A loyal GottaBeMobile.com reader, Lars Goldenbogen from Munich, Germany, has shared this comparative review of several popular Core Duo tablet PC's as published by CT Magazine of Germany. It is published in German and will be a great resource for our large and growing German readership. Included in the review are the Asus R1F, the Fujitsu T4215, HP tc4400, Lenovo X60, and the Toshiba M400 and M7. Thanks to Lars for the tip! In addition to the comparitave chart sent in by Lars, check out this other article in CT Magazine article on Tablet PCs.

From Lars:

Hi Gottabemobile Team.

I am a constant reader of your blog here in Germany. Nice work, thanks very much.

I thought you might be interested in a comparison test between convertible tablets that is in the current issue of CT magazine (No. 4 2007), a very well reputed German computer magazine. They did a lot of interesting testing, unfortunately all in German.

They don’t make rankings, but they liked the HP TC4400 best, mostly for overall good quality and design and good price. Lenovo X60 was best at display and batteryspan, but at much higher price. They also liked the Fujitsu Siemens 4215 which came in “3^rd” mostly because of the annoying grainy display.

On the Toshiba M400 they criticized the noise (a big issue in Germany), short battery span and bad ergonomics. Asus R1F and Toshiba M7 were criticized for smaller viewing angles, short battery span and on the Toshiba also noise.

Ouch.

Both GBM’s own Rob Bushway and Judie at Gear Diary have published interviews with DualCor cPC CEO Rob Howe asking questions about the delay(s) and false starts of this intriguing device. Through the CEO speak you can ascertain that there is still no solid info to relate, and of course that raises a few eyebrows. This morning Mobile Tech Maven James Kendrick came out with a blog post awarding DualCor the dubious distinction of Vaporware of the Year. Given that jk was one of the first, if not the first, to break news about this device, his thoughts carry some significant weight here. Wonder if we will hear more from DualCor in response.

Ouch.

The DualCor cPC has certainly been a subject of much talk. Word of the device it like gangbusters last January (or was it December?) and the dual processor device intrigued quite a few mobile warriors. Who wouldn’t be interested in a device that could run both XP and Windows Mobile? But the DualCor cPC has also been the subject of delays, rumors, and just some bad PR handling. The last big rumor was that version one was being canned and DualCor was moving on to version two. Judie at Gear Diary recently interviewed DualCor CEO Rob Howe to get the straight dope and has published the resulting email. Here’s an excerpt:

Gear Diary: Does this mean that version one might just end up being impractical to make, meaning that it would have to be realistically skipped over for a version two? Or does it simply mean that the components of version one would need to be reworked?

Howe:  A little of both.  Obviously we won’t release a product with a major part that is or is soon going obsolete.  We’re evaluating several options.

I’m not sure we get solid answers. But the interview is worth a read about this device that may or may not ever be.

In the past several days, I've received a couple of inquiries regarding DualCor and the status of the DualCor cPC. Yesterday, I left a message with Rob Howe, DualCor's President and COO and he called me this morning to talk about where DualCor is right now, the status of the cPC, and a peek into what their next generation products might look like.

GBM: As of late, DualCor has been having telephone issues, which has led some to think that you guys have folded up. What is going on there?

Rob Howe: DualCor is alive and well, and still in Scotts Valley, California. We have been busy at work with the cPC. We have been having some phone system issues due to Voice over IP problems, but we are working on getting them fixed. Please continue to call us at (831) 430-9001 and visit us on the web at www.dualcor.com

GBM: What is the latest on the cPC?

Rob Howe: We have been shipping engineering samples of the cPC, what we like to call version 0.9,  for the past several months and have been receiving excellent feedback and suggestions.

GBM: When will the cPC ship?

Rob Howe: Because of the changes in the market place, technological advances, and customer feedback on version1, we have not decided on a launch date for Version 1.0.  We are currently working furiously on the engineering for the cPC version 2.0 , which we are looking at shipping in the spring 2007 time frame.

GBM: What can we expect to see in version 2 of the cPC?

Rob Howe: Version 2 will have a single board solution instead of the two board solution that version 1 uses. It will be thinner, more elegant, sleeker, and will most likely have an integrated keyboard. Customer feedback and market research has indicated the need to integrate a keyboard.

I've asked Rob Howe to place GottaBeMobile.com on his list for engineering samples of version 1 and version 2, and he'll be keeping us up to date on how DualCor is progressing with version 2.

Judie at the Gadgeteer.com, has been waiting anxiously for the DualCor CPC and has purchased an engineering sample of the CPC. Judie is the first person I’m aware of that has actually been able to purchase one.

She has just posted some of the unboxing pictures and promises more insights on using the CPC as well. DualCor included a nice Rhinoskin case in the package, but for some reason decided not to apply that same reasoning when designing the stylus. I couldn’t imagine writing with that thing.

