Just when you thought you’d seen all the MacBook Air envelope parodies there could ever be, here comes one featuring the Aigo MID.

UMPCFever, where this is from, is even promising a second ending coming soon.

The folks at UMPCFever got there hands on a prototype Aigo MID and have put up some unboxing pics, video, for all to see. They’ve also managed to install Windows XP on the system as well. Looks interesting although the 2 hour battery life seems to be a concern.

Via UMPCPortal

Ben over at UMPC Portal noticed that the Wikipedia entry for UMPCs needs some serious work. So much so that at the top of the page you find the following (click to enlarge the image):

I’ve been bemused by the goings on about the designations for UMPCs and ULCPCs for quite awhile now. In fact, I’m on record as saying we’re soon going to say farewell to the UMPC. It all gets comical again with the recent news that Microsoft is trying to define a set of specifications for the ULCPC class that will not allow the inclusion of a touch screen. 

Ben is right. The graphic on the Wikipedia page does speak volumes and completely lays bare the entire marketing fiasco that this whole thing has become. The bottom line is this. Events, Intel, Apple, and Asus have outrun Microsoft when it comes to defining the ultra-portable market. Create as many acronyms and designations as you want, but no one cares. Microsoft was just too slow in capitalizing on the original UMPC vision and is now trying hard to play catch up with its ULCPC designation.

Microsoft’s latest efforts are coupled with the ongoing saga of determining how long XP will still be around. The fact that, at the moment, XP will be allowed on the ULCPC class longer than on other boxes is a loud, but telling move. Essentially, this means that Microsoft has given up on its vision of lots of ultra-portable devices running Vista. There’s no surprise there. Just confirmation of what most have known for awhile. What can possibly be surmised here though is that Microsoft is either ceding the ground to other players, or is content to wait a few years before attempting a come back in this market with any real effect. Maybe after they have some sort of OS that can work with these devices.

The reason all of this is meaningless is quite simple. Too many other players are too many steps beyond Microsoft when it comes to putting these devices in consumers hands. Consumers who are looking for an ultra-mobile solution aren’t going to waste their time wading through designations and specifications one way or the other. In fact, they won’t have to. OEM’s won’t give them the chance. OEMs, Intel, and VIA have already proven that they aren’t going to wait around and play Microsoft’s game unless they can sell more of their devices with XP on them. But then, if they are to believe Microsoft and its time frames, you’re looking at a limited sales window for these anyway. But in the grand scheme of things even that doesn’t matter because we are probably looking at devices with a price point that makes it easier for consumers to buy the new model every 12 to 18 months or so.

Like I’ve said before, the ultra-mobile vision is going to succeed. Microsoft just won’t be the major player in the game.

Almost on cue, Intel has disclaimed yesterday’s report/rumor from ZDNet.de that there would be an Apple Tablet or MID or larger iPhone running Intel’s Atom chip. Though this was mentioned by an Intel exec, Hannes Schwaderer, he has now layered some nuance on the intial report/leak saying he mentioned the Apple product as an example. The funny thing about Apple rumors is that disclaimers usually cause the rumor to pick up steam. Like I said, here we go again.

Via The Guardian Unlimited

You read that headline right. Apparently the GigaByte M528 MID is now available for pre-order but at a price of $1131 US? I’m confused. Sounds like the folks at GigaByte are too as that price dropped quickly from the original pre-order price they came out with of $1450 US.  Interesting that mate Hugo Ortega’s company Tegatech is offering the pre-order. (Tegatech is an Australian company so the prices listed here are US). So, Hugo give us the inside skinny here. What’s up with that pricing? That’s quite a price premium for being the first out of the chute for a class of devices that supposed to cost, er… um… well… not that much. UMPCPortal thinks the price drop from $1450 to $1131 is a bit more acceptable. From where I’m sitting if MIDs don’t come in under $600 they are dead before they start.

But hang on. Is this a MID or a UMPC? TegaTech lists it as a UMPC. Most of the world has been calling it a MID up until now. Do I sense some confusion reigning? You betcha.

So here are the questions for GBM readers. What’s the price you’re willing to pay for a UMPC these days? What’s the price you’re willing to pay for a MID?

