"The only way to be truly satisfied, is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do." Steve Jobs
Once "inking" gets into your veins you will never be able to live without it. Frank J. Garcia

My Surface PRO 3 'Must Have' Accessories List

Friday, November 30, 2007

OQO 02 for just $1069.99!

This deal is so good that when I read the note from my friend Warner at Gottabemobile I could not believe it! TigerDirect is offering a $780 rebate in the $1849 OQO 02! I really do not know how long this deal is going to last because I'm sure that many people out there would like to own this device and the only thing that have stopped them was the price!

Loren Heiny talks about his cancer

The word "cancer" scares everybody and to read how somebody wins the fight against this illness is always a good news. Today I read about Loren's fight at his blog. I tried to post a comment there but for some reason I'm not getting my registration password. Anyway... I think that my personal blog is a good place to say that I'm really happy to see that you, Loren, have won this battle. From the deep of my heart! We are all proud of you!

Wibrain B1 shooting monsters!

From Dynamism.com comes this video that demonstrate how easy is to play Quake 2 in a Wibrain B1 UMPC. Unfortunately, UMPCs are not yet powerful enough to play games like Halo 3 but in a not far future we are going to see that kind of performance and then we are going to say bye bye to our PSPs. Wink

Thursday, November 29, 2007

Avox docking station

One of the accessories sold by Ruvo for the Avox is the docking station. On it, Avox owners will find 4 USB ports, one Ethernet port, one VGA port and one earphone jack.

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Alltp Open House

A brief note tell you guys about an invitation coming from Allegiance Technology Partners to a Open house, December 7th, where you will be able to see the latest Tablet PCs and UMPCs sold by this store.

This is the address:

300 Welsh Road, Building 4, Suite 155
Horsham, PA 19044

Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Avox arrived and...

Avox is a clone of the Gigabyte U60 distributed by Ruvo.  And this is the machine that I received today for a 10 days test run.

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My first impressions:

  • This machine is about the perfect size for a UMPC,  1 inch smaller than the original Q1 from Samsung.
  • The first VIA processor tested by me that runs with a very low temperature and silently.
  • Very good performance on XP
  • A UMPC with XP Home Edition, is this a joke? What about XP TabletPC Edition 2005?
  • Very clever the way used to connect the GPS module.
  • Only one speaker but the sound is a lot better than the Amtek T700.
  • VGA port integrated, that's a plus.
  • 2 mics integrated, another plus.
  • Keyboard is Ok. You need to press hard the keys to get them to respond.

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OQO 02 within the 10 most...

According to TechRepublic.com the OQO 02 (e2 in Europe) is not just within the 10 most important business technology products of this year, it's the second product!Just to give you a reference point the first place was for the... iPhone from Apple!

While most of the UMPCs from big vendors have received only a tepid response from businesses, the OQO, which is currently the sole product for San Francisco-based OQO, Inc., is being gobbled up by lots of different organizations in various industries. Movie producers are using them to watch dailies (with the help of specially modded Slingboxes). News photographers are using them to instantly submit their on-site photos, the U.S. Army uses them at security checkpoints in the Middle East. Others are using them as mini PCs for workers who don’t sit at a desk. For these workers, the OQO is helping to create a new category of PCs — one with a very high geek factor.

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Wibrain B1 available at Dynamism

untitledCHICAGO, IL - Wibrain announced today that it has chosen Dynamism as the launch partner of their new B1 handheld PC. Dynamism.com is the leading web-based reseller of exclusive ultra-mobile consumer electronics.

According to Dynamism CEO Douglas Krone, “Partnering with Wibrain for the U.S. launch of the B1 is a great addition to our already stellar line of products.”

