While the UMPC in general hasn't had the appeal manufacturers surely hoped for, they're still hanging in there, and apparently Azentek sees an opening in the less-than-attractive market. Diverting from its traditional "
carputer" (i.e. in-car PC) offerings, the firm has announced a forthcoming UMPC built to
military specifications to handle any dropkicks it may receive once the battery craps out after an hour or two, and will be based on its "Scout" platform. Beneath the hood, the device will be built around Intel's second generation "UMPC ultra low voltage platform," and feature up to 1GB of DDR2 RAM, 30 to 160GB standard /
hybrid hard drives, and a rotatable webcam to boot. The 6.5-inch touchscreen will sport 500 cd/m2 brightness, and the battery will
supposedly last "six to eight hours," which seems mighty liberal considering how pitiful
most UMPCs are at sipping juice. Nevertheless, it'll also boast a biometric scanner, PC card / SD slot, and a pair of USB ports. While no concrete information was given on future availability, the outfit is aiming for a $1,500 pricetag at launch, which wouldn't be all that bad if the battery lives up to the admittedly lofty promises behind it.
[Via
Carrypad]
posted Nov 20th 2006 8:02AM
If the specs are accurate, this is a larger than usual UMPC, with a 2.5" HDD and a larger battery to match the reported battery life. Plus, being ruggedized invariably means heavier and larger for the same specs. Just my prediction.
In my opinion UMPCs moved faster on the market then Tablet PCs did. I see a lot more UMPC manufacturers in the game then when Tablet PC launched.
-- http://www.MiniPCs.com
I saw this at the SEMA show in the Imobile booth and agree that it appears slightly larger but that's a great thing. I think the UMPCs that I've seen need more room for cooling as they run too hot. The ruggedization is a welcomed feature. They had it running with navigation and I think I finally understand Microsoft's vision of a "life PC" that goes with you from the home, to the office, to the car.
These are the guys that featured it but I don't see it available on their site yet:
http://www.imobilepc.com/