Even though UMPCs have been overshadowed by competitors like the Eee and even to a certain extent by all those upcoming MIDs, it looks like Samsung's staying committed to the concept two years after the Q1 first launched in the US. Jeongseon Euh, Samsung's "Q1 guy," recently told Tech Radar that about 100,000 Q1 and the Q1 Ultras have shipped out, mostly to education customers, and that's good enough for a 65 percent share of the (admittedly small) UMPC market. That's also good enough for Samsung to keep at it, and Euh says the third generation of the Q1 should land early next year. No word on what specs we might see, but with all the Atom-based action going on lately, we think we might have an idea of where things are headed.

With all the Psystar-related drama going on in the OSx86 scene this week, it's easy to overlook the fact that people are doing some pretty wild things with the community-led project -- we've already seen OS X boot on a Sony Vaio UX, and now the crew at jkOnTheRun have managed to shoehorn it on to a Samsung Q1 Ultra Premium UMPC. The Q1's 1.33GHz Core Solo and upgraded 2GB of RAM are enough to run Leopard smoothly, it seems -- Apple sold Mac Minis with similar specs a while back, after all -- and while not everything works exactly right, it appears the digitizer is recognized, allowing Ink to work. It's not perfect, as there are some calibration issues, but it's a fun little peek into what an OS X tablet might look like -- minus the command button, of course.

Meet the WiBrain B1's bigger, meaner brother -- the Samsung Q1 Ultra. We've been lovingly gazing at pictures of this behemoth for some time now, but we finally got a chance to toss it around at ye old CES this year. Truth? It's kind of messed up looking, and that keypad isn't any easier to use than it looks. For some reason, Samsung thought the layout should slant downward, but we can't say why. At any rate, the model we had was running Vista -- if a bit slowly -- and had a pretty nice looking display. Hit the gallery and see the goods for yourself.

Samsung's topping out its UMPC lineup with the new high-end Q1 Ultra Premium. The unit runs Windows XP Tablet -- much to the chagrin of Microsoft, we're sure -- and boasts a $1,400 pricetag. Inside there's a 1.33GHz ULV Intel Core Solo U1500 processor and 1GB of DDR2 RAM. The 57.7 watt hour 6-cell battery has a purported 7.5 hours of battery life, and the whole unit comes in under two pounds. The main exterior addition is the split-QWERTY keypad 1.5, which improves upon the last model with larger keys for easier text entry. There's also a docking station and external keyboard packaged with the Premium. Otherwise the device matches up with the Q1 Ultra, with a 80GB 1.8-inch HDD, Bluetooth 2.0, SD card slot and 1.3 megapixel webcam. The Premium should be available now, and Samsung says it'll be dropping prices on its existing UMPCs to make room for the new model.

[Via jkkmobile]

We aren't generally ones to pass along gadget deals, but every so often an opportunity pops up that just seems too interesting to ignore. Merely 1.5 years after the highly-anticipated Q1 hit shelves for $1,100, the UMPC is available now (in refurbished fashion) for nearly half of that. Granted, you won't be buying Sammy's latest and greatest Q1, but maybe that inexplicably short battery life won't bother you so much when you're only shelling out $579.99. So, now that this thing has reached new lows (in price, that is), will you finally buy in, or will you try and squeeze one more year out that Newton?

[Thanks, Ben]

Man, with words like "Ultra" (twice) and "Premium" in its name, you'd think that Samsung's latest bump to their UMPC platform -- the Q1 Ultra Mobile PC Ultra Premium -- would be something to shout about. Unfortunately, it's just their 7-inch Q1 Ultra done up with a 1.33GHz ULV Core Solo CPU. A nice increase in raw power, for sure. Yay?

Walt Mossberg didn't pull any punches when he reviewed the first Samsung UMPC, calling the out the Q1 for its lack of a keyboard, low screen resolution, short battery life, and high price. Well, Samsung apparently took those criticisms to heart, because ol' Unkie Walt says that the Q1 Ultra is "a giant improvement" and shows that "Samsung is serious about this." Mossberg also says that while the split thumbpad keyboard takes some getting used to, it's perfectly usable, although you won't be cranking out any Word docs on it. Battery life, at three hours, still doesn't impress Walt, and price is still an issue, but overall, he says the Q1 Ultra is a good choice for students, frequent travelers, and other people who don't do a lot of document creation but still want to take notes and write email on the go. That's a huge endorsement for the UMPC platform if you ask us, but we'll have to see what consumers think this time around.

