UMPC slowly morphing into UCPC?

If you cannot Google a definition for UCPC... don't worry. It means Ultra-Cheap PC, a term we coined ourselves when the ASUS Eee PC was first launched at an incredible price of S$598 (US$439.71).

When Intel first envisioned the Origami project, they believed that Ultra-Mobile PCs would become laptop companions with mobility being the key factor. Yet now we are seeing a range of UMPCs, from the HP Compaq 2133 to the ASUS Eee PC 900, which seem to ignore mobility and, instead, attempt to enter a price war. Granted, HP calls its latest laptop a mini-notebook, but it is still fighting in the same space as other UMPCs. As a matter of fact, rumors of Acer's Intel Atom chipset entrant into this market may be coming in 8.9- and 12.1-inch flavors.

Yes, 8.9-inch is definitely more usable than a 5-inch or even 7-inch display. We also agree that having a keyboard which doesn't cause finger cramps is very useful, indeed. However, I believe we are not the only ones who think it's more logical to spring for a larger 12.1-inch with an even better keyboard and larger display. After all, the weight difference is less than a burger, while the additional footprint is hardly something to write home about.

So is the UMPC concept slowly morphing into UCPC? Would you rather pay more for a 12.1-inch notebook with a dual-core processor and more features, or compromise with a single-core mini-notebook? Decisions, decisions.

New MacBook design in store this year?

Apple may be set to overhaul the design of its flagship notebooks later this year, according to a report.

AppleInsider believes that the MacBook and the MacBook Pro are due for a facelift, but doesn't provide specific timing for the new rollout. If Apple follows through, the MacBook will get the most significant overhaul, moving from a plastic chassis to an aluminum one that's already in place on the MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, and iMac computers.

It would make sense for Apple to have a common bill of materials for its notebook line, and to have all the Macs look more or less the same. The substance of the design tweaks isn't clear from the report, although it does say that "thin-is-in" techniques used to great aesthetic effect on the MacBook Air will be part of the new design.

It's also expected that the new notebooks will use Intel's Montevina notebook technology when this arrives, although that would be a quick turnaround from the Penryn notebooks Apple released earlier this year. And this would also be a likely time for Apple to add the multitouch trackpad found on the MacBook Air and newest MacBook Pros to the regular MacBook.

Via CNET Crave

Laptop makers adopt 3G Gobi chipset

Dell, Hewlett-Packard, and Lenovo are to incorporate Qualcomm's Gobi chipset into their laptops later this year. Gobi, which Qualcomm released in October 2007, is a chipset that allows travelers to connect to both High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA) and Evolution-Data Optimized (EV-DO) networks. Both are types of "super-3G" but are incompatible.

HSPA is used in Europe and much of the rest of the world, while EV-DO is used in North America and parts of Australasia.

The disparity between HSDPA and EV-DO networks has led to a situation where, despite data-roaming agreements between companies such as Vodafone (in the U.K.) and Verizon (in the U.S.), a subscriber to either operator is forced to switch data cards if traveling between the regions.

"The Gobi solution enables enterprise users and consumers with the freedom of being untethered from Wi-Fi hot spots and connecting to the Internet using 'almost anywhere' cellular broadband connectivity," Greg Raleigh, vice president of product management for Qualcomm CDMA Technologies, said last week. "We are pleased that Dell will be (using) the flexibility and efficiency Gobi provides to meet the growing needs of mobile data users."

Ken Bond, Dell's director of wireless product management, said the move would allow the laptop manufacturer to address the needs of "customers (who) are demanding more freedom to compute the way they want, where they want."

Via CNET News.com

Intel tackles laptop theft

With computing device reaching handheld sizes, it's small wonder that casual theft will become a major concern in the near future. Intel, which has high hopes for UMPC and MID devices to hit mainstream markets in the near future, is taking a serious look at anti-theft technology.

Unlike current security measures which focus only on locking up your data, this initiative looks to rendering the entire notebook unusable if it falls into unauthorized hands. This should deter potential criminals from stealing the laptop and refurbishing it for resale. More information on the technical details should be available later this year.

Via Gizmodo

Intel shows off second-generation Classmate PC

We've been seeing blurry cell phone pics and hearing rumors for weeks, but Intel is finally showing off the next generation of its Classmate PC at the Intel Developer Forum in Shanghai.

The new Classmate is, as we expected, the same machine we saw a few weeks ago in some surreptitiously taken photos, and referred to at the time by Intel's generic NetBook platform name. Then, last week, we learned that one of the companies selling the new Classmate would be a laptop vendor named Computer Technology Link, or CTL, and it was going to call the Classmate PC 2 the 2go PC (Intel is creating the basic reference design, while OEMs in different regions will manufacture the systems).

The Classmate is designed for students, and Andrew Chien, an Intel vice president and director of Intel Research, said in a statement;"Only 5 percent of the world's children today have access to a PC or to the Internet. Education is one of the best examples of how technology improves our lives."

The new version of the Classmate (we looked at the original last year) trades the 2GB SSD drive for a more traditional 30GB hard drive, and increases the display from 7 to 9 inches--changes intended to appeal to what the company calls "mature" markets, which mean the US and other Western countries where it should sell for about US$400, depending on the configuration.

We got to spend a few days checking out one of the new Classmate PCs last week, and you can check out our full review for more details.

Via CNET Crave

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