Pocketables

Will you wait for Intel Moorestown-based mediaphones?

The big news about little devices coming out of Computex right now is Intel's re-introduction of Moorestown/Moblin V2 mediaphones. One of the first products to be part of this new group of gadgets is the unnamed turquoise slate you see here, a handheld branded by Inventec that will probably never be released. The device hasn't been seen powered on yet, but it could certainly be one of the three working Moorestown units Intel will be showing off at an Ultra Mobility Event scheduled for Thursday afternoon in Taipei (that's Wednesday evening in Hawaii). Update: Photo and basic specs of five Moorestown devices below.

Chippy has his predictions for the presentation laid out at MIDMoves and while I think they're pretty spot-on, I have serious doubts about the product launch timeframe. Moorestown has always been slated for 2010, but Chippy is estimating that the platform has a chance of being launched on products later this year.

While it would be great for this to be true, I can't help but remain skeptical because of what happened with the Intel MIDs that were first introduced in 2007 and still aren't readily available without the help of an importer. The same concept devices and prototypes were trotted out at tradeshow after tradeshow, year after year, yet only a handful of them were ever released (and none in the US). Will Moorestown mediaphones meet the same fate? Will you hold off on buying a new smartphone because of the possibility of a late-2009 mediaphone launch?

Specs and photo of the Nokia N900 Internet Tablet leaked?

Fans of the Nokia line of Internet Tablets have been waiting for a successor to the N810 to appear. The rumored replacement received an unofficial and brief introduction at the Open Source in Mobile Conference last September where it was revealed that the new device would have integrated 3G, a faster Ti OMAP3 processor, and a high definition camera.

It's been a long seven months of relative silence since then, but it looks like our patience may have been rewarded. MobileCrunch, citing information from an inside source at Nokia, has just provided the blogosphere with most of the supposed specs of the next generation Nokia Internet Tablet. Not to be outdone, the folks at CellPassion have produced the first photo of the device and labeled it as the Nokia N900 Rover. According to the leaked information, the N900 will run Maemo 5 and will sport a 3.5-inch 800×480 touchscreen, OMAP3430 500/600MHz processor, 5-megapixel Carl Zeiss camera (with dual-LED flash, autofocus, and sliding cover), 1GB total virtual runtime memory (256MB physical RAM, 768MB virtual memory), WiFi, GPS, HSPA connectivity, and 32GB internal storage expandable up to 48GB via external memory.

The specs include support for quad-band GSM, which with the smaller 3.5-inch screen and lack of a D-pad make the device rather phone-ish. Last December, Nokia executive Ukko Lappalainen stated that the company may consider using Maemo for some of its high-end handsets instead of Android. Perhaps this leak is not about the Internet Tablet after all but about one of those handsets instead. With a potential announcement rumored for June, we may not have to wait much longer to find out what Nokia has planned for this rather interesting device.

This post was written by Kelly Hodgkins, long-time fan of mobile devices and news writer at The Boy Genius Report.

Review: Aigo P8860 MID

Launched in China in early August, the Aigo P8860 recently became the first (and currently only) Intel MID to be available worldwide. With the help of the Atom-powered device's first official reseller, Direct from Japan, the P8860 is now shipping to destinations all over the world.

Should your mailbox be its next stop? It's a loaded question with a complicated answer that you'll only find below.

Sony mylo mini site now better optimized for mylo 2

Nearly a year after its release, the Sony mylo 2 (COM-2) internet device finally has a dedicated portal beautifully optimized for its 3.5-inch 800 x 480 display. The newly redesigned mylo mini site ensures that users stay up-to-date on the latest news, widgets, games (direct downloads!), and support information about their devices.

If you have a mylo 2, visit www.sony.com/mylo with the unit's NetFront web browser to check it out for yourself. And if you don't, take a peek at the pictorial waiting for you below.

Linux-based Samsung Q1 Ultra now sold as Indamixx Portable Studio

Unless your interests include both UMPCs and audio remixing/producing, you may have missed the news this summer that the Samsung Q1 Ultra traded its Windows coat for a Debian/Ubuntu-inspired Linux outfit called Transmission and began hanging out at clubs. Not to worry, though, as Linux.com just pulled the story out from the back of the closet and put it back into circulation.

