It seems like just yesterday we were finally
welcoming the
UMID mbook M1 into the world, kicking and screaming after a rather extended gestation. After all that it wasn't exactly well received thanks to a high price, a screen that didn't open far enough, and USB ports that sadly required dongles. UMID is now demoing the completely dongle-free M2, said to be ultimately available with your choice of either a 1.2 or 1.6GHz Intel Atom processor. Memory has been bumped up to 1GB to support
Windows 7, the case has been tweaked, the hinge now opens further, and there's an optical "mouse" integrated into the bezel with a sensor on the right and two tiny mouse buttons on the left. A non-functional version is lovingly caressed after the break, while working models are said to ship before the year is up with prices starting at $499. Let's hope this one doesn't follow the same, circuitous path to retail that its predecessor did.
[Via
jkkmobile]
posted Sep 22nd 2009 7:32AM
I can forsee this being used in an upcoming action movie with some kind of linux distro to hack a satellite network/world power grid/SOSUS/NORAD . . .
This is Unix! I know this!
Woah. DO WANT,
and I just bought my UMID M1 as well.
d'oh!
This looks a lot like my old HP 95 LX. It was a great DOS device which I used with ACT while traveling. This size could be good for business people on the road to access contact data.
It looks so thick until I saw the video.
That's what she said.
The camera adds 1.5 inches. Everyone knows that.
That mouse integration sounds totally awful.
The mouse implementation is incalculably better then the original M1.... which didn't have a mouse control at all.
Kind of hard to run XP with no mouse controls... you ever try it? Yeah, touch screen, blah blah. Still a PIA.
A lot of recent M1 purchasers are going to be a little bit ticked off.
All these MID/UMPC devices are great, some I would even buy, but something always goes wrong with the final product: 1. battery life is no better than 2-3 hours when my BlackBerry or iPhone can go several, 2. it's missing a vital wireless component (3G/Wi-Fi/BT), or 3. something rather stupid: they lack a front-facing camera for videoconferencing, keyboard layout or size is pathetic or unusable, it's not upgradable (thank goodness for 1GB of RAM, but because it's Windows, it's gotta be 2GB), it's overpriced, or it's just too damn slow to be any good.
Oh, and don't forget about the accessories! These MID/UMPCs should be able to be charged with a simple mini/microUSB connector. If you have to carry around a large brick with long wires at each end to charge/power it, especially if the battery life is anemic at best, what's the point?
Charge via USB eh? Yeah, have fun with that 500mA output of the standard USB port. Should have that battery charged in ohhh...3-4 DAYS.
Looks great.. add in a HSDPA modem w/sim card and ATT Frequencies and I'd jump on it. Anyone else notice the Keyboard is a near carbon-copy of the HTC Fuze?
Did you not watch the video? He said it had a built-in 3G SIM card slot.
Yes the keyboard is very Fuze/Touch Pro 2ish. At first glance I thought it was some hopped up HTC device.
Yes, I totally skipped the video. Thanks for the heads up.
Wish they would make a model with this form factor but one that could handle 2-3GB ram and a 160Gb or bigger hard drive. I agree that these mid's look cool but there is ALWAYS something that cripples them keeping them from being useful.
For now my 8.9 inch EEEPC fits the bill, upgraded to 2GB ram and a 250 GB 7200RPM hard drive running Win7. 2 pounds and a complete PC.
it's gonna take time before devices this size will have 2-3GB of RAM and 160GB hard drives.
there just isn't the space in a device that small.
That looks like my old Sony Clie from about 8 years ago.
Hate to join the "Why would you buy this when you could get...(Insert your fanboy choice here)" crowd but I can't see a need. It's too small to do what I need my netbook for, and too big for what I use my smartphone for.
as much as i hate the IBM style mouse nipple, that device DESPERATELY needs one. The gBook [gen 1] style had that mini trackpad/separate two mouse buttons, and it looks downright unusable
No SIM card slot? :(
watch the video it has a SIM card slot
Awesome...
Is that tampon really necessary between the keyboard and screen?
the "tampon" is just the white battery, with it being a black device it really stands out,
there are black batteries available for the UMID M1 which would look so much better.
by the looks of it, the M1 and M2 share the same battery and keyboard.
I sure hope that UMID has stopped production of the M1 and is churning out M2s right now.
Because after seeing this, I doubt that anyone would buy the M1. If it takes too long to get the M2 to market, they might end up with some cash flow problems (aka Osbourne Effect). A lot of UMPC companies recently have not been able to make the jump from one device to the next (Oqo, Wibrain, Raon Digital).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osbourne_effect
Watch the video. That version looks much sleeker then the Engadget phot.