UPDATE: Chippy’s been doing some math and I’m not sure the conversions make sense or they are just wishful thinking, but he’s now estimating that price in US dollars at about $750. I’m guessing this is far from over, but hey, this still has to come down a bit from $750 before I’d think about this.

via UMPCPortal

CarryMobile.com sent me a case for the Nokia N810 Internet Tablet to review. I'm not that big of a case person, but it is a pretty nice one. It is also priced right at $28. In addition to looking at the CarryMobile.com case, I demo a case I'm using for my iPhone from CoZip.com.

Enjoy!

Why do these cool devices always have to only be available in Japan??  This Willcom D4 looks like my AT&T Tilt on steroids but it's running Windows Vista on a 1.3 GHz Atom processor.  Even though it has a full QWERTY keyboard, my guess is that it will fall into that 'too small for touch typing and too big for thumb typing' category.

• 188 x 84 x 25.9mm and 470grams
• 1.3-GHz Atom processor
• sliding / tilting 5-inch
• 262k color
• LED-backlit
• 1,024 x 600 touchscreen
• 64-key QWERTY keyboard
• 1GB of memory
• 1.8-inch 40GB disk
• 2 megapixel camera
• Bluetooth 2.0+EDR
• microSD slot
• HD audio codec with mono-speaker
• Opera browser
• 802.11b/g WiFi

The Lenovo IdeaPad U8 has certainly caputred some attention with its styling and form factor, and I know I’m not the only one scratching my head about the keypad choice. Using a numeric keypad or T9 as it is called struck me (and still strikes me as odd), but over on Symbian-Guru.com, Dotsix has written a post that at least offers some interesting info on the T9 form factor that is worth considering. Steve “Chippy” Paine points out in his post linking to the Symbian-Guru article that the numeric keypad is very popular in the Asian markets and is peferred to the QWERTY approach. I don’t think I’ll ever become a T9 keyboard user, but it is good to have more info on that choice.

Linux is coming on mobile devices and so are the MIDs (at least we think so.) Of course that means there will be a learning curve about the new mobile versions of the open source OS and all of the variants. Daniel (Thoughtfix) Gentleman took a little trip to the Bossaconfernce 08, did some digging, and has published some info on Moblin and Ubuntu Mobile and what they are and what they are not. Well worth a read.

Josh Bancroft is whetting everyone’s MID appetite with pictures galore and now this tiny morsel of video featuring the Leonvo and Aigo MIDs at the Intel Devleopers Conference. Ok, enough with the appetizer lingo. I’d like to see some real meat here soon.

If you’ve been anxious to see more about MIDs there are a couple of interesting posts to read and gander at today. First up, Josh Bancroft, who has been attending the IDF conference in China has posted a “world exclusive” that includes some pictures and a link to more on Flickr. Josh is promising some video of the Lenovo and Aigo MIDs soon and that will certainly be interesting to see.

Next up, is this report from Steve “Chippy” Paine on how MIDS are progressing including the news on some delays in the release schedule.

Some good reading and viewing on both counts. Wise to remember that when Intel began talking about the MID platform they were saying then what we would see this year is just a first step towards what they had planned for the not too distant future, meaning next year. I wouldn’t be suprised if planned releases for this year and next sort of get blurred along the way.

I guess one of these days MIDs will leave the realm of trade show shiny objects and make it into the real world. But until then, quick video clips and trade show attendee comments are what we make do with. Josh Bancroft is over in China at the Intel Developer’s Forum and managed to check out the GigaByte MID.

This week is the Intel Developer Forum in Shanghai, China. As per usual, Intel likes to make announcements at IDF. We've been hearing about the Intel Atom processor (code named Silverthorne) for a couple of months now and it appears that we're finally getting the real details on the processor and the chipset package. Today Intel announced 5 Atom processor and 3 controller hubs to work with those processors.

The press announcement included the usual rhetoric  about "best Internet experience in your pocket" and then got to the details. The Atom processor will ship by itself under the Atom brand name as well as part of the Centrino Atom brand name. The Intel Centrino Atom includes the Atom processor plus a single-chip with integrated graphics called the Intel System Controller Hub (formerly codenamed Menlow).

An Intel  promotional video of Lenovo’s IdeaPad U8 MID is making the rounds. Running Intel’s Atom, info on this Linux based MID is still a bit sketchy but this caught my eye. According to the video, it has “the ability to function as a tablet and a notebook provides flexibility to take handwritten notes directly on the screen.” Engadget’s report says “handwriting recogntion.” The IdeaPad U8 is headed to China so we’ll have to wait and see.

The CeBit Boys, jkkmobile and Steve “Chippy” Paine give us another interesting video, this time of the GigaByte M528 MID.

