This is just a shame. Apparently the legal battles over the Qualcomm chipset will keep HTC from releasing the new version of the HTC Advantage in the US, unless you’re willing to pay a little extra and get one through an importer. Although I’m not sure how that works given the restrictions. Too bad, as the HTC Advantage X7510 looked like it had the potential to be a very exciting second generation release for a very popular form factor. This was one of those devices that in its first generation impressed me enough that I was thinking of taking the plunge when the second generation arrived. Not now, I guess.

Matt Miller of The Mobile Gadgeteer got his hands on one (or three) at the recent Mobius conference and has a quick and dirty rundown of the device, including some early impressions of the haptic keyboard. He promises a fuller review at some point in the future.

via jkOnTheRun

I dont’ think anything will slow Asus down. Even changing brands from the Asus Eee PC to just the Eee PC. The Asus 900 Eee PC is just rolling out and now comes word of the 901 Eee PC. The 901 Eee PC is running Intel’s Atom chipset and also contains Bluetooth. Note also the price is inching up to $650 or so. Launch is set for June 3 at Computex.

Via blogee.net and jkkmobile

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

I've wanted to get my hands on a REDFLY by Celio Corp since I saw their booth at CES. My chance has finally arrived! I've been really impressed with the overall build quality and general usefulness of the Redfly. In the video you can see how easy it really is to attach a Windows Mobile phone to the Redfly, both via USB and via Bluetooth, and surf the web or edit docs. Since these are the primary tasks that many mobile users have for a full laptop, I love having the ability to harness the power of my Windows Mobile phone to do it instead of using a full laptop.

While the Redfly is squarely targeted at enterprise IT departments, it's an attractive device that could have much broader utility once the price point comes down to consumer range. By adding 2 USB ports and a VGA port to the overall Windows Mobile phone package, Celio has created a compelling platform combination that will fill many mobile users requirements. For companies that already deploy WinMo phones, the lower total cost of ownership versus a full laptop will make many IT managers very happy indeed - no additional software, limited additional support, and no additional security holes.

Call them mini-notebooks, call them ULCPCs, call them ultra-portables, it doesn’t make much difference. The new wave, sparked by the introduction of the Asus Eee PC continues to breed more and more entrants. Case in point, the MSI Wind looks to be heading to the U.S. in June, although interestingly enough only the 10 inch screen version will be doing so.

Laptop Magazine has an interview with MSI Director of Sales Andy Tung that lays out some expectations and at least one interesting analogy of the Wind not being your first car, but more like your second or third.

Check out the interview here and a list of specs here.

In this GBM Shortcut video, I talked about how much I'm struggling with typing on the Lenovo IdeaPad U110. it is probably the least comfortable keyboard I've used to date, and I've found it to be a very frustrating experience.

I thought I'd give a little more info, as well as some pictures ( click them to see larger resolutions ). Please keep in mind that these are my experiences. As keyboards are normally a very personal issue, your experience may be completely different than mine.

• With the keyboard being very glossy and slick, my fingers slide very easily on top of the keys
• There is not a clear delineation between the keys, thus there is no easy way to find where one key ends and another begins. The space separating each key is rather narrow. I can't emphasize this issue enough, as it is the primary culprit as being a bad keyboard for touch typists.
• Each key is indented with a slight angle to the right. When the keys are pressed, my fingers get caught under the corners of the keys around it. Thus, I'm not able to type as fast as I normally do on the Latitude XT, X61, and other Tablet PCs.
• The track pad is also slick and glossy, thus I've found it harder to control the mouse with.
• The touch controls, which are used to launch applications, is a cool implementation. However, they are not practical. The touch controls light up when pressed and dark when not being used. Thus, it is hard to know where to press on the dark bar in order to launch the applications. The design lends itself to accidentally launching the wrong button. It would be nice for Lenovo to design the unused portion of the dark bar to actually turn the lights on so the main touch controls can be seen. Generally speaking, I'm not a big fan of touch based controls for volume and such. I'd rather have a physical button to press for volume, applications, etc. That's just me, though.

I will say this, though - my eight year-old daughter came up to me a while ago, pointed to the bright red etching on the case and said "Oh, that is pretty. Can I use it?"