Samsung's getting all cutesy on us by launching the new Q1 Ultra exactly a year after the Q1 first arrived on shelves May 7, 2006. Luckily for us, May 7, 2007 is looking to be a bit more exciting for the UMPC lovers among us, since Samsung has boosted the battery life to a "minimum" 4.5 hours, added an LED backlit 1024 x 600 screen and stuck plenty of wireless connectivity into the new unit. The split-QWERTY keyboard held up well in our initial, informal encounters, but that's the largest departure for the new device, and hopefully it does indeed mark an end to UMPC input woes. But despite all those spec enhancements, the best news is the price: Samsung's starting these out at $799, not cheap enough to start a revolution, but at least edging the UMPC away from its current luxury status.

Let's face it: even the folks over at sites like UMPC Buzz and Only UMPC would have to admit that the much-vaunted Origami platform from Microsoft, Intel, and friends hasn't exactly taken the world by storm, and although the second round of these devices promises to offer a host of improvements (see: Q1 Ultra), there are still a number of problems that have yet to be addressed. Sure, future tech like flexible displays and 10-hour fuel cells would be great, but what could manufacturers be doing right now to make UMPCs a more attractive buy? That's the question we're posing to you, dear readers, and we'll get you started with the following suggestions:

• Higher resolution displays across the board (with smartphones already going VGA, we shouldn't be settling for no 800 x 600 here)
• Better input methods (forget styli and on-screen keyboards: we want tactile thumboards (not split, either!) and / or voice / gesture recognition)
• As usual, bring the prices down!

Alrighty, we've got ourselves a release window for the Q1 Ultra; Samsung's busting this thing out in May, which means we have about a month to figure out if we're willing to sacrifice the slickness of the onscreen keyboard foisted upon us by 1st generation UMPCs with the actual convenience of being able to type. While that added width might look a tad frumpy, what's clear is that the specs and connectivity here are enough to melt the hardest of hearts -- for instance, that 1024 x 600 LED backlit LCD isn't going to hurt anyone's feelings. As it so happens, May will mark the one year anniversary of the Q1, oh how time flies when you're stuck in unproductive tablet / handheld limbo.

Samsung's Q1 Ultra UMPC barely has any fingerprints on it yet, but the company's already talking about possibly adding another Q1 to the mix, letting out word of its potential plans during the brouhaha at CeBIT. According to InfoWorld, the new Q1 wouldn't be an upgrade to the Q1 Ultra, but rather a cheaper version designed to appeal to more users. Of course, the company's not saying much more than that, only that one possible way to reduce costs would be to use a different processor, including one from a supplier other than Intel. What's more, Samsung also reportedly mentioned that it's planning on equipping "some" Q1 Ultra units with its new hybrid disk drive, which boasts some NAND flash memory to back up the traditional hard disk, resulting in faster boot times and lower power consumption. Unfortunately, there's not many specifics on that either, with Samsung exec H.S. Kim only going so far as to say that they're planning on adding the drive "some day in the near future."

After bringing you the exclusive details on Samsung's Q1 Ultra UMPC, we got the chance today to get down and dirty with Samsung's second generation UMPC here at the big CeBIT show. Now, let us tell you something right up front: it's here, UMPC v2 is finally here. The Q1 Ultra brings a smaller form factor, lighter weight, integrated thumb-board, HSDPA data, 60GB disk, WiFi, Bluetooth, and Vista Home Premium running on a 7-inch ,1,024 x 600 WSVGA screen. Hell, it will even pack WiBro data when introduced into the S.Korean market in a few months. As to the processor? Surprise, we received confirmation that the 800MHz Intel processor is an unannounced dual-core (not Core Duo) ultra-low voltage processor that Intel will be announcing in the next few months -- so that's 800MHz on each core. The Origami Experience made finger-tip control of media on the Q1 Ultra a slippery-smooth experience while the keyboard provided plenty of tactile squishiness -- a luxury our sausage thumbed brethren will have to pass on since the keys are very (very) close together. Click on through the gallery below for plenty of steamy hot pics of ultra portable goodness. Damn, did we really just say that about a UMPC?

At risk of life and limb, we got up close and personal with Samsung's second generation UMPC: the Q2 Q1 Ultra. What did we find? Nothing, the Q1 Ultra, Ultra Mobile PC (so nice, they named it twice?) is exactly what we heard. Still, in what may be a first, this UMPC actually looks better in person than it does in the collateral. We couldn't actually get hands-on with the unit. For that we'll have to wait until tomorrow. We're dying to know about the chipset powering the Vista Home Premium pre-load. In the mean time, check the pics and official specs in the gallery below.

Update: We've spotted some detailed specs here. Oddly, the Q1 Ultra runs an 800MHz processor, compared to the Q1P's 1GHz. Prices are at $1,300 to $2,000 "depending on the processor," so we'll keep an eye out for other options.

Update: Check out the press shots we added to this gallery.