Rob and I just got done talking with Pankaj Kedia with the Intel Ultra Mobility Group about the wealth of new MID devices being introduced at CES 2008. Intel has 10 partners who are announcing products here at CES, all based on the new Menlow low-power platform. In the Intel showcase there are MIDs from Aigo, ASUS, BenQ, Clarion, Compal, Digifriends, EB, Gigabyte, Lenovo, LG-E, LiteOn, Quanta, Toshiba, USI, and Willcom. We'll have a video up later which shows off the Aigo and the Lenovo devices, both aimed at the Chinese market, although the Aigo is identical to the Gigabyte which will have broader distribution. The Toshiba is pictured at the right in its docking station.

The devices on display are all very different from each other. Most include keyboards of some sort, but not all. Intel has provided samples and is working with 25 partners on new Menlow MIDs, so expect to be seeing a lot of new announcements as the year progresses. The goal is to have new announcements every month or so at events around the world. Intel is seeing the primary usage models for the new MIDs revolving around entertainment and location/GPS applications.

Intel is expecting MIDs based on the new Menlow platform to release in Q2 and Q3 of 2008. Price points will vary depending on the exact device and OEM options, but generally looking at about $500 and up for Linux based MIDs and about $600 and up for Windows based devices. (After all, Windows is decidedly not free.)

Intel also provided a sneak peak at the upcoming Moorestown platform launching in 2009-2010. Watch the upcoming video for more info on this new platform.

Matt and I had had a brief stop with the folks at InPlay this morning. InPlay bought FinePoint. the company that made the digitizers for some earlier Tablet PCs including Gateway.Now they are working with several other OEMs in addition to working with resistive screens and also developing capacitive touch as well. We will be sitting down for an interview with InPlay tomorrow.

Warner and I stopped by the PlanOn booth to see how they were doing this year.  While we were there we got a chance to look at one of their new mobile devices.  Its called the Printstik - VERY small mobile bluetooth/USB printer.  Seems like Warner is ready to order one right away.  We have some video of it in action that will be posted a little later tonight.  But, for now we have a still shots to share with you.

Instant-on with full internet is a mobile person's dream. Looks like we are getting closer to that with DeviceVM's Splashtop. Their software is installed to the computer's motherboard, and provides instant-on full access to the internet.

At show DeviceVM announced that Asus is shipping the Splashtop software on four new motherboards. They said to expect their software on notebooks and other mobile pcs's soon. They are actively seeking OEM partners. Meanwhile, they said that USB implementations are on their roadmap.

Video coming soon.

While we were at the BlogHaus last night, Stacy Wolff, HP's Director of Notebook Product Design, stopped by. Stacy was instrumental in the design of the HP's TC1x000 Tablet PC series, including the current 2710p. It was a great to get some insight and background history into the design of the TC, and how HP got to where they are today. If you listen closely at the beginning, you'll learn where the name "TC" came from....

Enjoy!

By the way, I've had a couple people ask about the equipment we used to record and produce the interview:

• OQO Model 02 - used it to edit, produce, and upload while at the BlogHaus. It did take about 40 minutes to encode the video after editing, but given the mobility aspect, I couldn't be happier.
• Flip Video Ultra with a Monopod for recording the video and audio.

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We got some great private time with the Surface, including some demos only seen by a few people.

This is some totally cool stuff.

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Sunday night, Rob and I were hanging out and blogging at the BlogHaus when we ran into Ian Dixon of The Media Center Show Podcast. For his podcasting tools he was using an HP 2710p Tablet PC. He did some audio with both Rob and I and the podcast is up. Here’s the link to the The Media Center Show Podcast #138. Give it a listen.

The LG MID has captured a lot of attention. Sierra and I got a close look at it today at both the Intel booth and at the LG booth. We both like the form factor, and I like the feel of the keyboard, but it feels curiously like LG took the OQO form factor and rounded off the edges a bit. That said, it feels great in your hands. Unfortunatley we won’t be seeing this MID here in the US, as LG will only offer them in Europe, Asia, and Canda. I’m not sure I like the way the stylus is stored in a portable case that is tethered to the unit instead of the usual garage. LG also calls this a UMPC (Boy do we have confusion in this space regarding naming and branding.) Anway here are some pics.

More after the Read More link.

Looks like the Origami Team just released the Origami Experience 2.0 according to the Origami Project.com. Their are four applications in 2.0.

• Origami Central updates the original OE application to allow users to access media, but has added a fully-optimized browsing experience for UMPCs and a RSS reader. The media features have also been extended.
• Origami Now offers one-touch access to your info whether it be email, calendar, RSS feeds, weather, you name it. It is all on one screen.
• Origami Picture Password is being touted as a real breakthrough for using mobile devices. Instead of a password or finger print, you access a series of pictures.
• Touch Settings which offers the same functionality as 1.0.

No link available on OrgiamiProject.com for downloading yet, but we’ll update this post when it is available. Perhaps we’ll see more of this at the Tablet PC/UMPC Meetup tomorrow.

Not surprisingly, Fujitsu is pushing the U810 pretty heavily, with the T2010 running a close second. The P1610 is also on display and is apparently scheduled for a much needed update to the processor as well as an update to the already excellent screen.

The U810 also had a beautiful case on display. This leather case is a perfect form fit but still allowed use while in the case as well as access to all of the ports. Made out of a soft leather, it is sells for $59 on Fujitsu's site.

