This little gadget is called “Ultra Mobile PC”, saying this, it should be treated as a PC which is mobile; not exactly like a laptop neither a Smart Phone kind of a thing, this is in between these two.
Work: Sure, this device will be powered by Windows XP (customized edition) but we can not expect this to be doing all that we did on regular PC, but a whole lot of it, like
- Checking your emails on the run & replying them
- View, Review and Share Documents
- Make & Show off Powerpoint presentations
- Chat with your friends & Colleagues for work & fun
Now, please don’t ask us if you can install Photoshop, Maya or any of those resource consuming applications on this. Well even if there is a way to do it, you don’t want to do it.Videos: It better be a mobile entertainment thingy. Oh yes! you can have a lot of fun with this when it comes to entertainment.
- Watch Videos off your Hard Drive & on the internet.
- Watch Live Free TV (not all models might have the TV tuner card built-in)
- Stream your Videos from the UMPC to your Mega Plasma & LCD TVs
Microsoft has already made deals with Movielink, so we can for sure expect some live streaming Movies on these devices, more like a pay-per-view or pay-per-download kind of a thing. Another thing to note is that Microsoft has teamed up with Sling Media:We can pretty much watch those channels we have subscribed via our Cable or Satellite on the device where ever you are in the world (provided you have the access to the web)
Music: Lot of folks were wondering if they can install iTunes on it. Well even if not, sure someone is going to find a way to do it.
- Listen to your favorite Music off the UMPC or on the Internet
- Listen to LIVE Radio (again hardware dependent)
- Stream your Music from the UMPC to your Pumped up Music Systems.
Talking about music, the deal that Microsoft has made with MTV should come in handy and sure you would have some service that lets you watch your MTV shows on this nifty device. If you can Podcast it to an iPod, why not LIVECAST it to UMPCs
Play:
- Sudoku: Looks like one of the famous games will be included in the touch pack
- Tones of other games that are already in use could be installed
- Sure there are even more designed specifically for your UMPCs that will be announced soon
Mobile: Yep you might not find it as attractive as an iPod nano but you CAN carry (may be in a BAG of its own & not in your pocket from the dimensions we see) this device to listen to music, but there are other things which would be really cool, like
- Having this docked in your Car, which supplies charge to the power hungry device (3 hours of battery is not enough)
- Use the bluetooth enabled Pharohs GPS unit and Cruise on the Freeway with Voice enabled Streets and Maps.
- Stream wirelessly (RF) Music from your device to your Car Stereo
- With Bluetooth built in, sure we can think of ways the you can use it with your mobile phone while driving as a Handsfree.
Matter of fact, Pharos has announced the Pharos iGPS-500, a powerful new GPS receiver designed to work with the groundbreaking new class of Microsoft Ultra Mobile PCs. The iGPS-500 will provide mobile professionals with advanced location and navigation capabilities as a part of a comprehensive desktop experience on a lightweight mobile PC. Click here to read the press release
So UMPCians, go ahead send in your comments on what other things could be done, Sure there are even more creative people out there…
neat, how about photos? and i hope few models come with a camera built in.
but until i see one in person it’s hard for me to guess anything
I’m juiced at the prospect of having a somewhat affordable and portable way to take notes in meetings in my own handwriting, store them, index them, and draw upon the knowledge down the road (instead of the current paradigm, where I write my notes in paper notebooks - never been able to get reliable and fast enough in Graffiti - and can never find the info I need quickly enough).
I’m willing to shell out the dough for something that will make a real difference in my work and play life.
I just hope my company’s security office doesn’t shoot me down. And I also have to talk my wife into letting me spring for Sling…
I was really hopping that at least some of these would be souped-up PMPs (sort of advanced versions of the Archos PMA400) but all the best PMPs, IMHO, act as mini PVRs with Video In/Out. So far the closest to that is some players having VGA out. This is very disappointing. I hope PVR functionality is on the horizon.
Yep, was thinking about this - why not have a entertainment mode which behaves very close to the MEDIA center so we can watch movies, listen to music and see photos in a snap, than to launch Media player and what not ….