News Week of April 6, 2008

UMPC squeezes in optical drive

Singapore-based Kohjinsha has announced an ultra-mobile PC (UMPC) that features an integrated optical drive and a touchscreen that pivots into tablet position. The "SR8KPO6S" has a seven-inch display with 1024 x 600 resolution, 802.11b/g, Bluetooth, a 1.3 megapixel camera, and a 60GB hard drive, says Kohjinsha.

(Click here for a larger view of Kohjinsha's SR)

Kohjinsha's SR measures 9.2 x 7 x 1.3 inches and weighs 2.4 pounds, and seems to be one of the smallest portable computers ever to include an optical drive (right). The drive both reads and writes CDs and DVDs, and is compatible with double-layer DVD+R and DVD-R media.   (Source: WindowsForDevices)
Posted Friday, April 11, 2008 by ChrisD
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GBM InkShow: Latitude XT Ink and Touch Video Review

Dell's entry in to the Tablet PC space was a highly anticipated one. Being so late to the game, they needed something to set themselves apart from their competition. That differentiator is the N-Trig digitizer allowing for capacitive touch + ink with the promise for multi-touch.

So how did they do with the Latitude XT Tablet PC? In my opinion, it the best touch + pen experience on the market. It is smooth, soft, and accurate, allowing for a more intuitive user experience than currently available in passive or other dual-mode offerings.

In this InkShow, I focus on the pen and touch experience of the Latitude XT, demoing the various input modes, as well as comparing it to the Lenovo X61 Multi-Mode touch Tablet PC. Stay tuned for more upcoming InkShows on the Latitude XT where I cover the various features more indepth, the software, accessories, and more.  (Source: Rob Bushway, GottaBeMobile)

First impressions of the HP tx2000 Entertainment Notebook

This is by no means a full review but I'm hearing from so many interested parties about the HP tx2000 Entertainment Notebook that I want to give my very brief first impressions.  The tx2000 is a reasonably priced Tablet PC with a dual digitizer that has some interesting features that are uncommon in the genre.  First up you'll notice that HP calls this an Entertainment Notebook and not a Tablet PC and after playing with it for a day I can see why they do.  The tx2000 is a great device for entertainment functions as it is a Windows Media Center in addition to a Tablet PC.  The cool remote control that runs the WMC fits in the ExpressCard slot for storage and transport and the screen is drop-dead gorgeous for watching videos on the integrated DVD drive.

The tx2000 with the AMD Turion 2X64 processors is without a doubt the fastest Tablet PC I have ever used.  This thing runs like greased lightning and everything just happens instantly at all times.  The 4 GB of memory probably helps in this regard too but I think most of it are those two processors from AMD.  Windows Vista 64-bit seems faster too so maybe it's the entire package that flies.  Whatever it is I like it a lot and now when I leave the tx2000 and jump over to another machine, even the MacBook Pro, the other machine feels slow.  (Source: jkOnTheRun)

Pilots Crave Latest Tech Gear

Mike den Hartog, an air traffic controller from Kansas City, Mo., is the co-owner of a 1956 Cessna 172 (similar models might sell for $30,000 or less). He flies with a handheld GPS receiver, a popular alternative, as well as a tablet PC computer.

"Without the extra electronics, I wouldn't go flying on the majority of my trips," he said. "It tells you exactly where the weather is."  (Source: Kris Valk, The Ledger)
Posted Friday, April 11, 2008 by ChrisD
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Tablet PC- what's that premium worth?

I am an unusual Tablet PC user, I know that.  I am totally dependent on taking ink notes in my work and why the Tablet PC is so critical for getting my work done.  In addition to the inking ability the other criteria that is vital to me is mobility and since Tablet PCs usually come in thinner and highly mobile forms they work well for me.  The Fujitsu P1620 I am using now is a highly mobile inking machine and I love it.  It makes my work better and easier and that's worth a premium to me.  The recent introduction of ultra-portable notebooks like the HP Mini-Note have driven home to me how much a premium I paid for the Fujitsu and it's got me thinking about that.  The HP Mini I am evaluating is is about the same size and weight as the Fujitsu and with the exception of a much slower processor and the lack of a touch screen is similarly configured.  That means that it's roughly as mobile as the Fuji so the primary difference in functionality between the HP Mini and the Fujitsu P1620 is the Tablet PC bits.  Those bits are important to me as I mentioned but is it worth a 300% price premium?  Is it worth such a premium for you?  Let's discuss that so read on.(Source: jkOnTheRun)
Posted Wednesday, April 9, 2008 by ChrisD
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Review:  HP 2133 Mini-Note PC

