Handtops, UMPC - 5" Samsung UMPC Tomorrow!

Its the Samsung SPH-P9000.

Slash Gear had a load of pics. I guess tere will be quiate a few posts about it in the next 24 hours.

I'm not too sure about it myself. You certainly win't be able to thumb the keyboard.

Steve.

12/14/06 + diJenerate

Steve,

Saw your blog and if those are the specs Samsung hopes to push in 2008 for that price, then it means the rumours about them getting into antiques are true.
There is no way that I would buy a 'Non-touch screen, HSDPA, Wifi-free OQO model 01", which needs it's own table-top each time you want to type a password, for more than USD250.00 (yes 1/4 what they are asking) in 2008. It would need to be classified as an antique with value doubling every year in order to be worth it.

diJenerate

Recent Blog: Raon Digital Gets Serious w/First 64-bit Dual Core Handtop

12/15/06 + GreatDane

Most disappointed, and with a bit of egg on my face as well - sorry to all!

diJenerate, I have to agree that the specs as stand do not look like a winner, and most decidedly not for that price. It is basically a re-packaged OQO 1+.

Recent Blog: Performance Capped

12/15/06 + GreatDane

A bit more info here - it looks like the original specs were speculative!
link

Recent Blog: Performance Capped

12/15/06 + diJenerate

@GreatDane,

According to Gizmondo
"What we don't know:
* Processor speed or type (no one from Samsung confirmed the rumored 1GHz Transmeta CPU)
* Hard drive size or specs (no one from Samsung would confirm earlier reports of a 30GB hard drive)
* Whether it supports external memory
* Whether it actually works"

However, here is the official word from Samsung. As Steve/Chippy et al pointed out, these are indeed the specs.

I'm holding out for a Model 02, and if OQO's specs aren't satisfactory, I'll take the next incremental upgrade on the UX, ie: 64GB SSD, 2~3MPixel Camera and 1.5~2GB DDR2.

diJenerate

Recent Blog: Raon Digital Gets Serious w/First 64-bit Dual Core Handtop

12/15/06 + GreatDane

diJenerate,

Confusion all round. I have no idea why the guy's at Gizmondo claim that they can not confirm the spec's, although all the sites I could find with the original specs are dated on or around the 7th November. I suppose that hope is a factor here! The Samsung SPH-P9000 as shown on the Samsung site is likely to be one of the biggest disappointments in this class of computers if they stick to the current spec list.

Recent Blog: Performance Capped

12/18/06 + GreatDane

For those interested, the following are links of the launch:
link
link

Recent Blog: Performance Capped

12/18/06 + GreatDane

One has to wonder about the fuss that is being made over this device! If the specs published for it are final, then it's specifications are technically identical to those of the OQO Model 1+, excluding WiMax and a camera, and possibly with less RAM. While the keyboard is novel, I doubt the claimed 7 hour battery life, and the performance would seem to be on a par with that of the OQO. A good number of people are saying that the OQO is in dire need of an upgrade, and that the price of the new model should be substantially under $2000. Samsung is looking to a worldwide release of this beast "some time next year", at a price "under $2000". Someone correct me if I am wrong, but I would rather hang onto my OQO 1+, at least it will fit into my shirt pocket, and with the E220 modem, it has HSDPA capability. That, and I can hold it and type on the thumb keyboard, which I doubt the Samsung design will permit.

This would seem like just another failed UMPC design, with too little for too much, and the suckers out there are already lining up to buy it! It would seem that there is one born every day!

Recent Blog: Performance Capped

12/18/06 + primaz

I am very curious as to the final specs and if it can be purchased in the US. There is a huge need for a portable computer (that means it must fit in a jacket pocket) with a touch type keyboard. This device is far better than the OQO as that device has no keyboard and I do not care what others say as I have tried devices with external keyboards; it just does not work well and is more bulky than it is worth. The lack of a keyboard is why I would never buy an OQO or any of the other UMPC's. If I can get a basic computer with touch type keyboard that will fit in a jacket pocket it would be worth $1000 to $2000 depending on features. The keyboard is a must and at least Samsung is the first to realize that nobody wants a thumb device!

Recent Blog: New Handheld Sharp has just released the D4 -UMPC handheld!

12/18/06 + GreatDane

Hi Primaz,

An interesting take, although I have to differ on your statement that the OQO has "no keyboard". I have had a good deal of success with the built in keyboard on the OQO, it may well not be perfect, but it is usable, and with a bit of practice, quite friendly. I am typing this on my OQO's thumb keyboard to prove that point. As I have said elsewhere, I would not want to write a book on it, but it is quite adequate for its purposes.

Again, every user brings with them their own personal requirements, part of mine is a device that will fit into a standard sized shirt pocket, and has a keyboard that I can work on if I need to. A handtop is never going to be my primary machine, but the machine I always carry with me. As such I rather like the thumb keyboard on the OQO as it can be used while holding the device.

My problem with the Samsung, and its current specs has less to do with the novel keyboard, and far more to do with the fact that it is using a CPU that has been attacked as old and underpowered even by some of those who currently own and use an OQO. The Samsung's specifications are practically no better than the current OQO Model 1+, and will be decidedly dated by the time it is released anywhere outside Korea. And yet the price is being punted as just under $2000. I expected better from Samsung.

