jkOnTheRun

Microsoft launches Origami Experience 2.0

One of the highlights of last year's CES was the introduction of the Origami Experience software for UMPCs; it was exciting to be among the first to see what the Microsoft team put together. We're getting a sequel this year and after beta testing early versions for the past few months, I think folks will be happy with the update that the Origami Project team has put together. I suspect we'll get a look at the final version later today at the Tablet PC / UMPC meetup, but that's just a guess at this point. So what's new in OE the second?

• Origami Central is the main launch-point to provide quick access with the touch of a finger to apps and services. In my opinion, the UI is more fluid and intuitive.
• Origami Now is my favorite section because you can personalize to display information that's relevent to you: e-mail, RSS feeds, calendar events, etc... I almost think of this function as custom set of touch gadgets in a Windows Sidebar type of approach.
• Origami Picture Password secures your UMPC with fun puzzle.
• Touch settings, which we're all familiar with from OE the first.

More official details to follow; again, I'm hoping we'll get a hands-on of the final version later this afternoon. Meanwhile, if you have questions about the software, drop 'em in the comments. We'll answer them if we can and we'll hit up the Origami Project team later today for the rest!

Did the slate UMPC die and nobody notice?

On a recent episode the two MobileTechRounders (Kevin Tofel and Matt Miller) and I had an unplanned discussion about the dearth of slate UMPCs being produced currently and that discussion touched a nerve with some bloggers (Warner Crocker) involved in the mobile tech scene.  That's understandable as the death of the slate is not something that those of us who cover them want to hear but that doesn't change the way things are.  I felt I shouldn't leave the discussion as I did on the MoTR podcast but that I should get into the reasons why I stated that the slate is dead.  It's worthy of a good discussion for those who follow the UMPC world.

Reader question: how will Vista run on a Q1 with a 1GB upgrade?

Rich's note gets the nod today. He's asking a general question that I'm sure quite a few folks might be interested in: "I use a Toshiba M400 Tablet at the moment and I am thinking of getting a Samsunq Q1. I wanted to ask...If I upgrade it to 1GB of RAM will it run Vista well? I intend to use it as a media player, and use outlook 2007 for email. I will not want it to replace my Tablet and won’t do anything too taxing with it."

That's a great UMPC scenario as it becomes a companion device to another computer, in this case an M400.

Reader question: Q1P purchase, Vista or XP Tablet?

Russ dropped us note and asked us to help with his Q1P purchase decision. Since you can currently purchase the Q1P with XP Tablet Edition 2005 or with Vista, he's wondering which he should get. His specific question here might shed some light:

"I am looking to really utilize the handwriting features for meeting notes, etc...  I was wondering how well the handwriting works in vista versus XP tablet edition and i was curious as to which version you would purchase in regards to vista or tablet edition? Are there any major differences in operating capabilites, handwriting recognition, etc... that would make you lean one way or another? I really liked the vista origami experience but could live without if the handwriting in a tablet form was not as good in vista."

Origami Experience cameo in PC World

Congrats to the Origami team at Microsoft: the new Origami Experience software for Vista-based UMPCs got a nice shout out in the May 2007 PC World issue! Regular readers are already familiar with the OE since we've given it a writeup and a video review. For non-Origami crowd, the short breakout piece hits the high points of the software in terms that mainstream consumers can easily understand and appreciate. We need to see more of these in my opinion: showing the everyday consumer the benefits of a handheld tablet is something that's sorely lacking in mainstream media. Look for the breakout at the bottom of the PC Word page and be sure to click the picture for a full size image and explanation. Heck, you can even subscribe to the digital edition of the mag and read it on your Origami device. ;)

eGalax HID driver works on XP, sorta (updated)

Just a quick, preliminary update since I had a few minutes to try the HID driver on XP (thanks again, Frank!). I removed the Touchkit software from my Q1P as well as the touchscreen driver. A manual install of the new drivers yields better looking ink, but no TIP. I was chatting with James just as I was doing this and he made a good point: the XP Tablet Edition 2005 OS was really geared towards devices with active digitizers, not passive / touchscreens. Looks like floattip.exe isn't going away quite yet, but at least the ink sampling looks better. Above are two notes from OneNote: the top one was written last week. I re-wrote the same line underneath the original with the new HID driver installed and the ink is not as jagged. More to follow, I'm sure, but for now: folks with XP can use this for a neater looking ink experience.

UPDATE: this is now working properly in XP for me, complete with the floating TIP. I ran the Tablet PC calibration tool through the Control Panel originally. Instead, you need to create a shortcut to c:\windows\system32\tabcal.exe and run it as Administrator. Frank's directions allude to that but his shortcut didn't work for me originally; once I created my own, I got the TIP. Outstanding! 

