Fujitsu has finally made their LifeBook U2010 UMPC official in the Asia-Pacific region, unveiling the full color options in the process. The convertible device has a SuperFine 5.6” WXGA 1280 x 800 touchscreen, 1.6GHz Intel Atom CPU and a choice of 60GB HDD or 64GB SSD, in casings gold, silver, red, blue or black. Fujitsu are promising a maximum 8hrs of battery life from a single charge.
Fujitsu’s U2010, the convertible UMPC based on Intel’s Atom CPU, has made it to the FCC with a few testing photos and a new name. As could have been predicted the UMPC will launch in the US as the U820, where it will have a 5.6-inch, 1,280 x 800 resolution touchscreen and six-row QWERTY keyboard. Given that the FCC label claims the U820 “contains UMTS” it looks as though the devices 3G WWAN modem has made it over too.
Week in Review time, and it seems like there’s plenty to look back on over the past seven days. Continuing our fresh tradition, in the fast-moving netbook segment we’ve seen confirmation of ASUS’ Eee PC plans – 23 models in all, the next of which being the 701SD, together with dual-core and bigger SSD versions – as well as Sylvania’s new G Netbook MESO, the target $299 tag of which got plenty of people hot under the collar. Price is a sore subject over at MSI, who saw their Wind netbook rise in cost uncontrollably, while E-Lead are likely celebrating their Noahpad – with its distinctive dual-touchpad keyboard – finally reaching customers.
There’s plenty to look forward to, as well, with Intel confirming a refresh of their Classmate PC, a video showing Fujitsu’s upcoming Amilo Mini playing with interchangeable casings, and Lenovo tipped for a new netbook to be released in September. If you can afford a bit more, and can’t wait until September, Lenovo’s ThinkPad X200 is a proper, grown-up ultraportable set to launch imminently; going by the first hands-on reports it looks to be a winner, with battery life getting particular credit.
Fujitsu’s Amilo Mini netbook has made another appearance, this time on video and demonstrating its neat, clip-on lid covers that will obviously be made in a variety of colors. The 8.9-inch budget ultraportable is pretty much a mystery machine right now, with the only thing known being that it runs Windows.
Check out the video after the cut
It’s become somewhat traditional to start the week’s review with what’s happening in the netbook world, a niche that’s arguably the fastest developing right now in consumer tech. Fujitsu kicked things off with the proclamation that budget ultraportables “don’t add up” and that the current race to the bottom line doesn’t give manufacturers enough room to make profit; Fujitsu were rumored the week before to be planning a netbook of their own, only with the emphasis on build quality rather than solely the price tag. Sony also picked up a few netbook-in-progress rumors, tipped for Q4 2008, and HP revealed that they’re working on a follow-up to the 2133 Mini-Note that will be less sturdy but also less expensive.
LG, too, are said to have a netbook in the works, with a model tentatively named X110 running Intel’s Atom CPU and made for them by MSI. It’s uncertain whether, if this turns out to be true, the X110 would be a rebadge of the MSI Wind or a whole new design. Finally, ASUS confirmed they wouldn’t be letting up the pressure as firm most associated with the segment; there’s talk of an “all day” battery and cloud storage option for release later on in 2008.
Fujitsu-Siemens have revealed another notebook in the company’s Amilo 3000-series. The Pi3540 uses Intel’s new Centrino 2 processor coupled with 4GB of RAM, and is apparently optimized for dealing with high-definition media. Compared to previous models, the Pi3540 can encode a HD video more than 90-percent faster.
Last week shots of what purported to be Fujitsu’s entrance to the budget ultraportable market showed up online, together with a rough Fall release estimation and pricing believed to be around the €400 mark. Today, though, the possibility of such a device reaching consumers has been perhaps called into question; in New York Times article, Fujitsu’s senior director of mobile product management describes the segment as having “no margin” for manufacturers to make profit.
Fujitsu unveiled its latest 2.5-inch external drive that packs half terabyte storage capacity. The HandyDrive itself uses a single drive configuration and measures 141 x 82 x 22mm. Like many other 2.5-inch external drive, it is powered using USB only.
Although we knew the Centrino 2 powered 13.3-inch Fujitsu T5010 Tablet PC was coming- courtesy of Virginia Tech’s bookstore – its taken a while for the company to actually start showing the machine off. Now that Intel have got their Centrino 2 announcement out of the way, the path has been paved, and I’ve a strong suspicion that this could become one of the go-to convertible Tablets for new and current users.
ASUS has shown that there’s money to be made in the budget ultraportable segment, and the latest to eye it up is Fujitsu. Photos showing the company’s prototype next to a 17-inch Amilo notebook have leaked, and while we’ve nothing so detailed as actual specifications, we do know that uses an 8.9-inch display, will be priced at around €400 ($640) and arrive in the Fall.
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