Trigem's Atom-based LLUON Mobbit crashes below the $500 UMPC sweet spot

You know what we could really use right now? A chunky slab of XP running on a device that is simultaneously too big for our pockets but less functional than a netbook. Oh, what's that Trigem, you've got that? Suweet. Meet the LLUON Mobbit PS400, an Atom Z520-powered UMPC MID with a 4.8-inch (1,024 x 600) touchscreen LCD, 2 megapixel camera, 1GB memory, choice of 30GB hard disk or 16GB SSD, WiFi, and Korean WiMax (WiBro) and digital television (T-DMB). Here's the interesting part: the price. According CNET, it will cost "around" $411 (600,000 won) when it ships in January -- that's a lot of kit for that price (the similarly-speced R50A from ASUS costs over $1,800). If true, then the Mobbit looks to have finally achieved the pricing goal set by Microsoft and Intel for these UMPC-class devices way back in early 2006. Add the RAM- and touch-friendly Windows 7 OS and we might finally be home... albeit 3-years (too?) late.

[Via Akihabara News and CNET]

[jupiterthunder @ Dec 4th 2008 2:09AM]

Nice price. Nice chick. Dude, you get the hell out of here!

[ultimateidiot911 @ Dec 4th 2008 2:14AM]

Second that, the guy ruins the whole picture. I guess they want to please the female gadget fans too.

[max654000 @ Dec 4th 2008 2:15AM]

this one is prettier than the last one for sure, albeit not showing legs

[max654000 @ Dec 4th 2008 2:18AM]

@ultimateidiot911

but that guy is not even remotely hot!

[nerdtalker @ Dec 4th 2008 2:28AM]

Am I completely crazy or is the fugly dude holding a starbucks cup? What the hell?

[ultimateidiot911 @ Dec 4th 2008 2:28AM]

@max
I do agree, but maybe that's the only guy they can find.
I still prefer her next to me though =]

[Sam Zebian @ Dec 4th 2008 2:30AM]

Weird Guy problem solved!

http://triton.imageshack.us/Himg88/scaled.php?server=88&filename=solvedkc9.jpg&xsize=578&ysize=480

(sorry for my horrible paint edit of the photo lol)

[The WC @ Dec 4th 2008 3:05AM]

@ everyone in this thread:

*Cough*

Denial much?

Low rank me if you want, I couldn't resist. >

[dan0468 @ Dec 4th 2008 3:23AM]

I think he's kinda cute >.> kinda refreshing to see some a booth dude :-)

[Timstew @ Dec 4th 2008 3:53AM]

Congratulate, don't hate.

[Patriks7 @ Dec 4th 2008 4:26AM]

Awesome job at summarizing the whole post in a couple sentences! :p

[Mark @ Dec 4th 2008 2:10AM]

wow. i would wonder if this could also emulate macOSX :D

[Poom @ Dec 4th 2008 2:09AM]

Let the asian chick comments spree begin! >_

[youngstunna @ Dec 4th 2008 2:12AM]

i'd buy that, screen rez is awesome for something that can fit in some coat pockets.

[Haikibutsu @ Dec 4th 2008 2:12AM]

PORN

[Alex Keen @ Dec 4th 2008 2:30AM]

Guaranteed he is tapping that right after the show.

[Marcela @ Dec 4th 2008 7:45AM]

Did you notice that he gets his eyebrows done?

.... I don't really think he tapps anything....more like get tapped

[oliver hart @ Dec 4th 2008 2:13AM]

free, with purchase of grande

[avirji @ Dec 4th 2008 10:13PM]

I would definitely buy it if it came with the package on the left... who cares about the price?

[bubblechumpp @ Dec 4th 2008 2:19AM]

love you long time

[The WC @ Dec 4th 2008 3:03AM]

Congratulations! You just identified yourself as a classless racist who thinks Asian women are prostitutes. Your reward? -1 Point!

