Viliv have announced their plans for Computex, and there are a few interesting MID and UMPC tidbits that should keep them ahead of the game in the ultramobile space. As well as obviously demonstrating the latest versions of their existing set-to-ship range, Viliv have promised a 10-inch screen MID (possibly a netbook) and a 4.8-inch MID with keyboard, potentially as in the mockup shown here.
Dell keeps tweaking their Studio notebook line. Last week, there were several new design options announced as available. And now, two of the higher-end notebooks are getting the option to add on WiMAX for high-speed 4G connectivity.
Lenovo are preparing to release their second-generation netbook, the Lenovo IdeaPad S10-2, which will include integrated 3G but lose the ExpressCard slot that helped differentiate its predecessor. According to the IdeaPad S10-2’s user manual, which was prematurely posted to the company’s support site, the netbook will still use Intel’s Atom processor.
Tatung are developing an Android smartphone, which could be the first WiMAX handset to run the Google open-source platform. According to company chairman WS Lin, Tatung are experimenting with Android for new devices; these could well be sold through their affiliate Tatung InfoComm, who hold one of Taiwan’s six WiMAX licenses.
Samsung’s Mondi WiMAX MID had something of a stretched out launch – first being demonstrated at MWC as the SWD-M100, then getting a quiet mention through the company’s own RSS image feed, before Samsung finally came clean early this month. What we haven’t known until now is the processor powering the Mondi, and anybody hoping for something esoteric and interesting will be disappointed: it’s an 800MHz ARM11 chip.
dmedia’s G400 WiMAX MID turned out to be something of a damp squib; slated for a triumphant launch at CES 2009 back in January, the touchscreen device ended up a no-show. Now dmedia is back with what looks to be a refreshed version, the dmedia M0 WiMAX MID.
The ASUS Eee PC 1008HA “Shell” netbook has passed through the FCC, on the way to what we hope is an imminent release in the US. Announced at CeBIT back in March, the Eee PC 1008HA is an ultra-thin 25.7mm netbook with an Intel Atom N280 1.66GHz processor, 160GB hard-drive and 1GB of RAM.
Gigabyte have posted the official specifications page and user manual for their T1028 TouchNote netbook. The convertible touchscreen netbook was announced at CeBIT 2009, and has a 10.1-inch 1042 x 600 LED backlit display as standard, an Intel Atom N270 1.6GHz or N280 1.66Ghz processor and 1GB of RAM (max 2GB).
After MSI confirmed the US specs for their Wind U123 netbook and larger X-Slim X320 and X340 ultraportables yesterday, we were keen to spend some hands-on time with the slick notebooks. Of the selection, the MSI X-Slim X340 is undoubtedly our favorite, but there’s plenty to recommend the others: how about 5.5hrs runtime from the 6-cell battery, or 8.5hrs from the 9-cell, on the Wind U123?
Video demo after the cut
MSI have announced full specifications for their Wind U123 netbook and X-Slim X320 & X340 ultraportable notebooks. As in Japan, the 10.2-inch U123 has the Intel Atom N280 1.66GHz processor, WWAN and a TV-tuner; meanwhile the X-Slim X320 has an Intel Atom Z530 1.6GHz processor and optional 3G/WiMAX. The X-Slim X340 uses Intel’s SU3500 CULV processor.
SlashGear Japan
