UMPCPortal

HTC Shift for $200 – Take a piece of Design History!

Chippy — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 19:33:37 +0000

The HTC Shift. A fantastic design that failed due to overly heavy operating system, a short battery life, low screen resolution and limited Windows Mobile implementation.

Over a year of rumors and false-starts the HTC Shift became the most viewed device on UMPCPortal by a long shot. Videos of it were always popular and even after it launched, communities grew quickly and great things were done with the device. The short battery life and high cost killed it in the end through and as smartphones took off and even due to Intel moving towards the MID, it lost ground quickly.

Still, it’s an amazing bit of engineering and there might even be a few use case left for it. Certainly a 30 minute session in the coffee shop could be worth a lot of fun and a few discussions!

At $199 it’s worth a but of fun and maybe worth trying some Ubuntu, ChromeOS or other lightweight OS. Unfortunately this isn’t the 3G version. Anyone up for it? Or maybe you’re waiting for the updated version?!

It’s up for another 8 hours at 1saleaday.com

Via Brad Linder

Ultra Mobile Video Editing with an Ultrabook

Chippy — Sat, 07 Apr 2012 21:35:38 +0000

Last year I ran a series of articles about mobile video editing. I covered smartphone, netbook and ultrathin solutions before settling on a low-cost , low weight set-up.. The Samsung NP350 worked well with its 2.2Ghz Core i3 but by moving up a notch in performance and efficiency, lowering the weight and, yes, increasing the cost by well over 100%, I’ve found a solution that’s quite stunning. I’m not just talking about looks!

The Toshiba Z830 Ultrabook weighs less than most netbooks but packs a 1.7Ghz Core i5 that can Turbo boost to 2.7Ghz. It’s got 6Gb of RAM and a great 128GB SSD that, although it isn’t the fastest at sequential speeds, knocks the socks of a hard drive solution and works perfectly with Cyberlink PowerDirector 10. The difference between the NP350 and Z830 solutions is huge!

I demonstrated the solution at VideoCamp Germany in Düsseldorf a few weeks ago and learnt a few things too so after a few days thought, I put together a tutorial article and behind the scenes video that shows exactly how I get those product launch videos up in record time. 10 minutes from camera-on to YouTube-ready!

The article is over at Ultrabooknews.com and it shows the hardware, software, method and Read more ...

Kupa X11 Review

Chippy — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 20:51:46 +0000

The Kupa X11 is a relatively niche Windows tablet PC based on what is the lowest-energy Windows-capable platform there is – Intel Oaktrail, the Z670 CPU and GMA600 GPU. With it’s 1366×768 screen, SSD storage, 2Gb of RAM, fingerprint reader, active digitiser layer and fanless design, it stands alone in the market with, as far as I know, no comparison. The model we have here, the Kupa X11 Pro, even comes with 3G. To add to the list of positives, the Kupa X11 also has a huge internal battery that can run it for 10hrs. Just what sort of customer is the Kupa X11 aimed at and how does it perform? Let’s take a closer look.

Intel Could Succeed in the Android Market with HDRC

Ben — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 17:49:29 +0000

Back at IDF September, Intel and Google finally announced that they’d be working together to get Android up and running on x86 devices. While there were a number of Android-running x86 tablets and a smartphone prototype or two floating around IDF, it wasn’t immediately apparent what the major advantage of Android 0n x86 devices would be for your everyday consumer. In fact, it wasn’t even apparent exactly why any of the existing Android manufactures would want to create x86 Android devices, given that up until now, pretty much all of their R&D has been focused on ARM devices. However, Intel may actually be perfectly positioned to be able to stimulate the growth of an upcoming segment of Android device — one which truly converges mobile and desktop functionality into one device. Chippy has coined such hybrid functionality: ‘High Dynamic Range Computing’ (HDRC), and the time might just be right for Intel to ignite this segment and find their own place in the Android market.

Before moving on, you might want to visit this link to see Chippy’s look at HDRC from last year.

Any consumer-available Android device that you can get your hands on today uses ARM architecture which is fundamentally incompatible with the x86 architecture that Intel products are based on. Android Read more ...

