Showing: All entries for March, 2006

31Mar2006

So much of the Waiting: Pre-Order Samsung Q1

Posted by Joe in Samsung and Shopping. 0 Comments

About a Week back play.com started taking pre-orders at ~$1400 (£799.99), Now Expansys is offering it at the same price, yes they ship to US too. Click here to pre-order yours at Expansys.

Engadget also states…

…While it’s not unusual for specialty resellers such as eXpansys to charge a markup over retail (and the price before VAT is somewhat cheaper — £680, or about $1,180), the price makes the Q1 more expensive than many laptops, and not all that much cheaper than some full-featured tablet PCs. US pricing, once announced, will almost certainly be lower…

Oh we wish too, a lot cheaper. Via [engadget]

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31Mar2006

Seattle Times interviews Otto

Posted by Joe in General. 0 Comments

otto_seattle.jpg

Seattle Times interview with Otto, who was out and about with an Origami device at–where else?–a Seattle coffee shop with wifi. There are some cool pics and videos of the device and of various programs in action..

The crowd at Seattle’s Espresso Vivace Roasteria barely noticed, but Otto Berkes was there recently using one of the first models of Microsoft’s super-hyped “Origami” handheld computers.

Berkes led development of the concept, software and design guidelines that computer makers are using to build the devices. They’ll go on sale in April as Ultra-Mobile PCs — Origami was a code name — for about $1,000…

Read the full article at [Seattle Times] Via [Origami Project]

NOTE: Don’t forget to check out the videos there - it’s pretty cool (personally i don’t like the real player but you need it to watch these)

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31Mar2006

A Worst-Kept Secret ???

Posted by Joe in Announcements. 4 Comments

Oh boy, we never thought this way(well not until we saw the prices atleast), but there was a lot of speculation of microsoft had for us when “Origami Project” started floating the web. But by far this has been the most successful viral-campaign (let alone what they had for us) of Microsoft ever (atleast i felt so). But CNET says its the worst kep secret (but why is that listed under Worst tech of 2006?), yes a lot of were disappointed when we looked at the battery life and mostly at the price tag.

CNET states in its Worst tech of 2006:

“We’re working on a top-secret project that will blow your mind, and we won’t give details until next week. Except that it’s bigger than a handheld and smaller than a notebook PC. Oh, and it has tablet functionality. And we’re calling it the ultramobile PC. But that’s all we’re saying!” Ooh, mysterious.

Hold on: I just checked the Weekly Hit List (Top 20) Products of this Week at CNET and the first (Cowon A2) and second(Yukyung Technologies Viliv P1 - that’s a looooong name for a product) are Portable Video Players (yep they are much smaller than a UMPC) but who knows UMPC wont be in that list anytime sooner. Matter of fact bot the top products has just the features you’d expect in a PMP and costs anywhere from $400 to $600 and features ~4″ LCDs and just 20GB.

Via [UMPCBuzz]

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31Mar2006

What’s the future of Handhelds?

Posted by Joe in Analysis. 0 Comments

Ed Hardy has an analysis of What hadhelds do today & what it holds for us in the future.
Well, does handhelds have to sport full version of an operating system like windows, or can there be a minimal version that does the job. This i hope has remained a question even to the researchers at microsoft. This being the case there would be people who might prefer just one of these, to keep them happy might be microsoft’s take till now.

Here is an excert from the article

Whenever UMPCs are being discussed, someone always asks, “Why should I want one of these? I’ll just stick with my Pocket PC/Palm.” My answer is, “You might not have much choice.”

I got a brief glimpse of the next version of Windows Mobile, and I think it is going to be an excellent operating system… for smartphones.

I was told nothing has been set in stone, but it seems to me that Microsoft is giving up on something its mobile operating systems have had since the beginning: trying to look and act like the full version of Windows as much as possible.

Instead, I got the impression that the upcoming version of Windows Mobile is being designed to make the tasks most often performed on a smartphone easier to do.

While that’s all very well and good, what makes a good smartphone operating system doesn’t necessarily make a good handheld operating system. For example, good smartphone operating systems emphasize doing things one-handed via a D-pad, while ones designed for handhelds should emphasize stylus-based control.

And before you ask, Microsoft has made it clear that the days of there being two very different versions of Windows Mobile will be over with the next version. There will still be touchscreen and non-touchscreen devices, but there will be one operating system for both….

Read the full article at [Brighthand]

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30Mar2006

Defining the term “Pocketable”

Posted by Joe in Analysis. 0 Comments

Layne Heiny of UMPC Buzz  posted something really interesting and he even explains why he says that. Well he is correct when he says “how many of us use our pockets for these gadgets?” I enjoyed reading it

…Come to think about it, I do not like putting many things into my pockets. I put papers in my pockets. My wallet is in my back pocket. Keys are in my front pockets, along with some change. A pen might be in my shirt pocket. Let me double check. No. I have managed to lose another pen. The pen is probably under the seat cushions. Oh, my iPod sits inside my jacket pocket. This is so that no one steals it. Otherwise, most of my pockets remain empty.

There are many things I refuse to put in my pockets. For example, I was taught that guys who walk around with their hands in their pockets are suspect – so I keep my hands to my sides. So, if you are sitting or standing with your hands in your pockets then you might want to remove them from the pockets and place them on your sides…

Read the full post at [UMPC Buzz]

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