Video demos after the cut

Those platforms include Android and the Maemo 4-based Mer 0.15, together with at least two versions of the standard SmartQ build.  There’s also Wince 6.0, which certain owners can claim a free license to.

As for SMiT’s tablet, it has an 800 x 480 touchscreen, integrated GPS and WiFi, 8GB of onboard storage and integrated 3G on the roadmap.  The Optima, meanwhile, is even more portable but packs the same resolution; it also has less memory, at 4GB, but there’s a microSD card slot too.  ARM-based, it has WiFi and 3G is being pushed by China Telecom as the device to get hitherto-unconnected people in China online.  However export also figures among their intentions.

What we don’t know about either new device is the price, nor whether they’ll actually see releases in the US or Europe.  If they could bring them in at under $200 then they could stand a decent chance against name-brand devices like Nokia’s new N900

Smit 5-inch Android tablet:

Optima Maemo Linux MID:

According to Jenn from Pocketables’ sleuthing, the images all seem to have come originally from twitpic user focus3g (real name Vincent H), though there’s no telling whether he took them or not.  They were then linked to on the Cell Phone Forums site, by a new user ‘wowshake’.

Mysteries are all well and good, but we’d like to find out exactly who is behind this little device.  Our own leanings are toward Archos – the company is expected to officially announce their Android device on September 15th, and it seems possible that they’re hoping to keep their collective mouth shut until then and avoid confirming this leaked prototype – but the sooner we have full details, the better.

[via Pocketables]

Meanwhile, Sony Ericsson announced the Satio – the phone formerly known as Idou – together with the Yari and Aino, and we went hands-on with all three at their London launch.  With just a week to go until the Palm Pre hits shelves, our sibling-site My Pre offered up the user-guide, Getting Started and Features Guide documents.  We also saw camera samples from the phone, plus heard it will have push-GMail support and native iTunes compatibility. 

In netbooks, it’s been a week of newly polished systems and slightly more unusual hardware.  HP unveiled their Mini 1101, 110 XP and 110 Mi machines, while we saw the first full review of the SmartQ 7 MID and heard that UMID’s mbook M1 will get a few more interesting variants over the next month or so.  With Computex kicking off this week, Viliv have dropped some heavy hints about what they might be announcing, including what sounds like a version of the S5 MID with a QWERTY keyboard.

E3 is just around the corner, and what’s likely to be Sony’s pride and joy, the PSP Go, has leaked.  A compact handheld gaming system almost half the weight of the PSP-3000 and dropping the UMD system in favor of digital download, the PSP Go looks set to go on sale alongside the existing console.

Also suffering leaks a-plenty are Apple, whose next-gen iPhone and iPod nano 5G were both tipped this week.  The former is expected to have Google Latitude support as standard, among other things, while the latter is said to bundle a new camera. It’ll go up against PMP heavyweights like iriver’s P35, which will land in the US sometime this fall, and Microsoft’s new Zune HD.

Finally, we brought you the second part of our behind-the-wheel test drive of the Lincoln MKS, together with reviews of Seagate’s Showcase DVR Storage Expander and the Hantech Siso Tablo.  That just left enough time to slot in a review and video demo of the Tonium Pacemaker Pocket DJ.

Video demo after the cut

Many of the shortcomings fall back on the low-power ARM11 processor, which isn’t up to loading streaming Flash video, full-fat webpages or decent-bitrate H.264 or WMV playback.  Ironically, it’s that very processor which also gives the MID some of its key strengths, though, such as 6-12 hour runtime or up to three days of standby.  The SmartQ 7 can handle internet radio streaming, runs rdesktop with no problems meaning that it can be used to remotely access another PC across the WiFi network, and the 8-inch 800 x 480 display, while not bright enough for outdoor use, is fine for reading websites with minimal zooming.

In the end, Steve suggests that the SmartQ MID makes most sense as an ebook reader, casual sofa-surfer web browser or emergency computing device for round the home or travel.  More interestingly, he suggests, it’s a sign of things to come: packing smarter ARM-based processors, such as the Cortex with onboard video decoding, into a similar-sized device, with one of the newer Android, Maemo or Ubuntu ARM OSes keeping things cheap.  Where that leaves this roughly $200 MID depends on how willing you are to live with its shortcomings; like the SmartQ 5 (and in fact like many MIDs in general) in its current form this is destined to remain a niche product.

SmartQ 7 MID applications overview:

That excitement is tempered with the ongoing rumors that stocks may be severely curtailed on launch day.  Not only have Best Buy and RadioShack insiders been talking of minimal handset numbers come June 6th, Sprint’s own CEO is warning that the Pre will likely be in short supply for the first couple of months.  The concern is that all of Palm’s momentum since CES back in January could fizzle out, as Apple are expected to announce a third-generation iPhone two days after the Pre’s launch.

