Samsung Q1 UMPC befuddles top execs during demo

In what must have been a liveblogger's dream press conference at Seoul's Grand InterContinental hotel earlier this week, not one, not two, but all three of the hardware and software executives using Samsung's Q1 UMPC for their presentations managed to experience technical difficulties with the device. The execs -- Samsung VP Kim Hun-soo, Microsoft Korea president Yoo Jae-sung, and Intel Korea prez Lee Hee-sung -- were gathered for what is being described as a "Steve Jobs-like" product demonstration gone horribly awry, with support staff forced to uncomfortably ascend the stage several times to help out their equally-uncomfortable bosses. Among the various mishaps were a battery that went dead after only a few minutes, an apparent inability to call up the on-screen keyboard for advancing a PowerPoint presentation, and another presentation that went into rapid slideshow mode on its own. While having one device fail in a demo happens all the time, seeing multiple units go down and/or befuddle the very people who make these things causes us to stop and rethink our commitment to the UMPC lifestyle that looked so fun and carefree in the teaser campaign.

[Thanks, Guillermo]

[Joey Kazam @ Apr 14th 2006 7:56PM]

1st!!!

[dave95 @ Apr 14th 2006 7:59PM]

Do we need any more reasons why this will be dead on arrival?

[Michael @ Apr 14th 2006 8:09PM]

So Engadget... Every 'flashy' product demo is because of Steve Jobs now?

[rafael @ Apr 14th 2006 8:13PM]

please, we are all waiting for the Averatech UMPC now... anyone that buys these huge and ugly pieces of 1st gen devices is a stupid turd... the averatech one was what we wanted in the first place and it will have 3g.... after all its supposed to be portable right. and the fact they kept the price and batt life specs so quiet didnt help them one bit.. screw samsung... you take consumers for fools?

[Ali @ Apr 14th 2006 8:15PM]

#3 I can't help but thinking that you're on samsung's payroll to post this kind of advetisement crap!

[rateoforange @ Apr 14th 2006 8:21PM]

In a just world, comment number three would be erased and the poster banned and cast into flame.

[hehehhehe @ Apr 14th 2006 8:22PM]

There is always someone who makes some post like "Samsung makes great products" out of nowhere. This is a good example.

Anyway, the article about these three stooges is hilarious.

[Red_Munk!! @ Apr 14th 2006 8:38PM]

LOL!!!

thats.....not funny.

v_V

[Joshua @ Apr 14th 2006 8:39PM]

#3 Post:
Holy cow!!! Can you pull the blanket a little farther over your eyes? Consumers paying $700 to $1000 for a crippled laptop/bloated Palm Pilot that doesn't have an Apple logo on the back? I think not!

[Mike @ Apr 14th 2006 9:02PM]

I don't see a huge market for these things. If they were ruggedized, I could see some niches in warehouses, logistics, and the military... but that's about it.

If they're dockable so you could use it as a laptop, then I could see some interest... but the small screen would be really limiting.

[proee @ Apr 14th 2006 9:19PM]

Ok, classic example of retarded CEOs/presidents who run high tech companies, but are incapable of being able to use a mouse on their own. Yes, at one point they were young and a little on the sharp side. As time passed they soon began to hide in their offices and focus on profits and not products.

[kerunt @ Apr 14th 2006 9:26PM]

Dear Engadget staff,
Could you do all us readers a big favour and ban idiots like Joey Kazam?

Thanks!

[zorg @ Apr 14th 2006 9:43PM]

There was riotously funny video of this for a while at

http://download.divx.com/labs/Video/Cebit06/CeBITvideo-com_2006_Origami_divxhd.avi

that demonstrated NO CLUE about small devices. The person doing the demo was crippled by all the wires coming out of the Q1, then she couldn't click on the right thing, partly because it was cumbersome to use the Windows menu system with a stylus and partly because of the size. The onscreen keyboard was a joke. The most frequent phrase in the video was "Just a moment." The demonstrator insisted it had no USB until someone made her look at it. She knew nothing of the processor and couldn't identify the differences between models except that they would have different prices.

There's a break in the video and when they return, they try thumbs instead of stylus and keep missing the targets. When they hit the buttons full on, they keep getting error messages and can only play a video of people who seem to be enjoying a joke while holding their Q1s. The best success with the stylus is when they put it on a flat table. There are wires everywhere, covering part of the screen, getting in the way.

I would like to add circus music to this video and perhaps footage of an antique car crash or biplane crash at the end.

