Fujitsu LifeBook UH900 has multitouch, world-beating ambitions

What's in a name these days? If we didn't call this a UMPC or told you it can run Windows 7, it could just be a pretty huge clamshell smartphone. The freshly announced LifeBook UH900 sports a 5.6-inch "vivid glare screen," (we'll put that down to a bad translation), 3.5G wireless connectivity, and even goes so far as to lay claim to being the world's smallest multitouch-capable PC. Take that, VAIO P! Still, the 62GB SSD and WXGA display resolution obviously set it apart from the phone crowd, as will the Atom Z530 inside -- it might outperform your ARM CPU, but will also ensure you never leave the house without a charger (just 3-hours in eco mode). Fujitsu has yet to spill pricing details, but CNET informs us the non-UMTS version will be ready in January, with the more advanced hotness coming at a later date.

[Sarig Posted Dec 3rd 2009 6:44AM]

So not living up to the battery standard Viliv has set. (They make UMPC's for which you can leave the charger at home!)

[Ducman69 Posted Dec 3rd 2009 6:44AM]

Cool, although I don't understand the point of multitouch on tiny screens.

[armus360 Posted Dec 3rd 2009 8:59AM]

@(Unverified)
I'm guessing you haven't notice the success of the Iphone??? Apple seems to be making a lot of money from multitouch tiny screens.

[mikmik111 Posted Dec 3rd 2009 6:49AM]

I need glasses to see wxga on those.

[mrqs Posted Dec 3rd 2009 6:55AM]

how can the battery life be so bad?

any full-on laptop pc will out perform that easily

[ceilingcat21 Posted Dec 3rd 2009 10:00AM]

@mrqs they have bigger batteries man

[Dr Yusuf AlKindi Posted Dec 3rd 2009 7:12AM]

Its as cute as a button. Speaking of buttons, other than to say it can be done, why craete such a small machine? Who really needs to be able to use something like this on the go? Will it have a cellular/GSM module built in? What is the market for this? If someone has a smart phone, would they also carry this? Will it be used to check stock portfolios on the go? Although it is cute, and I want to win one in the next engadget give-away, in terms of marketing, this is a device that will lose its niche as smart phones become more capable. Given all the devices one must carrry now, anyway, inclyding chargers for devices like this, one might as well just get an Asus or Lenovo netbook, and carry it rather than one of these cute little things.

[cobaltage Posted Dec 3rd 2009 8:36AM]

@Dr Yusuf AlKindi Japanese people frequently use electronic dictionaries to help them write in Japanese. (There's a reason for this which I can't explain.) I think increasingly, it is possible to make computers in the same form factor as electronic dictionaries for just a small increase in price. That gives the owner significantly added functioning in the same form factor, at the expense of battery life, however.

[emremutlu44 Posted Dec 3rd 2009 7:17AM]

make it edge to edge screen, put amoled and color e-ink together and I will buy it..

[Bjay Posted Dec 3rd 2009 7:22AM]

@emremutlu44

you might be the only customer because the the price might be too high to justify(dont forget it just a companion device)

[NOOOOPedro Posted Dec 3rd 2009 8:26AM]

Do want....

No indication as to if it has the FM transmitter in though, all UMPC's should have this IMO

[clonmac Posted Dec 3rd 2009 9:21AM]

This looks awesome. Disappointing battery life though. I own the Fujitsu U810 which is their other UMPC and one of the things i love most about it is that it has amazing battery life. It is one of the best computers I've ever own. If they upped the battery life on it, I would definitely consider ditching my U810 for this. But, not as it stands.

[OddManOut Posted Dec 3rd 2009 11:45AM]

@clonmac

The u810 is pretty awesome I'll admit...though I'm about to unload mine in favor of an Aigo p8861. It just isn't that much more portable than my Asipire 1 realative to my usage pattern (oddly enough though it actually plays Hulu and Youtube videos BETTER than my Aspire even though it's CPU is running at half the speed). But I'll grant you the battery life is pretty sweet on the Fujitsu. Especially considering the CPU isn't a supposedly power sipping Atom but an older A110.

[plwh888 Posted Dec 3rd 2009 9:49AM]

I love my Vaio P over this anytime, I dun need multi-touch. P's 8 inches is really small, i cannot imagine 5.6 inch screen . . .

[(Unverified) Posted Dec 3rd 2009 10:17AM]

Battery life sucks...this is why UMPCs aren't taking off...better to make it a little bit bigger so you have more room for battery cells and call it a netbook.

[kenc3dan Posted Dec 3rd 2009 11:31AM]

WXGA? Boost that to 1600x960 and you'll have something.
I want to use a jewelers loupe to read my text.
Mo pixels = mo better.
Seriously, I love high DPI but I have great vision.
No one around me can ever read my teeny 7-pixel bitmap fonts.
Security through obscurity.
"Get a magnifying glass there grandpa!"
Ha!

[questionexclamation Posted Dec 3rd 2009 4:31PM]

It looks very nice. But man! Battery technology sucks.

[leg Posted Dec 3rd 2009 11:00PM]

I'm still going to wait for the UMID M2

[(Unverified) Posted Dec 4th 2009 9:59AM]

I also have a u810 but dont forget the original asian version was the u1010 which also had the smaller battery. I hope they gave the same plan with this one. A tiny battery but with the option of a bigger one that sticks out the back. Looks like a worthy upgrade to the u810, lets hope it is not as buggy.