Elsewhere in the Apple ecosystem, notorious analyst Gene Munster pooh-pooh’d talk of an Apple Media Pad anytime before 2010.  That leaves the stage free for some less impressive, but undoubtedly less expensive alternatives, and the best are coming from little-known names in the Far East.  SmartQ’s 7 MID has a bargain $189 sticker and we saw the first unit unboxed earlier this week, while Korean firm mintpass are talking about their second-gen mintpad.  Slightly closer to launch, Archos are expected to announce their Android 3G PMP/MID on June 11th.

If something larger, with a full hardware keyboard, is your preference, then we’ve seen a few interesting netbooks this week.  Dell’s Latitude 2100 has a serious education bent to it, but could still find favor with mainstream buyers, while ASUS did their best to swell Eee PC ranks with the 1005HA and 1000HV, the latter toting a discrete ATI Radeon graphics chipset.

Finally, Pentax’s K-7 DSLR finished lurking about in the shadows and instead got all official, while Google pushed out v2 of their Chrome browser.  Plus we unboxed and brought you a video demo of the BenQ Joybee GP1 pocket-projector; slightly bigger than a pico-projector, but promising higher quality along with the extra size.  We’ll tell you whether it lives up to the promise in the full review this week.

Video unboxing after the cut

First impressions are mixed.  There’s no Flash support (as ARM-based devices apparently don’t have it yet) and, contrary to what Steve says in the video, there’s no Bluetooth either.  Video playback is disappointing, and if you’re used to an x86 UMPC the general speed will seem sluggish.  However, the screen is bright, SmartQ have delivered an English OS (versus the Chinese-language SmartQ 5 MID) and the whole thing runs silent and cool.

As Steve says, “think of it as an internet connected gadget, and you’re on the right track”; SmartQ are obviously hoping that if they keep the price low enough then people will pick up the 7 MID for a more singular purpose, rather than expecting the world from it.  UMPC Portal have followed up with an overview and Q&A session, breakdown video and e-reader testing, so if you’ve even given half a thought to the SmartQ 7 MID then you should check it out.

If you’re just such an iPhone 3G owner, then make sure to head over to our Mophie Juice Pack giveaway and get your entry in; it won’t change AT&T’s mind, but it will give you a whole lot more battery life to complain to your friends about it.  Be quick, though, as entries must be in by midday central time on Monday!

Our photography expert Daniel Lim grabbed some hands-on time with SanDisk’s ImageMate USB 2.0 card reader, and declared it an essential peripheral for dedicated shutterbugs.  Meanwhile, latest team member Steven Grady celebrated his new job (and graduation) by unboxing the FyreTV VoD system, in a video which manages to be safe for work.  Expect a whole lot of metaphors when he reviews it this week.  Finally, over at Android Community we reviewed the Vodafone HTC Magic, arguably the best Android device on the market today.

Elsewhere in mobile phones, Verizon’s Samsung Alias 2 hit the market (complete with trick E Ink keyboard); we’re still too excited about the Palm Pre, though.  Both an unboxing photoset (minus the Pre) and unboxing video (minus the Sprint branding) turned up during the week, leading us to wonder whether the much-anticipated handset would be launched in a Walt Mossberg WSJ exclusive.

In netbooks, manufacturers showed that while they might not be aiming high with specifications, the aesthetic battle is ratcheting up a notch.  ASUS have been riding high with their Eee PC 1008HA Seashell, which will arrive in the US on May 18th priced at $429, but they’re leaving nothing to chance and following it up with the similarly-styled Eee PC 1005HA-M and 1005HA-H.  They’ll have some competition from Albatron, though; you may not be familiar with the brand, but you’ll drool uncontrollably over their super-slimline entrance to the netbook market.

We also stopped by Mio for the launch of their new Navman Spirit PNDs, including a pretty impressive 7-inch touchscreen unit with integrated digital TV.  Conspicuous by its absence, though, was any sort of internet browser; for that, you’ll have to turn to the SmartQ 7 MID, which we saw specs, live photos and even an unboxing of.

In gaming, the strongest theme this week was musical controllers, and guitars in particular.  Logitech and Hofner both whipped out their own guitar-shaped controllers, but personally I’m more excited by this IR hack which turns a controller into a true “air guitar”.

Finally, the “bad news of the week” award goes to Intel, who were found guilty of harming “millions of customers” in their EC antitrust trial and fined $1.45bn.  If it makes them feel any better, that’s a new record for damages.  Well done, record breakers!

