So check it: every so often we find a juicy tip in our inbox, and today we sure got a doozy. One of our faithful readers -- who prefers to remain anonymous -- has sent in several slides featuring Samsung's followup to the
Q1 UMPC, the Q2. While some of the specs appear to be identical to the beefed-up
Q1P -- like the 7-inch touchscreen, 1GB of RAM, and 60GB hard drive -- other features, along with a revised form factor, are completely new to a model that we expect to be unveiled almost a year to the day after its predecessor, at CeBIT 2007. According to the PowerPoint presentation which you can view in the gallery below, the Q2 will sport an unknown Intel (not Via) CPU running Vista Home Premium, a 1,024 x 600 WSVGA resolution (no 800 x 600 here), two digital cameras (1.3 megapixel for "photography" and 0.3 megapixel for videoconferencing), and a fingerprint scanner. Most exciting, though, are your connectivity and input options; the Q2 tacks on a much-needed, albeit split QWERTY keyboard and -- get this -- Bluetooth 2.0, WiFi (802.11b/g), HSDPA,
and WiBro. Yes, you read that right: three completely separate ways to get your 'net on. So for those of you who had given up hope on the UMPC platform following a disappointing first round of devices, Samsung has returned with an even more compelling product -- and by the time we start seeing those
Viennagami machines, we suspect they'll have gotten it just right.
posted Mar 7th 2007 10:57AM
Needs Internal GPS and a hybrid input screen wacom penabled and touch. Keep the cams, fingerprint reader, and 1024x600, lose the split keyboard. Those are my only complaints about the NP-Q1 that i have. The apple bluetooth keyboard works great with it.
NICE DESIGN. But i will stay with my motion ls800 until Samsung adds finger touch technology. Not tap the screen with your finger nail or stylus.=(
Yes I agree, I find it quite bulky and awkward to use.
This looks GREAT!
I had the original Q1 and could not get used to the touch screen - having a real keyboard is awesome!
I never knew they were working on a successor.
Now, if someone could just hack Mac OS X to run on there, we would have a deal.
iChat AV on a portable like that would be incredible.
Looks like the best designed umpc yet in my opinion, finally the 1024x600 has been adopted by someone other than Sony.
Wait, where is the PowerPoint you say is in gallery?
Price and availability?
Do I stand alone in my belief that the UMPC platform should NOT have a keyboard??
The device needs to be distinct from a tablet pc, and there are a couple ways it can do that and still serve a very important purpose. It needs to be small, as small as possible with as big a screen as possible, 7" seems to be the nice median.
All input should be with a stylus and fingers.
What these really need to be targeted at is students. Using the pen input you could have a completely digital notebook, plus the internet at your disposal for reasearch as needed. And hell, eventually eBook textbooks.
I really think they are going in the wrong direction with these devices. They need to hit the $500 they talked about with 6 - 8 hr of battery life for a full class day. Then you could get colleges to subsidize them for students to use and they would really take off.
Unfortunately, as I'm sure this is a forbearer of things to come, there will be little purpose for this over a 12" tablet that will be much faster and just a bit bigger, and hell maybe cheaper :/
Jonathan,
You're not alone in your desire for a lack of keyboard. Currently, the smallest form factor that has a truly usable keyboard is the Fujistu P1610 - the rest of the devices (UMPCs included) that have "alternate" keyboard implementations (split, buttons, membrane, etc.) simply don't provide enough bang for the real-estate buck that the keyboard requires. One of the biggest issues is that the operating systems and applications currently available just aren't efficient or effective enough in handwriting input to make people forget about the perceived need for a keyboard. Great strides in this area, combined with *very* low cost and effective docking solutions will be necessary to properly address the current niche.
-todd
What is the battery life like?
Has Samsung increased the battery life to at 6 hours?
What other accessories are available?
Did you even had a look at the gallery??? If you did, I think you wouldn't ask any of these questions :-s
Sweeeeeeeeeeet! When, where and how much? With all of those wireless access methods Sling to this thing would be awesome!
Gotta love the Ctrl Alt Delete button. Its in the second pic.
@sundy - Do I stand alone in my belief that the UMPC platform should NOT have a keyboard??
Yes, it really does need a keyboard. If you have ever used one you will realize the touchpad is a terrible input device. Keyboard MUCH better.
It is supposed to be less than $800 - 4 hr battery std, 6 hrs optional
Am I the only one who thinks that these images look fake?
I think the keyboard implementation is brilliant. Of course, you never know 'til you type on one...
But yeah--OS X please! ;)
looks great; however, i really hoped at least wxga resolution or smaller foot print of 4.2"...maybe next time.
Unis, under $800...are you kidding? Not with those specs.