[awaybbl @ Apr 14th 2006 9:49PM]

UMPoC... Utterly Mundane Piece of Cr4p

[cycomachead @ Apr 14th 2006 9:50PM]

Are they calling Steves presentation horrible????
not coll :PPPPPPP

[mike @ Apr 14th 2006 10:02PM]

So Engadget... Every 'flashy' product demo is because of Steve Jobs now?

---

Uhm, I believe this one was brought to you by Gates and his sloppy OS. SJ gets no credit here.

;)

[PeteC @ Apr 14th 2006 10:22PM]

I really want one of these things but they are far too much and clearly far too undeveloped. I don't doubt for a second though that we'll be using these things heavily in the future like carrying a pad and paper but with so much more functionality. For now I've opted for a Nokia 770, also by no means perfect but a hell of a lot cheaper if web browsing portably is your major concern. I look forward to getting a sub $500, 8 hour battery life, slim baggable (not pocketable, god darn, if you have pockets that big, I pity your tailor!!) unit. I guess it has to start somewhere and unfortunately where its at is far from inspiring but it'll certainly be interesting to see if it grows into a good product or flops before being brought back when the technology is actually there.

[David T @ Apr 14th 2006 10:24PM]

what it looks like is lousy build quality at this point in time. perhaps not too surprising given those are pre-production models. still, Samsung should have known better... much better... =)

[Mr. Umeadi @ Apr 14th 2006 10:34PM]

"...O.K...Just let me...Oh crap that didn't work...Maybe...Alright...try pressing...dammit...alright, has anyone tried ctrl alt delete yet?..."

[dudeInAmerica @ Apr 14th 2006 10:46PM]

This thing is going to fall flat on its a$Z.

Just to add something constructive, the cellphone will soon be the new less-than-laptop-portable-computer.

Bookmark me for posterity! You know I'm right.

[Rik @ Apr 14th 2006 11:29PM]

If you want to see an amusing tech product demo, you should see Mercedes radar guided automatic braking system. They demo'd it to journalists (shown on BBC Top Gear) on a foggy day. The car pootled down the runway towards the stationary object, completely failed to see it until far too late and smashed into the side!

[Eric @ Apr 14th 2006 11:35PM]

Oh SCHNAP, Microsoft!

[boss sauce @ Apr 15th 2006 12:04AM]

Re: Jobs-like (er, Jobs-lessness?) demo:

While aapl h8trz can shout down that way of talking about a demo, it's not about theatrics-- Jobs' demos go well because his engineering teams make sure the stuff he shows will not make him look like an ass.

I've seen demos of great software that would constantly crash, but the user was *prepared* to stay clear of pitfalls and-- the most important part-- understood and clearly represented the state of the software's development.

Of course, that crashy stuff was far from release. The UMPC question is: is this stuff ready or not? This press conference's coverage offers a clear answer.

Apple demos tend to clearly represent where a system stands, claims usually backed up by "Try it yourself on the show floor."

I wonder if today's UMPC execs knew what they were walking into but couldn't cancel because of one of the three's insistence. It's hard for me to imagine them *all* not understanding how ready-for-primetime it is.

My verdict: "UMPC: the funniest thing I've heard all week (after "Cowabunga, motherf$%&!")"

[Silver @ Apr 15th 2006 12:22AM]

I think the lame UMPC spam ("umpcChristmas" for crap sake?) we see in every UMPC thread is evidence enough of how bad these things are going to suck.

Microsoft has a whim, and hardware makers everywhere eagerly fall on their own swords.

[wol @ Apr 15th 2006 12:23AM]

haha!
owned!

[Special_K @ Apr 15th 2006 12:47AM]

I do rather like the idea of the UMPC, so long as it can play HL2 with super-high reolution and HDR. Aside from that, I can see a few uses (PPTs, mobile video, web browsing, desktop publishing...) that may entice me. But this kinda' thing has little bearing on my decision- it's not production, it isn't going to be that bad... and plus, early adopters routinely get the shaft. I think we gadget geeks need to take a step back and consider what this product means to Joe Averageuser: a teenage emo kid can now write an angsty MySpace blog post from the sidewalk outside of their school while having a smoke, an accountant can make a full-sized Excel spreadsheet and graph while wardriving from a bus, and I can play Halo from the comfort of a Lufthansa jet (or I could just drink Drano, it'd be better than playing Halo ;)

[Karl Viklund @ Apr 15th 2006 1:35AM]

Haha :)
Huuuh, things realy went terrible wrong here :P
This reminds me about that Win98 video when Bill Gates gets the Blue Screen on the stage lol. I guess all these bugs will be worked out after some time and the UMPC unites will work fine but this isn't good publicity for Microsoft or the other companies :P

[Harry Myhre @ Apr 15th 2006 2:54AM]

Interesting that in all the talk about UMPC I have not heard one word about General Magic and the Magic Cap device. It's been so many years now, I forget the exact name of it. Admitedly it had a black and white interface, but the U.I on the Magic Cap was so cool (IMO).
I saved the "Microtimes" article with the product intro for General Magic. Beaming Bill Atkinson, Andy Hertzfeld and Joana (?) on the cover. Unfortunately it was all downhill from the intro onwards - the thing just never caught on for some reason.

