Samsung’s SPH-P9000 UMPC grabbed hearts and attention at the end of last year bringing a new level of twisty, bendy, foldable loveliness to the ultraportable table. Now their follow-up, the SPH-P9200, has broken cover – it might look pretty sparse on specs, but the low-voltage VIA processor should manage some decent battery life. Chippy over at UMPC Portal has managed to dig up the user manual [pdf link] and of course there’s a video (after the cut) of the device in action at GITEX 2007.
If your curiosity about WiMax has been fuelled having seen Samsung’s SPH-P9000, which heavily relies on the technology for exchanging data, then you’ll be wanting to check out Gear Diary’s report on the Samsung Summit where Judie documents all the slides from their presentations. WiMax was heavily plugged throughout, so it’s well worth a view if you want to get up to speed on next-gen cellular connectivity.
One of the most interesting facts for me personally was that the average 10 year old in the US today will, in the course of their lifetime, spend approximately $30,000 on wireless devices. Big money, and so you can see why the manufacturers are fighting tooth and nail to get noticed in an ever more interesting market segment.
What the Heck is WiMAX [Gear Diary]
So you’ve seen SlashGear’s pictures of the sexy twisty foldy super-thin Samsung SPH-P9000, now you can watch the videos. First off, here’s an introduction by Samsung’s execs with a little bit about how WiMax – with its high upload as well as download speeds – is so important:
Secondly, here’s a more hands-on, close-up look at the P9000, including footage of it booting up into Windows XP. The voices you can hear are the lovely Judie Hughes from Gear Diary and our very own Vincent Nguyen:
This could be a killer product, if enough people can get over the sub-$2000 expected asking price. Maybe there’s some room for carrier subsidisation, considering you get the cellphone in the package too?
Here it is folks, Samsung’s new SPH-P9000 in the flesh. It’s available in Korea early 2007 and stateside (maybe) Q2/Q3 from Sprint early 2008. The price is under $2000. It comes with a bundle of accessories including a very slim and sexy mobile handset. The video will be up very shortly!
More images after the jump!
Fresh in from our “excellent news” bureau comes word that the Samsung SPH-P9000 fold-me/twist-me/bend-me-baby UMPC-alike will be released in Korea within the next two weeks, a sizable jump from the previous estimate of “first half of 2007″. We don’t yet know if this acceleration in schedule is anything to do with the outpouring of interest for the device or simply a ramp-up in production.
AVING [via Pocketables]
Blimey, only yesterday I was slobbering in a not-too-attractive way over the tiny Kohjinsha convertible Tablet PC, and now I’ve got this crazily-twisting UMPC from Samsung to promise my heart (and wallet) to. The SPH-P9000 Deluxe MITs was announced at the Mobile WiMax Summit 2006 and sports a 1GHz Transmeta processor, a bevy of wireless standards (including Mobile WiMax, EV-DO, Bluetooth but no WiFi) that can manage up to 2-3Mbps transfer rates at speeds of up to 75mph, a 5-inch WVGA display, 30GB hard-drive and 1.3 megapixel camera, all running under Windows XP.
SlashGear Japan