HID drivers for the Samsung Q1

Nearly a year after the first Samsung Q1 UMPC were shipped, it looks like light at the end of the HID tunnel. Ctitanic (aka: Frank) has relentlessly taken every avenue possible to get HID or Human Interface Device drivers for the Q1-series and that determination appears to have paid off. Today, he's got a post with a driver download that enables the Q1 touchscreen to be recognized as a true Tablet PC input, not as a mouse. I suspected that Frank was working with eGalax, the touchscreen manufacturer simply because Microsoft isn't responsible for the Q1 hardware and Samsung appears to have set their sights on the Q1 Ultra. Frank indicates that the new driver works with Vista on the Q1 but may work on XP as well. I'll give that a try later today and report back in a separate post; it would be great to get rid of Floattip.exe even though it has served me well. Well done Frank and eGalax!

Samsung Q1 Ultra: preliminary pricing and availability

Over at UMPC Portal, Steve's been on the hunt for pricing and availability details around the Samsung Q1 Ultra UMPC. After some digging around with a reseller that helped greatly in the 'investigation', it appears that the new UMPC will see the light of day next month in Europe. The German-based reseller that Steve communicated with indicates a price of 1,199 Euros. If we did a straight conversion to U.S. dollars that comes out to a tad over $1,600, but it's too early to say if that's the price we'll see here.

Assuming no conversion, meaning the price in the U.S. would be around $1,200, one would expect to see a drop in the current Q1 series, which ranges from roughly $800 to $1200 right now, depending on model and retailer. Good sleuthing Steve!

Intel 915: the Glass isn't half full, it's completely empty

Josh Bancroft gave a heads up on Twitter last night, but I didn't have time to dig deeper until now; sorry, nothing interferes with '24' on Monday nights. Josh has an under-four minute video with Chuck DeSylva from Intel and Chuck explains why the Intel 915 graphics chipset isn't capable of working with a WDDM driver, i.e.: why UMPCs and notebooks with this chipset can't (and won't ever) run the Aero Glass features of Vista.

I don't think folks are as upset about the lack of Aero Glass as they are about losing functions like Windows DVD Maker and such. While I don't use that function on a UMPC, I can certainly understand the frustration. Bear in mind the timing of the UMPC platform: conceptually, it was started while the coding and feature-set of Vista was still in flux. Additionally, the UMPC was always meant to be a companion device and while some of us push the envelope to make it a primary device, the intent was as a secondary device. Disappointing to be sure, but it's nearly impossible to make a device all things to all people. Anyway, there's plenty of good commentary and thoughts around the blogosphere after the jump.

Samsung Q1P with Vista at Best Buy: $1199

A few short months ago, I bought Samantha, my Samsung Q1P, for $1,299. She came with XP Tablet Edition 2005 pre-loaded but today, her Vista siblings can be had for $100 less. An eagle-eyed reader tipped us last night that Best Buy shows the Q1P with Vista for $1,199 right now. I just verified on-line and the site shows that they're in stock. I'm not sure how this compares with the other 'usual suspects', i.e. Fry's, CDW and such, but that's not a bad deal. Thanks for the tip, Mitchell!

Given the recent announcements of the Q1P Ultra and HTC Shift, is there still interest in the Q1P with Vista? Bear in mind, we don't yet have firm prices on either of these units.

Lost the right click on a Q1? Get it back

What's the first thing you usually do with a new device? I do what many others do: I start looking at all the cool settings to see what I can tweak! That's what a new Q1P owner from the UK did as well, and is often the case, a setting got hosed:

"I've been messing around with my new toy, and I'm pretty sure tap and hold worked as right click earlier today, and now it has gone. No idea what I have done. The tablet settings in the control panel suggest it should be turned on."

If the Tablet PC settings are right, then what could be preventing the right click function on the Samsung Q1?

US 700 & US 701 UMPCs on video

If you focused on the Samsung Q1 Ultra news at CeBIT, you might have missed the US 70x UMPCs that are due out late this year or early next year. If these devices got by you, now's your chance to peep 'em thanks to JKK's video of both units. One is a pure slate design that's all screen. Folks that want a convertible Tablet / UMPC will likely drool over the sibling device; it looks like a very thin screen attached to a small keyboard. In the video, you can see the person using the keyboard more like a thumb-board, so it's likely smallish (or he has 'Andre the Giant' hands) but usable for touch-typing. Well worth watching the five minute hands on, but not too much new in terms of specs. These look to be running a Celeron M at 1.0 or 1.06 GHz, which is about the only technical difference I could find during my quick browse.

Why we won't see Vista HID drivers for the original Q1 series

I've been following the UMPC community with great interest as they try every trick in the book to get Vista drivers for the XP Tablet Edition based Samsung Q1s. I don't begrudge anyone the right to run whatever operating system they want on their device; heck, regular readers know I've spent hours, days even, trying to get Vista up and running on my Q1. I've gone as far as I can go without officially supported Vista drivers and that's good enough for now.

