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New Handheld Sharp has just released the D4 -UMPC handheld!
Author: primaz on April 15 2008 Viewed 11981 times. 3 people liked this blog. You can rate it below if you haven't already.
Finally a UMPC that resembles a true Handtop! While it is not perfect it is to me a usable form factor that will gain a lot of attention and hopefully we will see more such devices reach the US!
It runs full windows Vista, has mini usb, SD slot, while not perfect it does have a normal keyboard, 3.3 inches by 7.4" by 1",weighs about 1 lb, 1.3 ghz atom, 1 gig ram, 40 gig HDD, wifi, bluetooth, 5" screen with 1024x600, gsm capable, has both slider and clamshell ability much like the HTC Shift, and is due out in Japan in June.
Dynamism , link , and Conics.net should be third party resellers to make them available outside of Japan
Handtops.com you might need to add a new category for the D4 after June as they will be on the market not just a prototype with no release date?
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04/15/08
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primaz
here is a nice video from youtube thanks to jkkmobile
ohh and here is another from Akihabaranews.com
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04/15/08
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primaz
link
More great information, pictures and video!
04/16/08
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amobile
This is the perfect handheld for me! I hope that Sharp sells a US version? or if they do not maybe some of the other computer makers will get a clue and provide similar devices. I would have thought that with the touch screen why have the scrollers on each side of the screen? Wouldn't it be better to make the screen 7" and just use a stylus?
edited: Apr 20 2008
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diJenerate
@amobile
The touch sliders/scrollers on the side of the screen are much faster and easier to manipulate at that resolution than trying to find the scroll bar with the stylus. This is even more true when you are walking or in a moving vehicle and trying to read a page.
@primaz three things:
1) Bad news is this is only available on contract from Willcom so unless someone buys it and cancels the contract, I don't expect most importers over here to touch it since they can't guarantee quantity and those who do bring it will constantly be out of stock/backordered.
2) This does not have GSM support. It only works on PHS and that is via W-SIM which encompasses both the Radio and Sim card so changing this to GSM will not likely be possible or if possible not easy or worth the effort.
3) The processor as I mentioned in my posts is the under-performing Centrino Atom which tho' Intel has big plans for this, is weaker than a Celeron in it's current iteration. I expect only to see worthwhile performance after the multi-core versions (Centrino Molecule?) have been released. So Sharp has effectively made a Corvette with a Pinto engine!
diJenerate
04/21/08
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primaz
diJenerate,
I hope they improve the engine as the rest of the UMPC's look like a cross between Gremblin/Pinto and a Model A and I can not see any logical reason to buy a full windows computer that is designed to use your thumbs to type or pen input, not to mention the bulky geek type exterior.
04/26/08
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scoobie
Too early to judge speed I think until we see some reviews.
04/26/08
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scoobie
Wondering why neither Dynamism or Conics are supplying prices or leadtimes. This suggests to me that there are problems getting these out of Japan. It wouldnt surprise me if the first production runs are guaranted for Willcom customers only , given they seem to have co-branded with sharp
04/26/08
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diJenerate
scoobie said: "Wondering why neither Dynamism or Conics are supplying prices or leadtimes. This suggests to me that there are problems getting these out of Japan. It wouldnt surprise me if the first production runs are guaranted for Willcom customers only , given they seem to have co-branded with sharp"
As I mentioned in an earlier post in this blog, these are only available on contract from Willcom. Grey market importers have to get them bought and then cancel the contracts thereby limiting their available quantities.
As far as the performance of the Centrino Atom, we won't have to wait, just look at the actual specs of the CPU in terms of its design and the amount of cache and look at Intel's history in terms of how they market their chips and how they try to achieve price-points/low power consumption then add to that the statement by one of their VPs for Ultramobile that a 1.2GHz Atom will only provide a 10% increase in performance over the A110 (800MHz Stealey) and voila, you have just cause not to waste money on the Centrino Atom (under)powered systems - Corvettes with Pinto engines. Put another way, The AMD Geode LX900 in the Everun is a wiser way to invest your money. For less spent, you can guarantee similar performance and 6~11 hours of battery.
diJenerate
04/29/08
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elsewhere
Hm.....
looks tempting....
but, ACK! 
