Calm before storm... Computex starting tomorrow

Continue reading...

Yep, we are here!

Right now charging gears for tomorrow as we will have plenty to show even the actually Computex show will start on Tuesday..

My main gear:

Canon FS100 Camcorder with Raynox .5 wide angle and TorchLED

Canon Digital IXUS i Zoom

Asus Eee PC 900A with 8700mAh battery, 3G, fast RunCore SSD...

UMID Mbook and Viliv S5 Premium Air

I should be ok with these..

Btw, taste of Taipei all ready at YouTube..

New UMPCs and a netbook coming from Viliv

Yep, great news!

Continue reading..


Viliv will be showing their soon shipping devices at Computex. List includes:

- S5, X70 EX and S7 MID with WiMAX modem based on Intel Atom Processor at the Intel booth.

- S5, X70 EX and S7 MID with 3G HSPA modem based on Intel Atom Processor at the Intel booth.

- S5 MID supporting the beta Window 7 at the Microsoft booth.

- S5, X70 EX and S7 MID with TD-SCDMA

But it doesn't stop there as they will also show their new models:

- 10 inch screen MID ( netbook? )

- 4.8 inch screen MID with keyboard



Yep, I will be there and you will see them all soon..

NOTE: That image is manipulated by me.. NOT a real product!

Viliv press release

MeetMobility Podcast 28

Welcome to listen Meet Mobility Podcast no. 28 .
Join me, Steve and Sascha talking about mobile computing.

Continue reading...

Recorded on Tuesday May 26th. All about Computex 2009.

Click to download [ mp3, 53:17 ]

Meet Mobility home page
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UMID M1 Mbook UMPC now on Dynamism for $599

Click here to see more


$599: UMID-M1/16gb (Intel Atom 1.33GHz, 512MB Ram, 16GB Solid State HD, Windows XP Home)

$749: UMID-M1/32gb (Intel Atom 1.33GHz, 512MB Ram, 32GB Solid State HD, Windows XP Home)

Shipment expected June 2nd

Remember to check my first impressions video.. full review in few..

Dynamism

Testing Moblin V2 Beta for Netbooks

Click to see the video

Yeah.. It's beta... but Intel is the worlds largest Linux house if you count the devs.. and they have been doing this over 2 years..

Testing Microsoft Surface

Click to see the video

Sadly they didn't let me open it...

Meet UMID M1 Mbook in matte black

Click here to see more





Lid is still glossy but internals and keyboard are now matte.

Looks much better me thinks....

No word yet about the availability..

Thanks Lazion.com [ translated ]

Via Pocketables

Asus Eee PC T91 dissected

Click here to see more








Lets see...

SSD is 50mm so we should be able to use 3rd party SSDs for Dell mini 9.

Right from GPS board is place for SIM card reader.. so if you swap GPS card with 3G + GPS and solder the SIM slot you get internal 3G pretty easily.

RAM ( and future SIM ) are accessible from bottom lid.. so RAM is upgradable.

Dual SD card slots.. one for normal use, one is " Disk-expander Slot"

And yes, non removable battery.. BAD Asus BAD!


There is also manual on FCC so download it to learn all before you get one.



Thanks FCC

Details, News and Links for Asus Eee T91

More convertible touchscreen netbooks coming

Continue reading..


This one is called Fujiyama E-PC E-1001


And this one is E-1005.. same specs but without swivel hinge.

Specs:
CPU:Intel Atom Processor N270 1.6GHz
Chipsets:Mobile Intel 945GSE Express Chipset+ICH7M
OS:Windows XP Home Edition（Licence）
Harddisk Capacity:2.5” 160GB SATA 5400rpm(sumsung)
Memory:1GB SO-DIMM*1(Max 2GB)
Screen:10.2" TOUCH TFT-LCD WXGA 1024*600
camera:Built in 1.3M pixels camera
lAN:Ethernet 10/100BASE-T
Wireless:802.11 b/g/n,502.16optional)
I/O Port:USB*3,Mic-in,Earphone-out,D-Sub,RJ45,Express Card,
4-in-1 card reader（SD/MMC/MS/MS Pro）,DC-in.
Audio:Speaker 1.5 watt*2
Bluetooth:　　Built-in V2.1+DER
Battery:Li-ion 4 cells, 4500mAh

I have also heard some other ones coming soon... as in Computex..

My own eyes are still on Asus T91, but where is it???

Fujiyama Product page

Which netbook accessories you would like to see tested?

Continue reading..

I'm getting some goodies for testing from Ultimate Netbook Accessories, but before they are sending them, I'd like to ask what you would like to see?

No.1 on my list is the external battery pack which I will take with me to Computex ( YEAH! Going there! ) They also have new solar charged pack, but I don't think I will have too much time in the sun there...

So.. What should I test?


http://www.ultimate-netbook.co.uk

Asus Eee PC 1008HA gets USA pricing and shipping date

Continue reading..



It will be $429 and shipping after 18th this month... not that bad pricing for such design..



