Answering some of the unanswered questions about the R50a, a new tablet-style ultra mobile PC from ASUS, is a review by the Spanish-language website Hispazone. Take a look at the article translation for a good 5-page run-down but don’t miss these points.

• 3.5 hours with connectivity options switched on.
• Max 50MB/s read speed on ssd. 20MB/s write.
• 3G, GPS, Fingerprint reader included.
• Included foldable USB keyboard.
• SDHC support (micro)
• No ethernet port.
• VGA out via adaptor.
• Origami Experience 2.0.

Its great to see ASUS still pushing forward with the mid-range UMPCs and moving on from the mediocre R2H and R2E products with high-end features and a slick design but it’s so sad to watch them avoiding the low-cost route. According to my sources, you’ll be paying around 1000 Euros for this which, in the current climate of belt-tightening, may not even appeal to the pro-mobile customers that are being targeted.

R50a datasheet.

Something strange is happening in the world of ASUS. In a back office, somewhere behind Eee-Towers, a product manager is battling to get the R50a out on the streets and the story that is coming through is about as clear as mud! Or should I say FUD?

Apart from the normal show appearances, we’ve seen the R50a hit the FCC (July 29th, USA) get an official press release (August 29th, Taiwan) appear in online stores in Portugal (Asus R50A-DV002C, 1019 Euro, 13th Sept, Portugal) and now, via JKKMobile, we hear that its been previewed in Germany by Toms Hardware. [translation link]

As JKK said, Vista on a 1.3Ghz Atom processor is not a great combination but if that SSD is fast, it might be acceptable. I’m still using Vista on the SC3 in certain situations and that has a relatively low-end HDD.  Remember that this had a hard-touch screen when we tested it at CeBIT and with the fingerprint reader, GPS, DVB-T (Germany) and 3G, the quoted price of 799 makes it an attractive pro-level mobile tablet. If the video codecs worked, I’d say that this would also make a nice video player but I see no evidence of any hardware decoding support out of the box (based on the Kohjinsha SC3 video playback problems) which takes away a big reason to have this device for many people. As it is, it remains targeted at pro-mobile users wanting natural input but even these users are going to have to wait for reall battery life figures before they make a purchase.

More links and details in the R50a info page.

Photo credit: Cnet Asia

Pocketables have some new information on the latest Porient tablet, the H12. Compared to the earlier H9 model its smaller (4.8″ compared to 7″) and has no hard disk but it looks like its still running their Linux OS. With the relatively old Xscale processor (as seen on the original Pepper Pad a few years ago – a rather slow browsing device if I may say so) it doesn’t appear to be able to compete with devices like new $500-range, Viliv X5 which will be running XP on an Atom processor so in terms of pricing, it just has to be sub $400 to be able to compete. Even at that price, the Nokia N800 which you can get for under $300, seems like a better option. This one really has to be $299 or less if it’s going to have a chance.

How about $199? would you buy it at that price? $199 is the price that Techcrunch want to offer their tablet and the device matches many of their core criteria apart from screen size (although you wouldn’t guess it from the renderings!)

Porient H12 and TC Tablet renderings.

Pocketables are in touch with Porient and are hoping to receive pricing soon. It’s going to be very interesting to see exactly what price Porient think the market will stand for this device.  Keep an eye on Pockatables.com for more info. In the meantime, I’ve put the details into our database so you can see which devices are similar. The BenQ S6 is one to watch out for if 4.8″ tablets are your thing.

Laptop Magazine, Hardware Canucks and Hardware Zone have all now published full reviews of the Gigabyte M912V, the 1280×768 version of the Gigabyte Netbook.

Nothing surprises me in any of the reviews. Laptop Mag, who published their review last month) highlights the battery life and the screen resolution as problem points along with small keyboard and lack of touch software. Hardware Canucks picks up on the same issues. Hardware Zone who, like LaptopMag, had a Vista version, highlights some exceptionally high battery drain figures.

I agree with most of the issues and documented the lowlights in my article after we did the live session with it in July. At least we all agree on the same things!

It really is a shame that the keyboard is the standard EeePC style keyboard as there’s definitely room for a better one. The styling could also do with some pep but some of those other issues might be cleared with the arrival of the M912M which is scheduled to be available next week.