Notice the indentation in the keys	Notice the indentation in the keys
	Notice how the edge on the keys angle from left to right
touch controls when not used	touch controls when pressed

In this GBM Shortcut, I test out the web cam on the Lenovo IdeaPad U110. You'll immediately notice that the voice and video are initially out of sync, then get better as the recording goes on, and then get out of sync again. The recording was done using Lenovo's Easy Capture application. I tried to use Vista's MovieMaker, but MovieMaker didn't recognize a valid camera. In the video, I talk about other issues with the webcam, my experience with typing on the U110, and battery life with the 4-cell battery.

This recording was conducted while running on battery using the Balanced Power Plan.

Needless to say, I don't think I'll be using the U110 to record any Shortcut videos.

If you’ve been interested in the HP 2133 Mini-Note but have been waiting for pricing on a version with XP pre-installed, some pricing is now available, although some of what you’ll find in this post may change. Remember this is mini-notebook from HP can be had with a range of options depending on what you are looking for so there are a range of prices from $729 all the way up to $829 depending on how much RAM and hard drive size. That said, the post at HP 2133 Guide.com also contains info that these are stock prices without no user configurable options.

Yesterday, James Kendrick noted that drivers for XP were available, which is a nother sign that the XP versions might be available soon.

Word is that we’re looking at May 15^th for a release on this, so if there are any changes, I’m guessing we’ll see then.

via Engadget

Those interested in ultra-portable notebooks should take a look at the RazorBook 400 Mini Notebook PC from 3K Computers. At $399, it is priced similarly to Asus' 4G Eee PC and has many of the same specs like a 4 gb solid state drive, Linux, and a 7" screen. The downside: it has a meager 400 mhz processor compared to the Asus Eee PC's 900 mhz.

This is a hilarious cartoon! It definitely points to the personal nature we attach to our mobile computers  and the lengths we'll go to push the limits.

Thanks for the link, Mark.

I was able to steal the Lenovo IdeaPad U110 from my wife long enough to get these up close shots, as well as comparison shots to the Lenovo X300. Having handled them both and typed on each one, my preference would lean toward the X300, although I'm not the target market for the U110 - my wife and kids are.  I can tell you that I would absolutely love to see a Tablet PC version of the U110 without the glossy effect, though. I don't think I've ever held a notebook as light as the U110 before. It is awesome to hold, and my mind is going crazy thinking about the possibilities of a U110 Tablet. I absolutely love the bright red finish, and touch of class that the etching adds to the overall design of the U110. It has class written all over it.

It goes without saying that the U110 is a fingerprint magnet. From the screen to the mouse buttons, everything is glossy. The glare on the screen is going to be a bit bothersome, too. Personally, I think the gloss on this machine is overkill.

Taking pictures of the U110 is quite challenging due to the gloss, so I apologize in advance for the reflections. Click on each one for a higher res image.

Sorry - no Experience Index comparison between the two. The X300 has XP Pro installed.

Size comparison between the X300 and the U110	Another front shot size comparison between the X300 and the U110
Side size comparison between the X300 and the U110	Height comparison between X300 and U110
The full frontal shot of the U110 - the glossy finish of the entire front is hard to miss	Inside shot size comparison
Closer shot comparing keys	Back finish. It has a very nice rubberized feel on the back. The etching from the front carries through to the back
Side shot of the keyboard, wrist pad, and touch panel. Everything on the inside of the U110 is high-gloss.	Side shot of the screen, with the X300 behind the U110. The screen is flush with the casing
Trackpad and buttons. The buttons are flush with the casing	7-cell battery - provides a nice rubberized grip . It also gives a nice angle for keyboarding
4-cell battery - sits flush with the back casing.	Side view with the 4-cell in
Side view with the Express Card slot, 6-in-1 card reader, headphone / mic, 1394, USB, Ethernet, and Kensington lock slot	Side view with power, VGA, 2 USB ports, and wireless on / off switch
Veriface - notice the circles around my eyes as it tries to detect me. This is very cool. I find it difficult to click the logon button underneath the Veriface window to bypass facial recognition, though.	Lenovo's very small AC adapter. It is good to see them moving away from their bulky AC adapter.
Front of the AC adapter	Lenovo's U110 adapter compared to Dell's Latitude XT adapter
Another comparison between the U110 adapter and the XT adapter	Side view between the U110 adapter and the XT adapter

I spent the weekend camping with my son's Boy Scout troop. I was hoping to come home to find a Lenovo box in my living room, and I was not disappointed.

