HP To Release Consumer Friendly UMPC

Several sources are reporting that HP are working on a UPMC which will have broad consumer appeal. They claim that "you won't even need to consider this purchase. You'll buy it like a handphone without a thought". I just hope that it'll be a windows based device because I've had it with windows mobile and all the other flavours of OS on the market. This device is considered to be a lifestyle accessory, that will attract the youth market and professionals alike. Thanks to the C-Net blog Crave for this one, read more at the link.

HTC Shift To Arrive In Europe Soon

News is that the much awaited HTC Shift will be hitting European stores sometime in the next 2 weeks. According to several sources Orange will be releasing a branded version of the product for their customers. I can't wait to try one ...

Palm Foleo and Other UMPCs a Tech Dead-End?

The Palm Foleo is an interesting little device. Despite very slow acceptance and mostly skeptical interest in the Foleo and other sub-notebook computers, several Ultra Mobile PC (UMPC) makers are releasing new and more powerful models including FIC's CE261 and EB's MID UMPC. I still haven't figured out what these things are actually good for, but perhaps my optometrist can suggest some new lenses powerful enough to let me use a UMPC screen long enough to get some use out of it before a headache sets in. Go to FIC or EB to get a better look. FIC is one of the Best Choice 2007 award winners at the massive Computex trade show in Taipei. The Fujitsu Lifebook has also been around for a little while, but it's hard to find and the price is hard to justify. As usual, market research and some serious consumer uptake will tell the tale, but so far there's very little movement toward UMPCs in North America. Some people are touting UMPCs for digital image storage in the field. But if you already need at least a 12" screen to do basic editing, what good is a comparatively tiny 7" UMPC screen? And if you just don't need to haul a laptop around, why not just buy an Epson P-5000?

Fujitsu To Release UMPC With Twisty Screen

laptoping.com have posted an article showing a picture of the new UMPC from Fujitsu showing a tablet pc convertible like look, which features a twisty screen, Intel's Stealey processor, 1GB of memory, and a 40GB drive.

Cathena CX UMPC

Data Evolution, announced their first UMPC for the North American market. The Cathena CX, is designed to be a fully functional, small form factor computer. This Windows XP based UMPC, features a seven-inch touchscreen, measures 8.6" x 6.4" x 1" and weighs about 2.2 pounds. Other features include; a good sized QWERTY keyboard, a AMD Geode LX800 processor, 802.11 b/g wireless, Bluetooth 2.0 support, 512MB of starting RAM, a hard drive starting at 40GB, a rechargeable battery which offers about five hours of usage, a touch pad, five-way directional joystick, built-in speakers, USB 2.0 support and a multi-format memory card reader. The new Cathena CX has an SRP of around $800. For more information visit Data Evolution.

HTC Shift - UMPC For Mobile Users

At last a UMPC aimed at current users who are using Pocket PCs and other mobile devices. The Shift features a 1024x600, 7 inch, touch screen display, Windows Vista, a 30-gigabyte hard drive, a QWERTY keyboard, Windows Media Player 11, Tri-Band UMTS/HSDPA, Quad-Band GSM/GPRS/EDGE, WiFi and Bluetooth 2.0 and much more ... for more info visit the product page. This is one unit, I'll be looking at, quite seriously...

Samsung UMPC Upgrade Confirmed

Engadget announce that Samsung are planning to release the Q2. Features look to include a thinner profile with split keyboard on either side of the screen, a new 1,024 x 600 'WSVGA' resolution and connectivity features with wireless b/g, Bluetooth 2.0, HSDPA and WiBro, a non-Intel CPU, a 1.3MP digital camera and VGA camera for video conferencing and fingerprint scanner.

Vulcan Flipstart

What do you get when you cross a laptop, a handful of modelling clay and then beat it with an ugly stick? - The Vulcan Flipstart. As much as I like portability, this UMPC just fails to excite me ... sure the specs look interesting, but I can't help but think of it as the pitbull of ultraportables. for more info visit flipstartpc.com. Who knows I might change my mind after I try it...