Hands-on with Intel's UMPC prototype

Intel showed off its vision of the ultramobile portable computer today, and CNET got a good look at the mini-tablet, which has a 7-inch display, runs Windows XP Tablet PC Edition and offers full internet connectivity. While the devices -- which CNET referred to as "Origami-like" -- are fully functional, they're clearly prototypes: battery life is limited to a paltry 15 minutes. However, Intel execs said that early production models should have three-hour batteries and retail for under $1,000, while versions with all-day batteries and lower price tags (including that $500 sweet spot) should be available next year. According to CNET, versions of the UMPC will ship "in the next few weeks," so if you want to get your hands on one, you may not have to wait too much longer.

[arkowi @ Mar 7th 2006 4:08PM]

meh.

[khamel @ Mar 7th 2006 4:08PM]

so how is this $700 better than the nokia 770 now? i have been holding off on the 770 till i saw if there would be any competition at the 300-400 price point but i guess thats not going to happen. i'll wait another two days on the origami i guess.

[J @ Mar 7th 2006 4:10PM]

It looks horrific.

Didn't they try and sell us these stupid devices a few years ago? Too big for a PDA and too small for a laptop. I'll pass.

[Kamalot @ Mar 7th 2006 4:10PM]

I already have one of these.

http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/us/en/sm/WF05a/321957-304452-306995-304455-306995-376810.html

Same thing but nicer.

[Dave Zatz @ Mar 7th 2006 4:11PM]

3 hour battery life? Under $1000? I can think of several PDAs, smart phones, or laptops I'd choose first. Maybe this will get some traction in the business world... though I doubt it.

[RSL @ Mar 7th 2006 4:11PM]

This doesn't look anything like an ipod. Their photoshop skills suck.

[Smx @ Mar 7th 2006 4:12PM]

Ugly.

[Mark @ Mar 7th 2006 4:13PM]

I guess it might make a substitute for a car computer.

[ben @ Mar 7th 2006 4:13PM]

Good God ...

they finally repackaged tablet PC and re-release it under a different name !!!

best invention EVER !!!!

[Luke Rhodes @ Mar 7th 2006 4:14PM]

I don't know if this has been brought up before but it just occurred to me - Intel is making all these new UMPC's, Intel is Now Hand In Hand with Apple, Apple is putting patents down for touch screen devices...

Could just be me hoping for something a bit more than a touch screen video ipod but it's an idea I thought I'd share!

[William Vogel @ Mar 7th 2006 4:14PM]

this seems a lot like what the newton was originally supposed to be. hopefully ms and intel won't fuck it up too much and the concept will be sucessful this time around.

[Roceh @ Mar 7th 2006 4:16PM]

Theres a couple of versions shown, the http://news.com.com/2300-1044_3-6046778-4.html?tag=ne.gall.pg one looks better.

However, the 3 hour battery life is awful but expected given its running an x86 processor. Under $1000 will most likely translate into $999, so far to expensive.

Not impressed at all.

[Taylor Alexander @ Mar 7th 2006 4:23PM]

So, 2 things:
1) I had a dream that i got a secret first look a the supposed new video ipod, and I snapped some pics for engaget...
(I think I've been reading engadget waaaaaaay too much...)
2) and I just realized this yesterday: UMPC's are the new PDAs... We can finally shrink a full PC down to a similar form factor, so the under-powered and crippled PDA isn't needed anymore (and it's pretty much already dead anyway). But yeah, this is cool... :)
-Taylor

[bobbo @ Mar 7th 2006 4:24PM]

butt-ugly, especially for a grand

[Eric @ Mar 7th 2006 4:24PM]

What brainiac thought this one up? Ship one now that'll last 3 hours on a battery and cost $1000 or be a little patient, get one that'll last all day, and pay half of the price?
The device itself looks pretty cool. I'd buy one...but not now

[ipod movies @ Mar 7th 2006 4:25PM]

This isnt too bad looking...and if its only a protoype then I'm hoping the final versions will look better. I'm digging the white version (even though I would prefer a black keypad). However, I agree that a 3-hour batery life makes it less compelling.

