OQO have confirmed that they have closed down, with no remaining stock to be liquidated and no provision to repair or service any of their UMPC range. In a statement on OQOTalk, the shortfall is blamed on “financial constraints”; according to Bob Rosin, SVP of sales and marketing at the company, a deal is being explored with another PC vendor, over the OQO technology and engineering team.
The first SmartQ 7 MID has landed with its brave buyer, Steve over at UMPC Portal, and he’s done the sensible thing (or at least the sensibly geeky thing) and shot over two hours of unboxing and video testing. That may seem extreme, but at $189 for a 7-inch touchscreen internet browsing device with WiFi, USB host and more, many people are wondering if SmartQ have delivered on what Microsoft first promised with the UMPC platform.
Video unboxing after the cut
A recent Intel presentation has tipped the company’s upcoming Medfield processor as destined for smartphones, rather than merely as the Atom replacement for netbooks and MIDs that the CPU has so far been assumed. Intel expect “mainstream smartphones” using the 32nm Medfield in 2011, with the processor’s smaller board size and reduced standby power both making it suitable for compact devices.
The Windows 7 RC testing continues, and after we’ve seen how reasonably it runs on an Atom N270 netbook its time to turn to a slightly more niche gadget. Fujitsu’s U820 UMPC (aka the Loox U/B50N, aka the U2010) may be small enough to lose under a hamster, but it gets a new lease of life with Windows 7: Steve from UMPC Portal has been testing it out, and he’s finding longer battery life, faster boot-up and improved touchscreen functionality versus Vista.
Demo video of Windows 7 on the U820 after the cut
It’s been another week dominated by cellphones here at SlashGear, with our exclusive review of the HTC Touch Diamond2 plus plenty of news from the rival Android smartphone camp. The HTC Magic launched on Vodafone Spain, but we were more interested in the Samsung I7500, a super-skinny slice of 5-megapixel Android loveliness. Check out the live demo video here.
With the price of original ASUS Eee PC 7xx-series netbooks so low on eBay these days, it seems a great idea to revisit the concept of modding one into a small touchscreen UMPC. That’s just what EeeUser forum member Mark has done, turning his 701 into a handheld with 2GB of RAM and draft-n WiFi.
Nothing like a new Apple device rumor to get the concept artists scurrying to their graphics tablets, and there’s something particularly alluring about the prospect of an Apple Media Pad. MacFormat’s illustrator Adam Benton came up with these concept shots, envisioning the Media Pad as an overgrown iPod touch.
Fujitsu are the first to outfit a model from their ultraportable range with the Intel Atom Z550 running at 2GHz. The Fujitsu LOOX U – variously known as the LifeBook U820 and U2010 in different markets – can now be specified with the faster Atom chip; the existing 1.33GHz Z520 and 1.60GHz Z530 options remain.
OQO have apparently canceled all pre-orders for their Model 2+ UMPC, leading to the assumption by many that the company is facing receivership. The OQO Model 2+ was recently pulled from online retailer Expansys; we’re yet to hear anything concrete regarding the situation from OQO themselves.
If the UMID M1 has shown us anything, it’s that no one device can be everything for every person. The 4.8-inch touchscreen clamshell MID has come in for praise over its compact size, speedy components and lengthy battery, but concerns over keyboard usability and build quality have left some uncertain. Over at UMPC Portal, our friend Steve has been summing up the M1
Seven-minute UMID M1 overview video after the cut
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