It all looks good. i like the mouse feature a lot, but one thing i would like is to be improved is for the screen to be the size of the gadget. To me, any kind of phone or UMID or small portable gadget that does not have the screen size as big as the entire gadget, I think it is a loss of space. The whole point is portability, but if you give me a small device, please maximize the screen. That is one thing I hate about the G1, so much real-estate wasted. And a second thing is keyboard. Please make the keyboard the size of the gadget as well.
Ditto that... this thing ought to be called M2 Mega-Bezel !!
Thick bezel on the keyboard, thick bezel on the screen... what exactly is the point?
Bezels are cool... if you're minitiare sized and enjoy reading a screen 8-10" from yer face!
Screen / keyboard MUST be maximized. Battery MUST be 8hrs+ with Wi-Fi On / watching movies.
Otherwise... PASS
Looks like a throwback to 1995. Not that it's a bad thing. I'd take one if the screen wasn't so recessed and was a touch-screen.
It is touchscreen, just like the previous M1.
They've just added the optical trackpoint as well as still having the touchscreen.
The OQO 2+ looked a lot sleeker and was supposed to be available with a 1.33GHz or 1.86GHz Intel Atom processor, 2GB RAM, wireless internet and an OLED touch screen, but we all know what happened to OQO.
OQO's main problem was they were priced way too high.
In what became a very competitive market,
other companies were releasing devices for half the price.
Also explains why sony don't make the UX series any more.
Love this. They have improved on the issues that held it back previously. It's a full PC at an unbelievable ~315 grams (assuming it stays close to the M1 in weight). This means it's entirely pocketable and portable.
@Johann. I agree with you, it would be even better with larger screen, and stretching the keyboard to the limts. I guess they're aiming at a price point, and that weight reduction may take precedence over size of keyboard as a very thin fram may require a metal, or carbon, frame.
@BeyondtheTech
1. battery life is no better than 2-3 hours
Have you checked the reviews?? The predecessor, M1, ran for 5 hours and beyond in normal usage patterns afaik.
2. it's missing a vital wireless component (3G/Wi-Fi/BT),
Nope. You are wrong there.
or 3. something rather stupid: they lack a front-facing camera for videoconferencing,
Got that as well.
keyboard layout or size is pathetic or unusable,
Well, what do you expect from a device this size? A full size butterfly fold out keyboard? It may not have the ideal keyboard, and you can't touch type on it, but it's tiny and fits in just about any pocket. It's like saying that "Look, the Tesla doesn't seat six people, it's a failure."
it's not upgradable (thank goodness for 1GB of RAM, but because it's Windows, it's gotta be 2GB),
I agree
it's overpriced,
Overprized = Anything that isn't free? $199? I find it amazingly cheap for the technology and packaging.
or it's just too damn slow to be any good.
Any good for what?
Yep 1.5 out of 7. That's your score
The why does it have a wifi logo on the top right corner ?
ps my comments are not pointed at gadgety i am agreeing with him in fact @ BeyondtheTech in fact i just hit the wrong reply button
Ill take the pc-z1 instead please.
http://www.engadget.com/2009/08/27/sharps-5-inch-pc-z1-netwalker-honors-the-zaurus-legacy/
Thanks for this. Keyboard certainly looks way better. I also prefer its looks. But it's some 25-30% heavier, and it's dimensions are 161.4 x 108.7 x 19.7 ~ 24.8mm compared to (the original M1, so not quite a fair comparison, but I haven't seen the exact measurements of the M2) 157 x 94 x 17mm. I find the 108.7 vs 94 mm is a big difference in terms of pocketability. Furthermore no 3g, and as far as I can see, no webcam.
http://hotfile.com/dl/13276103/509c702/umid_m2.flv.html
moive download, in case people can't access the site
Oh yes. I forgot. Umid M2 has got 1gb of ram in it's upmarket version vs 512 mb for the Sharp unit. That's major.
For the 3g slot just watch this video http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/22/video-umid-shows-off-faster-cheaper-windows-7-packing-mbook-m/1. It's shown and mentioned towards the end. Of course whether you can enjoy it depends on which bands it will support, and where you are located. Check the unboxing video at UMPC portal for the power charger size; it's small:
http://www.umpcportal.com/2009/04/umid-mbook-retail-unboxing-and-overview-by-chippy/
I didnt see any mention of audio outputs and sound quality. I have read that this was a problem for the M1. Anyone know anything about this? Id be interested on how audio sounds through earphones for standard iTunes play.