Our hands-on video from CeBit

Engadget hands-on and gallery

LAPTOP hands-on and video

Details, News and Links for Asus Eee PC 1008HA

Modding Viliv S5: 3G and SSD

Click to see the video

So.. You can upgrade the HDD with any 1.8 inch 5mm SSD or HDD with PATA zif connection or any half mini zif SSD ( I'm getting some new ones to test next week )

..or upgrade with 3G modem but then you need to solder the pci-e connector, antenna cable and use Novatel EU850D with SIM holder.. cut the metal plates and take away the HDD and replace it with half mini zif SSD.

..or wait until 3G version is available ( I have no info yet )

NFS convertible UMPC surfaces as LonMID

Click here to see more







We saw a a picture of it at IDF Beijing 2009 but now we can see it fully:

NFS-HLJ LonMID M100

4.8 inch 800 x 480 main screen
2.4 inch 320 x 240 secondary screen
800Mhz Intel Atom with 512MB RAM
4GB SSD
Wifi, bluetooth and WWAN ( CDMA1X )
qwerty + numeric keypad
1 × USB 2.0
1 × MiniUSB 2.0
Mic/headphone
MicroSD
Wbcam
153 x 91 x 27mm
MIDinux Linux

So it is a mobile computer and a phone..

It shares the minimum Atom specs so it's performance is about the same as with Aigo MID.. not that good compared to new arrivals like UMID Mbook and Viliv S5 but the form factor might be better for some.

No word on actual release or pricing...



PC Home [ translated ]

Via Pocketables

Windows 7 on Viliv S5 UMPC

Click to see the video

My Installation notes:

Have USB keyboard ready as you will need it ones.

Plug in dvd or usb stick with W7 media on it.

Open BIOS, choose your media as first boot drive.. boot from it.

Continue with Windows installer.. You can use S5's joystick as mouse and OK key as left click by pressing menu key for few seconds. You need to unplug the DVD drive or USB stick to enter your name with USB keyboard... just swap back after typing.


Drivers and software:

All drivers are XP drivers from Viliv..

Install Atom IO Control first.. Device manager.. Action.. Add legacy hardware .. point to location.

Install S5 System software... Reboot later..

Install touch screen drivers.. Device manager.. Ps2 Mouse.. point to location.. choose Vista driver and reboot.


Copy Viliv Manager to desktop, run it and enable Wifi with it. Wifi driver instal fails.. go to Device manager.. SD8686 on network adapters.. Update driver.. point to location..


Connect wifi.


Start windows update, pick Intel graphics and Wifi on optional updates.. install.. wait...

Install chipset drivers.. with XP compatible as administrator.


Install USB Client drivers.. with XP compatible as administrator.

reboot

Enable bluetooth from Viliv manager.. drivers install automatically

Install GPS drivers.. Device manager.. Action.. Add legacy hardware .. point to location.



All drivers seems working fine and there has been no real issues other than a bit slow operation time to time.

It's really bad from Microsoft that they don't understand that we would like to use full tablet features on touch devices too... a simple "enable all tablet features" would be super...

Next up on S5: SSD and 3G stuff


Details, News and Links for Viliv S5

Viliv S5 Premium Air review

Click to see the video

Review device:

Viliv S5 Premium Air

4.8 inch 1024 x 600 touch screen
1.33Ghz Intel Atom with GM500
1GB RAM
16GB SSD ( prototype SSD on this one )
Wifi, Bluetooth, 3G and GPS ( 3G is Huawei EM770 )
1 * USB 2.0
1 * mini usb
Connector for external screen cables ( VGA, S-video, composite, RGB and audio )
Headphone/lineout 3.5mm jack
Stereo speakers
9 way joystick
5 to 7 hour battery life
154/84/24 mm 395 g

Differences on this one and the Premium version are the SSD in place of HDD and the 3G modem.


Keep your eyes on UMPCPortal too as Steve is finalizing his review.. it should be up soon.

Details, News and Links for Viliv S5

Meet RunCore Pro IV.. A really fast SSD

Click to see the video

RunCore Pro IV 2.5 SATA


RunCore USB to SATA case for cloning


Pro IV on Dell Mini 10


Pro IV on Asus Eee PC 100HE


Pro IV on my ThinkPad


Pro IV on my desktop


Main Specs and Pricing:

Interface Type SATA II
Form Factor 2.5"
Flash Media Type MLC
Capacity 32GB, 64GB, 128GB, 256GB

Comes with RunCore USB to SATA case for cloning

Onboard Cache
32GB: 32MB
64GB, 128GB, 256GB: 64MB

Performance

32GB, 64GB:
Read Speed up to 215MB/s
Write Speed up to 150MB/s

128GB:
Read Speed up to 240MB/s
Write Speed up to 185MB/s

256GB:
Read Speed up to 240MB/s
Write Speed up to 180MB/s


32GB: $149
64GB: $249
128GB: $449
256GB: $889


Yep, it is fast..

The main design achievement here is the real life use. As you can see on the video, programs and files are opening faster than I could ever click!


Where to Buy

RunCore Press Release