Layne Heiny, over at UMPC Buzz, gives a quick assessment of this year's UMPC landscape and then talks about his predictions for 2008. I think he's right about the UMPC market being wide open with no device being the absolute must have. Each device does things differently while no device is perfect enough to garner all of the attention. He asks the following question:

I think that the UMPC market has the greatest opportunity for consumers to speak out and have their opinions not only heard, but to even affect design decisions. We're talking within a matter of months from the launch of a design to a refresh, you can see that manufacturers are really working hard to improve their devices. However, in order to really discuss these issues we should come up with a common vocabulary to describe the myriad of shapes and forms that UMPCs take. Anyone want to help? I'll start. Feel free to add more in the comments and I'll keep an up to date document with all of the UMPC related vocabulary in it.

UMPC Form Factors

• Slate - A UMPC design for pen input with minimal or no buttons on the device, could be any size. Examples: Samsung Q1/Q1B/Q1P, TabletKiosk eo UMPC V7110, AMtek T770


• Slider - A UMPC design with a keyboard that is revealed by sliding the screen up or to the side. Examples: OQO model 02, Gigabyte U60, Sony VAIO UX


• Clamshell - A UMPC design similar to a traditional laptop with a keyboard attached to a screen via a hinge. Examples: VIA NanoBook, Packard Bell EasyNote XS, ASUS eeePC


• Convertible - A UMPC design with a screen that swivels similar to full size convertible tablets. Examples: Kohjinsha SH1, Vye S37, Fujitsu U810, ASUS T83

UMPC Interface

• Thumboard - A QWERTY keyboard designed to be typed on using your thumbs it's purpose is to be small and save space. Examples: OQO model 02/E2, Wibrain B1, Raon Everun, Samsung Q1 Ultra, Gigabyte M704


• Keyboard - A QWERTY keyboard designed for touch typing, chosen for speed. Examples: Packard Bell EasyNote XS, ASUS eeePC, Fujitsu U810


• Touchscreen - A display on a UMPC that can be used for input by touching it with your fingers or touching the screen with a stylus. Examples: Samsung Q1 Series, TabletKiosk eo UMPC V7110, AMtek T770, ASUS R2H


• Active Digitizer - A display on a UMPC that can be used for input by using a special stylus similar to a Wacom tablet. Examples: OQO model 02/E2


• Hard Touch - A touchscreen with a 120g digitizer meaning you need to apply more pressure to interact with the device, optimal for inking with a stylus. Examples: ASUS R2H


• Soft Touch - A touchscreen with a 80g digitizer meaning you can press lightly to interact with the device, optimal for touching with your fingers. Examples: Samsung Q1 Series, TabletKiosk eo UMPC V7110, Raon Everun, Medion UMPC


• Stylus - A pen with a special tip in it which is used to interact with a UMPCs. Touchscreen UMPCs can use any type of stylus, while UMPCs with an active digitizer require a special stylus.

UMPC Power

• Maximum Battery Life - The number of hours a UMPC will run on battery power while idle. This is tested on a UMPC with brightness set at the lowest level, no programs running, WiFi off, Bluetooth off, and no peripherals. This gives a baseline for a UMPCs minimum power drain. (This should be done with the standard battery)


• Minimum Battery Life - The number of hours a UMPC will run on battery power while at full load. This is tested on a UMPC with brightness set at the highest level, CPU under full load, WiFi on, Bluetooh on, but no peripherals. This gives a baseline for a UMPCs maximum power drain. (This should be done with the standard battery)


• Observed Battery Life - The number of hours users report using their UMPCs while under normal load. This can vary from user to user, but generally reflects typical web-surfing usage, IE. Wifi on, medium CPU load, medium brightness settings. This gives you an idea about how long a UMPC should run for you.


• Battery Capacity - This is how much power a battery can hold measured in amp hours. In general higher capacity batteries weigh more, cost more, and take up more space depending on the quality of the battery. The battery capacity plays an important role in a UMPC's battery life. More efficient platforms can choose between long battery life or smaller batteries. Samsung Q1/Q1B/Q1P standard battery: 2600mAh, OQO model 02 standard battery: 4500 mAh, TabletKiosk eo UMPC v7110 standard battery: 2400mAh

Visitor

Thursday, 22 November 2007

you forgot the hybrid: HTC Shift

-jkkmobile

Visitor

Thursday, 22 November 2007

..and u should talk about watts/hour, not mAh when talking about batteries

Visitor

Thursday, 22 November 2007

..u810 and V7110 are hard touch umpcs

Visitor

Thursday, 22 November 2007

hmm... "iPhone features, Fujitsu screen clarity, ASUS smoothness, and the Gigabyte keyboard and combine your version of the perfect product?"

- iPhone features.. iphone has less features than most highend phones

- Fujitsu screen.. samsung screens are far better, brighter

- ASUS smoothness.. r2h is actually really bulky

- Gigabyte keyboard.. U60 keyboard is the worse keyboard I have ever used


as you can see, we all need very different things.

for me HTC Shift + more battery life seems to be perfect combination.

-jkkmobile

Bjorn Stromberg

Thursday, 22 November 2007

Oh man, I forgot all about the Shift. Hybrid Design sounds like a good name for it.

Batteries are all rated in mAh, they're clearly labeled on every battery so it's the simplest way to compare them.

I'll update the list of the hard touch UMPCs, good catch!

Visitor

Thursday, 22 November 2007

it is simple but mAh don't tell anything about the capasity!

oqo 02 has 17 W/h battery
q1/q1b/q1p have 29 W/h battery

so quite the opposite than in your post stating oqo having "biggest" battery.

Visitor

Friday, 23 November 2007

Agreed about the battery. mAh only reflects the current. You need a Wh figure for capacity comparisons.

Steve / Chippy

Visitor

Friday, 23 November 2007

I would second the hybrid concept. The key is to have a part of the UMPC always on for alarms and instant access to schedules, to do lists, and contacts.

I would also add a size category. I'm not sure how you would split it up but the pocketability of the OQO versus some of the larger and heavier UMPCs was a key selling factor for me.

Dave P

Visitor

Tuesday, 18 December 2007

I have the perfectly designed Pocket PC. It is the Hewlett Packard 200LX. The only thing is that it is DOS, not Windows. New UMPC design is getting close to this old 200LX. Take a look at the keypad on the LX200 at www.thaddeus.com. They are not cheap, for such old PC's, but they still have a big following because of the design and functionality.

I am getting close to changing to a UMPC such as the Everun or the OQO although they are not quite there yet with regards to pocketability and layout.

James P

Visitor

Tuesday, 25 March 2008

What part of clamshell, touch screen, keyboard, pocket sized do these manufactures’ marketing people not understand? They should be making this for business people, not aiming at game playing kids. The U810 is close, but still a bit arkward shaped. What I am waiting to buy is an updated Jornada 720 with the same touch screen & full keyboard, but with at least 40GB HD, 1.0 RAM, USB2.0 ( preferably 2 ) running full windows ( Preferably XP ). Want it to easily fit into my purse and for the screen to be protected. Phone and camera features would be nice, but are not a deal killer. HP are you listening?? Pull out that 720 design and update the thing and I’ll be first in line. I am still using my second Jornada 720; wore the first one out.