MIU's $500 HDPC takes All-in-One seriously
By Thomas Ricker 
posted Mar 24th 2008 4:33AM
posted Mar 24th 2008 4:33AM
- 4-inch, 800 x 480 pixel touchscreen display which slides out and flips over for the cellphone interface
- Up to a 1GHz VIA C7M ULV processor and 4GB of DDR2 memory
- Dual, Windows XP / Linux Qplus embedded OS
- Unspecified cellphone radio
- Maximum 1.3-inch 60GB hard disk (or 4GB SSD) and miniSD/microSD expansion
- 7-hour battery (or 90-hours at low power)
- 802.11b/g WiFi, Bluetooth 2.0
- 2x USB, docking port, stereo speakers, QWERTY thumbpad and mouse
- What looks like a 5 megapixel camera
- DMB mobile television and external GPS add-on
you sound like the crocodiles from pearls before swine.
ya know its huge but if it does everything i wont have to carry everything around in different bags or cases lol also i could use it as a self defense device lol
What? No 10 megapixel camera? I hate it.
Just kidding. That's what people would do if it was Apple made.
Dam it, I almost spilled my tea at the OP's comment, "use it as a self defense".
sorry, that last one was meant for a spammer, looks like it was deleted too fast, my bad carl.
@carl: a dildo can do the same thing.
well if it's bluetooth enabled using it as a phone won't be too embarrassing, but if not yeah welcome back to 1990...
and if all else fails you can always use this clunker as a bludgeon much like a brick to steal the other guy's nicer phone...
If that phone isn't bluetooth capable then welcome back to 2001.
Reminds me of the sprint commercial that featured the phone with crime deterrent.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KgoVrAR3YOo
haha this thing has more usb ports than the Air...
....i believe you could NOT SPAM....like AT ALL...thanks
I'm sure not paying for a design team brings costs substancially lower.
Doesn't this device appear to be begging for a steakpunk-style modification?
mmm...
steakpunk.
I love typos.
I'm surprised the battery only lasts 90 hours... I think I heard somewhere that they have batteries that last a year... or two.
If you think of it more like a laptop (a very ugly laptop), its size isnt quite so bad.
If Mad Max had a smartphone (or any phone at all), it would be this.
Awesome.
-Taylor
I almost gave your comment a plus but then... you signed your post. Do you think we can't read your name at the top?
@ Kris
Yeah, i dunno, it's something i do online, like, always. It's just habit, but comes from when my display name is not my real name. I don't keep track of where it is and where it isn't, i just sign them all.
-Taylor ;)
actualy yon , now that ya bring it up I seem to remember a steampunk "iPod" hmm, mayhaps a handcarved wooden case and brass buttons?, this brick just might have a future after all...
Yeah, that would be brilliant. Cover it in copper and brass, with a lot of tacks. Then, when the battery blows it can be a nice grenade. Sweet.
Nice phone, but I don't think it needs more armament. :-)
Much better than an iphone anyday.
it's horrible....yet, I can't look away.
Now can I get the model in a style other than 'ass ugly'? I'll pay a few bucks more, pleeeaaase.
agreed, if they just used some common sense in their design i think it would be a much more appealing unit.
Great! But why did they have to make the cell phone side of it so damn ugly. It looks like an industrial instrument for measuring radiation levels.
That would be called a "geiger counter."
How am I going to fit this beast in the pocket of my skinny jeans?
This device might just single-handedly bring back the fanny pack. Then perhaps mullets.
Considering how it's shaped, This could be a huge advantage to you if you put this in your skinny jeans.
BURN ALMIGHTY!!!!!
Hey! I think there's a virus on the other end of your link. WTF!
This is the ultimate thing!
i hear you man, it sure is ugly but daammmnn it's loaded.
Yeah, what a thing!
4 GB of RAM? So it runs XP 64bit? With the appropriate drivers?
don't be silly, there's no such thing as a windows xp 64 bit driver.
Description of 64 bit Windows drivers: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/896333
victim of convergance, but someone somewhere has been waiting for this.
what can i say, i have a creepy fetish for BIG gadgets
Really? Then why do all of your posts have to do with that website that you pasted?
That was a reply to a no longer existing spammer. Hopefully he got banned.
i think this is what every geek has been waiting for.. except half it's size and not ugly.
I'll take windows mobile over xp anyday(anyway)
I'd like to think that you're Russian, just because reading your comments in a Russian accent sounds hilaarious.
However, I think it's more likely that you're Chinese.
wait, how much is an iphone?
wait, how big and ugly is this thing?
(Different users, different markets... it sounds like a really great device for the price, but powerful != usable.)
Yes bonds, different users. A device like this is meant for people who work, that is, they need to do work on the go. The iPhone is for users that like to be stylish, watch videos at an odd resolution, hate buttons, and listen to music out of a mediocre DAC and internal amp on crappy headphones.
I think you illustrated that perfectly.
Umm...The Matrix?
no no son. not far enough back... try bladerunner.
I don't think it will blend.
"Mr. Spock, your new tricorder has arrived."
The rumor has it that for StarTrek 2009, they'll be using specially modified iPhones that have clear flip covers. Their iPhone will do everything the current iPhone can do except the StarTrek iPhone can be used as a transporter device. (iPhone firmware 3.0 might have this feature, though)
I really did see this mentioned online somewhere.
Now way that thing has 4GB Ram and cost $500. The 1.3 inch 60 GB drive :? all this with 7 hours battery life.
Would make a great base for an exclusive carputer.
lol i take function over form anyday
I better start saving up then...
