| StoreTags: UMPC, Cell Phones, HTC, WM6
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People who enjoyed reading this: GenM
The handtop waters have been comprehensively muddied these last few weeks, with various writers touting the new Apple ?Phone (has anyone got an idea of what they might call it if they loose that case?) as a UMPC device, and then HTC announcing their much awaited "UMPC" cell phone, the Athena, resplendent with VGA and a tacky removable keyboard on a WM6 platform. link
Save me from this type of progress!
Living in South Africa has its downsides, not least of which is the huge amount of trouble and expense that one has to go to in order to get ones hands on a "real" handtop, so I have tried various phone and PDA based solutions over the years before opting for the OQO Model 1+.
While I am fond of my current iMate K-JAM cell phone, it is not IMHO a handtop. The screen resolution is too low, the thumb keyboard is too cramped even as a thumb keyboard, the processor is too slow, and WM5, well, it has been discussed elsewhere.
Just because a device contains a CPU, runs an OS's of sorts and has a built in screen does not make it a handtop, far less a UMPC, which is spec'd as requiring a full Windows desktop OS.
Add to that that Apple has "Appled" their cell phone, with a proprietary OS and parts that are not user changeable like battery etc, and that the HTC looks clunky, cheap and tacky, and probably just plain ugly, and I am not sure that I want to go down the road that we might all be forced onto if this trend continues.
These devices might be the next great thing in cell phone convergent technology, but they miss the point altogether regarding the need of some people for a true desktop alternative that still runs desktop programs.
If this is indeed the bright future we can look forward to, then I am going to pass on it!
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02/01/07
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GenM
Not sure I'd call it "Progress" - more like "Marketeers Gone Wild!" - but I agree with your points.
02/02/07
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GreatDane
Hi GenM,
Good name, very good name! And a good point.
It's like calling a motorbike with a bubble canopy a car.
A week ago I was praising HTC as one of two companies that might be in the position to produce the first mass market UMPC device. Looks like I talked too soon.
Here is hoping that Microsoft sticks to their guns on this one, and does not permit the watering down of the official UMPC specification to include WM5/WM6 devices.
02/05/07
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MeanSquare
Agreed all. I've been through the "Pocket-sized PC," "Handheld PC," and "Pocket PC." They at least kept to a clear definition of what the terms meant. Microsoft already established a definition with UMPC and they need to make sure vendors stick to it.
There are reasons why people select the UMPC/Handtop platform, most having to do with being able to run a full desktop OS and desktop applications. If you take that away, then you start having to ask which type of UMPC it is in order to get what you want. The tech-savvy among us already do that (We already differentiate between UMPCs that are 640x400, UMPCs that run Vista, etc.), but your average user will be confused and annoyed and that won't help the UMPC platform (true or otherwise).
02/05/07
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GreatDane
Hi MeanSquare,
In addition to the good points you raise, the other real danger in permitting non-UMPC devices to be called such is the dilution of the concept.
I recall clearly the high build quality (although it was as ugly as sin) of the original IBM PC. Back in the day when they were the only game in town, it took undoing about 20 screws just to get the cover off. Inside, everything was screwed down, shielded, held in place with brackets etc. The machine was built like a tank with a lot of attention to detail, and the quality was what one had come to expect from IBM.
Fast forward several years to the Clone wars, with Taiwanese components dominating the scene, and the quality on the inside of the average PC was awful. Cheap components, cheaper cases, and all held together with a few mass produced screws that did not even fit properly. The quality machines could not compete, as for three times the price you only got a maximum of 20% better performance, if that. Exit quality machines.
The drop in quality was not just about build cost. Manufacturers were cutting costs left right and center by skimping on components. With no hard standard in place, manufacturers could get away with producing just about what they pleased, and calling it a PC. This literally forced the handful of manufacturers who wished to produce high quality, high performance machines to follow suit or get out of the business.
Today we see the return of some high quality products from specialized vendors, and the buying public has a little more savvy, so the really poor quality stuff is kept for the most part to the low end of the market, but the damage has been done.
The handtop/UMPC market is a specialized market at present, with relatively high prices per unit (based on specification) and a small, for the most part discerning group of buyers. In order for the prices to come down, without sacrificing quality along the way, it is necessary to achieve economies of scale, much as has been done in the cell phone market.
The problem is that, if the UMPC standard is diluted, the current manufacturers will find their specialized, high performance machines in competition with WM6 based units from the mass manufacturers. They will not be able to compete, and as happened with PC's in the 80's, quality will go out the window. Except in this case, the only quality that can go is the level of quality components in the system. Exit the UMPC/handtop, to be replaced by a "smart phone".
And as I see it, the biggest factor contributing to this is the unbelievable ignorance and arrogance of our self appointed guardians of the "truth", who are already happily comparing the Apple ?Phone with the Samsung Q1, and declaring the ?Phone the winner based on interface and price!
02/06/07
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GreatDane
Yet more bad news on this front, via Engadget.
A Chinese manufacturer, Beijing Peace East Technology Development, has just announced its 7" H9 Linux based "UMPC" with a 520 MHz Intel PXA270 at its heart.
link
02/08/07
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starkruzr
The proprietary OS is great. It's the fact that you can't USE it that sucks.
03/09/07
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primaz
I agree, the problem is that these products are designed from computer geeks and do not represent what most normal users want. They forget the key which is functionality. Functionality is still for most people a touch type keyboard. We want it small but only small enough where it still has a true usable touch type keyboard. The Imate is nice it would have been better if it was longer so there was a real keyboard. I HATE, and would NEVER buy anything with thumb input period. I want a basic computer that has a touch type keyboard and I want it small enough to fit into a standard jacket pocket. Is that so hard?
edited: Mar 12 2007
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GreatDane
primaz said: "I HATE, and would NEVER buy anything with thumb input period. I want a basic computer that has a touch type keyboard and I want it small enough to fit into a standard jacket pocket. Is that so hard?"
Hi primaz,
Without throwing any fuel onto an already brightly burning fire, I believe it really is. I spent several years trying to design one, without much more success than anyone else on the market. I know that various options have been touted as the solution, but in the years of reading reviews etc, one thing has become apparent: The smallest unit ever produced to date that is generally accepted (Please note: "generally accepted", I know some will disagree) as having a successful touch type keyboard is the Fujitsu P1510D (or 1610), and there have been a great number of complaints that even that keyboard is too small.
The one bright glimmer of light at the end of this particular tunnel is the Samsung SPH-P9000, although the other specs on this unit as stands at present leave me stone cold. But it is an endearing idea for those who want the touch typing experience in a handtop size unit. With a Core Solo or VIA CPU, more RAM and a decent sized HDD, this could be a winner in the "touch type Handtop race".
For all those who do not wish to wait and see if the Samsung ever actually comes out, and if it does, with decent specs, the Flipstart is an alternative. That said, one or two comments so far have led me to speculate that the Flipstart may not be any better a touch typing experience than the OQO Model 2 (although probably better than the Sony UX). It is a really difficult problem to solve in a pocket sized unit. The problem is not with the technology, it lies with the size of the human hand, the extent that the human finger can bend, and the average thickness of the human finger. I have a feeling that everyone is right here, and also that there is no easy solution.
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