[xen @ Mar 7th 2006 4:26PM]

http://video.msn.com/v/us/v.htm?g=19a8cafd-45bc-465a-a06c-768b5ece4d3a&f=rssimbot_us_m_2534

[jimmy93211 @ Mar 7th 2006 4:26PM]

I wanna cry lol lol they told us it would be awesome and would change your life but NO. I would even prefer the moudy block of cheese than that. LOL bye

[Aldyn @ Mar 7th 2006 4:29PM]

how ugly.

plain black plastic case.

looks like a laptop from 1990.

[Jason @ Mar 7th 2006 4:33PM]

Bleh.

The red and white one looks great. Too bad it's 2 years away.

[jimbob @ Mar 7th 2006 4:33PM]

Another casualty of the engadget over-hype machine.

[Ian Jardine @ Mar 7th 2006 4:36PM]

It remninds me of the neurosaudio 442, which is a wee bit smaller, available now and for around $350

[joe @ Mar 7th 2006 4:36PM]

1k buys a whole lotta laptop these days....

Hope MS has something better up its sleeves w/ Oragami than that...

[ugh138 @ Mar 7th 2006 4:37PM]

I wonder how high it can bounce.

[Jacques Lema @ Mar 7th 2006 4:38PM]

Maybe they will come with special software that makes them as usable as a laptop without a keyboard?

Otherwise I really can't see to whom this is targeted? The only thing this would be good for is watching movies on the go. Other than that it's an oversized PDA. And PDAs do play video quite well nowadays, just on a smaller screen.

Hm, under 1000$, over 3 hours of battery life. You could get a 12 inch iBook and it would run OSX not XP while being a real computer, not a toy. It's small enough that you can carry it around everyday without feeling the weight.

[tracy @ Mar 7th 2006 4:39PM]

geez how freakin MS can you get! 3 hours of battery! that means 2 hours of battery once the impossible to replace Lithium Polymer bat gets worn. i was really hoping for something new not just a tablet PC with a smaller screen and a Pentium/Celeron M. there's nothing new here at all. and Roceh (#11) you are correct it will be $999. we will have to wait till next year for a VIA or GEODE based model that doesn't suck 20w and is around 500$. and this is nothing remotely close to the Newton! newtons were very low power, AA batteries, ARM processor based. ok im going to rant now ... someone somewhere please just make an x86 compatible tablet (via c7m or amd geode) with a 6" to 7" screen, harddrive optional, i want to boot from a SD card and i want to store to a USB flash drive that tucks in underneath. extra points if you can get the power consumption down far enough that it will work off of AA batteries (go ahead stick 6 of them in there, better than trying to find a replacement in a year or two). ill leave work with my 6 gig flash drive and go out to my car where the thing has been charging all day (flexable solar panel) maybe even doing bittorent on the wifi from the parking lot. ill listen to podcasts on the way home and read reports from the flashdrive when i stop off at the brewery to frag a pint.

[Keith @ Mar 7th 2006 4:43PM]

All that Origami hype for a dumbed-down Sony Vaio U70? Whoop-dee-doo.

[Fine James @ Mar 7th 2006 4:43PM]

Good Lord, a digital Etch-a-sketch!!!

[Adam @ Mar 7th 2006 4:46PM]

And how did AMD not beat them to the punch with their Geode products already in production models like this:

http://www.dtresearch.com/

Considerably better than 15 minutes battery life, bluetooth, wi-fi, and running full blown XP.

[the toad @ Mar 7th 2006 4:46PM]

I found a link to an early spy photo...

http://www.studio42.com/vidgame/GameGear/game-gear-tuner.jpg

[Craig @ Mar 7th 2006 4:51PM]

Hmm...can't put it in my pocket, can't watch DVDs on it (unless I rip them first), can't play games on it (at least any worth playing), can't type on it (making email and office apps pointless)...good god, what is this thing actually for? If it's just for web browsing, cripes, there are a lot of better solutions for half the price (or less) already out there.

[Phillip @ Mar 7th 2006 4:55PM]

There is a video with the UMPC's in them and yes I mean plural. In the video there is 4 different ones and 1 of them looks like microsoft. http://www.intel.com/design/mobile/platform/umpc.htm#anchor2

I hope this thursday that they accounce one comming onto the market I dont want to wait anymore.