As to using an external keyboard, that is exactly what I do when I am required to enter large quantities of text on the OQO. I would imagine that using an external keyboard it is no more disadvantageous than using the fold out keyboard as demonstrated on the Samsung. In order to touch type with it, you would have to place it on a surface, in the same way you would an external keyboard. At least with an external keyboard, I can keep it in another pocket. With this folding keyboard design, the Samsung looks to be at least twice as thick as the OQO, and that is a definite drawback for some of us.

I respect the fact that other users have needs different to mine, in fact I embrace this. It is all good for the development of a diverse collection of handtop machines.I have no intrinsic problem with the keyboard concept on the Samsung, if one is looking for a handtop that one can touch type on, although I suspect that even the keyboard on the Samsung might be too small for this. It is none the less an interesting and novel approach. My problem with the Samsung is everything else EXCEPT the keyboard.

It is my hope that, in the time between now and when this device comes to market, Samsung has the good sense to upgrade the CPU, RAM and HDD. otherwise, in my opinion, one might as well get a much less expensive OQO Model 1+ and an external keyboard.

Thanks for sharing your opinion, it is an interesting point of view, and as with all these things, only time will tell.

Recent Blog: Performance Capped

12/19/06 + snowviper

I wonder, the 2008 Release , will it mean that they release it when US get their WinBro/Max ?
Because if you see it from logic stand point, a divice like that withouth network/ internet conections is a useless one.
It would make sense if they release it when Win bro is online.

12/19/06 + GreatDane

Snowviper,

Although I do not live in the US, I think you may have a very good point there. Otherwise (keyboard excepted if you like it) the Samsung seems a bit pointless. It is almost like a device that has been designed by several comities, non of them speaking to any of the others.

The OQO had a great excuse for using the Transmeta CPU, it was quite good when the original Model 1 was designed, and Vista was nowhere on the horizon. But with the effective demise of Transmeta, at least in the CPU market, and the release of Vista, one has to wonder at the choice. More so the rumored 256 MB RAM and the 30 GB HDD.

If this is just a super cell phone setup, then the Transmeta Crusoe CPU is to powerful, with heat and short battery life a problem. If it is a UMPC, then it makes no sense at all in the time frame. This looks like a device with an identity crisis.

Recent Blog: Performance Capped

12/19/06 + primaz

GreatDane,
I understand your points and they seem valid; it would seem a bit strange to not have the best processing power for such a unique design? Hopefully Samsung will listen to the comments of real people and increase the guts of their new computer when it is finally released in the US? I am a business man that just wants a basic computer that has everday software with a touch type keyboard and I want the devicve to fit in my pocket.

To me that is an easy thing as we have all the technology right now with no new gizmo needed. Look at the old Psion mx5 it was 3.5 x 7.5 x .75 inches in rough size so it fits in any jacket pocket, the keyboard expanded when opended and I could type 90% of my desktop speed on their keyboard. The only issue was they were crazy to go against MS with their proprietary OS, they should have stuck to just hardware. If a computer company would just copy the good design aspects of devices like the Psion 5mx and make it run a MS OS with whatever internal processor and ram etc. that folks in the know like GreatDane and others would approve of, they would have a huge winner! There has never been a pocket size laptop yet the technology is there to make it.

Recent Blog: New Handheld Sharp has just released the D4 -UMPC handheld!

12/20/06 + GreatDane

Primaz,

Thanks for the kind words. I take your point again, and it is interesting.

I am excluding the current batch of UMPC's from the following comments for a single reason: I believe that the UMPC paradigm is different from the uPC and mini-laptop concepts, and without attached keyboards, it is not relevant to discuss them.

As I see it, we have at present two distinct categories of handtops available: The laptop like Fujitsu P1610D / Toshiba Libretto U100 class on the one side, and the uPC class machines like the OQO and Sony UX on the other. For the most part, this is a classification based on size. It would seem to me that you and a number of others are looking for something that fits in between the two classes as regards size, but is functionally closer to the first class as far as design is concerned.

If my calculations are correct, the old Psion mx5 would have measured 89 mm x 191 mm x 20 mm. This makes it a bit large for a shirt pocket, but it would fit into a suit pocket just fine. By contrast, the smallest of the laptop style handtop, the Toshiba Libretto U100, measures 210 mm x 165 mm x 34 mm, substantially larger, and it does not fit into a pocket.

It would indeed be possible to fit the components used in say the Sony UX into something the size of the old Psion mx5. It would be an interesting machine, and in my humble opinion would put the proposed new Samsung to shame.

The long narrow shape would make your "new Psion" seem less bulky than some other designs with the same displacement, and consequently easier to carry. However, at 191 mm wide, it is way too wide to hold in both hands and thumb type on. One would either have to set the keyboard up for one handed typing, while holding the device in the other (tiring, I have tried it with various similar sized objects over the years), or always have to find somewhere to rest the device while typing. I still see this as a problem for some users, unless the devices was a convertible tablet.

But I grant you one thing, it would probably be a far better machine than the proposed Samsung design, and I for one would look at it.

Recent Blog: Performance Capped

12/20/06 + primaz

Greatdane,

I do agree with you! I still am encouraged with the Samsung sph p-9000 eventhough I do agree with much of the negative comments such as not the ideal processing power, no touch screen, but it might be the only device that I could upgrade to in the near term.

Take a look at this article which I wrote with Barry Gerber link
It is an article on exactly that "A Modern Psion" This article recieved the most views and the largest amount of user comments which share our same dream of what a ideal mobile computer should be that would fill that gap between laptop and pda.

Recent Blog: New Handheld Sharp has just released the D4 -UMPC handheld!

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