According to [url=http://www.forbes.com/markets/feeds/afx/2006/05/22/afx2765176.html]Forbes[/url] Samsung is going to be releasing the first NAND flash-based solid state disk computers in June.

Both the Samsung Q1 and the Q30, a 12.1-inch screen notebook PC systems wil be released with this new type of storage.

The article also states the Samsung Q1 will be released with a DMB TV receiver when it gets the new upgrade.

Samsung says the flash-based solid state disk allows faster booting, greater durability, quieter operation, and increased battery life and read data three times faster and write data 1.5 times quicker. This speed allows Windows XP to boot 25%-50% faster than on a normal hard drive.

Of coure all of this new functionality and quiet data accessing looks to come at a price because the article claims the Q1 is going to now have a price tag of $2,430 which quite a bit higher than it currently is.

So this likely higher higher price will probably drive people from buying this souped up model if the original cheaper model is available for purchase at the same time. (unless they can’t get the cheaper version in Korea)

Full Press Release Below… Read the full story

After a long wait for the Origmi UMPC’s to go on sale in Europe its finally happened. Today I recieved an Easybook P7 from Paceblade for review and testing over the next 3-4 days. Its the first ultra mobile PC to be released in Europe.

The Paceblade P7 (click for specs.) is a version of the Amtek 700 which is also being branded by Tablet Kiosk in the U.S. and UK.

Ignoring the battery issues that we know are being investigated, it impressive! I’m also quite suprised at how small it really is. We’ve seen a lot of pictures but it still feels smaller than I imagined. Its responsive too although somehow, fresh windows installs always seem quick until you’ve installed all the extra software you need.

Screen definition is excelent and i’m impressed at how good the non-native resolutions are (800×600, 1024×600.)

Paceblade have added a full-screen keyboard to the software bundle and this should enable more reliable on-screen typing. The touch screen is ‘palm resistant’ which also means you need to touch it with fingernails or the pen. We’ll be ‘living’ with all the input methods over the next three days to see what the advantages of each are.

The orange mouse pointer is nice to use and as a left-handed writer it works out extremely well to have the mouse going in one hand and writing or pointing in the other.

First reaction from my wife was ‘its not that pretty is it.’ which was followed shortly by ‘wow, its a full PC!” My daughter was rather excited too when I showed her Barbie.com in all its flash-enhanced glory!

Over the next few days I’ll be using it in as many situations as possible from the early morning bedside email check to watching digital TV in the garden via a USB stick. I’ll try it out in the car, boot linux, stream music and videos and take a lot of pictures! I’ll also try and work out what it means to the home user and the business user.

Regards
Steve / Chippy.

[img]https://www.umpcportal.com/origami/images/eoVista.jpg[/img]

John Tokash successfully got Microsoft Windows Vista running on a TabletKiosk eo.

According to a [url=http://blog.tokash.org/2006/05/20/more-about-vista-on-the-tabletkiosk-eo/]post on his blog[/url] it runs and he can use it but he has not been able to WiFi working.

He also has [url=http://blog.tokash.org/2006/05/19/vista-on-an-eo/]a nice walkthrough[/url] of how to get everything setup to install it on the device.
Read the full story

[img]https://www.umpcportal.com/origami/images/sony_umpc_apart.jpg[/img]

Kevin Tofel from [url=http://jkontherun.blogs.com/jkontherun/2006/05/sony_vaio_uxser.html]jkontherun.com[/url] sent me a [url=http://www.vaio.sony.co.jp/Products/Concept/Vision/index.html?product=typeU]link to a page on sony.com[/url] last week that shows off the Sony Vaio UX in all of its 360 degrees of glory.

The flash demo includes a tour of all of the different features including a video demo which features a person in a bear costume who skips, runs, and does the moonwalk. Eventually the bear gets tired and takes of his head and someone runs up and steals it from him.

Also [url=http://plusd.itmedia.co.jp/pcupdate/articles/0605/16/news002.html]itmedia.co.jp has a news story[/url] with some pictures of the Sony Vaio taken apart. (one is shown above.)

I realize this device isn’t considered an Origami and is known as a microPC but I think it looks really good so I wanted to show it off a little more. Read the full story

It looks like Pepperpad have been listening and watching the ultra mobile PC market very closely. The Pepperpad Plus has been spotted and its more than just a software update on the original Pepperpad.

Patron emailed me with a link to the forums over at Mobiletechreview where Lisa G, the editor, has posted information.

The most significant thing about the Pepperpad plus is that it uses an AMD processor. Its the AMD Geode LX800 processor – a 500Mhz 3.9W TDP device presumably developed from the National Semiconductor Geode range that AMD took over. We’ll take a good look at this processor now and report back in another post.

The Plus is smaller than the original Pepperpad, with a 7″ screen. It has a new keyboard (no more rubber keys), new Wifi hardware, BT hardware, camera, updated Linux kernel and well, pretty much everything that it needed to bring it right into the middle of ultra mobile PC territory. In fact, if the mention of $500 retail price is correct, this makes it a very attractive Ultra-mobile PC. Launch is expected in the Summer.

If Nokia release a new tablet device as they’ve been saying, its going to go head-to-head with this device. Nokia had a clear territory in the $400-$600 range but the first challenger is already on the field.

We’ve added the “plus” to the product portal here so take a look at the specs and watch the RSS feed for new info links that we’ll add as we see them.

This matches the Carrypad concept specification almost perfectly and becuase of that, we obviously think its going to hit the sweet spot nicely. I wonder if we can re-badge them and sell them as Carrypads. I’ll have a word with Pepperpad!

Regards
Steve / Chippy

Tablet Kiosk partners in the UK – PocketPC Solutions – have just emailed to say that the [url=https://www.umpcportal.com/products/product.php?id=12]Tablet Kiosk eo [/url] MIC driver update is now available. on their website.

This is the same driver update that John Tokash succesfuly tested for TK on Friday.

The driver update is available here.
We’ll update when we get info about other download sites.

Now all we need is that damned elusive power patch. PocketPC Solutions have a placeholder on their web page for the patch – keep a lookout for changes!

Steve / Chippy. Read the full story

Tablet Kiosk partners in the UK – PocketPC Solutions – have just emailed me to say that the Tablet Kiosk eo MIC driver update is available on their website.

This is the same driver update that John Tokash succesfuly tested for TK on Friday.

The driver update is available here.

Now all we need is that damned elusive power patch. PocketPC Solutions have a placeholder on their web page for the patch – keep a lookout for changes!

Steve / Chippy.

VIA, Intel and AMD have all developed ranges of ultra low-power CPU’s. Some of these CPU’s are now being used in ultramobile PC’st. Here’s is a technical overview of the CPU’s and chipsets. Read the full story