Today I see that folks tried the HID drivers from the Q1P for Vista on older Q1s but to no avail. I'm going to make a bold statement and in reality, I hope I'm wrong. Really, I want Samsung to prove me wrong on the following: I suspect we won't see HID drivers for the original Q1s. There's a few reasons on my guess, and it's just a guess....

Asus R2H and Vista drivers: not quite perfect

Over at Gotta Be Mobile, Warner's been arm-wrestling with trying to get the new Vista drivers up and running on his Asus R2H. I'd liken his approach to my 'brute force' method on the Q1 last year, but he's got the benefit of drivers from Asus. In part one of his Vista excursion, he covers the list of drivers which is good, but there's little documentation from Asus that provides insight as to what is what. Truth-be-told, Samsung could improve in this area as well.

Part two covers some utilities that Warner hasn't installed just yet, but at this point, he should have a fully functional Vistagami device. Unfortunately, there's a few remaining issues; two of which are similar to what I've seen on the Q1 as they both revolve around the display: screen resolution switching and a timeout on the digitizer. Perhaps there's a registry key for the Asus similar to the Q1 that will help?

More Q1 Ultra news: hybrid drives and lower-cost models

If this morning's Samsung Q1 Ultra news roundup didn't whet your Origami whistle, check out these bits from Infoworld as there's some additional info on the Ultra and sales numbers on the original Q1 series. First up: Infoworld mentions a May release for the Q1 Ultra, which confirms what others have heard. Next on the docket: Samsung indicates they've sold 100,000 units of the original device; I've seen numbers batted around before, but I'd consider this one legit. Lastly, there's two nice tidbits to wrap up: Samsung plans for hybrid hard drives in the Q1 (not sure when) and is also considering a second, lower cost version called the "Samsung Q1 Nearly-Ultra". OK, I made up the name, but the second version is for real ;)

Roundup: Samsung Q1 Ultra news

I'm a bit behind due to a heavy workload and a not very local viewing last night; always hate to see a friend lose a parent. Now that I'm up'n'atem with a cup of WaWa in hand, I see there's a multitude of pics, specs, thoughts and more on the Samsung Q1 Ultra. I figure my first official act of the day, after the coffee-making of course, is to provide a roundup on all things "Q1 Ultra", so here you go! Oh, and be sure to hug a parent today if you can....

Steve confirms with pics: Samsung Q1 Ultra

Thank goodness for Twitter! It's so "instant" that I didn't have to wait for my RSS feeds to show that Steve has pics of the Samsung Q1 Ultra! He didn't get too many as the CeBIT Cecurity team ushered him on, but there's enough to call it a successful mission!

Looks like the Q1 Ultra isn't as flat as the original Q1 series; the sides seem to flare towards the user a little, which should make for a nice holding and thumb-board angle. I like the fingerprint reader and the appearance of what looks to be a left and right mouse button as well. Zooming in on the spec sheet under the unit also confirms HSDPA and Wibro. Nice job Steve; any word on price?

Samsung 'Q2' looks to be the 'Q1 Ultra'

UMPC News found an image on Samsung's Taiwanese site that indicates the "Q2" might really be introduced as the "Q1 Ultra" at CeBIT. The image on Samsung's site looks identical the new Samsung UMPC that will sport a higher resolution screen (1024 x 600 native), a dual-camera solution, the addition of integrated 3G wireless and the split thumb-board.

We'll have to wait and see in a another two days or so; my educated guess would be that this unit will cost in the $1599 to $1999 range. I'm solely basing that on the price of a Q1P, which is around $1299 right now and adding in premiums for the additional components and functionality. I have no direct knowledge on the product or price specifics.

UMPC Power Management: Origami Project

Over at The Origami Project team blog, Ross provides some useful insights to UMPC battery management; the approach is really geared towards Vista machines, but you can certainly apply the concepts to UMPCs running Window XP Tablet Edition 2005. Ross also created a Vista Sidebar gadget to help you get a better read on your battery life; you can download that right here.

Some personal modifications to Ross's great thoughts: I routinely keep my screen backlight to the lowest setting that I can use. I also take advantage of different power settings between an AC profile and a battery situation. If I know I'm not going to use my Bluetooth keyboard for any length of time, I'll actually disable the Bluetooth radio in Device Manager. I set my power button to put my device in Standby and I use it often. What tips would you add?

Fix the on-screen menus: Samsung Q1 UMPC series

We got a note from jkOTR reader, Richard, about an issue with his Samsung Q1P and as I try to often do: I'm sharing the general issue and resolution here so that other folks might benefit. Richard lost the screen resolution switcher on his Q1; in fact, the on-screen display for it doesn't even appear.

Samsung's technical support recommended a reinstall of the operating system, but in my opinion, that won't do much for this issue or any other issues with Samsung on-screen utilities. Rather than focus on this specific issue, let's quickly give an overview of the Samsung apps needed to address most on-screen display issues.

