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‘UMPC’ Stories

Fujitsu U2010 UMPC with Intel Atom, 3.5G WWAN and GPS

Chris Davies, May 15th 2008 Discuss [0]

Just because the chips are in short supply, doesn't mean the manufacturers aren't insisting on using them. Fujitsu's U810 UMPC is the latest recipient of Intel's Atom processor, together with an altered casing, keyboard and name. Now under the moniker U2010, the keyboard has six rows compared to the U810's five, and there's built-in 3.5G WWAN and GPS. Read The Full Story

Gigabyte M700 IPTV UMPC with digital tuner base-station

Chris Davies, May 15th 2008 Discuss [0]

With the array of Eee-style budget notebooks clamouring to play the role of your companion PC, Microsoft's UMPC format is being forced to think outside of its traditional box to score sales. Gigabyte have stepped up with the M700; while it may look like a typical 7-inch touchscreen slate, in actual fact it's running VIA's 1.2Ghz processor with the new VX800 chipset (with Chrome 9 graphics and video decoding hardware) and is part of the company's latest IPTV push. The M700 is in actual fact a mobile media center, complete with a dock that packs a digital TV tuner and IPTV streamer. Check out the video overview of the Gigabyte M700 after the cut Read The Full Story

DIY gamepad attachment for Sony UX UMPC

Chris Davies, May 6th 2008 Discuss [0]

Sony's UX UMPC might be capable of playing games in hardware terms, but while the controls are great for an ultraportable handheld they're not so useful for Unreal Tournament 2004. Owner Dan Middle decided he wanted a better interface, and so hacked up a cheap USB gamepad. With the controls fixed back to back, all eight buttons are available to just one hand, leaving the other for aiming with the UX's mouse control. Check out the video of Dan's setup in action after the cut Read The Full Story

FlipStart abandon UMPCs, regroup for MID & Smartphone assault

Chris Davies, May 5th 2008 Discuss [0]

After Vulcan's FlipStart UMPC saw a huge price-cut back in January, sales of the diminutive clamshell obviously picked up. The online store is now sold out, and directs people to import specialists Dynamism, which was enough to tip Engadget into suggesting the whole FlipStart project was closing down. Now Steve from the UMPC Portal has stepped in to (partly) clarify the situation. Read The Full Story

AlphaGrip bulbous UMPC concept: more buttons than sense

Chris Davies, May 2nd 2008 Discuss [1]

It must be galling for all the smartphone and UMPC manufacturers who have tried so desperately to slim their products down into wafer-thin tablets, when actually what's needed is a huge, ergonomically-bulging game-controller-on-steroids. At least, that's what designer of the AlphaGrip Handheld Computer believes; their entry for the Next-Gen PC Design competition is reminiscent of an XBox 360 controller only with masses of buttons and chording keys underneath for text entry. There's even a flip-up touchscreen display, flanked by - you guessed it - more controls. Read The Full Story

Digitalcube i-station UDIC hands-on

Chris Davies, Apr 29th 2008 Discuss [1]

Digitalcube's i-station UDIC may look like a mini-convertible UMPC, but in actual fact it's an electronic dictionary. Still, that doesn't really do the handheld device justice: it's a dictionary with 50 languages, as well as text-to-speech, "native speakers" pronunciation guides and the i-TRANS translating service. Available in two versions, both have hard-drives: one 30GB, the other 60GB. AVING have been playing with the i-station recently and have made a video of the device in action; check it out after the cut. Read The Full Story

Could Palm revive the Foleo as another Eee rival?

Chris Davies, Apr 24th 2008 Discuss [8]

When Palm sent out invitations for users to trial an "innovative new product" earlier on this week, the criteria that participants must be heavy smartphone and email users, have a WiFi router and an account with Sprint led many to presume that it referred to the Treo 800w. That handset - long in the making, and believed to be hitting Sprint in July - is expected to have the usual full thumbboard as well as WiFi, EV-DO Rev.A and Windows Mobile 6, and it seems reasonable that Palm would be beta testing it around now. However, just as we were all about to file the rumor away, another possibility was suggested: could Palm be reviving the Foleo? Read The Full Story

Willcom D4 UMPC import on sale in US

Chris Davies, Apr 24th 2008 Discuss [3]

Willcom's D4 UMPC might be rocking the smartphone look but its guts are pure PC. Running Vista on a 1.33GHz Intel Atom processor with 1GB of RAM, a 40GB hard-drive and 5-inch touchscreen, plenty of people were interested in the QWERTY-blessed device but Willcom are showing little interest in releasing it outside of Japan. In situations like these, if you've the money, imports are your only option, and GeekStuff4U have just thrown up a pre-order page for the D4 which suggests they could be in the US by June 20th. Read The Full Story

Medion Akoya Mini E1210 – yet another Eee alternative

Chris Davies, Apr 23rd 2008 Discuss [1]

PC manufacturer Medion have taken a look at the ultraportable Eee-rival market and decided there's no way it's saturated enough; there's plenty of room for their Akoya Mini E1210, an HP Mini-Note lookalike only bearing a 10-inch display rather than the HP's 8.9 LCD. Powered by Intel's new Atom ultra-efficient mobile processor, the usual Linux OS is present and a traditional 1.8-inch hard-drive of as-yet unspecified capacity. 1GB of RAM and two USB ports are pretty much par for the budget-ultraportable course. Read The Full Story

3K launch $399 Eee-rival ultraportable

Chris Davies, Apr 22nd 2008 Discuss [0]

Does the world need another ultraportable? 3K Computers certainly think so; the OEM manufacturer has unveiled their Longitude 400, a sub-2lb mini-PC in the same style as the original Eee. With a 7-inch display, "full sized" keyboard and Linux OS, it's tricky to find much to differentiate this $399 notebook from its rivals. Read The Full Story

Twist & Squeeze interface tested by Microsoft Research

Chris Davies, Apr 21st 2008 Discuss [0]

A team at Microsoft Research have developed a prototype interface [pdf link] for mobile devices that responds to twisting, squeezing, flexing and stretching to control and on-screen GUI. The system, called Force Sensing, relies on very small manipulations of a handheld device - in this case a modified Samsung UMPC - with different gestures mapped to navigation and other controls. Visual feedback, such as interfaces twisting or bending, apparently decreases the learning time necessary for users to adapt to the new controls.

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Aigo MID – looks good and performs well

James Allan Brady, Apr 16th 2008 Discuss [0]

It’s a basic mobile Internet device. It has a rubberized bottoms, touchscreen, and slide out full keyboard, a very simple user interface, and a stylus. On the back is the battery and a 3MP camera for taking photos. Read The Full Story