[oliver hart @ Dec 4th 2008 10:52AM]

Um, isn't that a 2 live crew/family guy reference?
You've just classified yourself as a 1st class douchecock

[Eric @ Dec 4th 2008 12:35PM]

2 live crew/family guy? Are you kidding? Try Full Metal Jacket, genius.

[Wwhat @ Dec 4th 2008 12:43PM]

Well family guy referred to the vietnam era thing where it is told hookers in vietnam used that term a lot it seems, as used in Stanley Kubrick's film 'Full Metal Jacket', but yeah it's been a while and few remember/know the precise origin and whole generation have grown up not knowing where it comes from or even what it refers to.

[Anonymous @ Dec 4th 2008 2:19AM]

Second Cup?

[Jan @ Dec 4th 2008 2:28AM]

she's cute

[Xavier @ Dec 4th 2008 2:33AM]

she's cute +1

[LC @ Dec 4th 2008 2:30AM]

I believe "cost around" is Korean for "We'll end up pricing it around a hundred dollars more" which means "It'll cost Several hundred dollars more if you live outside the USA" in British English.

[eggothewaffle @ Dec 4th 2008 2:32AM]

"You know what we could really use right now? A chunky slab of XP running on a device that is simultaneously too big for our pockets but less functional than a netbook."

This is why Engadget is a winner and a hero on the internet; why can't *anyone* else sum up how silly some ideas and concepts are when it comes to technology? I've always felt this way about UMPCs, but I could have never summed up those concerns so concisely.

[linuxamp @ Dec 4th 2008 5:59AM]

I couldn't disagree more. I was actually quite upset reading the Engadget post because I think there's a huge opportunity for devices of this size and spec. x86 Win32 is by far the largest and most popular platform in the world. There are more applications developed for or ported to this platform than any other period. Sure, it's bigger than your iPhone but you can't do everything on your iPhone that you can do on you Mac. Heck, you can't even copy & paste on your iPhone. This is a a desktop PC that fits in your jacket pocket or purse, not a glorified phone.

The problem, for some, is price and this new price level will be very attractive for them. For me the problem is battery life. Make a device that can last 10 hrs with 3G enabled and I'm sold. First thing I do, install Firefox, Skype, Miranda, Air + Twhirl, KLite Codec Pack and laugh at your iPhone.

[DJ @ Dec 4th 2008 8:19AM]

im actually eating eggos right now... [/random]

[coffee @ Dec 4th 2008 11:20AM]

I've always wanted a full OS (of any flavor) on my PSP, so I think this is a nice device, size and all. With a decent cpu/gpu, this can be a game player, portable full computer, mp3 player (with video), voip phone, camera, all with a decent hard drive?

I'd rather have that than carry around a 7" screened laptop that I would need to put in a case or bag.

[nmxz2002 @ Dec 9th 2008 10:17PM]

hello。。

[Oli D @ Dec 4th 2008 2:33AM]

Yeah i would have one of those for that price, and load up ubuntu onto it.

I guess it doesnt have any USBs...

Has anyone heard about VIAs Mobile ITX project?

Mobo the size of a business card @ 1Ghz.

[athousandleaves @ Dec 4th 2008 2:40AM]

has 2 usb, http://www.trigem.co.kr/tgshop/specialshop/eventshop/081203/images/mobbit_in_20.jpghttp://www.trigem.co.kr/tgshop/specialshop/eventshop/081203/images/mobbit_in_20.jpg

[athousandleaves @ Dec 4th 2008 2:35AM]

I would put that in my car in a heartbeat...wait GPS is a no... well i could probably put something in via USB, not that i ever get lost while driving -.-

[athousandleaves @ Dec 4th 2008 2:38AM]

USB and headphone are a go!

[Big Al @ Dec 4th 2008 2:40AM]

The Korean won got hit hard by the recession; it lost around a third of its value in the past few months alone. If you went by exchange rate a year ago, the price would be closer to $600. I dunno if this would really sell for $400 if it was sold in the US.