In his post, Chippy talks a bit about the Moblin software platform and the focus that seems to be going on behind the scenes for these devices, which I find interesting.

Something is happening behind Intel's Atom branding that's more than just silicon development. There's a software infrastructure building that is big, financially supported and not far removed from the way Apple are doing things with the iPhone. The control is there. The guidelines are there. The restricted hardware set is there. The ISV process seems to be both accessible and well controlled and with 150 people working on the Moblin core and distribution through partners like Canonical and Asianux who are also working on optimisations and UI, you know there's some big numbers involved.

While I’m in the camp that says news from CeBit was mostly lackluster, GigaByte looks like they were one of the few companies to score some points with their upcoming products. Now if they can ever get to market, we’ll see just how much so.

GBM reader Alex has posted on his blog that the Willcom MID that was spotted at CES will indeed be based on the Intel Atom. Willcom, a Japanese cell phone carrier, is teaming with Sharp to develop and release this new MID based on the Intel Atom and running Windows Vista. Since the prototype was basically shaped like a large candy bar style cell phone, I'm not sure how well a Vista interface will work on that tiny screen. Should be interesting to see.

However, don't expect to see the Willcom device outside of Japan. It's supposed to be based on (yet another) proprietary Japanese wireless technology - the next-gen PHS network. While the technology share some features with WiMAX, I can't understand why Japan would once again move away from world standards to create their own network type. I used to get so frustrated because my cell phone wouldn't work in Japan. With UMTS, I finally have complete cell phone coverage worldwide. Hopefully that will last.

Willcom's press release is in Japanese. Here's the auto-translated version.

Read more on Pocketables, Akihabara News, and Alex's Japan's Cellphone Edge

Engadget has some information (even a video posted below) on a MID placing a rock-solid VOIP call.  And amazingly enough - they crashed the OS while on the call...  I am still waiting for these things to be released.  I really want to see if they fit in my lifestyle, or if it would be something like the N800 that I only use when I am doing some surfing... 

It's makes one think (like was said in the post) - when will we say good bye to cell phones and carriers and move to a VOIP only type of communication - I think that's one for Warner to expand on...  Check out the video to see the rest

CeBit 2008 is just around the corner and information is starting to come out about UMPCs and MIDs ahead of the show. Both jkkmobile and UMPCPortal’s Steve “Chippy” Paine look they are heading to CeBit so I’m sure we’ll see lots of great coverage from both of them. (I hope they have time to do some podcasting as I enjoyed their week of podcasts during CES.) Both of these intrepid bloggers are already running some info on GigaByte’s UMPCs and MIDS that will be shown off at the show.

I’m hoping CeBit will help us advance the story on MIDs that kicked off during CES, as we’re still a few months away from these new devices being available.

We’ve talked in the past about the blurring lines (and horrible branding) when it comes to mobile devices like MIDs, UMPCs, and the like. It looks like those blurry lines are going to continue to become even more fuzzy from the Personal Media Player (PMP) sector. Electronista is reporting that Archos is readying a new PMP that includes 3G connectivity that allows access to the web using the Opera browser.

Some have already called the iPhone (yours truly included) the first MID, and some are really enjoying using the iPod Touch in the same way, when WiFi is available, (again, that’s the case here.) So media players as web browsers is nothing really new. I am increasingly thinking that the blurry lines defining these devices is largely irrelevant as far as the consumer is concerned. And it seems that those making and marketing these devices feel the same. Given that the focus for UMPC and MID development centers on consuming media and web browsing, as long as the consumer is getting what they need from a small device does it really matter?

Of course the question will come down to marketing. It always does. 

Thoughts?

BenQ is shaking things up a bit with some news about their first Mobile Internet Device (MID) at the Mobile World Congress. Focus on this round of news has to do with the UI. Looks like users will be able to work with their screens with touch and also a little shaking:

The MID's distinctive user interface was meticulously designed to bring an intuitive user experience to consumers. The startup icons on the desktop flip like a vertical window blind as you glide a finger across the device's 4.8-inch touch screen. Users can simply shake their MIDs to minimize open windows as thumbnails on the desktop for more convenience and control. This reduces common errors that occur when users point to small icons on touch screens and eliminates the repetitive action of minimizing and maximizing the windows.

I’m sure comparisons to the Etch-a-Sketch will be coming soon.

Here’s a link to the full press release.

Via UMPCPortal