Many of you that have been following the M912 screen saga will know that the M version, with it’s lower resolution 1024×600 screen, is said by Gigabyte to have the LED backlighting which should help on three counts. 1) Battery life. The 1280×768 CCFL-backlit screen seemed to suck exceptional amounts of power when I tested it so the LED-backlighting should help a huge amount. 10% less drain overall is the minimum I’m expecting but it could be up to 20% in some scenarios. This should take the device over the magic 3-hour battery life. 2) The brightness and contrast should be far better on the LED-backlit model.  3) There should be a reduction in heat both under normal use and in tablet mode.  I’m quite sure that Windows XP is going to help too.

The M912M also comes with a smaller disk, lower price and, in some cases (check with your reseller) there won’t be a Bluetooth module. Maybe this fits with your requirements, maybe not, but for me its turning out to be an attractive package that I’m looking forward to testing. The Medion Akoya Mini is good (very good actually) but I need Bluetooth and with the ability to reach 3hrs of online battery life (30 minutes more than the Akoya Mini/Wind) the possibility of an internal 3G upgrade (Note: Some reports are coming in that the PCI Express Mini slot is not working) an easy 2GB memory upgrade, easy access to the hard drive and a fun, convertible touchscreen, has me really interested in the 912M as a better alternative. We’ll see next week when we put the Everun Note, the Akoya Mini and the M912M side-by-side.

More info and links on the M912M product page.

It’s so funny. One of the last comments I wrote last night was that I thought the next Nokia Tablet would be based on Omap 3. Today, its confirmed. Dan (Thoughtfix) is out in Berlin and has just started live blogging. The other thing I wrote in my comment was ‘I’ll be extremely interested to see it, how fast it is, whether they include 3G/4G’ That seems to be happening too.

However, there has been no device announcement. It appears that Nokia are just giving details of the platform. The three previous tablets were seriously lacking in processing power and connectivity but this should fix all that. I just hope it doesn’t take so long.

Keep tuned to TabletBlog.com where Dan is updating.

See yesterdays news item about Ti OMAP for more info and links.

Update: InternetTabletTalk also have a brief news item

Watch Tablet Blog for news as Thoughtfix has just put a tip up. All he says is:

Major changes are on the way for the Nokia Internet Tablet line. Here’s the partial scoop: The "Internet Tablet" line may be ending in name but the maemo platform is going strong. Wait a few hours, watch this space, and there will be more.

New hardware platform? Moving to X86? Built in WWAN? Keep watching  TabletBlog.com to find out what’s happening. Thoughtfix is at the Open Source in Mobile conference in Berlin. I’m almost tempted to jump on a train and go up there!

Update: Ari Jaaksi of Nokia’s software group speaks at 11:55 (just over an hour away as I write this.)

Live From OSiM. The Last Internet Tablet.

To help you edge yourself into another working week, here are a few news items from the weekend.

Fujitsu P1630 appearing at FCC. It looks like Fujitsu might introduce a Montevina-based, Dual-Core 1.4Ghz version of the well-respected P1620/P1610. Its getting a new chipset too which includes the GMA X4500 GPU, a much more powerful option than the previous GMA950 which includes better video playback quality. It also means you can play those business-related shoot-em-ups and flick through cover-flow that much faster in your meetings! No words on price or availability on this, the most powerful 8.9″ convertible seen yet. I’ve added a P1630 product page.

Toshiba SD Multi. An interesting dual-screen portable device designed for editing content on SD cards. Which is a strange focus as the device is also said to be able to surf the internet which means its at least Wifi-capable. No word on OS which gives us no clues about processor which gives us no clues as to whether this is at the high or low-end of the mobile internet scale. At a target price of $300 though, I suspect its not the FIE.

The Techcrunch Tablet. I respect anyone that publicly goes for a big project like this… [article continues]

Read the full story

The device was apparently first announced at Computex. I don’t recall reading any news on it but it did make me laugh. Just look at the headline:

Albatron’s “Tee PC inch is all that you need with not an inch to spare

As the article on HotHardware.com mentions, it comes out of the box with Windows CE 6.0 and everything you need preloaded: WordPad, MediaPlayer and Internet Explorer…right. The device has both WiFi and Bluetooth, weighs 343 grams, has a 400Mhz ARM926 processor, 128 MB of RAM and 128MB of flash memory. On the device itself there is an SD card slot, a camera, and a headphone jack while the included docking station has two USB ports, built in speakers and line in/out. Assuming you can get a good time-telling application, it would make for a decent bedside alarm clock ;)

Quick Update: The dimensions are 18.8×11.3x 1.3 cm, and the screen is 7 inches. 

Source: HotHardware.com