[ilh @ Dec 4th 2008 2:40AM]

Not 1 comment about the icons? I guess it's too early for those people.

[oliver hart @ Dec 4th 2008 2:50AM]

I didn't want to be the first to bring up the OS X-ish style. Spot on spot on

[insky @ Dec 4th 2008 4:39AM]

I don't think anybody wanted to be "that" guy.

[Steve Paine @ Dec 4th 2008 2:48AM]

More images, specs...

http://www.umpcportal.com/2008/12/tgs-lluon-mobbit-xp-based-mid

It's got a 16wh battery which should be good for 4-6 hours of use. 'Bloody happy to see this device, with these specs, at this price! Just some design lacking. (And for many, the keyboard but if it had a keyboard, the battery wouldn't be half the size!)

Chippy

[Hotrod @ Dec 4th 2008 9:07AM]

http://www.umpcportal.com/gallery/v/lluonmobbit/lluonmobbit2.jpg.html

I just want to know why

[youziliu @ Dec 4th 2008 2:55AM]

good

[TareX @ Dec 4th 2008 3:10AM]

Would consider it if it had Windows 7 on it and supported W7 multitouch....

The thing is these devices ARE late on the scene. Smartphones are advancing a lot faster and their screens are getting a whole lot bigger.

[Steve Paine @ Dec 4th 2008 3:16AM]

PMP and Video though. Smartphones are way away from H.264 @ 1080p and desktop speed, 1024x600 browsing.

I'd take a cheaper, smaller phone, save my voice battery life and consider one of these for pro-level browsing and video. I'm sure a lot of others will too.

Steve

[TareX @ Dec 4th 2008 3:23AM]

That's a reasonable choice, however:

Regarding HD hi-res video output, this will all change with NVidia's Tegra chip (demoed last year at the WMC). Google it. It's a game changer, no doubt.

Battery life, again: Tegra is capable of 10 hours of continuous HD video output. It's ultra-low power, designed for smartphones. Add that to OLED screens that don't demand backlighting, and you have another battery life saver.

The best browser is like the best camera: it's the one you always have with you. Mobile browsing is taking a huge leap, and we will be seeing full flash support on 800X600 screens on smartphones all over 2009.

PMPs and MIDs will always be better for videos, but it's about convergence with minimal loss of quality, and smartphones in early 2009 will me more than capable to achieve that. So you can walk around with everything, in your pocket.

[Steve Paine @ Dec 4th 2008 4:47AM]

Jack of all trades are perfect when you don't have or want a dedicated device. Most of us tech-oriented people will end up carrying one but...this device has nothing to do with that. This is like a PMP, DAP, DigiCam, Ebook reader, carputer, Navigation device - a dedicated piece of consumer/pro-sumer electronics aimed at a niche segment with sales targets and pricing to match. Many people (many many many millions) require/can justify these dedicated pro-level device in addition to anything else they may have or want. Web,pmp,navigation,productivity,battery life. For the time being, smartphones just don't cut it in these segments.

Even Tegra in a smartphone isn't going to help with screen size if that's what you value. Even a 5MP Karl Zeiss lens wont help if you need quality moving optics. Even Cortex A8 won't help if you want to run XP. Even an on-screen keyboard won't help if you need to input lots of data. etc. etc.

Smartphones will remain good, neh, excellent, jack-of-all-trades for the average consumer but for pro-sumers, people that really value quality, dedicated devices will remain and that's exactly where this one is aimed - Desktop quality browsing (this will bring amazingly fast and productive web to the hand, even compared to the best smartphones and probably any that will appear in the next 12 months). High Quality video playback. Long online battery life. Desktop OS.

[Andrew @ Dec 4th 2008 11:22PM]

O so close to the magic 1080x 720 res

[ipubs bastard child @ Dec 4th 2008 4:54AM]

I quite like this but those models couldn't look like they gave less of a s**t if they tried!