Mobile Computing and the Stylus in 2012 — A Survey of Devices and Software

Ben — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 04:34:28 +0000

Last spring, I launched into a rant on my personal blog (due to some minor profanity, the linked-to article is labeled as not safe for work) over the way the tech media was labeling a lot of the activity that was going on in the tablet market. You see, back then, circa May 2011, the pockets of resistance against the iPad were beginning to fade, and people were starting to get it that this tablet thing was more than just a passing fad…. A lot of the media took the route of not simply articulating the iPad’s strengths, but had to declare it great by putting down previously launched products, most notably the TabletPC. While I recognize that I may be in the minority, I will continue to say that these journalists made and continue to make a big whiff when they cite the presence or use of a stylus as a sign of automatic failure — as Steve Jobs asserted during the launch of the first iPhone. I respect Jobs, but his penchant for making binary statements, such as the one he made about what the presence of a stylus indicates, was never something that I agreed with. Ditto for anyone else who follows that philosophy.

Today, I am ecstatic to see companies finally having the spine to challenge that myopic perspective. One of the dynamics that I have always been wary of is the fact that most reviews and tech opinions on devices do not come from people who are like a lot of common Joes. Content creation and journalism is far and away from engineering, finance, and manufacturing. So when things are said like, “tablets are devices that are only suited for media consumption and not productivity”, I note that this is a perspective from people who spend most of their days doing content creation. Not sitting in one boa Read more ...

Balboa Pier Could Be the Next ‘Entry’ PC Platform from Intel, with In-House Graphics.

Chippy — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 12:42:33 +0000

As Intel continue to craft Atom into the phone and tablet market it makes sense that they explore all avenues for the core. The ‘netbook’ wave is over but that doesn’t mean there aren’t spaces for Atom to be fitting into. Low cost and low power computing is one of them. Open-source computing is another and it looks like Intel is heading in all of these directions with the Balboa Pier platform and the Valley View Atom/HD graphics SoC inside it.

The Verge have pulled together some good information sources on the new platform.

Being a 22nm SoC, it’s going to be small. There are going to be 1-4 core variants and it 4x the graphics performance that looks like it’s going to be based around Ivy Bridge.

You can track through all the links at The Verge for more information but I wouldn’t get too excited about this appearing in laptops just yet. The main source here is an industrial module manufacturer so we could be talking about an embedded solution. It’s a Q1 2013 solution too. It would, however, make some sense to offer a low-cost PC platform with open-source graphics drivers, something that the Ivy Bridge in-house graphics would enable. That would open up the platform to Chrome OS and other Linux-based PC solutions. It might also help Android open-source solutions on X86. Netbooks for the emerging markets could be a target too.

Without a TDP figure it’s difficult to work out if this could go into Windows 8 tablets and where it sits against Clover Trail W b Read more ...

Getting Things Done on the Kupa X11 Tablet PC

Chippy — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 10:27:58 +0000

I’ve done some tests on the Kupa X11 and just like they say, it’s possible to use it for up to 10 hours on battery. It’s impressive but what about getting things done on the Kupa X11? You can have all the battery life in the world but if you can’t use the device, it’s worth nothing.

To test the real-world value of the Kupa X11 in terms of ‘getting things done’ I’ve swapped out my Ultrabook-desktop for the Kupa X11 today and as you can see in the image, I’ve connected an external monitor, keyboard and mouse.

The Kupa X11 runs a single-core 1.5Ghz Intel Atom CPU. It’s about as slow as it gets from Intel but you have to remember we’re talking about a CPU that can go in a phone here! Under Windows 7, the architecture required (USB, PCI, ACPI, display and more) means that you don’t quote get smartphone-like battery life but it’s quite impressive. You also get the advantages of being able to hit the ground running with a very flexible and productive operating system.

Average power usage as I type this, with Chrome (3 tabs), LiveWriter, Live Gallery and perfmon windows running, is 6.3W which is 6-7hrs of usage. I’m using ‘high performance mode’ but the CPU is still down-stepping to try and save power where it can. The Kupa X11 is silent.

This is not a desktop experience I’d like to have every day but I’m getting stuff done and Windows is providing me wi Read more ...

Kupa X11 Unboxing Video and First Impressions – A True 10hr 1KG TabletPC

Chippy — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 00:52:21 +0000

I’m looking back on UMPCPortal to see how long it’s been since we’ve had hands-on with a 1KG, ≤ 10” PC…..In Sept 2011 we covered the MSI Windpad 120W which didn’t make it to market. There was also the Fujitsu TH40/D which also doesn’t seem to have made it to the market. I also had some hands-on with the new Gigabyte S1081 Windows tablet at CES (which I forgot to post here, sorry – here’s the video.) I know I’ve missed a few in between (for example the Viewsonic Viewpad 10 Pro) but you can’t deny that times are tough for the Windows road-warrior.

How stimulating it is to have the Kupa X11 [details] here for testing!

