The last time we wrote about UMID was back in June and at the time; the company had a new product that that sounded decent enough called the mbook SE. The SE was an interesting little machine and the way that most folks here in the States got a UMID product was through importer Dynamism.
UMID has outed a special edition of their BZ ultraportable, the UMID mbook SE, boosting the CPU from the original 1.2GHZ Atom Z515 to a 1.6GHz Atom Z530, paired with 1GB of RAM and WiFi b/g/n. Retained is the 32GB SSD, 4.8-inch 1024 x 600 resistive touchscreen and full QWERTY keyboard. The new model is already up for sale through at least one Korean retailer, priced at 698,000 SKW ($580).
One of the frustrations of UMID's first-gen mbook M1 was the absence of a standard USB port; instead you had to remember to carry an awkward adapter dongle. The company addressed that with the mbook M2, but one owner of the original machine has taken matters into his own hands and added a USB port himself.
UMID's mbook BZ (aka the mbook M2) promised to address the complaints MID-lovers had about the first-gen mbook M1, and that's exactly the challenge Jenn over at Pocketables has set it in her hands-on review. The touchscreen clamshell now gets an optical mouse, standardized ports and a hinge that opens wider than before; problem is, the specifications haven't been boosted as well.
Alongside Onkyo's rebadge of the Kohjinsha dual-display netbook yesterday, the company also announced a smaller system that should be familiar to MID-trackers. The Onkyo BX 407A4 is more recognizable as the UMID mbook M2, launched back in September, but while UMID couldn't quite tell us when the M2 would be on sale, Onkyo are already taking orders for the BX-Series.
It went unnoticed by most, but back in October Sagemcom announced it would be selling its first MID, the Sagemcom Spiga. A rebadge of the UMID mbook M1, the Spiga will be reaching European shelves this month complete with its Intel Atom CPU, 8GB of flash storage, 4.8-inch touchscreen and integrated 3G HSPA. Unfortunately they've also given it a stonking price tag: €500 ($748).
![UMID mbook M2 debuts: faster CPU, $499 in Q4 [Video]](https://www.slashgear.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/umid_mbook_m2_idf_2009_1.jpg)
UMID promised a new MID for IDF 2009, and they've delivered on that promise. The UMID mbook M2 - seen here in pre-finalised prototype stage - gets a choice of faster 1.2GHz or 1.6GHz Intel Atom processors, together with 1GB of RAM (the M1 had just 512MB) and standardized ports.
Video demo after the cut
It comes as no surprise that UMID are delivering the first look at their second-generation mbook MID at next week’s IDF – after all, they revealed those plans back in August – but the big news is that they’re promising a US launch for the new device by the end of the year. That could mean the UMID M2 discussed back in February.
![Kohjinsha PM-Series MID is rebadged UMID [Video]](https://www.slashgear.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/kohjinsha_pm-series_mid_1.jpg)
Kohjinsha have announced their latest MID, the PM-series, and if you've followed the scene in ultracompact PCs over the past few months then you'll be quick to recognize it as the UMID mbook M1. Freshly rebadged and on sale in Japan for 59,800 yen ($646), the Kohjinsha PM keeps the mbook's Atom Z510 1.1GHz processor and 512MB of RAM but seemingly lacks an integrated 3G option.
Importer Dynamism have announced that they will be selling the matte black version of UMID’s mbook M1 MID, with preorders kicking off today and deliveries expected to begin from August 25th. The compact clamshell has a 4.8-inch 1,024 x 600 touchscreen, together with the same Intel Atom Z520 1.33GHz processor as in Viliv’s popular S5 and X70 MIDs, and will retail from $599.
UMID’s M1 mbook MID has fallen of the radar over the past few months, having made plenty of headlines and even clinched the title of “best UMPC available” from at least one reviewer. Over at UMPC Portal they’ve been talking with the Korean company, who apparently are yet to reach quantity shipping due to LCD shortages; that milestone should be met in September this year, with both white and black models produced in bulk. They’ve also dropped a few hints about upcoming model refreshes.
SlashGear has been hanging out with Google this week, at the I/O 2009 conference. You can read our first day and second day highlights for the full details, but perhaps the most interesting news was Google's Wave demo for iPhone and Android, and Andy Rubin's confirmation that there should be 18-20 Android handsets on the market by the end of the year. One of those is expected to be the HTC Hero; make sure to check out the promo video for the chin-heavy smartphone.