Jan 8, 2007 | blog
The more I’ve been thinking about which new laptop to get, the more I’ve been drawn to the UMPC concept. The lightweight mobility provided by the devices has been very appealing.
Samsung, for example, has a great device called the Q1 that really helped to defined this new genre of devices. Incidentally, Samsung has just announced the upgraded version, the Q1P SSD at CES (more info here at eWeek), that includes a 32MB Solid State Drive (Flash Drive).
The really neat thing about a UMPC like the Q1 is the PDA-like touch sensitive screen that you can use your finger or stylus on. This makes the device much easier to use and more accessible on the fly. It’s easy to pull out, turn on, and use quickly when needed, especially when standing up or on the move. But with a full WinXP install, the systems can run off the shelf software that allows you to do almost everything that you do on your main PC. This is the flexibility that I’m after in my next computer.
My current interest in this category of mobile devices is the Fujitsu LifeBook P1610 Notebook. This device is technically labeled as a notebook, and includes a touch-sensitive 8.9″ screen rather than a standard electromagnetic digitizer found on most Tablet PCs. The differences allow you to use your finger or other stylus rather than the custom pens delivered with Tablet PCs. Also, you miss out on the “hover” mode that the digitizer offers, though I’ve heard that is not a totally bad thing.
The system is kind of a hybrid device, that is technically a notebook, but because of the touch-sensitive screen mounted on a swivel it and the Tablet PC OS option, it can be called a Tablet PC. In addition, the size and weight of the device, along with the functionality lend itself towards a UMPC.
There have been several previews and reviews of the device of the last few weeks, with a nice video review over at jkOnTheRun. The only thing I wish for would be a dual core processor, but that would just consume battery at a ridiculous rate.
So, why am I considering a ultra portable computer as my main PC? Simply because I have no huge computing requirements. I have a decent home system that can accommodate my DVD burning and other processor-intensive requirements. My daily computing needs revolve around mainly web based services like GMail, meme-trackers, browsing, online office tasks, etc… The other things I use are a few local tools for blogging and editing photos and such. So I can get by with much less computing power than most people. The only thing I need is RAM, and the P1610 can top out at 1GB so it should work out quite well.
Hopefully, I’ll be able to pick one of these up in the next month or two and be able to give some real world feedback. There are so many options, a person could also go for a regular “convertible” Tablet PC with a 12″ screen for the same price point but get more processing power and DVD burning options. Tough choices for sure!
What’s your opinion on UMPCs and Tablet PCs?
Jan 4, 2007 | blog
I’m not sure that many would. The biggest use of a home server would be for storing recorded video in its original high-quality state.
Most consumers don’t know what they would need a server for and those that have moved into recording or watching video content are using services like SlingBox or Orb. These types of services allow them to watch live TV over the Internet from anywhere with a broadband connection.
What else would consumers use a server for? Let’s try some ideas:
- Email: No, Yahoo, GMail, Live Mail, and many others have that tied up – why host or store your email anymore?
- Streaming Media: Why, with YouTube, online audio services, iPod/iTunes, and the like would you want to manage all those files and stream them?
- Web Server: Huh, all the free blogging services, hosting services and such – even the fee-based services are cheap! Why bother with managing a server?
- IM: Nope, GTalk, Live Messenger, Yahoo Messenger, etc… is where your friends are. Not “Bob’s Messenger” with you and your mom.
Well, I can’t come up with much more in the time I have, but you get the drift. A year ago, I still would have thought this was a great idea, but now I think MS would be better served coming up with better Vista licensing plans for consumers with multiple computers – Office too!
Via: Neowin.net – Microsoft to unveil Windows Home Server at CES
Jan 2, 2007 | blog
Ok, there are several great new phones slated for 2007 from Samsung, HTC and others. But here are some of the features that I’ll be looking for in my next handset.
- Windows Mobile 6 (Crossbow) – Pocket PC
- VGA Screen
- Multi-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE/UMTS/HSDPA on T-Mobile
- 400MHz processor (or faster)
- Bluetooth 2.0
- 802.11b/g
- Slid-out QWERTY Keyboard
- Scroll wheel
- D-Pad
- 256MB ROM
- 96MB RAM
- 3MP Rear-facing Camera
- VGA Front-facing camera
- MicroSD or MiniSD Slot
- GPS
- Tethering ability as GPRS/EDGE/UMTS/HSDPA modem
- 2-Day battery life to fit my usage (to beat my existing T-Mobile MDA’s 24 hour limit)
I reserve the right to revise this list as I change my mind of course!
There are always great new things coming down the pipe that we don’t know about.
What about you, what features will you be looking for as you replace your phone in 2007 (if you are planning it)? Will it be a Palm, Windows Mobile, Symbian, or Blackberry device? Will you go back to a dumb phone and carry a UMPC? Or will you be moving from a dumb phone to a smart phone this year?
Let me know in the comments!
Dec 19, 2006 | blog
I’ve been adding a lot of “stuff” to the blog lately, lots of widgets and such that seemed like they added value. I’ve made use of a lot of services like digg, NewsVine, ClipMarks, and del.icio.us, but I’m not sure if they add value to the reader or just more visual clutter.
So I’m going to post a few polls to see if there is any value to some of the things that I’ve added – starting with the ClipMarks scriptlet shown on the right sidebar. It lists the latest “clips” that I’ve added to my Clip Marks account.
One of the bad things of so many services like ClipMarks (and digg, del.icio.us, News Vine, etc…) is that you can only clip or tag so many articles to each service in a given week. I’ve found that, personally, I make much more use of the del.icio.us service than any of the others – mostly because it works as a good bookmark service for my own future reference.
ClipMarks is unique in that it allows you to actually select snipits of a web site and have them be added to your account. The service allows you to make them public similar to NewsVine and digg, but the neat part is actually recording things you find for your own reference. Neat stuff – but I don’t use it as much as I had hoped.
So, should the ClipMarks sidebar list stay or go?
Dec 12, 2006 | blog
I have to admit to being a closet Mac ad fan. There, I said it.
Apple’s latest ad campaign, which started awhile ago, is just too good not to like. While I’m not a Mac guy, and will poke fun at Apple at any chance, their Mac ads are simple and clever.
Without outlandish claims or crappy music or dizzying visuals. The simple exchange of two people with clever cutting dialog makes them fun to watch for.