After getting a shower, I opened up the box to find a bright red IdeaPad U110.  As I took it out of the box, I was shocked at how light it was. I mean, really, really light. I didn't have it in my hands for more than 1 minute before my wife, Kathi, made a bee-line to see what I was holding. She took it in her hands and said "Now that is a snazzy looking notebook." She then asked me how long I got to keep it as an eval. Her eyes said it all: "I want to use that".

Some quick thoughts:

• Like I said, the U110 is feather light.
• It is very glossy - from the keypads to the screen. There is a very high gloss factor on this computer, and will be a huge fingerprint magnet. I think this will bother me a lot, especially with the keyboard being glossy. Time will tell what my wife thinks, though.
• The screen is ultra-thin. and the finish really makes it a nice stylish computer
• The resolution ( 1366 x 768 ) is very crisp
• The mouse buttons will take a little getting to use to as they sit right on the edge of the casing
• My wife, though, loves the keyboard and mouse / mouse buttons. She took right to them and even mentioned how easy they were to type on
• She mentioned on several occassions about how light the U110 was, and that was with the 7-cell battery in.
• The AC adapter is remarkably different from other Lenovo notebooks. It is small and light, and very similar in size to the Dell Latitude XT 45 watt adapter
• The included case is nice, but I don't think my wife will be using it. I think she'll end up wanting something a little more stylish to go with the U110
• Experience index:
  • Processor (Core 2 Duo 1.6 ghz ): 4.7
  • RAM ( 2 GB ): 4.8
  • Graphics: 3.5
  • Gaming graphics: 3.5
  • Primary Harddisk ( 120 gb 4200 rpm ): 4.1
  • Overall: 3.5
• Running processes out of the box: 67

I honestly think this U110 will be getting eval'd by my wife, so I think I'll have some interesting things to share. Stay tuned for more on this new offering from Lenovo!

jkkmobile has turned the camera on the Asus Eee PC 900 and given it a once over. He says he has lots more to say coming up.

In other Asus Eee PC news it looks like Asus is going to spin off the Eee PC line turning it into its own brand. That only makes sense given the phenomenal growth in sales and in terms of the number of variants they’ve introduced and plan on introducing.

Just as we told everyone yesterday, Lenovo's IdeaPad U110 is now available for ordering at $1899.

Head over and check it out! I can't to get my hands on our eval unit. It is gonna be fun!!!

Here are some more details on Lenovo's IdeaPad U110 which we hope to get our hands on really soon. Specs look pretty sweet.

Between this and Lenovo's X300, who would want a MacBook Air? Seriously.

• Available for ordering on April 29 at Lenovo.com for $1899
• There will be a single configuration choice with an option for red or black
• Intel Merom Processor Core 2 Duo 1.6 ghz
• Up to 3 GB of RAM
• 120 GB 4200 rpm PATA HDD
• System ships with two batteries: 4-cell and 7-cell, plus an external USB portable DVD burner
• Focused to the consumer
• 18.4 - 22.4 mm
• Starting weight of 2.4 lbs
• 11.1" 16:9 LED screen
  • WXGA, Intel integrated Graphics
• Aluminum etch cover and & Magnesium Aluminum case
• Frameless screen
• Touch-sensitive controls
• Vista Home Premium
• Dolby Home Theatre Speaker System
• Veriface security authentication
• Integrated 1.3 megapixel camera ( USB 2.0 )
• 3 USB 2.0 ports
• 6 in 1 card reader
• Express Card slot

Click the images for a larger view

Heads up - Lenovo is sending us one of the highly anticipated 11" U110 IdeaPads to review. I'm not sure if we'll get the red or the black, but either way, I'm really looking forward to reviewing the U110.

As soon as it gets in our hot little hands, I'll post up some initial video and impressions. What do you want to know about it?

jkkmobile has his hands on the Asus Eee PC 900 and has put together an unboxing video of Asus’ newest. (Well at least it is the newest this week.)

