Compal showcases prototype UMPC running Windows CE

Although it's still proudly donning the proverbial prototype badge, a nifty machine from Compal was spotted at Computex running Windows CE 5.0 in favor of the battery-draining XP or Vista. Simply dubbed the UMD (Ultra Mobile Device), this ultraportable supposedly pulled double duty as a smartphone and even played nice with HSDPA. Internally, it featured a 532MHz Freescale i.MX31 processor, 512MB of NAND Flash memory, 256MB of DDR RAM, a 4.3-inch WVGA display, 802.11b/g WiFi, Bluetooth 2.0+EDR, a slide out QWERTY keyboard, trackpad, hot keys, built-in speaker and microphone, a 1.3-megapixel CMOS camera, SIM card slot, and a miniSD slot to hold excess media. Additionally, it boasted USB connectivity, a headphone jack, a meager five-watt power consumption rating that enabled nearly five hours of battery life, and the obligatory media playing and Skype-friendly applications that you would expect on such a multifaceted device. Unfortunately, there's no way to tell whether Compal will come through on bringing this thing to market, but we're sure there's a niche that would be all over it should it eventually roll out.

[Via Wired]

[Sinhumane @ Jun 14th 2007 8:30PM]

i'd hit it.... just tell me when they come out!

[Jesse S @ Jun 14th 2007 8:48PM]

That's not a UMPC...It's a pdaphone.

[Aaron @ Jun 14th 2007 9:16PM]

Jesse; I agree. Running Windows Mobile makes it a PDA Phone not a UMPC.

But it is a nice PDA Phone if they would think about changing the color.

[tobin @ Jun 14th 2007 10:05PM]

Aaron: Windows CE != Windows Mobile

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_ce

[Jesse S @ Jun 14th 2007 10:19PM]

Windows Mobile = Windows CE.

But still, this is not a umpc. It has the specs of a pdaphone, it's the size of a pdaphone, and it has the os of a pdaphone...It's a pdaphone.

[JohnTitor @ Jun 15th 2007 2:15AM]

Windows Mobile is not Windows CE (as tobin said in code)
it is a type of it
even the good old Sega Dreamcast had a type of Windows CE
Compal probably made their own

[3rdsun @ Jun 14th 2007 9:00PM]

finally something to put the iphone to shame. That could do some damage in the smartphone world. Too bad a major player isn't bringing it to market.

[JohnTitor @ Jun 14th 2007 9:02PM]

finally? what about HTC's PDA phones?

[Jesse S @ Jun 14th 2007 9:36PM]

The Samsng i730 has been killing the phone for years...As does the i760.

[Rusty Shackleford @ Jun 14th 2007 9:11PM]

sony's gonna say something about this...

[p3ngwin @ Jun 14th 2007 10:42PM]

more info here.
http://techon.nikkeibp.co.jp/article/NEWS/20070607/133773/

seems there's a nice BLACK colour too!

[Brian @ Jun 14th 2007 10:15PM]

its nice
but that 5 hours of battery life is pretty shitty
I wouldnt get it even if it did come out because of that

[murray @ Jun 14th 2007 10:21PM]

If priced right, this could be a nice internet tablet to compete against the Nokia N800.

[p3ngwin @ Jun 14th 2007 10:42PM]

http://techon.nikkeibp.co.jp/article/NEWS/20070607/133773/

in BLACK too it seems

[p3ngwin @ Jun 14th 2007 10:45PM]

http://techon.nikkeibp.co.jp/article/NEWS/20070607/133773/?SS=imgview&FD=291939425&ad_q

the black one up close....mmmmmmmmm

unfortunatly i believe this is going to be like the SHARP EM ONE.

it is a data only device, the specs say HSDPA but no phone like frequencies. hope it is not hust data as it would be such a waste. throw in a at LEAST a 2 meg auto-focus cam and a multimedia chip (qualcomm or nvidia) and this is a great phone.

[Big @ Jun 14th 2007 10:59PM]

IF IT CAN'T RUN YOUTUBE, PORNOTUBE, play FLASH games or use JAva Chat environments, then ITS NOT ENOUGH FOR ME.

[linuxamp @ Jun 14th 2007 11:44PM]

Why is this newsworthy? First of all, as so many have stated, Windows mobile or CE =! UMPC. Also, so many similar/better devices already exist from HTC, Sharp and Samsung.

"...running Windows CE 5.0 in favor of the battery-draining XP or Vista"
The reason for this was probably less likely battery concerns but the fact that XP or Vista can't fit on 512MB Nand flash and a decent PC os would slow to a crawl on this hardware.

[Jon @ Jun 15th 2007 6:38AM]

Windows XP Embedded can fit into a 32MB flash drive.

[CB @ Jun 15th 2007 4:47AM]

Windows mobile kiks full OS ass, OK it can't run most of the cool apps out there , but if someone bothered to write them for WM then it would make XP/Vista redundant, I'm glad to see the murmurings of a movement against computers and OS's that use huge amounts of power for no good reason.
At the moment programmers writing for desktop PC's have no limits they just bang in features and let the huge ram cope with it all, Nokia should start making PC's with the same restraints as a mobile phone, you'd start to see highly efficient apps and hardware that performs just as well.
A laptop running XP is a goddam joke...bloatware that requires hardware sucking huge Li-ion batteries dry within hours and cooling fans, in 20yrs time we will see this as the steampunk era.

[PEZ @ Jun 15th 2007 7:02AM]

I would definately enjoy a winCE device over the fugly smartphone or windows mobile, simply because it operates more like a desktop... and looks like it as well. This is something I would carry around, provided the battery life could be extended.

[John0902 @ Jun 15th 2007 7:45AM]

Nice -- a PDA with a bigger than VGA+ screen, and a processor fast enough for Skype. With existing WinCE software, it will do some cool things:
1) with TCPMP, it will play typical VGA sized xvid/divx movies (hopefully while using A2DP Bluetooth headphones)
2) with TomTom Navigator and a Bluetooth connected GPS receiver, it will be a decent GPS/navigation unit (with a big display)
3) with Skype for PocketPC, it will do VOIP over WiFi access.
I'd rather have a full-sized SD slot for 4/8+GB storage, but other than that pretty nice.

[Jeff Lewis @ Jun 15th 2007 10:48AM]

World's

Biggest

Smartphone.

[Jeff Lewis @ Jun 15th 2007 10:56AM]

And

It's

Not

A

UMPC.

[Jeff Lewis @ Jun 15th 2007 10:58AM]

And

It's

Not

A

UMPC.

It's

A

PDA.

[Robert Barbieri @ Jun 15th 2007 12:33PM]

to reiterate what everyone else has said:

IF IT DOESN'T HAVE A X86 PROCESSOR AND RUN WINDOWS XP OR VISTA, ITS NOT A UMPC ITS A FREAKING POCKET PC!

[cmonex @ Jun 18th 2007 4:31PM]

WOW THIS IS SO COOL!!!!!!! if it is really 350$ yes im going to buy it! windows mobile bleh, CE5 is cool.

[Alex @ Jun 22nd 2007 10:06AM]

Windows CE is what windows mobile is based on, but it has far more functionality. It has a normal start menu and a normal desktop. There are very good Windows CE office programs available, and CE can also run almost all ppc programs. I have a NEC MobilePro 900c with CE 4.2 ($80 from eBay), and it is great for spreadsheets/ word processing/ internet browsing etc.
Most people only need the basic functions of a computer, so for them something like this is great.

[Brad Nolan @ Jul 8th 2007 12:06AM]

Compal never has built quality equipment. They are a Con Company