While this device *seems* like it should/could be awesome,
my excitement is tempered by experiences with Sharp
and the time, energy, love, frustration and everything, I've invested in others of their toys
(Zaurus ! )
a few thoughts, based on past history:
* Sharp will most likely NOT release it in the US.
This means that, whatever featureset you see for the current Asian market
is likely to remain. If Willcom is bundled now, it is quite possible that Sharp has
no plans to offer it separately.
* Support will be minimal if any. I imagine XP (Linux?) would have far better performance than Vista
but finding drivers/etc may not be practical or possible.
* Don't expect a meaningful CPU bump. Sharp likes low-power, "high" performance chips...
and generally tends to stick with what 'works'.
Next revision? Maybe 1.4ghz. Maybe 1.6ghz, but more likely stays at 1.3
HDD? They won't bump that until they completely clear the old stock. Maybe no bump at all.
* USB is just one mini port. Yeah, it works with a dongle, but is (a bit) annoying.
Don't expect it to provide as much power as (e.g.) Sony UX, OQO, or Flipstart.
________________________________________________
On the flipside, (again based on history- I could be way off base)
* Sharp tends to make excellent keyboards. *usable* KBs, regardless of the underlying mechanism.
* Sharp tends to make excellent (again, usable) touch screens that hold registration pretty well.
* Sharp tends to use standard power adaptors - should be plenty of aftermarket power options.
* Replacement batteries are usually.... findable, even a few years down the road.
07/07/08
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primaz
Sharp is releasing the D4 on July 11th in Japan and there are reselles selling the Japanese devices with english Vista outside of Japan. From what I read on Engadget the standard battery is a bit weak at 1.5 hours but they have an extended battery giving 4-5 hours; it does add to the height but still is jacket pocket size at about 1.389" inches versus the 1.01" with standard battery.
Hopefully there will be some reviews on the final version of the product as the early reviews were with prototypes not the final device. While it might not be perfect as what we would want for a UMPC if we had our way, it still appears to be the only UMPC right now that is jacket pocket in size, with a keyboard that is not thumb based and it runs Vista (good or bad?). To me the other UMPC's like OQO are not very practical as they are thumb based and the Sony is too large to be jacket pocket size and Flipstart is a dead product now and still was a thumb based device bulkier than the OQO. It would be great for UMPC hardware companies to improve on this D4 as it could easily be improved with minor enhancements on the type of keyboad buttons, etc. as that same real estate was what much better keyboard designers used for the HP Jornada 720 and the Psion 5mx.
07/09/08
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scoobie
There is a rumour Sony is about to release a new UX too. It would be about time.
See micropctalk forums
07/25/08
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primaz
Here is a link to Jenn @ Pocketables first brief trial of the D4. As was rumored the stock battery is too small and only provides 1.5 hours of use, but thankfully they have a 4.5 to 5 hour battery available. It will be very interesting to read more of the actual hands on reviews to see how this first ever clamshell UMPC operates.
link
07/28/08
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primaz
Here are some pictures of the size comparisons from Pocketables
link
Still waiting more performance reviews....
07/30/08
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primaz
Pocketables just had a 14 minute video on the D4 performance with Vista! Good news it seems to work just fine. She had:
Awakening from sleep
System icons loading and window switching with Aero enabled
Turning off Aero
Launching Firefox 3
Viewing quick snippets of YouTube and Hulu video
Opening 10 tabs in Firefox while streaming internet radio in one of them
Running Firefox 3, Open Office, Adobe Reader, and iTunes simultaneously
Doing everything with CPU Meter (Windows Sidebar) visible
All worked fine! Looks like the only thing for myself personally is waiting for Jenn to get the extended battery and demonstrate the real world results. If the extended battery does what Sharp claims this is one incredible sweet handheld UMPC! My guess is that it should be fine as Sharp was up front with the stock battery being weak. Very impressive UMPC as it is the only one with this form factor of a slider and clamshell yet slim enough to carry in a jacket pocket!
Come on USA learn from the Japanese and start making something mainstream users want to buy! We used to lead technology innovation now it seems like we are the ones way behind with no innovative designs like the D4 and we continue to see weak sales of UMPC's yet not change the form factor, pretty dumb to me.
07/30/08
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primaz
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