenario where OQO are having to re-organise and re-finance the new production run so we keep our fingers crossed that they can pull through because not only is the OQO 2+ a good step forward [prototype review] but they have design skills that we’d really like to see put to work on an OQO 3.