In terms of specs the Kupa X11 looks good. Yes, there’s a 1.5Ghz Atom inside which won’t impress anyone looking for CPU specifications but it’s turning in 1800ms on Sunspider and has been coupled with a PowerVR SGX 535, 64GB SSD and 2GB of RAM so it’s not exactly lagging in the current tablet space.

There’s a dual-mode screen (capacitive and digitiser) and a huge battery which I’ll mention again below. The screen is a good, 1366×768 resolution which is enough for Windows 8 Metro usage. You won� Read more ...

Coming up: Kupa X11, A Windows 8-Ready Tablet

Chippy — Sat, 17 Mar 2012 21:07:42 +0000

It was last August that I wrote about the Kupa X11 tablet. I highlighted the battery capacity as the key feature because it’s not often you see such a high capacity battery in an X86-based device under 1KG. What I didn’t know then was that Windows 8 would require 1366×768 to run the full range of Metro apps and features so the Kupa is now one of only a handful of tablets you can buy today that are Windows 8 ready. At the top-end you have the Samsung XE700 based on Core i5 technology. Fighting it out in the lower-end are the ExoPC (and variants) and the Kupa X11. There’s the Motion Computing CL900 to consider too. What’s interesting about the Kupa though is that it runs Oaktrail, which is going to give it a a very long runtime, coupled with a fast SSD, 2GB of RAM and 3G, this could be just what some people have been looking for.

Thanks to Kupa I now have the Kupa X11 Pro here for testing. Full Kupa X11 specifications, gallery and links are available on our information page. Here’s a selection of the important specs.

10.1” 1366×768 hi-resolution screen
2GB RAM
Dual-layer touch (finger / digitizer pen)
2GB RAM
64GB SSD
3G (HSDPA including tele Read more ...

Sony Appears to be Working on a New U-series Hybrid Tablet With Windows 8

Ben — Sat, 17 Mar 2012 16:18:14 +0000

Back during CES, Sony was showing off a hybrid tablet with Windows 8. This was a sliding design that could function as a tablet with the screen down, or the screen could slide up screen up to reveal a full QWERTY keyboard.

Image credit: Engadget

We’ve seen a similar approach from Samsung, but despite an official press release about the product, it never made it to market (perhaps they were waiting for Windows 8?). Asus launched the Eee Pad Slider last year using the same concept but with the Android and ARM platform instead of Windows. The Asus Slider was highly anticipated, but didn’t seem to make a major splash within the Android market.

Sony’s concept hybrid device was decidedly a prototype as shown off at CES, but a purportedly leaked advertisement, spotted by Pocket Now, shows a very similar device that looks much closer to a retail launch. The ad also places the hybrid tablet under the U-series, which Sony has a Read more ...

Nokia Entering the Tablet Game With Windows 8?

Ben — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 15:54:54 +0000

Nokia may be working on a Windows 8 tablet, due out by the end of the year, according to some sources. We’ve long wished that Nokia would jump into the tablet game as their hardware design has rarely managed to disappoint. However, with Nokia’s commitment to Windows Phone 7 last year, the company was put into an awkward position.

Microsoft built Windows Phone 7 from the ground up as a phone operating system. Even though I’d love to see the beautiful and smooth Windows Phone 7 operating system on a 7″ or 10″ tablet, Microsoft doesn’t intend for the operating system to be used that way. Thus, Nokia at the time couldn’t rely on Microsoft for a sufficiently touch-friendly operating system.

Nokia had been involved for a long time with the open-source operating system, Maemo, which ran on their ‘internet tablet’ series of devices, but Maemo failed to achieve anything close to mainstream success. Since then, Maemo was merged with Moblin (and Intel project) to form Meego. As you may know, Nokia formerly abandoned Meego in favor of Windows Phone 7.

So what’s Nokia to do? Well, for a long time, they did nothing in the tablet realm. But now, with Microsoft offering Windows 8, which is half-dedicated to touchscreen computing, there might be hope for a Nokia tablet indeed.

Digitimes, which has a so-so record of truth in rumors, claims that Nokia may be launching a tablet that will arrive in Q4 of 2012. Interestingly, Di Read more ...

Windows 8 – Is the UI really That Hard to Understand?

Chippy — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 10:57:25 +0000

I’ve read a lot of negative press about the Windows 8 user experience recently which seems to focus on a ‘problem’ created by having two user interfaces that will confuse users. I just don’t see that issue. Sure, there will be some new things to learn, every new system has a learning curve, but I don’t see huge barriers in Windows 8.

Today I’m working on a Windows 8 Tablet. I’m working, which means I’ve got a keyboard, a mouse and a large screen in front of me.