There are also some fresh specifications, including dimensions and weight.  The SmartQ 7 measures 200 x 120 x 24 mm and tips the scales at 0.5kg.  It also has WiFi, Bluetooth and a TV output, and SmartQ claim its rechargeable battery is good for up to 48hrs of continuous music playback.

SlashGear’s old friend Steve Paine has a SmartQ 7 on order from Chinese retailer Electroworld, paying the rough equivalent of $280 including German taxes (19-percent) and shipping.  That’s around the third of the cost of a traditional UMPC such as the Samsung Q1EX, which is one reason why would-be buyers are so intrigued.

Still, cheap plastics are bearable when they lead to a cheap price, and at $189 – at least according to one retailer, anyway -  this is lining up to be a bargain purchase.  The whole thing measures 7.9 x 4.7 x 0.9 inches, runs a custom Linux build and has two USB Host ports for connecting peripherals (like keyboard and mouse) or external storage.  There’s also WiFi and Bluetooth.

I can’t help but compare the SmartQ 7 MID with the 7-inch TV tuner PND Mio demonstrated yesterday – you can find our hands-on video demo and full details here – and wonder why web access for the latter isn’t a possibility.  Mio’s people told me that, while blending UMPC/MID functionality with their PND range is possible down the line, they consider the former segment simply too underdeveloped versus user-familiarity with navigation devices.  Perhaps they’re right, but dedicated PND units are already taking a hammering from cellphones with integrated GPS, and adding a web browser would seem a pretty straightforward way of adding value to a PND.

[via Pocketables]

The SmartQ 5 showed great promise on paper – a 4.3-inch touchscreen device with browser and PMP functionality, plus a bargain price tag – but failed to live up to expectations by virtue of its under-performing CPU.  The new 7 MID, meanwhile, has a bigger display and USB 2.0 Host support, as well as WiFi b/g and Bluetooth.

According to retailer EletroWorld, the first sample unit will be arriving on May 12th, and a “limited” production run kicking off in the next month or two.  We’ll be watching the first reviews with interest, to see if SmartQ have made another processor blunder.

Update: Steve from UMPC Portal has ordered a SmartQ 7 from EletroWorld, paying around $240 inclusive of delivery (to Germany).  We’ll be interested to hear his thoughts on the MID when it arrives; it’s expected to ship soon after May 12th.

[via Pocketables]

Other features include two USB host ports, which can be used to hook up external peripherals like keyboards, or hard-drives.  There’s also a TV output, integrated stereo speakers (which Moses claim punch above their station thanks to “shaping of the internal cavity” and a Linux OS with preloaded IM clients, internet access and PMP features.  The battery is a 4,500 mAh pack good for up to 48hrs of music playback.

Of course, what we’re waiting to hear is which processor Moses have picked for the SmartQ 7.  It’s likely to be more powerful than that in their previous MID – if only to drive the higher-resolution 800 x 480 display – but without hard specs we’ll have to wait and see whether this MID ends up in a muddle.

[via Pocketables]

Video of the SmartQ 5 in action after the cut

The positive points are the broad Bluetooth support – including mouse and keyboard use – and decent WiFi security setting options.  The SmartQ 5 can also cope with sizable pictures, too, with 1024 x 768 stills coming up quickly.  However there’s no touchscreen navigation during slideshows, and once you get into video playback there are serious issues.  rmvb and mp4 files played poorly, if at all.

It’s the Samsung 667MHz ARM11 processor that really holds the 5 MID back, though.  As you can see in the video demos, there’s a significant pause between making a selection and the app actually starting.  Once loaded, the browser seems to bring up pages without too great a pause, but there’s no Flash or YouTube support.

Picking an ARM chipset with hardware decoding for multimedia would go a long way to making the SmartQ 5 stand up as a PMP, and with some extra grunt apps could load quicker and maybe even Flash be supported.  Until then – even at just $132 or thereabouts – it’s unlikely we’ll see much takeup of the MID outside of China.

Update: Second unboxing photoset here.

In the box along with the SmartQ 5 itself there’s an AC adapter, USB to microUSB cable, headphones and instructions.  There’s also a USB EDGE modem, intended for use in SmartQ’s Chinese home market.  We’re still waiting to hear whether the MID will play nicely with a 3G HSDPA USB modem, or if international buyers will be stuck using the integrated WiFi.

Depending on the software performance, and that 3G question, this could be an impressive little device, not least because of the relatively low price.  It’s selling for the equivalent of around $132; if the sticker can stay in that region if/when it reaches the US, we could see Intel-based MIDs having a rough time.