I should start by saying I disagree,
I own several devices, all claiming to be portable.
The Sony UX the Samsung Q1 the 1610 the Nokia n810, they are all at home. The device I take with me is the Nokia N95.
I would give my right arm for a device like the everun with an updated hardware spec, but with the same great battery life and 3G options.
At $750.00 I would buy that if it came in at the same price as the 1610 or the Sony UX.
If you look at the price of the device, it is in the same range as the N95 or even the new 3G Iphone without the carrier subsidizing the price.
But this device has a keyboard, external memory upgrade, supports many OS options, I just need to see the battery life before I pull the trigger.

Unlike most naive people out there I know that 'that iphone thing' does not cost $199. If you can get me one for that amount even I, knowing it's just a toy, would probably buy one.

Brook: The early reviews have been citing two hours of battery life for web surfing. Also, your price ranges are much wider than mine. The N95 8GB runs around $600, while the iPhone 3G without subsidy runs $400. $750 isn't close enough to either of those for me. That price point is not going to win consumers.

John: Were you asleep this whole week? The iPhone 3G just got subsidized to $199. Service costs something of course, but that's true of any device, including the M528.

Ooops Warner. YOu misssed part of the calculation.
Carriers subsidies the hardware so in fact, as you see in Italy, the iPhone 3G will cost something like $600 without a contract! Not so cheap. In reality, for a new device in a new product bracket the M528 is priced about right.

It would be great if it were $500-600 but obviously this is the first product out of the door in an unknown market with unknown competition. $750 seems about right in that case.

Take every product bracket in the mobile space and you'll see that nothing started off being cheap.

Lets all hope that ASUS see a big market and take a risk with a $500 Eee MID in the near future.

Steve

Warner - Something tells me that if Apple released a device like this for $750 and it ran some remix of OS X then you would be heralding this as yet-another-game-changer. I'm not accusing you of driving the Apple Bandwagon. I just want to point out there's no competition in this segment nor is it compelling to the average dolt out there in terms of features. Of course the device is too expensive... for Joe Dumb-Dumb who let's Best Buy's Sunday circular ad decide his computer purchase or Tina Tween who needs to show that she belongs by buying that trendy new device. But for those who really have a use for a device like this or just want it, it's a fair price.

Seriously, if these were $50 do you really think that everybody is going to walk around with one hanging out of their pockets, hanging off their belts, or stuffed into their purses? Are they really going to stick their nose into a tiny computer like this when they're back home instead of jumping on a more comfortable and powerful laptop/desktop? No. These tools are largely solutions to problems that most people don't suffer from. For the rest of us, they're fine.

So instead of whining about the price, let's get on these companies about the thickness, heat, battery life, and lack of connectivity. In other words, let's stop blaming the cost and starting seeing devices that people will actually want before we start making the cheaper.

In relate news, there does seem to be a fair amount of whining about cost here on GBM. The illusion of price sensitivity in the American market is exactly that: an illusion. People waste far too much time and money on garbage. They really just have to bee convinced that they need or want it and they'll find a way to buy it. So let's either get better products (the Intel route) or better marketing (the Apple/Microsoft route). Warner, I know you have begged the major players on both of these issues. That's great, so maybe laying off the price rhetoric will keep them from getting distracted from what really matters.

Regarding price, features and functionality, the fact is Microsoft and Intel made certain claims when they launched the UMPC and MID markets, respectively, yet we haven't seen them pan out. We aren't even close to seeing them pan out. Microsoft said UMPCs would be in the $500 range. Didn't happen. Intel said we'd see cheaper devices with longer battery life. Didn't happen. If they never made such claims, no one would take them to task for these drawbacks. But the fact is they did make the claims and still haven't delivered.

Meanwhile, Apple, for all the accusations that they're just a marketing company, delivered what they promised. It's a phone, it's an iPod, it's a web device. That's what was promised. That's what it is. And it's under $500 (in the States) and has better battery life than the M528, according to the early reviews. Not only did they deliver what they promised, they delivered what Microsoft and Intel promised. It's pretty damn embarrassing to anyone who supported the UMPC or MID form factors.

Sumocat: No, I wasn't asleep this week although I wish I had been.

If someone stands up and says this device will cost 100 kroner and I go into a shop and give the salesman 100 kroner and he says 'you also have to give me 70 kroner a month for two years before you can take this product home whether you want the services or not' then that means the product doesn't cost 100 kroner. Simple economics. It doesn't matter what part of the world you live in, no-one will be taking one home for that price.

My phone is capable of all sorts of things - 3.5G, MMS, Video recording etc. I don't have to pay extra for these even if I don't use them. The price I paid for the phone is as it was advertised, along with the very cheap monthly plan.

John: And that price is the same for any other phone with the same service, Warner pointed out. The iPhone 3G service plans are the same as for any other device on the AT&T network. Sure, other networks have different pricing plans, but overall they're pretty much the same. And quite frankly, a lot of people here pay more than $70 a month for phone service without data. I'm not thrilled with the service plans either, but that's how they are here and people still eat them up.