Medion's UMPC looks delayed

That's what Steve over at Carrypad found out after an e-mail conversation with the UMPC product manager. Obviously, Steve carries more weight than I do as I shot a note to the PM at Medion upon my return from CES; no answer yet unfortunately! Regardless of the delay (and we're not sure how much of a delay there is), the Medion has the best integrated keyboard solution for a UMPC in my opinion; and I'm not an integrated keyboard kinda guy. Make no mistake: you won't be touch typing on it but for the folks that need an integrated keyboard, you'll want to see this product when it finally debuts.

BIOS updates with Vista support for UMPCs appearing

Two interesting BIOS updates have recently appeared for Origami specified UMPCs. One for the Samsung Q1 and one for the Asus R2H:

• Rory left a comment on our last post indicating that a UK Samsung site has a Q1 BIOS upgrade designated 20MA.
• Ctitanic gets a double-shoutout today for finding the Asus R2H upgrade of BIOS version 206.

I'm holding off on the Q1 BIOS ugprade simply because there's no information on what BIOS upgrade actually does and I tend not to mess with BIOS in a case like that. Additionally, I like a dual-boot option on my Q1 (XP and Vista) and I don't know the impact of the BIOS changes. Let's keep our eyes and ears open for the brave souls that try it; although I expect we'll need more drivers and apps to follow for full support.

Frank restores the Office 2007 ink button without HID drivers

The lack of HID drivers on the Samsung Q1 series of UMPC has plagued us for a while; early Vista builds had few issues, but the final release is a little more...shall we say....stringent on the Tablet PC functional requirements. Like many others, I miss the ability to ink my e-mails in Outlook 2007, for example.

A little elbow grease combined with solid technical knowledge provides a short term solution: Ctitanic tricks his Office 2007 installation into allowing the Ink Tool button. He has the registry key information right here for you, but be warned: the key is reset upon reboot. I'll personally wait for the long term solution: a set of HID drivers from Samsung. Perhaps upon the release of the Samsung Q1P with Vista pre-installed?

Samsung Q1P with Vista shipping soon?

The wait for a Samsung UMPC with Vista pre-installed continues, but perhaps we're in the home stretch. jkOTR reader Hector shot me a note over the weekend with a clipping from CDW's site: the online retailer offers a Samsung Q1P with Vista for $1,299. The availability shows as 10 days out as of today, so cross your fingers and keep your eyes peeled. I hit the Samsung Q1 product page daily just hoping for some product or driver updates, but they still have the specs mixed up between the Q1B and Q1P! ;) Thanks Hector!

Samsung Q1 vs. Q1P: battery test

It's been a few weeks since my initial Q1P battery life test (shown); that's the one that got folks buzzing about an LED backlit screen in the Q1P. Is the screen LED backlit? I still don't truly know even though I've had bunches of conversation with folks and even took my Q1P apart. I'll spare you the gory pics because they looked identical to those when Sammy was in the buff last year.

LED backlighting or not, I'm getting more runtime from the Q1P as well as a 40% brighter screen. I've shot a note to Samsung's PR folks inquiring about this, but two weeks have gone by with nary a response. Samsung's Customer Service was up to the challenge, but PR is falling well short of my expectations. In any case, I ran a scenario past Steve Paine over at Carrypad and then executed it.

JKK's video: Joost on an Asus R2H UMPC

Noticed in the Origami Project Software Forum that JKK posted a video of Joost running on his UMPC. In case you missed it prior: Joost is an online video streaming service once known as "The Venice Project"; it's the brainchild of those P2P folks behind Skype. Currently in beta, JKK must have received an invite and I'm glad he did!

His video shows that Joost works quite well; it's difficult to gage the resolution quality on a video like this, but it looked reasonable from my perspective. The floating menu options that Joost uses as interface cries for the touchscreen, making this look like a real winner for UMPCs. I've always been impressed by using a Slingbox with my UMPC, but Joost is looking pretty nice, pending the content availability of course. Nice job JKK; I especially like the BSG theme to your opening credits!

Get the Origami Experience for Vista!

OK, the Microsoft Origami Project team has hit the giant-sized "publish" button in Redmond and.....we're waiting for the download to propogate through the servers. Maybe everyone is downloading Vista? Oh, I don't know but you've been waiting for what we showed you and it will be here soon.

Here's the link that was published; if it's not working for you yet, catch a 30-minute sitcom or watch our Origami video three times and try again! :)

Samsung Q1 screen resolution on Vista: trial and error has worked

Although some would call me 'relentless', I'd prefer 'passionate'. Just this morning I was lamenting the lack of Vista drivers and my missing screen resolution switching on the Q1P within Vista. Well, it obviously doesn't take much to get me going: a few comments by jkOTR readers indicating that they have the res switcher working was all it took. (Thanks rolajos and Patrick for the inspiration!)