[Brian @ Mar 7th 2006 4:58PM]

If Apple released this, it would get only 2 hours of battery life and you'd all be nutting yourself over it.

[phi @ Mar 7th 2006 5:01PM]

i'll keep my nokia 770

[pete @ Mar 7th 2006 5:02PM]

Why is this news? Motion Computing has been making these for more than a year now, except with much better specs.
http://www.motioncomputing.com/products/tablet_pc_ls.asp

Called the LS800 - 8" screen with active digitizer, 1.2gh Centrino, BG wireless, bluetooth, fingerprint reader, etc..

I hear they get about 3 hours on battery.

[Anthony Jackson @ Mar 7th 2006 5:04PM]

Yea im just wondering will the one with an "all-day" battery come with a backpack?

[Chris @ Mar 7th 2006 5:10PM]

"29. If Apple released this, it would get only 2 hours of battery life and you'd all be nutting yourself over it."

Probably... because this one only gets 15 minutes!

[David @ Mar 7th 2006 5:11PM]

Full tablets cost 50%+ more.
Things like the 770 run Linux.
There's still a market for these if they get the price down.

[Adam M @ Mar 7th 2006 5:15PM]

This might seem odd but I wanted something bigger. 10" screen with a fold-away keyboard. Then you could use it to email, code, basicly do something productive. I'm just hoping the HP, Dell, IBM and others will take the idea and develop thier own flavor. Dell's might be all web/video/music centric, and IBM might have a productivity version.

[Dennis @ Mar 7th 2006 5:16PM]

In answer to #2's question about the Nokia 770:
The UPMC and Nokia share a common, tablet style form factor which is interesting in the sense that the form factor is going through a convergence process. There's a lot of interest in a tablet device that is somewhere between a PDA and a laptop. This includes the Nintendo DS and the PSP.

While the UPMC and the 770 share certain features as well, they are totally different in other ways, including OS, CPU, RAM, and GPU. The current version of the 770 is not even as powerful as a typical PDA. If you are interested in the 770, and you can wait, I would definitely wait to see what the second version of the 770 is going to have going for it. The current release is definitely for early adopters.

What would make the 770 very powerful (other than upgrading the components) would be combining it with web services, like webmail but more general purpose. You may not need to have a large hard drive if you have 80GB of internet server space and can count on wifi access.

The big news here is the form factor (which addresses issues of functionality), obviously not the underlying technology or software. Sure the prototype is kind of ugly, as usual. But the issue is the 7" screen size, the interface software and hardware, etc. Three hours of battery life for continuous use of a device that has instant on and fast wifi connectivity (like the 770) is completely fine for a limited device like the 770. It's also better than I can get from my Axim x50v.

Lastly, you can consider how this area of computing is evolving, especially from MS's perspective. The pocket PC was never extremely popular (like the Palm), and in general the PDA is converging with cell phones (i.e., Treo). You don't want a 5" or 7" 800x480 screen on a cell phone, but that's what you need to read the real internet and easily conduct online activities. You can fit a 4GB flash card in a phone, but not a 100GB hard drive (at least for now). And the original functions of the PDA (storing information for daily use) can be completely supplanted by a phone with a good UI.

So Microsoft has pushed towards a general purpose Windows Mobile OS that covers smartphones and networkable, portable devices like Treo's and HTC convergence devices. At the same time, there's a void for internet capable, carryable devices with the notable features being a screen large enough to see stuff on, an interface that allows you to avoid a keyboard for many common tasks, fast internet connectivity, and compatibility with existing computers and particularly multimedia file types/online services.

And here it is. Apple may at some point choose to enter this market (with Intel of course, since the switch to Intel meant both increased power but especially decreased power consumption), maybe after they update their existing product lines and maybe after they put out a true video iPod. In which case, you can count on the Apple device looking much better, working more consistently, and sitting in a far less favorable price/performance index. Oh, and it will be fully compatible with iTunes. Although so will the UPMC.

As for functionality, I think any smallish full-OS device that is not trying to be a PDA, fully syncable with smartphones and portable media players and capable of using GPS software, is a pretty useful device.

[LLoydy @ Mar 7th 2006 5:17PM]

Im just dissappointed man!