Still, it looks like an awesome product, even it it costs up to $1500.
Also, a touch screen (not touch pad) is not a terrible input device. You just must want to type a zillion words a minute. That's not what a touch screen is for. That said, I'd still take a tiny keyboard like the one pictured on my next UMPC.
Hamster, yes the images do look fake. Probably because most of them are designers renderings of the product that's not yet done.
This looks like the cuter sister of the pepperpad. I like. GIMME. HOw much? with WiBro, I dont see ths particular version coming to the US, but, Who cares? I will pay you tuesday for a umpc today.
The battery life is in the images: Take a look.
That QWERTY layout looks like they took a page from Pepper.
This news a day after I ordered my $2500 Sony UX. Hmm. I think I'd rather have this.
dammit! another umpc without an optical disk drive built in. no umpc maker is including them. that sucks.
And how do you suggest they fit one in, sturmnacht. Besides, there are problems then with durability and also battery life. I'd rather have an SD card reader and USB for my flash drive.
It's pretty cool that this thing runs with Vista, but I have to wonder how much faster it would run with a smaller OS. How easy do you think it would be to install Linux on it?
I'd buy one just to try installing a linux distro, assuming it doesn't cost my first born child to buy. Hopefully the touchscreen isn't too proprietary. I hard drive upgrade would also be rather nice. With all the connection methods, with a bluetooth headset and Skype I can make this baby into a decent portable office communications device.
I watch DVD movies while traveling. Until there's a very wide choice of movies in a smaller media than the DVD or BD, I have to include an ODD in a portable computer.
Rip the movies to a flash drive and watch them from there.
Does the HSDPA mean you could only use this with Cingular in the US? Does HSDPA offer better speed than EVDO?
Yes, HSDPA means you could use it with Cingular in the US. HSDPA is a bit faster than EvDO here in NYC. Latency is also slightly higher with HSDPA. The availability of HSDPA is the biggest issue right now. It lags far behind the EvDO deployments, but as with all things, coverage will improve with time. All in all, very good quality. I prefer my EvDO connection, but only because of coverage, not quality.
Split keyboards suck. You have to look at your hands and since they're not close together you feel like you're at a ping-pong tournament wagging your head back and forth.
How big is it?
Seems an evolution rather than revolution of the current model. Keyboard adding was a must have & no- brainer. However I'd have preferred a sliding screen or better still a clambshell (why are there so few clambsell umpcs?)
The pictures look fake to me as well. Is this going to end up being another hoax we all got suckered into believing? Seems that way to me.
Anyway, NO, UMPCs don't need a keyboard and NO, your are not supposed to use the touch screen for input. The Touchscreen is ONLY for navigation folks, not inputing anything. The whole concept behind them is to be used as much like a PEN and PAPER as possible. You pick up your pen and "input" information onto a piece of paper that you then do something with (file it, share it, act on it).
Writing something down is the most natural way that humans have communicated (after speaking) since recorded history. In meetings you take notes. In class, you take notes. When you need to jot something down, you "make note of it."
A UMPC (or TabletPC) is geared for the most natural way of interacting and capturing information - writing. It is supposed to be like using a notepad and pencil, that is the intended design purpose. And it is done in your own handwriting so it doesn't even matter if others can make out your "chicken scratch" since it is your information that you deemed important enough to write down, all electronically stored, sorted, filed and searchable to your heart's content.
My two cents anyway. (BTW, I do own a convertable TabletPC that I use mostly in slate mode like the above mentioned pen and paper 90% of the time.)
@scoobie - There actually is an awesome clamshell-like (more like a convertible Tablet PC, but smaller) UMPC by KIDC that we might see if some very wise company decides to distribute them here in the U.S. - maybe Engadget could use some of its capital to sell it rebranded as the Engadget US702 UMPC. Here's a link to some info, pics and video of this UMPC:
US702: http://ultramobilize.com/blogs/main_news/archive/2007/01/22/us702-umpc-is-convertible-with-keyboard-tablet-style.aspx
Videos: http://ultramobilize.com/blogs/main_news/archive/2007/01/22/videos-of-us70x-series-umpcs.aspx
Pics: http://ultramobilize.com/blogs/main_news/archive/2007/01/21/photos-of-us700-umpc-at-ces.aspx
-techSage
I still fail to see what the purpose is for these devices. It's still way too big to keep in a pocket, and if you have to carry a device in a bag anyway then you're much better off carrying a small laptop.
I've got a 12" screen tablet PC and think I'd actually prefer a smaller Q2 instead for sofa-surfing. I'm kinda surprised and dismayed that it's still using a disk drive instead of banks of flash memory. Guess we're still another generation of devices away from realizing that piece of candy.