I've got a string of pictures to show that it is indeed working, but BOY was it convoluted to make it so (or maybe it was just me!). In fact, it was so much trial and error that I'll likely have to re-install Vista from scratch to get the exact steps down. Then again, if someone wants to save me a few hours and share their method, that's fine with me!

I can say this much: I've typically installed the latest and greatest graphics drivers right after my Vista installs on the Q1-series. Today I did bring the drivers back about two versions by installing the software provided on the Samsung Q1 download site. Bringing them back up to the latest Intel driver appears to have done the trick, but there was quite a bit of pushing and prodding with the VGA controller software as well. So while you might not have the complete 1024 x 600 picture just yet, keep your dreams alive Vista fans. There might be light at the end of the tunnel here. Now, where are those darn HID drivers from Samsung that would complete my day?

The day before Vista: still no updates for some UMPCs

Although some UMPCs were never branded as "Vista capable", many of us have tried to get Vista fully up and running on our own. I had success with the beta versions, but after RC2, I lost the ability to use the screen resolution switcher on the Samsung Q1 and Q1P. ctitanic notes today that folks are still waiting and hoping.

I've received at least a dozen reader e-mails in the past week along the same lines. Folks asking if I know when we'll see Vista drivers from Samsung (I don't), people wondering how to get the screen resolution working (I don't know), readers wondering what the steps are to get Vista running, etc...all good questions.

My hope is that sometime this week to coincide with the Vista launch, I can re-write the basic steps for a Vista install on the Samsung Q1 series of devices; bear in mind that I started to do this previously, but the lack of screen resolution gave me pause. Intel has recently updated the graphics drivers for the 910/915 chipset, but alas: I just tried those and see no difference; instructions or not, I'm still without this functionality. It's worth noting that Vista isn't even mentioned on the updated driver page nor in the release notes.

While it's a shame that we may never see Vista and HID drivers for the Samsung Q1, we do have to realize that the device was never advertised as "Vista capable". Should it be and is it capable? I absolutely think so and we've seen various videos and posts where people are running Vista. In fact, every Samsung Q1-series unit I saw at CES was running Vista. Time will tell if that was all a show for the show or if Samsung will provide the real deal. I'm hoping we get the software support that so many folks are clamoring for: it would do nothing but good for the UMPC platform as a whole.

UPDATE: some trial and error effort got the screen resolution switcher working in Vista after this post.

Medion UMPC pre-order info

That Medion UMPC I got my hands on at CES is available for pre-order; not sure if this is old news or not, but I noticed the heads up over in the Origami Project forum. As you can see from the product page, the unit is "out of stock", although I'm thinking they were never IN stock as of yet; last I heard the product was launching around the same time as the Vista launch next week.

Looks to be $999 for a Via C7-M running at 1.0 GHz with 768 MB of RAM. I'd make an educated guess that this has 256MB of RAM on board and can take a 1 GB RAM module, similar to the Asus R2H. The unit looks to run Vista Home Premium which includes the Tablet PC functionality, so with the right HID drivers, this should have full, native Tablet functionality.

My initial thoughts: at this price, I'd hoped for the 1.5GHz Via processor (or an upgrade option; perhaps we'll see that). The unit also has a 30 GB drive, which I consider the bare minimum. While my first impressions of the keyboard were nice, it's really going to be a thumb-board as you have to hold the unit to use it. If you use the integrated stand to set it down, you won't be touch typing on it due to the size. Don't get me wrong; it's a nice UMPC, but I would like to see Medion squeeze a little more out of the specs at this price. I do like the SD card reader, integrated camera and docking potential, however. Thoughts on the price and specs?

200 vs 280 nits: a picture of the difference

Sharing the battery tests on the Q1P earlier today led to quite the revelation: Samantha appears to have an LED backlight. Weren't we just discussing that technology yesterday? It's already made an impact on my mobile device because the Q1P looks to get at least an hour more of runtime over the original Q1. So, aside from the potential power savings: how does the screen look?

Above are both devices with the Brightness setting on each set to the minimum. Sammy with the standard backlight is on the left and looking kinda dim. Samantha is on the right, and if we're correct, is providing vibrant color and brightness using LED backlighting. I stepped through some brightness settings and have a trail of pictures to illustrate the difference.

BatteryEater results on the Q1P

Yesterday, I got a request from Jose over at palmInsider; Jose asked if I could run a battery test on Samantha so he could compare the results on his Celeron-based Samsung Q1. I did one better because I ran BatteryEater on Sammy way back in August and the minimum battery time was 1:44:45 or roughly 105 minutes.