I’m looking forward to seeing how she likes it and how she ends up using it.

via JkOnTheRun.com

I’m not sure what is more intriguing, the DualCor cPC as a mobile device itself, or its long and winding journey to customers’ hands. No question this is one of the more interesting sounding devices I’ve heard about in awhile, with its dual operating systems. But we’ve heard some interesting back and forth on some key decisions and Judie at The Gadgeteer, has a post that continues to both shed new light and also muddy the waters. When news first broke about the DualCor cPC it was followed later with word that the focus was going to be on enterprise and government customers (which makes some sense given that hefty price tag) but now it seems there will be a consumer target as well. No problems there with that dual focus for the DualCor.

Secondly, we’ve heard that for flexibility reasons there would not be any included radio solutions (EVDO, WiFi, Bluetooth, etc…) embedded in the device. The rationale for this was that based on marketing data  a conclusion was reached that the Enterprise customers wanted flexibility and not to be tied to any one carrier. Now, as The Gadgeteer reports, there will be WiFi and Bluetooth embedded in future shipping versions that once again are 90–120 days off.

Again, nothing wrong with that news, but it sure has, and continues to be, an intriguing journey to follow DualCor’s back and forth on some of these key decisions.Who knows what we’ll see (and when we’ll see it) when the DualCor cPC finally ships?

Hat tip to jkonTheRun

David Ciccone just posted on his blog that he has resigned from DualCor Technologies. Dave joined DualCor in January as their Director of Strategic Alliances. Dave will be joining a new company outside the Ultra Portable arena.

DualCor is working on a dual PDA Phone and full XP Origami device. They have had several management change overs in the past couple of months, so it will be interesting to see what is in the works and if anything changes with the DualCor device.

The MobileTech Rounderuupers, James Kendrick, Kevin Tofel, and Dave Ciccone, held a meetup for their MobileTech Roundup podcast fans in NYC last night. I was at one point hoping to attend, but real life does intrude on these things, so I have been looking forward to enjoying the after-action reports.

And by the looks of things it looks like there were gadgets and geeks galore. Dave Ciccone has posted a series of photos  and a video of the experience on Mobility Today. I’m betting the entire evening was a blast as these uber geeks showed off their gadget array. I’m sure we’ll here more about this in the days ahead.

I’ve been talking with Dave Ciccone, Director of Strategic Alliances at DualCor, and I’ve learned some more information about the upcoming DualCor cPC that we’ve all been hearing about lately.

• First of all, the DualCor MSRP will be $1999 and they will be selling the cPC via authorized resellers nationally within 90 days. That means it will be available to us all and not just enterprises – good move. There will also be special Government and Educational pricing.
• It will support both portrait and landscape modes, and support up to 2048 x 1536 when connected to an external monitor via the VGA port. They have only tested it up to 1600 x 1200, though.
• When asked about why there are no radios embedded in the cPC, Dave said that their market research indicated that users wanted choice – some want EDGE, others want EVDO. Dave wanted to reiterate that the cPC is built for flexability and allows the end-user: “Choice”.  I’d look for GSM / GPRS /EDGE / EVDO USB solutions to be available through carriers very soon, thus the cPC reliance upon these peripheral solutions for connectivity. They have to know that these things are about 90 days from being released. No word on who those carrier partners are.  I’m assuming at least a couple have to be national carriers: Verizon, Cingular, etc.
• When you buy the cPC, it will come with an 802.11G Compact Flash card. For phone support, you’ll need to purchase either a CF (GSM / GPRS) or USB ( GSM / GPRS / EDGE / EVDO) peripheral. CF or USB peripherals will be available through carrier partners that DualCor has certified. Seeing how DualCor and cPC is built around “Choice” and flexability, I would think non-partner peripherals would work, but we’ll have to wait and see.
• Can we talk on the cPC and be on WI-FI at the same time? Yes – using the Compact Flash card for 802.11 and the USB phone peripheral.
• Support for syncing with the Macintosh (iCal, etc) is in the works and will be available later.
• Syncronization between the Mobile side of the cPC and the XP side of the cPC is handled through proprietary software and ActiveSync.
• There are no PC card slots on the cPC  because the cPC is too small and they typically require too much power.
• Now, here is some interesting info regarding the harddrive on the Tablet OS side and Windows Mobile. First of all, remember that Windows Mobile resides on ROM – it boots instantly. The Tablet side of the cPC resides on the harddrive – slow boot. According to Dave, they are adding a feature that accesses the hard drive from Windows Mobile without booting or bringing the Tablet side out of hibernate. That means you will be able to access the harddrive via Windows Mobile without bringing the Tablet out of hibernate. Very cool – instant access to that 30gb harddrive!

If you guys want to know anything else, post a comment and I’ll look through my notes. If I don’t see it there, I’ll shoot an email to Dave.

