Gizmodo: ultramobile

Asus Planning to Release Touchscreen Eee PC Within Six Months

John Herrman — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 07:10:00 EDT

Asustek executive Samson Hu has confirmed his company's plans to release a touchscreen Eee PC variant for sale by Q1 of 2009. It's not known whether the devices will look like the touch panel Eee mods that have been floating around or take the shape of a tablet, but we'll see in January when the first models are shown at CES. That's not all though — further announcements indicated that the Eee line is changing is some more subtle ways.

Hu stated that Intel Atom dual core processors will start making an appearance in their products as soon as they can get their teeny tiny little hands on them. Company President Jerry Chen, apparently feeling left out, chimed in to say that there would be another refreshed Eee coming at around $300. With an even lower low end, Atom dual-core processor models and touchscreen units it's not really clear what Eee designation is supposed to mean anymore, though I'd say "things that Asus makes that someone might actually want" sums it up pretty well. [Digitimes]

Gigabyte's 3G-Capable MID M528 Coming Out On Sept 17 For $689

Elaine Chow — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 11:00:00 EDT

A release date and price has been set for UMPC contender Gigabyte's MID M528, a diminutive portable computer with a slide out keyboard, according to the folks over at UMPC Portal. A product page on Gigabyte's site put the cost at $689 and availability on Sept. 17. The page then disappeared, but not before intrepid internet surfers could get a nice screen grab.

The M528 contains a 4.8 inch screen with a 800 x 480 pixel resolution, a 800 Mhz Intel Atom, 512 MB RAM, roughly 4GB of storage space, and an 11 hour battery in a case that weighs about three quarters of a pound. It also boasts 3G, which makes it a possible replacement for the Nokia N810 if you think 3G's worth paying over double for. [UMPC Portal]

Asus' Ultimate Eee PC S101 Will Have 64GB SSD, $899 Price Tag

Kit Eaton — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 05:07:00 EDT

The shiny brown machine in the photo there is apparently the top-of-the-range Eee PC S101 that was shown in Asus' leaked presentation last month. It looks just a little bigger than the white 901 model next to it, and it will be about 0.87-inches deep, have a 10.1-inch LED-lit LCD, and have an Intel Atom purring away inside. What makes it "ultimate" is presumably in part its SSD: it'll come with either a 32GB or 64GB solid-state drive, and that's why the two models will cost around $699 and $899 when available in October. And they may not carry the "Eee" label, or so the rumor goes. [PChome.tw]

Everex Targeting the Eee PC With the New "Cloudbook"

Sean Fallon — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 17:00:24 EST

It appears that Everex, the same company that sent Wal-Mart shoppers into a tizzy of values with its Linux-based gPC , now has its sites set on the Asus Eee PC with a new ultra-portable dubbed the "Cloudbook." The device will feature a 7-inch screen and the same Linux gOS found in the gPC. A 1.3 megapixel webcam is also rumored to come standard. Additional image and info after the break.

In order to reduce costs, the device will utilize a 30GB hard drive as opposed to the flash storage found in the Eee PC. It will also be powered by a 1.2GHz Via C7 ULV processor — unlike the Eee PCs 900MHz Celeron. Other rumored specs include 512MB of RAM, built-in wired and wireless Ethernet interfaces, a 4-in-1 card reader, a pair of USB 2.0 ports and DVI-out. There is also a developers' version that features a touchscreen UI, Skype phone and alarm clock module (similar to the NanoBook). Nothing is set in stone here, including the specs, but the device is expected to ship on January 15th for $400. The developer's version may arrive as early as the January 1st —although pricing info is not yet known. [Linux Devices via Electronista]

Intel Menlow-based UMPC: The Movie

Addy Dugdale — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 05:23:28 EDT

Behold the new UMPC with Menlow, for it will "truly put the full Internet in your pocket"! According to the Intel Ultra Mobile Group Chief Evangelist, that is. And provided you have the pants of Krusty The Clown and are ready to take all kinds of "is that the full Internet in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?" jokes. The most interesting bit from Mark, showing the Compal prototype in Beijing, was his mention of the Ultra Mobile Platform 2008 running Windows, Linux and Mac OS X:

"This can also run Linux. We don't care what you put on it. [Can you run OS X?] Absol... you know? I bet you could, because the iPhone is going to be running OS X."

While a fully functional PC with 45 nanometer Silverthorn processor running Mac OS X won't be a surprise, it's nice to find that 1) Intel doesn't give a damn about Windows in the brave new world of mobility computing and 2) there seems to be an absol-I-bet-you-could possibility of Apple using Menlow for their next iPhone/Mini-me MacBooks.

In any case, the Compal-who-thinks-it's-a-PSP is a nice "fully functional PC" on its own, running for 4 to 6 hours on "cellphone batteries" with a panoramic touchscreen, sliding keyboard and support for all kinds of Wi-Fi and WiMax. – Jesus Diaz

Blogging Beijing: Intel UMPC Prototype [Textura Design]

Unboxing the Uren V1 No Buttons Ultramobile PC

Noah Robischon — Thu, 28 Dec 2006 12:04:07 EST

You'll stop laughing at the unfortunate name of this device about a minute into this video of PMPINSIDE's Uren V1 being unboxed. The slim in-car PC/UMPC hybrid packs all of the features we wrote about before: 1GHz processor, 30GB hard drive, Windows XP, GPS, FM transmitter, 3-megapixel camera, DMB TV tuner, two USB ports, audio out port, miniSD and compact flash slots. Cripes, that feature set rivals my current laptop. It also comes with a remote control (for the back seat). And it's got no buttons—just a 7-inch wide touchscreen. Bjorn imported it from Korea, which is probably the only way it will ever get into the US. –Noah Robischon

UREN V1 Unboxing Video [Ultramobilelife.com]

Intel's UMPC Teaser Site is Live

Travis Hudson — Fri, 03 Mar 2006 11:40:05 EST

This image from above comes from the ultra-mobile PC teaser page put up from Intel. Coincidentally the planned UMPC announcement comes on the eve of CEbit 2006.

Technology blog is speculating that this teaser is referring to the official announcement of theRuby PC Prototype that we saw way back in April. We'll keep you posted on the UMPC announcement next week, along with all of the other happening at CEbit.

UMPC is coming [Technology blog]