Friday, September 29, 2006
Second-Generation UMPCs: Now With Less Suck
Posted by Jason Dunn in "THOUGHT" @ 07:00 PM
"When the UMPC platform was launched at Intel's 2005 IDF we were teased with a $500 or less device on the WWAN running on ultra-low powered chips capable of either 8-hours off battery or putting Vista to sleep for up to a week. Well, we all know how the Vista-less first gen launch went, right? Pictured above are Intel's reference designs for the 2nd generation UMPCs on display at IDF in San Francisco. Scheduled to launch sometime between the end of the year and mid-2007, the new breed of mobile PCs require 1/2 the power at 1/4 the size of the first generation and won't be using Intel's Core 2 Duos according to Intel. Instead, TG Daily speculates that the new devices will use an ultra-low voltage Core Solo with 1 MB of L2 cache."
[photo courtesy of THG]
In terms of consumption of digital media content on a portable device with a decent-sized screen, it's tough to beat the idea of a UMPC. The reality though was much different with the first generation products - the second generation looks like it's significantly more evolved than the first, which is great news. I'll keep my eyes on the second generation of products, because I sure like the concept if the reality can come close to matching.
[photo courtesy of THG]
In terms of consumption of digital media content on a portable device with a decent-sized screen, it's tough to beat the idea of a UMPC. The reality though was much different with the first generation products - the second generation looks like it's significantly more evolved than the first, which is great news. I'll keep my eyes on the second generation of products, because I sure like the concept if the reality can come close to matching.