The form factor is too big for pocket size and too small to recover any ease of use functionality of a laptop. I think the OQO model 2 strikes a better balance between size and functionality...though it sure would be nice to see a WSVGA screen on the OQO2.
Real solid state HDs are still VERY expensive. Most people like Eludium-Q36 have no idea how technology works.
Cheap flash memory like in USB drives is VERY SLOW and unusable as hard drives. It will be countless generations before these people can even have an idea how current flash technology works and where its applications are.
Banks of current cheap-o flash memory as a HD? Keep dreaming!
I've had doubts about this being real but I just found out that it is. You can see it in a small picture in the upper right corner in www.samsung.com, in their ad about CEBIT 2007.
1) Apple fans - no one but Apple can build an Intel based MacOS X device because Apple uses the TPM chip to lock the OS to their hardware. Remember that next time you whine about DRM. In any case, rather than making it sound like it's the PC maker's fault for not including MacOS X, take it to Jobs and ask him where Apple's UMPC-like devices is - and don't say iPhone - it's not the same kind of device at all.
2) Optical drives - the idea is light and long battery life. An optical drive adds .3 to .5 lbs and drains battery like a vampire in a blood bank. They do offer a fairly compact and light external - so if you really need it, you can bring it with you. I'd rather have the option not to.
3) Movies - the idea is to rip or download movies and music and then synch to the UMPC. 60GB can hold at least 10 typical movies ripped directly from the DVD and many more if recompressed. DVDShrink is your friend.
4) Objects of desire - if the earlier poster is right, $800 for a 1024x600 res UMPC with a graphics chip that can handle Aero Glass (which is what it looks like) and gets 4-6.5hr battery life should be a player. I'll be waiting for it.
5) US70x - yes these are lovely - but no one is carrying them yet and they may never get to North America. So, as much as I'd like one - at the moment, they're a non-issue. Samsung, on the other hand, does sell these in North Am.
6) Fake? - Really it's a non-issue. Either it's fake or real. If it's fake, then we'll see what new UMPCs show up in the next few months. If it's real, then we'll see what the final units look like and cost. Personally, the pix look a lot like the kind of promotional materials that come out of Korea and Japan, so that's not an argument either way.
7) CAD - for those of you still stuck back in 1998 - control-alt-delete on NT class Windows (ie: 2000 and later) is a quick key that takes you to either a maintenance menu or to the task manager (depending on how you have it set up). It hasn't been a reboot key sequence for about 7 years now. Do try to keep up.
For those of you who think the pics are fakes, head over to Samsung.com and look at the right hand side. What do you see? A little pic of the Q2. You can even see the split QWERTY keypad on the model. Notice too that it says "Imagine the Possibilities at CeBIT, 15-21 Mar. 2007" That seems to imply that the Q2 will be revealed at CeBIT. We'll find out next week!
I second the no keyboard comment. The way thing are going Nokia is going to get to build the perfect UMPC first. UMPCs are supposed to be getting smaller and cheaper. Keyboard buttons are just something else that adds to the price and takes up space. Remember the Haiku prototype?
Samsung should be removing buttons not adding them. This atrocity looks more like a pepperpad than an "Origami".
Aaron, thanks for an interesting insight into touchscreen input. I always hand write my stories. It just feels more connecting.
A great deal of the "information" about how inconvenient these devices are seems to be coming from people with no hands on time, or who have spent at most, minimal time with the devices refusing to meet the moderate learning curve and simply writing them off closed mindedly as "impracticle".
I'll agree that for casual computer users, this is not the device they should be using. But at the right price, the market is there.
And word around the campfire is pricing will be under $1000.
Just saw this product and gotta say its a vast improvement over the Q1 and the TabletKiosk EO (both of which I use). I use my devices for my business and for what we do the keyboard isnt that important. The location of the camera is something they got right and TabletKiosk blew. As soon as this hits the street I'm getting one. As for the key board, in my opinion its not that critical. You can jot down field notes faster than you can type. For my business use its not that important either. Now if only someone could develop a good case to carry and use the thing. A few vendors have gotten close, but no one has gotten that part exactly right yet.
Does the SD slot card is SDHC?
Does the GPS is included or an add-on?
Does anyone out there know when the Q2 will be released for purchase??
Just as an update it's not the Q2 on Samsung's website, it's the Q1 Ultra.
http://www.samsung.com/us/consumer/detail/detail.do?group=computersperipherals&type=ultramobilepc&subtype=ultramobilepc&model_cd=NP-Q1UA000/SEA
I really wished that Samsung would shrink this device and enable a real keyboard. I just did a search under Samsung and read about their new Korean MITI UMPC that tri folds. That to me is a lot more usable as it is pocket size and has a nice touch type keyboard.