Those nutz love over-hyping shit!

THIS takes the Piss!!

There was I thinking these devices would have 5hr + battery life, be in the $500 range and have built in umts, evdo, GPS or AGPS something... and be available soon... by summer anyway...

The only time these devices would represent viable options to me is when their specifications match the above...

Until then...

HTC universal and a 17inch DTR laptop when I need some meat...

Was looking foward to letting go of this setup in favour of a small mobile phone and a UMPC/Origami Mini pc though - guess I'll have to wait till next year...
or the year after that...

[ZSX @ Mar 7th 2006 5:23PM]

Before Intel took it down from their UMPC website I took a few screengrabs of their promo video.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/66181813@N00/sets/72057594077017114/

The red and white slider is there, as is the convertible clamshell version made by Samsung. In addition there is another "slate" version.

A pity the video is no longer there, because it did show off some rather interesting features - including game synchronization, whatever that is.

[rafael @ Mar 7th 2006 5:28PM]

meh, i was so hyped up for this and now im dissapointed. What happened to the designs we were seeing before? the $500 price should be justified because of the sheer size of these things. everyone will wait a year not only for updated smaller more functional umpcs, but also for vista... bad PR!!!

billy we know you read engadget, why dont you take some of the loss on these 1st gen devices and assure everyone that buy them now that vista will be updated on the devices for free!!! you'll reach the masses...

[Razor @ Mar 7th 2006 5:34PM]

Of course, most of the negative drivel here is from the Apple snot-nosed children who frequent Engadget (hey, where's Apple's tablet, jerks).
Nevertheless, the price point emphasizes that the underlying components are still too expensive for this class of device to really take off in the mass market.
Another year or two to go I'm afraid.

[khamel @ Mar 7th 2006 5:45PM]

thanks for the response 37 but i just dont see it being worth 2.5 770's. sure its limited but it plays movies, surfs the web and lets you check your email. i have been trying to keep a few discarded laptops alive for just these purposes and they all seem to have given up on me at the same time. for couch websurfing i cant imagine spending more than a real laptop costs. if i could trade out my smt5600 for a smaller/thinner flipphone with windows mobile and then get a 770 priced origami or upmc it would be fantastic. i have a feeling 2006 will be the year of the origami for ms just like 2005 was the year of hd for apple.

[Karl Viklund @ Mar 7th 2006 5:46PM]

Very intersting indeed. Nice looking! :)

[ZSX @ Mar 7th 2006 5:46PM]

Actually, there is a much better description (with pictures) of the Intel UMPC video on Origami Portal which quite clearly shows the 3 UMPC models.

http://www.origamiportal.com/modules/news/article.php?storyid=15

[snds @ Mar 7th 2006 5:48PM]

I don't see why companies like Intel and HP are making things like this so goddamned thick. There are companies in Japan that have already gotten eInk OLED displays working with a 1000:1 contrast ratio and no image ghosting with a vga color display resolution. Sure it's not at the commercial distribution point yet, but wouldn't you think that a company like Intel who has been trying to reinvent themselves through an Identity redevelopment and CPU architecture redesign would look to investing in a technology that will revolutionize the market?

I mean hell...beat apple at their own game by taking new tech and implimenting it into a device that people could use. If I could have a full power pc in the palm of my hand I would buy it.

The eInk displays only require a small fraction of the power needed for lcds and the small profile of the display would make it so that all you need are a laptop hdd, slot cd drive and some minimalistic hid controls on a small portion of the casing.

I can bet that the 2nd or 3rd G video iPod will take advantage of eInk, and one could assume that Apple is going to be the one company to take full advantage of this infant tech and bring it to fruition through commercial use. We don't want this crap to go the way of OLEDs, do we?

[68newyorker @ Mar 7th 2006 5:51PM]

If it was under $700 I'd still consider selling my C110 and Archos to get one (I'd hold on to my Zod for now). At "under $1000"? Hell no. I'll wait for next year's devices and the possibility of an Apple dual-boot mini-tablet. Way to much for a device like this.

5" screen
If not pocket-able at least small enough to put in a belt pouch.
No more than $700 and that had better be the bad ass version.

[wilson @ Mar 7th 2006 5:56PM]

Yawn.