Intel’s Ultra Mobile PC on track for Q1 release
Intel’s Ultra Mobile PC on track for Q1 release
Not every mobile computing device has to fit in your pocket. Intel is hoping that users will fall in love with some new tiny PCs based on a new Intel platform. And they are so anxious to get them into your greedy little hands that they expect to get products out this quarter. This is at least an amazing six months earlier than previous estimates.
We’re so used to vaporware and devices which never show up on the market that it’s more than a little surprising to hear of a schedule for a whole new class of devices to be moved up like this. But we welcome it with open arms. Maybe even with open wallets.
Two new products are designed to advance the ultra-small PC format, which squeezes Windows into devices comparable in size with a handheld PDA.
OQO has updated its namesake handheld to include Tablet PC functionality, while newcomer DualCor Technologies has unveiled an unusual device that runs both Windows XP and Windows Mobile.
The first Ultra Mobile PCs (UMPCs) are now expected quarter from Samsung, Asus and Founder. They will have “ULV Pentium M processors with 90 nm Dothan core as well as a 915GMS chipset.”
The second set of devices gets even better and are expected later this year, with new low-power processors. They “… will include devices from LGE, Acer and Averatec and run Windows Vista.”
OQO has issued the OQO model 01+ Tablet Edition, a PC weighing less than 450g that runs Windows on a 5in display. The device is an update of the original model 01 that launched late in 2004, and adds Tablet PC capability through a touchscreen and the Tablet PC Edition of Windows. The OQO model 01+ Tablet Edition is priced at $2,099 (£1,190) and is available via reseller Expansys.
Looking ahead, DualCor will in March ship its cPC, a handheld device that also has a 5in screen, but comes with two processors. A 1.5GHz VIA processor runs Windows XP Tablet PC Edition, while an Intel XScale chip runs Windows Mobile 5.0 at the same time. This approach combines the application-compatibility of a PC with the always-on communications features of a smartphone in a single device.
According to Paul Otellini’s keynote speech at IDF Fall 2005, UMPCs will integrate a new category of processors that will consume as little as 0.5 watts. Intel executives also mentioned that UMPCs will achieve a continuous operation time of about eight hours. Our sources now tell us that at least the first generation of UMPCs may not include such a new processor, but rather rely on a proven platform, which will consist out of ULV Pentium M processors with 90 nm Dothan core as well as a 915GMS chipset.
These UMPC devices will boast the following (but maybe not all right away):
* One week standby time
* Eight hours continuous operation
* WiFi
* Wireless WAN (maybe EVDO or HSDPA)
* GPS
Intel is also very aggressive in extending the wireless feature set of UMPCs. Wi-Fi capability is a standard feature by now, but Wireless WAN - such as EVDO and HSDPA - as well as integrated GPS capability will be able to draw some attention to those devices.
Intel is also very aggressive in extending the wireless feature set of UMPCs. Wi-Fi capability is a standard feature by now, but Wireless WAN - such as EVDO and HSDPA - as well as integrated GPS capability will be able to draw some attention to those devices.
What we do not know yet is how much UMPCS will cost. However, it has not been a secret that the OQO ultra mobile PC’s price tag of $2000 has been much too high to be able to allow the device to enter the mainstream market. It does not take too much talent to forecast that Intel UMPCs will be available at a significantly lower price.
There is no specific statement that these devices are expected to run standard desktop releases of Windows, or something close to it, but that seems to be what is being intimated.
Price ranges have not been announced, so we don’t have much more to go on that the TG Daily speculation that it should be coming out at a significantly lower price point than the $2000 OQO handheld computers.
Although they are relatively expensive, such ultra-mobile PCs may appeal to staff who need to run full-blown Windows applications while on the move, but who find most laptops too large or cumbersome for their requirements.
In the next few months more details should appear, and we’ll find out if this is for real or just another sneaky way of creating some buzz to test the market.