Windows booted quickly on this Atom-based tablet PC (ExoPC) and because I just wanted to do some Chrome work and write this post I went straight to the desktop by clicking ‘Desktop.’ It works like any laptop or desktop.

I’ve been in ‘desktop’ all the time I’ve had my bum on my seat (apart from taking a few images) and as you would expect, Metro is not causing me any problems. I can switch to it very easily by dragging the mouse to the top left, bottom left corner or pressing the Windows key, Alt-Tab and other methods that didn’t take me too long to work out. If you want to use Windows 8 like you used Windows 7 there’s no issue.

If you end up in Metro through inquisitiveness or accident you can either hit the ESC or Windows key to toggle to the last application, Alt-Tab to see a list of running programs, use the programs list accessed from pointing to the top-left corner of the screen or I can hit that big icon in front of me that says ‘Desktop.’

MSI thinking carefully about Pro Tablets and Windows 8 (+Video)

Chippy — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 10:51:56 +0000

As I tool a look at the MSI booth at CeBIT yesterday I couldn’t stop myself from getting a little hands-on with the Windpad 110W. AMD Fusion-based and equiped with a nice optical mouse pointer and full SD card slot it’s a tablet design that could rally benefit from the next-gen OS and platforms.

The MSI rep nods and smiles and I talk about 1366×768 and Windows 8, as we discuss the reason for having a mouse pointer in a 1KG tablet and how Windows 8 + Clover Trail W with a fast SSD could really bring usable low-cost productive tablets to end-users.

MSI won’t say anything about new products but they’re clearly thinking about this. In tact, I got the impression that they’re more interested in Windows tablets than in Ultrabooks which they tell me are not going to be broguth to the market until they have taken a longer term look at the Ultrabook market.

It’s a blast from 2011 to play with the Windpad again but I think that we’re going to see more of this later this year. Tablets, convertibles and, my favorite, the detachable Atom-powered Win8/Android screen and Intel Core-driven keyboard base station, all in under 1.5KG!

Testing Windows 8, Thinking about Mobile Productivity

Chippy — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 08:27:00 +0000

I’m in Hannover, Germany, for CeBit and as I start this article, Sascha Pallenberg of Netbooknews.com is sitting on the other side of our ‘blog apartment’ watching the Windows 8 consumer preview keynote from Mobile World Congress last week. A few evenings ago I was testing Windows 8 on an Atom-based tablet and while all that has been happening I’ve been thinking about Cover Trail W, the ultra-mobile platform that Intel have built to run Windows 8. In dual-core 1.8Ghz build with an SSD and 2GB of RAM I think we’ll have a winner on our hands when it comes to a platform. We can only hope that manufacturers see the potential for new form factors with this platform and operating system combo.

While the ARM-based platforms are approaching the same processing power band as we see on the high-end Atom platforms (Qualcomm’s Snapdragon is looking particularly impressive in terms of dual-core performance) they won’t contain the full goodness of Windows from day one. By that I mean you won’t be able to pick up an ARM-based Windows 8 platform and be able to download and install your favorite desktop apps. Clover Trail "W, on the other hand, is a full X86 PC platform and will act like an Ultrabook or a desktop PC and I believe that Windows 8 will be able to pull some impressive low-power usage figures out of the platform. From what I’ve seen in my testing and listening between the lines to what Intel has to say about Windo Read more ...

Chrome for Android – The Turning Point For Android Tablets

Chippy — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 23:43:29 +0000

Chrome for Android has just been launched.

Many of you know I run three sites. Carrypad, the tablet-focused site. Ultrabooknews, the thin-and-light laptop site and this one, UMPCPortal. At UMPCPortal we’ve been focused on productive mobility since 2006 (almost exactly) and as you will probably know, the last few years have been hard on us. Trying to get productivity into a two-handed mobile experience has been completely ignored by mainstream manufacturers. We’ve all tried tablets of course and all been disappointed at the lack or processing power, lightweight apps and of course, the full web experience which requires a full web browser. Mozilla tried with Firefox for Android but didn’t really get there yet. Most people settled on Dolphin HD as the best of the bunch but it wasn’t anywhere near the experience needed for web-based productivity and creation.

Intel offered us some hope with Meego, an optimised Linux-based OS that included a Chromium browser…

MeeGo offers me some hope. A full internet experience and an app store but it’s something needs to mature until at least late 2011 and in fact for it to function fast enough to be productive it will need a high-end dual-core ARM or Intel Moorestown platform that will not be able to provide all-day battery life in a smartphone form-factor. [ref June 2010]

… but we all know what happened there.

And then along came th Read more ...