ASUS’ R50a UMPC might have been over-shadowed by the company’s all-encompassing Eee PC project, but that doesn’t mean the 5.6-inch touchscreen handheld has gone away. Spanish-language site Hispazone have been playing with the Menlow-based device, and come away both feeling that it’s a great improvement over the previous-generation R2H but still not entirely convincing.
As UMPC manufacturers put their embarrassing early attempts behind them, it’s interesting to see what direction each takes as they refresh their model lines and try to cater for that elusive “mobile professional”. While Samsung caved to the QWERTY brigade and included a dinky thumb-keyboard, ASUS is standing proudly by their touchscreen-or-the-highway morals with their new R3.
Check out a launch video of the R3 after the cut
I kid you not, the drool is pouring from my mouth and splashing in chunky globules around my quivering feet. We’ve covered the US700 UMPC before, marvelling at specs and video, but this is the first time I’ve seen it set next to another of Microsoft’s stable of ultraportables. The unlucky comparison in this case is ASUS’ R2H, not generally considered to be all that plump a device, but when sat lumpenly next to the 20.5mm thick US700 it looks decidedly old-hat.
That James Kendrick is a lucky swine. I’m not sure which ASUS executive he had to bribe/seduce in order to manage it, but he’s got his hands on one of the first R2H UMPCs running Windows Vista Ultimate. It’s no slouch, apparently, zipping along like a sugar-charged toddler with 1GB of RAM, and he’s already had time to be impressed by the new Origami Experience preloaded.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: give me Engadget’s inbox and I’ll give you, um, well, I’d give you a fresh English pound. They’ve hit Send/Receive and found some leaked photos of Samsung’s replacement for the dishy Q1 UMPC, uninspiringly named the Q2. At first it looks like it has a bigger screen, but actually it’s still 7-inches (although the resolution is a much bigger 1024×600 WSVGA) which means they’ve slimmed down the casing. It was never too chunky to begin with, so that can only be a good thing.
For anyone considering using their UMPC as an in-car GPS device, you’ll want to be watching GottaBeMobile’s latest InkShow video. In it they take the ASUS R2H out and put its in-built sat-nav receiver to the test, using Microsoft’s MapPoint 2006 to plan a route and test out the audio directions.
At $998 retail it would be difficult to justify the R2H simply for its abilities in guiding you, but as part of the unit’s overall capabilities it’s another string to this accomplished UMPC’s bow. If you plan to use it or another UMPC in the car then you might be interested in The Carrypad UMPC Journal’s information on different mounting solutions, too.
ASUS R2H GPS InkShow [GottaBeMobile]
I always think that Sunday is a great day for brewing some coffee, settling down and reading the latest tech reviews, and should you feel the same way (and be a fan of the UMPC concept) here’s another to keep you occupied. Only UMPC have taken a long, hard look at the Asus R2H, possibly the most attractive of the commercially available devices, and given their opinion on whether you should pull on some pants and go buy it.
Goodness, it’s a veritable orgy – an orgy, I tell you! – of unboxing photos today. the next under the kinky lens of the photographer (”honestly, darling, everybody does topless unboxing photos these days”) is ASUS’ greatly anticipated R2H UMPC, certainly the poster-child of the mini-Tablet revolution and, since its announcement following Microsoft’s all-too-successful Origami teaser campaign, the subject of plentiful spec speculation.
Mobile01.com got their hands on a boxed-up retail R2H and proceeded to encourage it out of its packaging. I must confess, my language skills aren’t much cop and so I’m not having much luck with the text of the article; however, there’s plenty of detail in the pictures…
A Dutch UMPC enthusiast has just taken delivery of a decidedly shiny and attractive ASUS R2H – one of the eagerly anticipated models demonstrated back when the concept shed its Origami disguise but lagging behind the Samsung Q1 and TabletKiosk’s various offerings.
Although it lacks the promised webcam, Origami Project user ZhuBaJie was pleased to discover that Bluetooth is still inside the brushed metal case. It also came complete with a folding Targus keyboard with self-retracting cable, for those people who insist on resisting the Tablet PC operating system.
More pictures and feedback if you follow the link.
Wow, Friday was a good day for a couple of new announcements. Out of nowhere, the Zune showed up on FCC website as “Toshiba 1098”. The Blackberry Pearl 8100 spec was spread eagle for all to see! There is more bad press about PS3 production woes, while Vertu is soon to announce an affordable fashion phone (the term affordable is so relative). The ASUS R2H got a formal welcome into the world of UMPC-hood, good luck and may the force be with you. How about Samsung’s announcement of the 1.98-inch 400ppi VGA screen for cell phone? If that doesn’t give you a boner, then you’ve got some issues! Speaking of boner, how about that monstrous 100-inch TFT-LCD display from LG? Then there’s the PSP GPS add-on that sticks out like a sore thumb. Oh yes, tune in the morning of Sept 12 for the latest breaking news of Palm’s new Treo. What a great week of news coverage!
SlashGear Japan