The above graph is from running Battery Eater on Samantha last night. I tried to replicate the test as best as possible with the same settings and remember, Samantha has a 50% larger hard drive running at the same speed and the same 1 GB of RAM that Sammy has, but she runs the Intel Pentium M at 1.0 GHz. The Pentium supports speed-stepping, while the Celeron does not. The results speak for themselves: Samantha will get a minimum runtime of 2:38:24 or roughly 158 minutes on the same battery. One other note: the Q1P offers a 40% brighter screen over the Q1: 280 nits vs. 200. I find that I can set the brightness to the lowest level and it still seems brighter than on the prior model. Hope this helps, Jose!

Use that Q1 'joystick' to move the cursor

I know I just mentioned that I like the design and feature-set of the Samsung Q1, but if I had to pick the Achilles Heel, it would be the analog mushroom-like joystick. You can use it to jump the cursor around if you hold a hardware button down, but it moves in increments of pixels, so I never use it. It's been utterly useless for me, but that might be changing.

Over in the Origami Project forums, Ticonderoga has developed a re-mapping application that remaps the arrow keys to the mushroom and provides a left mouse-click via the Enter hardware button. I haven't had a chance to try this on Samantha yet, but thought some other enterprising Q1 users might want to give it a shot! Check back in if you do, and I'll do the same when time permits.

Hugo joins the 'UMPC as a primary computer' club!

Finally, I feel vindicated! Hugo Ortega pinged me a short while ago and wondered what I thought of his most recent video series he just put together. Hugo has ditched his standard-sized Tablet PC and chose the Samsung Q1 as his primary, everyday computing device; he's used his Q1 in this scenario for roughly four weeks. Folks thought I was near crazy to ditch my Toshiba M205 back in May of last year in favor a Q1 UMPC for everyday computing, but I survived....well....except for the recent incident that put Sammy in a coma and brought Samantha into my life.

Hugo does an awesome job in three short videos explaining what I've tried to show over the past eight months or so: depending on your computing needs, you can work quite effectively with a mobile handheld device! The Samsung Organizer Pack and USB keyboard are Hugo's preferred accessories; for me, the ThinkOutside Sierra Bluetooth keyboard works just fine. I also use a phone for my wireless Internet connection, but unlike Hugo who chooses a 115 kbps Bluetooth connection, I tend to work better using a USB cable where I can attain a throughput of around 1 Mbps.

Regardless of choices and accessories, these three videos that Hugo did illustrate the mobile power far better than any words I can write. Now that I've finally seen the videos, I say "Well done Hugo and welcome to the full-time UMPC club!" Hey, we just doubled our membership! ;)

Sammy, meet Samantha. First on-line UMPC date?

I have to ask: is it wrong to hug the DHL courier when they deliver a new UMPC? Ah...maybe it is, but she didn't seem to mind; besides, it's bitter cold here today and she looked like she needed the extra warmth.

Yes, DHL delivered the Pentium-based Samsung Q1 today and after much thought, her specs are sexier then Sammy's, hence I give you: Samantha! While I could have purchased a completely different UMPC, I have a fondness for the thin and ergo Q1 design. It also has a satisfying feature-set for what I need. Adding a Pentium M processor and increasing the hard drive and memory by 50% and 100% respectively just made it an appealing package for the way I work.

I've got too much on my plate to get her configured to my liking this very second, but rest assured, she'll get the special Vista treatment real soon. Once I do that I'll check in with a little surprise as I take Samantha to a brave new world known only as "O.E.". :)

Just blew my MacBook fund on a Samsung Q1P

Regular readers know how much I adore my Samsung Q1, aka: Sammy. 12 hours prior to my CES trip, Sammy took a jolt from an external battery and has been in a coma ever since. I've done a bedside watch for some time and I'm not ready to pull the plug just yet. In fact, when I remove Sammy's battery but plug him in to AC Power, something interesting happens. He still won't power up, but when I activate the Hold switch, it does produce the standard Amber LED flashing light to indicate the Hold status. That tells me that he's getting some power: a good sign. I'm thinking that perhaps the battery itself was blown out, so I'll take this opportunity to order a 6-cell extended battery before sending him in for service.

I also decided to do a minor upgrade, so I've just ordered a Samsung Q1P model; not the unit with the SSD flash drive that Samsung announced at CES, but the current Q1P with the faster processor, additional hard drive capacity and 1 GB of RAM. My thought is that once Sammy is fixed via new battery or service, I'll offer him as a used broken-in unit via eBay to make back some of the Q1P purchase price. I certainly don't expect to get what I paid for the unit ($1,099), but I'd be happy to offset the $1,299 I just spent on the Q1P. Of course, when I get the new unit, I'll be looking for differences and performance increases in order to document them here. Anyone mind if transfer the name "Sammy" to the new Q1P?

Medion UMPC: best integrated keyboard yet

James is in the air returning home and I think 90% of the show is too. Hopefully, they're not all on the same plane. Since I've got the day to myself, I meandered around a much quieter show floor and found the 1.5 pound Medion MD RIM 1000 UMPC in the wild. The device has a smaller footprint than most of the current UMPC models, partly because the screen is a slightly smaller 6.5-inches in lieu of the standard 7.