The case allows the extended battery to fit through a hole in the back.

All ports are accessible.

Look who showed up at the BlogHaus. Daniel Gentleman, otherwise known as ThoughtFix. He’s sitting to my right and waxing eloquently about his hacked up Asus EeePC, blogging, and all sorts of other topics.

Speaking of the Asus Eee PC it is one of the talks of this year’s CES on many levels. Heck, even elsewhere it is quite the head turner. My wife (who is back in Chicago) was sitting in a Whole Foods checking her email on the Asus EeePC. (Her Dad still doens’t believe in Broadband.) She emailed me to say that a quite a few folks stopped by asking her about the device and where to get one. Asus is on to something.

Back at the BlogHaus and Thoughtfix, Dan the Man video streamed me giving BlogHaus impressario Robert Scoble his first ever splotch. You can watch it at this link.

We had a private briefing today on Microsoft Surface and it was quite impressive. We got the lowdown and got to see a few new demos that most folks haven’t seen yet. We all got hands on with the Surface table and Matt even got to go snowboarding. We’ll be posting this video up Tuesday morning, so keep your eyes peeled for that one.

As promised here’s the video of the interview with Toshiba’s Kevin Roberts on the M700 Tablet PC. I’m telling you folks, I’m impressed with the design, the power, and the touch and Inking on this Tablet PC. When you look at the specs for this Tablet PC versus the price ($1699 for XP $1799 for Vista Business-and that price jump also gets you 2GB of RAM), and the fact that you can use accesories (port replicator, slice battery, pen) from the earlier M400, it is tough to argue with the value. This is going to be a winnner, all the way around.

Download the High Res version here.

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I’m sitting in the BlogHaus blogging away and we are being lived streamed on Mogulus .com. Splotch just made an appearance on the live stream. Tune in if you want to see some bloggers blog.

Sierra and I had a great interview with Kevin Roberts of Toshiba where he demoed the new M700 Tablet PC. We’re crunching video on that as I blog here and it should be up in a separate post soon. Suffice it to say this, I’m impressed with the Toshiba M700 Tablet PC for a number of reasons. Loren Heiny and I were talking about this Tablet PC, (he has one) and we both feel for power Tablet PC users it is a great Tablet PC.

• The price is right.
• The feature set for power users is incredible.
• Some new features including a sensor that automatically turns the switch on/off for the optical drive door so that it won’t pop open when you brush up against it.

Check out our annoucement posts for specs from December and stay tuned for the video soon.

I just left the Wacom booth, talking with Wacom's Steve Sedaker, their OEM Sales Manager. I asked him about Wacom's take on N-Trig entering the space. He pointed to Hp's $1299 multi-mode TX2000 vs Dell's $2399 XT - nuff said. He also said that they are actively working OEMs on on capacitive touch, and to expect some new stuff from OEMs this year.

Seirra and I headed into the Intel booth first thing this mornign to look for, yep, you guessed it, Mobile Internet Devices. What did we discover? Quite a few of them. Sierra has a one on one interview set up for tomorrow which should yield some good info, but in the meantime here is a range of pictures. (BTW, Intel needs to get rid of the blue lighting on everything. It makes pictures almost impossible to take.)

The mouse or scroll button the right of the picture below on the Toshiba MID reads optically.

See more pictures by hitting the Read More link.

We shot some video at the HP boot that will be up later.  We took a WACOM pen to the tx2000 to show the active digitizer off.  We also got a look at the remote control that can be stored in the express card slot.  One item I thought was nice is that the speakers are on the lid so no matter what orientation the screen is positioned, they are always pointing out.  Nice change from the being on the bottom og the device - or under the screen...  Look for a video later today on the tx2000.

Had a great meeting with TabletKiosk. Pictures below, video interview and tour later today.

High level:

• new eo V7110e with
• 1.2 ghz Via
• 100 gram digitizer instead of 120 gram for soft touch
• Extended battery is standard
• No other changes - same basic unit
• $998, shipping in Feb
• Sahara i440d
• 1.5 Core 2 Duo
• std with 2 gb ram and outdoor viewable screen
• New extended slice battery with usb and firewire port, and 3 way adjustable stand - very very nice.$199
• New portable single battery charger and the slot battery charger
• SSD support
• Available to order in Feb
• eo i7300
• Targeted specifically at the enterprise.
• basically build your own UMPC  with module support on left and right side of the eo
• Outdoor screen std
• Modules - they are looking for ideas on additional modules. For example, multicard reader module, etc:
1. eo extender Module ( 2 x USB, 1 x Firewire,1 x 10/100 Ethernet)
2. eo Button Module (4 x user programmable buttons, 2 x USB)
3. eo USB Module (4 x USB, 1x HDMI)
4. eo Extended Life Battery Module
5. eo RFID Module
6. eo Z-Wave Module
7. eo Infrared Module
8. eo Mag Stripe Reader Module
9. eo CCD Scanner Module
10. eo Blank Cap Left
11. eo Blank Cap Right

Mobile Battery Charger

3 array charger

i440d ext battery with stand

usb and firewire Port support on the ext battery

More pics coming later....of the new eo and modules

We are posting up random photos for everybody to follow our experience at CES.  Join in on  a unique look at the events as they happen.  They are going to be quick shots using Shozu from our phones so they might not be the best, but they will give you a taste of us here in Vegas.  As always, the major news will be on the site, but these photos will be quick shots from place to place as we go to them.

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