Wow, it's only one inch thick? How did they get it to be so slim? Sure, the MacBook Air can fit in a manilla envelope, but this bad boy can fit in a shoe box!
Carry this thing around if you never want to have sex ever again...
...unless you keep it in your front pocket. Good bye foil wrapped zucchini!
Bad Boy Brick !
I can't wait for this to come out and buy it. This will be the ultimate handheld I going to show off to all of my friends and strangers alike, ok, mostly strangers but, that's alot of people.
under $500? not going to happen. reminds me of the sub-$500 UMPC promises in the hype-days of origami. still no decent UMPC's for under $1000.
What a friggin' cool techno object. Sure, it’s not really usable as a handheld computer, just try to dig your thumbs around the chunky sides to hit the enter and shift keys, but they tried! I very much like the idea of computer cell combinations. Even though I doubt I’ll ditch my iPhone, it would be pretty cool to toy around with this device. Then again, the OpenMoko has a touchscreen!
Cut an inch off the top, add a 180 hard drive, ditch the keyboard, make it a tablet, and it would be the perfect business/pro iPhone profile!
why would you ditch the keyboard? the iPhone is pretty nice, but you still have to admit that it's easier to use a physical key pad (+ it doesn't block the screen while typing)
I am a Chinese and I have to say you are spammer, whether you are a Chinese or not.
I don't think it's comfortable to type on such design.
This has to be a joke... It simply cannot be under 1000$ O.o
When i used to get my contract phone upgrade, I would take my old phone with me as a Personal Defense Weapon(PDW) on the thinking that I didn't really need it anymore, plus my new phone was very precious. If I upgraded to this, my theory would be debunked as my TyTn 2 is already too big to slot inside a post box opening (I've tried) and this is pretty big. So I won't be getting this, no thanks. ;-)
i have tried three times to make sense of your comment , but i cant.
from what i understand.. you use your old phone as a pdw. but this is bigger than your tytyn , and your tytn cant fit through a letter box.
twas a jestful joke my friend!
That's a fairly busy design. It seems rather unwieldy due to it's size. If it works well, then more power to the user.
4GB of RAM with XP + 60gb HDD and phone built-in for $500.00? It doesn't make sense when a 1GB, 1.3ghz cpu, 40gb HDD Sony UX380 goes for around $1000.00. I say vapor or smoky mirrors on this one.
ugly as hell but i'll buy one for sure :)
Crikey I can understand the size with all the goodies they packed in there but whats the excuse for the obvious ugly stick beat down? Yikes!
Replace the DMB with GPS, and I'm totally set for this thing. Hell, if this is from SK, you might even be able to run it on Verizon in cell phone mode (or, soon, Sprint).
Apparently the Koreans don't know that the number 10 can be made with a 1 and a 0....
WOW that dude has tiny hands!!
Did anyone actually notice the button says TAP instead of TAB?!?!
http://image1.aving.net/2008/03/24/20080324114313077.jpg
Hey, isn't that Zach's phone for the oft-rumored "Saved By The Bell" remake?
I'm sooo on board if the thing runs Android.
I fear that typing might be made more difficult by the gert lumps either side of the keyboard. Couldn't that have made those bits fold with the screen?
I think in due course Nokia will produce an N810++ with phone functionality, which will set the standard for this type of device.
For the love of god, please be CDMA.
All this thing needs is a slight hardware revision - get rid of that flippy screen/cellphone side and make it a slider keyboard like the HTC offerings. Streamline some of the excess keys and stuff. And then make the cellphone interface touchscreen like the HTC Touch/Apple iPhone.
This might become a great seller, if it ever gets to Version 2 (Now with less Fugly!)
They forgot to mention that it makes a whiz-bang techno-couch for your Barbie and Ken! (Or your Transformer toys, pffft, whatever).
Looks like it would be hard to type on. Not quite big enough for typing like a keyboard, but it looks like it's recessed too much for easy typing with thumbs.
it all depends on how it compares to a pandora...
could this thing emulate gamecube?
Happy 4th...
It looks like something right out of Blakes' 7. I love it.
..Do I have to dress in a white jumpsuit with flared trousers when I use it?
I can almost see apple going to run their stupid "mac vs pc" commercials with this thing....
skinny nerdy guy: "hello, I am an iphone"
big overweighted guy chewing on a taco: "hi, I am this ugly looking phone that can do everything"
Looks like it could have been the carphone from Doc's Delorian.
Alternately, there are probably people out there my age (mid-twenties) who see this as the closest they'll ever get to owning Penny's book.
it's so beautifully ugly haha
The way I read it, the unit STARTS at $500, and then has "max" 60gig HD, and "up to" 1ghz via processor and DDR ram, so methinks that when you add all the goodies necessary to accept the obvious two scoops of ugly poured into the thing, you are going to drop at least a g-note on it.
I home I am wrong, but I can't see how any company could put out machine with a 1ghz (even via) processor , 60g hd, 4g ram AND make it handheld AND make it a sub $500 machine.
Wait a second. Can we get back to Steakpunk? I'm intrigued by the possibillities.
....but does it blen, play crysis on max?
Does anyone else think it has very poor ergonomics? I mean try thumb typing on that deeply inlaid keyboard. You have to reach over the side bar things to reach the keyboard.
Me likey. Just need to hear some feedback about the typing.
Heh, I never thought I will see this in metal ;)
http://www.archive.org/details/WindowsMobile_Flip_Communicator_Concept
But these Korean guys seriously screwed the dimensions, I never intended it to be THIS awful huge ;)