The screen slides smoothly, revealing something that I wouldn't want in my UMPC. At least that's what I thought. The keyboard is the most standard looking and feeling keyboard over anything I've seen yet, and we've seen 'em all here. The keys have a nice feel and travel; just like a standard keyboard, only much smaller of course. You'll be using your thumbs, but I have to say after using the device for about 10 minutes: you can quickly get used to the approach and start tapping out text faster than you'd think.

Navigation was also painless with both the directional pad and the small mouse touchpad at the bottom right of the device. Once again, the Origami Experience running on the Via-based machine was zippy and enjoyable.

The Medion should hit market by end of month, coinciding nicely with the Vista launch; I couldn't get many more details, but if Medion comes in at or under a grand in price, they'll likely sell a bunch of these. More pics after the jump.

The Microsoft Origami team really does listen!

It's clear by the new Origami Experience that the Microsoft team does listen to user feedback. We were floored when we got the above picture from Sears Young on the team; we just saw the new interface and sure enough he was listening to MobileTechRoundup on it! These guys have put a ton of effort in the new UI for Vista and I can't reiterate it enough: this might be the killer app on a UMPC running Vista. As much as I enjoyed the Bill Gates keynote and all of the great Vista features they demonstrated, I wish the Origami team got to demo this app at the keynote. It's as innovative as any other keynote highlights!

Origami Experience: we got a demo and it rocks!

This is going to sound odd, but I have to repeat something James said earlier tonight: "The best software I've seen at CES is the new Origami Experience app". I completely agree after Dustin and Sears from the Microsoft Origami team gave us the low-down at the Tablet PC / UMPC meetup.

Sears has the official write-up complete with screenshots to give you the visuals, so check them out here.Once I get my Q1 fixed (long story), I'll try to get a video demo up for you. While you're downloading the pics and info, let me share my basic thoughts:

1. I watched the application run on a Samsung Q1 upgraded to 1 GB of RAM and it was by far the speediest and most responsive app I've seen yet. Bear in mind this was running on Vista, which is required.
2. Dustin nailed it when he said the team tried to keep the "level" of the app very horizontal. What I mean by that is: you don't need to tap, tap, tap to drill down to the functions or info you want. For example, when looking at your digital music, every option you could want appears on the same screen, which reduces the navigation effort.
3. The slideshow options are stellar. There are numerous transitions and all are visually appealing. I could easily see many of you turn your UMPC into a true part-time digital picture frame.
4. Adding programs via customization options to the Program Launcher is a snap. It couldn't possibly easier or more user friendly.
5. Everything is geared for a quick finger tap; all of the buttons are well sized and easy to use.
6. The shortcuts to the Windows Mobility Center applet, the Windows Switcher function and the Wireless network status are very handy.

There's much more here, so until my Q1 is repaired and I can demo the Origami Experience for you, check out the great write up and pics provided by Sears. In the meantime, I'm going to struggle trying to find an area of opportunity for the new Origami Experience. So far, the Origami team has knocked my socks off with the demo I saw; I just might have to give up and say "we've got a winner here!" It's obvious that the team has listened to user feedback and matured the new Origami Experience far beyond the original Touch Pack.

Microsoft, Marketing and UMPCs: James Kendrick for InformationWeek

What's this? InformationWeek is talking about how Microsoft botched the marketing for UMPCs? Great...another MSM-type article of someone who probably doesn't even use a UMPC. Who wrote this thing?!? Oops....the byline says "James Kendrick"!

Ah, I knew it along and was just playin' ya. James provides his thoughts to InformationWeek's broad IT audience; many of which may not even have heard the term "UMPC" yet, so this is great news! Oh, and the article itself is a winner too. Give it a read to get "Mr. Kendrick's" thoughts on how the devices could be better marketed, can be more effective than other options out there and who should consider a UMPC. Great...now I have to call "Mr. Kendrick" going forward...sheesh!

True Launch Bar: good in 2004, great for UMPCs in '06 and beyond

It was almost two years ago today that James featured a review of True Launch Bar. Back in 2004 James named it a "best utility" here at jkOTR. So is it still around and if so, would it be a "best utility" in 2006? Thanks to the small screened UMPCs and other handhelds, I'd say yes it is based on the Flash-based video demo alone. You can also get a quick peek at the functions by clicking the above pic, which is an animated .GIF.

True Launch Bar could be described as your Taskbar on steroids. You can customize the icons, create virtual folders, add useful plugins and more. One of the challenges we small-screen device owners face daily is the amount of usable real-estate on the screen. Simple tasks like finding and executing a program can be a struggle, which is the reason every Origami-based UMPC device comes with the Microsoft Touch Pack software. I think that's a great first step, but I personally never use it to launch programs simply because it's a standalone program. I want easy access my programs natively on my desktop environment and it sure looks to me like True Launch Bar will do just that.