As I posted this past weekend, DualCor connectivity options ( bluetooth, wi-fi, and 3g) are all through Compact Flash and USB dongles. There is nothing built in to the device.

Like JK, this really disappoints me and probably makes the DualCor cPC a no-go for me personally. I have a no worries solution with my treo 700w and I don’t want to start remembering to bring my CF cards and USB dongles. Not to mention, Verizon does not support EV-DO compact flash cards.

What does this mean for usability? Unless you get a USB EV-DO solution and CF wi-fi card, how can you use the thing as a phone and be on the wi-fi at the same time? There will be a lot of missed calls while you are actually doing work during the day. Can you picure yourself using this thing with a USB dongle hanging out one end, CF card plugged and it attached to your ear? Talk about geeky and clunky. Plus, there will be a lot of Compact Flash card shuffling as there is only one CF card slot

Come on DualCor, don’t release a crippled device. For it to be more usable, at least give us a couple more Compact Flash slots and built-in Bluetooth support. To be honest, I expected the device to have all of the connectivity options built-in, so I am none the less disappointed to learn otherwise.

I just got an email from DualCor notifying me that the DualCor cPC UltraMobile PC will be shipping in the next 90 days. As you might know, the DualCor cPC will run Windows Mobile 5.0 and Windows XP Tablet PC edition simulataneously, but use Compact Flash cards to alternate between connectivity between phone and wireless.

No word on pricing yet.

DualCor continues to update their website and as a follow-on to the post I made last week about them adding “Origami UI control” as an optional add-on, they have now added a page that says “ DualCor cPC is a UMPC “. The chart below is from their UMPC page where they compare the standard UMPC to the DualCor cPC – UMPC. The official marketing of DualCor as a UMPC has now begun and the photo of the UMPC with the Touch Pack solidifies that. Where is that pricing and ordering info? – Please read update below.

I don’t know if this is new or not, but they have added some interesting usage scenario narratives usage scenario narratives, called “A Day in the life”

UPDATE: I started reading through the Day In The Life and they paint a really good picture of how the cPC could function. What really stands out, though, is that the 3G connectivity and the wi-fi connectivity is through Compact Flash cards.  I think the Bluetooth is through Compact Flash as well, but I read some scenarios where someone was using the USB dongle.

Ok…Is it just me, or is fact that the 3g and wi-fi are sharing 1 Compact Flash slot going to create some usability issues? Like – I can’t use it as a phone when I’m connected to the network? According to the specs below, there are 3 USB ports and only 1 Compact Flash slot. If that is the case, then the ability for this to be a multi-functional unit is really handicapped by that 1 compact flash slot.

Now, if bluetooth support is through Compact Flash as well, then you can’t use a bluetooth keyboard and be on the web at the same time, or take calls?

If DualCor is holding to these specs, I’m going to seriously recommend that they had at least one more compact flash slot.

I was just checking out the DualCor website and noticed that they have provided some really good details on the DualCor cPC, with complete specs. Once of the things I noticed in the specs is that it says “Origami UI option”. The other interesting thing is that the cPC appears to be running the Via 1.5 ghz processor on the Tablet side of the device.

Time to start calling the cPC an Ultra Mobile PC / Origami? I think so…It has everything the eo and other Origami’s have, plus it has built-in phone connectivity.

When can I order one?

DualCor  has published a Press Release announcing LEAP: Leadership Early  Adopter Program. The release doesn't contain any info on how to apply, so I assume a place to start would be their contact page.

DualCor Technologies, Inc., a leading provider of strategic enterprise mobility solutions, today announced its DualCor Leadership Early Adopter Program (LEAP). The DualCor LEAP provides companies an opportunity to review and test the DualCor cPC in their enterprise as well as influence DualCor future product development activities.

DualCor's signature product, the DualCor cPC, is the world's first ultra portable personal computer to simultaneously run full-function Microsoft Windows XP Tablet PC Edition 2005 and Windows Mobile 5.0 operating systems. The DualCor cPC is the only all-in-one, wireless handtop computer that combines the power of a desktop PC, the instant-on convenience of a PDA and the always-connected functionality of a cell phone.

"DualCor LEAP allows companies a first opportunity to experience the instant-on connectivity, undiluted functionality and uncompromised computing power and battery life that only the cPC can provide," said Steve Hanley, president and chief executive officer, DualCor Technologies. "By implementing this program, partners are able to develop the correct strategy for cPC deployment across their enterprise. More than 30 charter members representing the medical, retail, transportation and government sectors have already joined and we're excited by the overwhelmingly positive response."

DualCor LEAP members have committed to purchase units of the DualCor cPC handtop and advise DualCor senior management on future product development activities. Based on the purchase of a minimum quantity of units, DualCor LEAP partners will receive cPC technology upgrades to ensure their enterprise is equipped for maximum impact and reliability. In addition, LEAP members are ensured product fulfillment priority based on their long-term deployment forecast.