Small scale PCs that are truly usable are a rare commodity and the The HP 2133 Mini-Note PC is comfortable to type on and easy on the eyes which makes it very usable.  Weighing in at just 2.6 pounds with a 8.9 inch screen and spill resistant keyboard the new HP 2133 Mini-Note PC is designed for the education market, but will work equally well for casual business users and those those who want to travel light and want to stay connected.   (Source: Linda A. Epstein, TabletPC2.com)

Review: HTC Shift UMPC Is Barely Mobile, Hardly Useful

If you feel like paying the $1,500 that HTC is demanding for the Shift, you'll get a copy of Vista Business, as well as Microsoft's Origami Experience software. Surprisingly, this -- along with the device's built-in CDMA radio (which lets you hop on Sprint's data network when there's no WiFi available) -- was really one of the only useful features on the Shift. Origami basically functions like a touchscreen-enabled version of Windows Media Center and you can quickly call up your browser, videos, music, pictures and RSS feeds with relative ease.

Where battery life is concerned, we managed to squeeze a little more than two hours doing our normal web-browsing and video-gazing routine. The tablet comes with 1GB of memory, a 40GB hard drive and Intel's A110 800-MHz processor. While this is the same chip other UMPCs like Samsung's Q1 Ultra use, the Shift's overall performance skews a bit to the pokey end of the spectrum.

Why companies continue to invest millions to develop these things is beyond us -- especially when you can now get something like the Asus Eee PC for a fraction of the cost. Indeed, as smartphones get smarter and more powerful, and ultra-mobile laptops become more gaunt and nimble, UMPC makers should realize they need a way to iron out these issues and stop throwing money away. (Source: Danny Dumas, Bryan Gardiner, Wired Blog Network)

The Power of Pen

Learn about why so many businesses today are deciding to take advantage of pen computing, its advantages over standard notebook computers, the industries that are best suited to pen computing, the types of form-factors and other choices available, and how pen-enabled computers can benefit all types of users and the types of work they do, in this whitepaper.   Registration Required (Source: CIO & CSO Online Resources)

Fun way to learn: Carnegie Mellon develops Tablet PC

Carnegie Mellon University has developed an innovative Tablet PC based system for learning mathematics through games.

The Tablet PCs provide a unique mode of computer interaction using a digital pen. The pen provides a natural input medium and allows previous workflows centered on paper to continue uninterrupted. The computer becomes "intelligent paper", capturing the benefits of the digital environment and traditional paper.

“The System will enhance children’s learning of mathematics, while decreasing teachers’ grading workload and enhancing access to handwritten work so teachers can develop effective course pedagogies,” said Amer Hassan Ali Obeidah of Carnegie Mellon University-Qatar (CMU-Q).   (Source: The Peninsula)

Review: miniature laptop is hampered by Vista

We found the Shift poorly suited for running Windows Vista, and performance would probably be better if Windows XP had been chosen instead. The device is slow to boot up, and we found its performance extremely sluggish until we disabled several programs that launch at startup.

We would recommend that users also disable automatic updates, as Vista otherwise attempts to download multi-megabyte patches even when the mobile network is the only available connection.    (Source: Daniel Robinson, IT Week)

I Really Like Dell's Design Philosophy: Resume On Pen Removal

Another feature in which the Dell Latitude XT Tablet PC shows off it edge is with this nifty little feature: Resume On Pen Removal

It works quite simple: when in Stand-By or Hibernate mode, ejecting the pen will wake the system up. I like Dell's approach a lot: they put the focus on the pen. That may not sound like a big deal, but it is a subtle shift in thinking about how to approach interaction with a Tablet PC.   (Source: Rob Bushway, GottaBeMobile)

SHS math students can count on online 're-do'

Thanks to a $5,000 grant from the Panhandle Alliance for Education, the Sandpoint High School Math Department has purchased two specialized computer systems that will eventually allow SHS students similar access to many of the department's lessons. Teacher Nachele Search is piloting the project this year with her pre-calculus, calculus, and algebra II classes, in which 99 students are enrolled.

“At first I was hesitant to take this on because I didn't know how to work the computer equipment, but now I'm totally sold.” Search said. “The tablet PC is like an Etch-a-Sketch, so it's fun and the kids think it's cool, and it's such a time-saver.”

With the use of the PC tablet and voice recorder, Search's examples and notes are saved in a video file along with her comments, then loaded onto her SHS Web site. Students who are absent due to illness, school activities or family commitments, or who need to be refreshed on the material before they can finish homework or prepare for a quiz, can view and hear the whole lesson on a school computer or from home if they have Internet access.  (Source: Marcia Wilson, BoomerCountyDailyBee.com)
Posted Sunday, April 6, 2008 by ChrisD
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