"Conceived as the intersection of pro audio engineering and mobile computing" by US-based Trinity Audio Group, the 40GB UMPC has been rechristened the Indamixx and comes preloaded with audio goodies like DAWs (digital audio workstations), analog synths, plug-ins, a drum machine, and digital DJ software.

Archos 5g priced at €279 with €30/month data plan [Updated]

French carrier SFR is expected to formally announce details of their plans to subsidize the 3.5G-enabled Archos 5g later this week, but November's Stuff magazine has already beat them to it. Publicly outed along with a device called the M! PC Pocket, which is evidently an Atom-based MID with a 30GB hard drive and 128MB of RAM (rebadged Aigo hardware with modified keyboard - see below), the 5g appears on page 32 of the French issue carrying a price tag of 279 euros (~$363) plus a monthly fee of 29.90 euros (~$39) for what I assume is unlimited 3.5G data. See updates below.

SFR is currently the only known carrier that will sell the Archos 5g, but if other service providers around the world decide to offer the device for a similar price, would you be interested?

Mobile Firefox (Fennec 0.8) almost running on the Nokia N810

Though news broke just last week about an alpha build of Mobile Firefox (codenamed Fennec) being released sometime this week for the Nokia N810 Internet Tablet, many device owners have actually been demoing pre-alpha releases of the new browser for months. The last milestone was labeled M7, so when I saw today that version 0.8 was listed in my N810's Application Manager, I assumed it was the alpha build. I figured that if the last milestone release was 0.7, the alpha would be 0.8 so that the beta could be 0.9 and the final could be version 1.0.

So I decided to install it.

Porient H12 price and order information

I don't know how many of you are really interested in the Linux-based Porient H12 handheld that calls itself a UMPC, but I've just heard from the company's sales manager about pricing and minimum order requirements.

Current conversion rates put the price of each 10.6-ounce device at about $293 . . . as long as 300 units are ordered. I don't know what kinds of legal issues are involved with bypassing the FCC and importing several hundred items stuffed with wireless radios (wi-fi, GPS, and digital TV tuner) on our own, but I think it would be very difficult for me to keep this site updated from prison. I hear 3G reception is really bad there, and you must be crazy if you think I'm using my cigarettes to buy an hour of wi-fi time.

Kidding aside (I'd gladly buy some internet time), the sales manager mentioned the possibility of sending me a few samples if I wrote up some sort of proposal. I'm not sure what that entails exactly, but if a lot of you are interested in pushing the limits of the law at my expense, I'll look into it further.

Porient H12 handheld runs Linux on 800 x 480 touchscreen

The latest update to last year's ARM-based H9 "UMPC" is the Porient H12, which first appeared on the scene a few months before its scheduled debut at the Hong Kong Electronics Fair. Details were very scarce leading up to the show and surprisingly didn't get filled in during or after the event either. Even after seven months of public awareness, the product page still shows the H12 as having just four features: 4.8-inch TFT touchscreen, GPS, "soft office," and a web browser.

Curious about what was going on, I got in touch with the company's sales manager recently to ask for more photos, full specs, and availability/pricing information. I'm still awaiting details on price, but I've got everything else below.

Nokia N810 Internet Tablet as digital mixer

If you've ever wondered what else the Nokia N810 Internet Tablet could do besides, you know, be an all-in-one internet, multimedia, productivity, and communications device, then take a look at this amazing image from the Internet Tablet Talk forums. In a great photo-filled thread recommended by TabletBlog in which members share where their ITs are at the moment, dubwise shows his N810 being used at work.

The Thinkpad controls my Yamaha 01V96 digital mixer, and the N810 gets there through VNC. The resolution is perfect. All 20 faders fit onscreen, no scrolling. I've been mixing some simple shows from a seat in the audience. Even for the hands-on and chaotic shows, being able to tweak the balcony speakers from the balcony, and set the stage mix standing next to the musicians, is simply amazing.

I don't use any of my gadgets to their full potential (I'm the anti-mobile user of portable tech, remember?), but seeing this photo has inspired me to start changing that. I'll be on the road for several weeks soon, too, so the timing couldn't be better.