The Nokia N900 was the stand-out device from Nokia World back in September, and we’ve been tracking the Maemo 5 smartphone ever since. Imagine our surprise, then, when a pre-release N900 dropped onto the SlashGear test bench today; the hardware is final, so the 5-megapixel autofocus Carl Zeiss camera is onboard, together with HSPA, WiFi b/g, a 3.5-inch 800 x 480 touchscreen and slide-out QWERTY keyboard, and you can check out our video unboxing and gallery after the cut.
Sharp’s NetWalker PC-Z1 may not be the device for everyone – after all, a 5-inch touchscreen clamshell MID with a tiny QWERTY keyboard and 800MHz ARM Cortex A8 processor makes it a pretty niche handheld – but most people can appreciate a mini-laptop so we’re pleased to see the first unboxing over at Pocketables. Jenn of course is no stranger to MIDs, in fact she has a UMID mbook M1 on hand to compare the PC-Z1 with.
Broadcom is set to start to integrate the new ARM Coretex-A9 MPCore multicore processor into next generation mobile wireless and other consumer electronic products. Broadcom and ARM have announced that they have entered into a license agreement that will allow the use of the Cortex-A9 processor in Broadcom products.
Oh, how we laughed at Kopin’s Golden-i wearable computer when the company showed us renders earlier in the year; even though they promised it was heading to production, we were still dubious. The joke is on us, it seems, as Kopin have announced that the Golden-i Gen 2 will be entering field trials in December this year, with production kicking off in earnest next year. Units are expected to have a Bluetooth headset, 15-inch virtual PC display, head-gesture recognition and voice-control.
ARM processors have found their way inside all sorts of electronic devices that we know and love today from Smartphones to MIDs. ARM announced a new version of its Cortex-A9 processor today with dual cores capable of running at 2GHz and built from the TSMC 40nm-G process.
While Archos’ event this week was predominantly about their Archos 5 Android-based Internet Tablet, they couldn’t help but tease with another upcoming device building on Google’s open-source platform. The Archos Phone Tablet is, as the name suggests, a 3.5G-enabled version of the Archos 5, adding HSDPA/HSUPA connectivity to the PMP’s existing WiFi b/g/n and Bluetooth.
Skytone’s Alpha 680 Android netbook prompted a reasonable amount of attention back when it was first spotted in April, but then many other netbook manufacturers – with bigger names, like ASUS and Acer – started talking about using the open-source Google OS and we basically forgot about it. Not so for Jason from Rockland, who has actually managed to acquire a lurid yellow Alpha 680 and proceeded to put it through a video review.
Video review after the cut
Intel may still be pushing their vision of MIDs (Mobile Internet Devices) but that doesn’t mean everyone is singing from the same song-sheet. SMiT and Optima have both been showing off their attempts at compact handheld web-access devices, the former slapping Android onto a 4.8-inch touchscreen tablet while the latter has picked Maemo for their 4.3-inch MID. Meanwhile SmartQ’s Q5 and Q7 are both seeing development of various mobile platforms.
Video demos after the cut
Sharp’s diminutive PC-Z1 NetWalker impressed us when we first spotted it, and Charbax’s video hands-on with the compact MID has done nothing to disappoint. The ARM-based device has a 5-inch touchscreen, full QWERTY keyboard and optical mouse, and will land in Japan sometime this month; according to the Sharp representative interviewed, they’re hoping to bring it to Europe, too.
Video demo after the cut
A few days ago Nokia hadn’t a single netbook on their product sheet; now, according to DigiTimes’ mysterious sources, they’re set to enter not one but two budget ultraportable niches. Hot on the heels of the Nokia Booklet 3G comes rumor that the Finns plan an ARM-based Smartbook in mid-2010; while there’s no talk of specifications it comes as no surprise to see that everything Smartbooks are being lauded for – long battery life, multiple connectivity options – are the same things Nokia has prioritized in the Booklet 3G.
SlashGear Japan