Mickey Segal loves his mobile computers. Unfortunately, Microsoft's recent switch from Outlook Express / Windows Mail to Windows Live Mail is frustrating him as he frequently uses computers that are 800 x 600 resolution. Take a look at the following areas that are frustrating Mickey, each of which could be easily addressed by providing users with options or by dynamically detecting screen resolutions:

• Toolbars: The toolbars have buttons that take up a lot of space.  Most notably there buttons of little relevance on a day to day basis such as "Windows Live sign-in" and a button to change the color scheme. As in Internet Explorer 7 and 8 there is no way to get rid of these buttons in order to use the toolbar space for other functionality. This hogging of space is a particular problem since there is no longer a "selective text on right" option to save icon space on the toolbar. The functionality that fit well in Outlook Express and Windows Mail at 800 x 600 just doesn't fit using Windows Live Mail, dramatically reducing the usability.
• Accounts on the Folder Pane: Each email account has its own entry in the folder pane. Although one can consolidate recent messages using "Quick views" you are still stuck with two lines used for every email account, pushing your storage folders off the screen. Although you can move these accounts to the bottom of the folder pane, when you restart the program your customization is gone and the accounts are all back on top of your storage folders, pushing them off screen.
• Button on the Folder Pane: There is an "Add an e-mail account" button taking up folder pane space and it appears there is no way to get rid of the button. This has priority over other material in the folder pane, for example, forcing the storage folders off screen.

It seems that one division of Microsoft is pushing mobile computing using small screens, and another division is undermining this by keeping users from fitting a lot of functionality onto a small screen. 

Medic put up a YouTube link to a great video in the forums this morning. 

Now while scrolling through the recent videos in the YouTube Science and Technology section I found an amazing asian video of the possibilities of the multitouch on a mobile device. If you notice carefully at one point even three fingers are used for the Alt-Tab function! Amazing! Imagine the implications on the touchscreen of a tablet or UMPC.

Like GBM forum member myloer said:

Watching that video has changed my prospective on the multitouch touchpads

I totally have to agree with everything said!  Check out the video below - and you can take the discussion to the forums too!

Later today the pre-production evaluation HP 2133 Mini-Note gets packed up and returned to HP, thus ending my evaluation of this intriguing little entry into the ultra-portable or ultra-low cost PC market. Here are some final thoughts I’ve gathered. Keep in mind, I’m evaluating a pre-production model, so some of my experiences may be different from what you might experience with a shipping model.

• If you’re looking for a small device to do light desktop or web work the Mini-Note can fill the bill very well. The VIA processor can handle most of those chores without a hiccup. At least it did for me. Keep in mind the unit I was evaluating was running Vista.
• I was able to pack the Mini-Note in a small over the shoulder bag and carry it with me without any difficulty. It is heavier than the Asus Eee PC and after awhile I noticed the weight a bit, but nothing that would keep me from thinking of this device as very portable.
• Although the extended battery adds some weight and size to the device, I’d definitely add that to the cost of your purchase if you’re going to be mobile for any length of time. With the standard battery I was able to eek out just over 2 hours and 20 minutes of use. With the extended battery I was able to push things to just under 5 hours on average depending on what I was doing.
• I’m disappointed with media playback. I had ripped some movies for my travel time to and from the MVP Summit in order to check out media playback. Playback in Windows Media Player had frequent and random slow downs without anything else of note running. I experienced the same thing with a movie I had previously purchased in iTunes. This is a shame, really, as this size of device would be the perfect travel companion for media playback.
• The optional webcam works, but just like with media playback, I experienced some choppiness when attempting video calls.
• Although it took some getting used to, I really enjoyed using the keyboard and became quite proficient with it. That said, I detest the trackpad. The length that mirrors the widescreen display takes far too long and is too cumbersome to traverse. The wide distance between the buttons is also problematic. If I was going to use this device I’d have to opt for a portable mouse, which I do use on occasion, but prefer not to.

Those are some final thoughts from my limited perspective. Your reactions may be entirely different. Keep in mind that the HP 2133 Mini-Note is highly configurable (or soon will be). You’ll be able to choose operating systems, hard drive size, speed, and type, and other options. HP has created a device that will appeal to many because of its size and price point. That appeal will depend a great deal on the usage model and expectations. While HP’s first market is the education sector, I think we’ll see quite a few of these in the hands of mobile professionals (their declared secondary market) as well. If you’re not looking for good, solid media playback, it could serve very well as a companion device.

Does my wife, Thomasin, want to buy one? I’ve been asked that question quite a bit since she did the InkShow. When I last checked with her, she said she wouldn’t mind it at all, but she’s content to stick with the Asus Eee PC for now. That “for now” part has me thinking we’ll be picking one up for her at some point in the future.

Make sure you check out the GBM InkShows on the HP 2133 Mini-Note.

Thomasin Takes on the HP 2133 Mini-Note

The HP 2133 Mini-Note