Ultraportable computers are shrinking, innovation is brewing, and prices are dropping. The latest evidence: the unconventional but intuitive WiBrain, with an impressive array of features at an equally impressive price point. The WiBrain is one of the first devices to utilize an impressive 1024 x 600 resolution 4.8-inch WSVGA touchscreen. Phenomenally high pixel density makes it sharp, and touch sensitivity makes it convenient.
Weighing only 1.12 pounds (510g), this full powered Windows XP machine still yields five-hours official battery run time (about three-hours real world use) running on an amply powerful VIA C7M 1.2GHz CPU with 60gb HDD. Integrated wifi and Bluetooth make for easy connectivity, and the pop-up camera/mic make for easy “Skype-ability”.
In addition to the touchscreen, navigation options include Arrow/PageUp/PageDown keys on the left of the screen, and a touchpad on the right. The split keyboard is an easy adjustment that is aided by keys which have genuinely good tactile feedback, despite the fact that product photography doesn't make it obvious.
This is a great mobile platform for on-the-go media, web surfing, office applications wrapped up into a remarkably small package. (Or just walk around your house broadcasting live video to your friends.) When purchased from Dynamism, the WiBrain includes unlimited toll-free support and one year rescue warranty.

About Dynamism

Founded in 1997, Dynamism is the leading online reseller of next-generation ultramobile PCs and related consumer electronics. The retailer couples next-generation products — ultralight performance notebooks, subnotebooks, slimtops, PDAs, phones and other gadgets — with premium customer service, including lifetime, toll-free tech support and free Rescue Service Warranty. For more information please visit www.dynamism.com or call 1.800.711.6277.

Gottabemobile reviewing the Fujitsu U810

A while ago I was posting here about the Fujitsu U810 and I was saying that I was not completely satisfied with this UMPC. Today Rob from Gottabemobile posted his first impressions about the Fujitsu U810, check them and compare my impressions with his.

    • The keyboard is most useful when thumbing; after a while, though, that in itself gets tiring because the keyboard is too wide to use comfortably. It reminds me of Sony's UX series. OQO's keyboard, by contrast, is much smaller and more suited for thumbing. I find the U810's keyboard too small for even touch typing while the unit is resting on a table.
    • Because the keyboard is so small, Fujitsu had to sacrifice some dedicated keys. Some of those sacrifices are the dedicated arrow down / up keys. For example, to scroll a web page, the function key has to be depressed while pressing the arrow down key, and I have yet to find a way to Page Down / Page Up.  The other major sacrifice is only one Shift key, which makes capitalizing words difficult with letters on the left side of the keyboard. The U810 does not support sticky keys natively, relying on Vista's support of sticky keys. They are not as quick to use as OQO's native sticky keys that get activated with two depresses rather than five, and are easily turned on / off.
    • As the first Vista based Intel 800 MHz system I've used, the performance is more than acceptable and much better than I anticipated.
    • The keyboard light is pretty cool, but I'd prefer a backlit keyboard.
    • Inking is a mess - Fujitsu did not implement the palm rejection technology they used in the P1610. What a shame. 
    • It is very, very light
    • I like the included Compact Flash and SD slots. I miss that in my OQO Model 02.
    • I really like the mechanical volume control, which is also accessible in slate mode.

As you can see, both of us had issues with the keyboard design and size and we both liked the Compact and SD slots.

GPS and TV modules for Ahtec Tiny X60GT

TodoUMPC has posted a mini review about the Ahtec Tiny X60GT. Beside the very good pictures of this review it was interesting to see the very smart way the designers used to integrate a GPS and TV receivers on this unit.

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As you can see from the above two pictures these two accessories are detachable replacing the original plastic stand in the back of the UMPC. Clever idea!

Monday, November 26, 2007

OQO 02 video review

I shot a video review about the OQO 02 for todoUMPC that I think many of you will enjoy. The video is in Spanish with subtitles in English and covers everything from the the device to some of the accessories sold for this device.


Video: OQO e2 (02 USA) Review

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How big is the OQO 02?

After I posted this picture:

PB240124 Axim x51v Comparison

I have received a few emails talking about it and asking me to compare it with other Pocket PCs. And I think that all this is due to one simple point. The Pocket PCs without SmartPhone capability are already extinguished. If you have the option of carrying a full PC hanging from your belt - that's the way I carry my Axim x51v - why to carry a Pocket PC where you can do only a portion of what can be done in a PC? Here is a comparison between a hx4700, an Axim x51v and the OQO 02.

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The OQO 02 still "bulky" but this is only the beginning if you have not noticed that yet. We are going to see in the future devices more powerful and smaller.

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Sunday, November 25, 2007

OQO 02 Photo Review

One picture is better than one thousand words. Well, then what about if I give you 66 pictures to describe the OQO 02.

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