I'll be downloading the demo, which you can find right here. If you like True Launch Bar, you can purchase a license for $19.90. I also see that the developers have a beta version for Windows Vista, so it would appear to me that TLB has a future. If you have a UMPC, or any other Tablet PC for that matter, it might be worth a look.

Asus R2H added to Windows Vista Upgrade Express site

Evan42 over at the Origami Project forums reported that the Asus R2H is now appearing on the Microsoft Vista and Office Upgrade Redemption site. I took a quick look and verified that the UMPC model is now appearing; great news! Unfortunately, I couldn't find any other UMPCs at this time, but it's possible that other OEM's are handling their upgrades directly. If you've got an Asus R2H that's eligible for a free Windows Vista upgrade, here's the link.

UMPC owner creates own on-screen keyboard

Maybe that open-source community isn't the only group that likes to share. Take Origami Project forum member Ticonderoga, for example. After purchasing a Samsung Q1 touchscreen UMPC, Ticonderoga decided to build a custom on-screen keyboard and made both the executable and source code available for free!

The end result might not look as polished as Dial Keys, InScribe or other on-screen keyboard apps, but you've got nothing to lose! I like the dedicated number row at the top of the screen; you get a little more real-estate in the middle and at the bottom of the screen. Nice job Ticonderoga!

Samsung Q1P finally has a product page

The Pentium-based Samsung Q1, known as the Q1P, has finally appeared on the Samsung Q1 product page. This more powerful model of the original Q1 UMPC has previously appeared at retailer sites, so there isn't much news here. CDW has carried the unit for some time for around $1,250: you'll get the faster processor (1 GHz) along with a Gigabyte of RAM and a 60 GB hard drive, all increases over the original Q1. Interestingly enough, Samsung's product page indicates that the 3-cell battery will provide up to 5 hours of battery life; the Celeron-based Q1 is rated at 3 hours and while the Pentium can "speed-step" the processor to save battery life, I'm leery on the claim, but if someone has a Q1P and can share their typical battery usage, please set me straight. Also, we heard in September that the Q1P would have an option for embedded HSDPA, but there's no mention of that on the official product page.

Thanks to jkOTR reader Tom for the heads up!

Ask Sam: you could win a Samsung Q1 UMPC

Samsung has put the holiday marketing in to high gear with this marketing site specific to the Samsung Q1 UMPC. The approach is appealing: you can question "Sam", played by a huge, fluffy dog wearing a Q1 around his neck. Sam will then tell you about the Samsung Q1 UMPC based on your question, provide specs, etc...all in all, a fun interactive approach including some funny videos. The shot above is from one where an airplane traveler struggles to use his bulky notebook in the cramped seats and has to pass up on the free coffee. Sam shows him what he's missing by not using an ultra-mobile PC.

If a cute canine doesn't do it for you, Samsung ups the ante by giving away two Q1 UMPCs each week for the next three weeks! I also noticed that Samsung is throwing in their USB keyboard with a travel case when you order a Q1. Special thanks to Chris for the heads up!

Vista RTM vs. Vista RC2 on the Samsung Q1

If you've been waiting for a full instruction set on getting Vista running on the Samsung Q1, I haven't forgotten. No, I've been working diligently on the process and have the documented steps and screen caps in a Microsoft Word document for you. "So where is it?" Glad you asked because I've actually gone through the process three times!

Here's the holdup: there's actually one important function that worked perfectly in the Vista RC2 beta build that I just can't get working with the final Vista release: the screen resolution switching application. Try as I might, I've been close, but just haven't gotten it right and it's the only feature that I don't have working. The closest I've come is to have it switch the screen resolution in a panning mode, not in a mode that fits the 7-inch touchscreen. I'll likely give it one last go and may even install the RC2 build again as I recall three specific Intel driver files that required Admin access; I believe I've found two of them in the final build of Vista, the third one escapes my mind!

In the end, I think I'll put Windows XP Tablet Edition back on Sammy and use my one copy of Vista on my current Windows Media Center desktop simply because I can get more functionality out of the operating system on that workhorse. Thanks again for your comments and suggestions on where to put Vista! Now, back to Sammy for another re-image and rebuild....

Fujitsu concept folding ultra-portable video leaked

Fujitsu is definitely pushing the limits for ultra-portable PC designs, case in point the Fujitsu P1610, a device I think is the best implementation to date of a touch-screen Tablet PC.  T3 has posted a link to a YouTube video where Fujitsu is demonstrating (briefly, alas) a concept ultra-portable that unfolds in three attached pieces to form a small PC with full size keyboard and thin screen.  Talk about origami!  Take a look at this device that T3 claims Fujitsu is currently working on to produce a real product.  Would you buy one?

Thanks to reader Paul Phillips for the heads up!