[kibets @ Apr 15th 2006 6:41AM]

I really don't see anything wrong in the video. The girl just wasn't properly trained. The software looks great and I want one of these even more now!

[Brian @ Apr 15th 2006 8:04AM]

Just watched the video @14. Obviously, this thing is more hype than practicality, and the usability looks absolutely hideous. Once again, Microsoft's desktop OS doesn't scale down to a small(er) screen well, and trying use the Windows XP GUI using your fingers is absolutely insane.

But you might say, "They have a finger-based GUI console," to which, I'll say:

Watch the video. That shiny, inviting finger-based GUI console kept kicking open standard desktop Windows that *are not* finger friendly. The demonstrator had a tough hitting targets with the stylus, and she had to keep switching back and forth between stylus and finger. Great usability (not)!

What was Samsung thinking when they put the power jack to a device that only has a three hour battery life in a location that interferes with using the Touchpack on-screen thumb board? You can't use it while it's plugged in (which will be fairly often) without the damn charger getting in the way!

Did they do *any* usability studies with real testers?

It looks like Microsoft and their hardware OEMs rushed this damn thing to market without thinking it through. Why? The price, form factor, and battery life are far from their stated targets, and the precise market need remains a mystery. It looks like Microsoft wants to invent a new device category solely to sell more OEM OS licenses. And who in their right mind would by a version 1.0 version running XP when Vista is allegedly on the horizon?

The UMPC is from the same guy (Bill Mitchell) who dreamed up the SPOT watch and Smart Display, and I predict it will join them both as a dud.

[deslock @ Apr 15th 2006 8:52AM]

Re #4.
***********************************
"So Engadget... Every 'flashy' product demo is because of Steve Jobs now?"
***********************************

RTFA Michael. It described the demo as a failed attempt at a "Steve Jobs style" presentation (whatever that means).

[kibets @ Apr 15th 2006 8:54AM]

Speak for yourself #32. I personally would have no trouble using the software as is. Maybe it is because I have used Windows for the last 10 years and am quite comfortable with how to use the OS.

I have no doubt tweaks can be made but this should not prevent a product coming to market. Only time will tell but I believe this UMPC has a great future.

[Alex @ Apr 15th 2006 10:39AM]

I've heard from an insider that the battery was not charged at all at the time of the presentation: Someone plugged the adapter with Q1, but the adapter was NOT connected to a power source... It was a stupid mistake, and IMO Samsung should have prepared it better...

[Razib Ahmed @ Apr 15th 2006 10:57AM]

A night mare and disasterous product demo. I think that at this moment UMPC will not generate a lot of excitement because of the price factor. It is a bit too high for the average consumer. I wish Samsung and Microsoft did something about that.

[seamus bartlett @ Apr 15th 2006 1:33PM]

I hope some of you realize, it's not Engadget that is calling this a "Steve-jobs like" presentation---that's a quote from where the article came from. So don't blast Engadget, it was the Korea times that seems to think this type of product demo has been coined by Jobs and Apple---and to a certain extent, they're right. Not everything has to do with Apple, but they've been the main company behind extravagent and not-so-groundbreaking announcements, that are still set up to be groundbreaking.

[sekss princese @ Apr 19th 2006 6:43AM]

The return of the BSOD :) Is there a single Windows version that doesn't suffer from Blue Screen Of Death? And I would have thought XP has been patched and serviced enough to avoid it - M$ as always ready to prove me wrong. BSOD has returned!

[TheWakeUpCall @ Apr 19th 2006 4:36PM]

I really can't wait for Microsoft to go out of business. Well, maybe that's harsh, I think they should only stay in the green if they stop copying other people's products and releasing them for their own *cough*eg. windows sidbar*cough*

[kenjinx @ Apr 22nd 2006 8:59PM]

The support for UMPC is misguided. The hype has blown this mediocre device out of proportion.