I go on about this too much sometimes - The Carrypad concept specification. It was originally the specification or wish-list of the device I needed to compliment my feature phone and PC. It then developed into two specification lists based on home and business user requirements (more here and here.)
As far as the original specification goes, (the home user specification) of the 20 or so ultra mobile devices I’ve heard about since writing the specification, not one of them matches.
Some get so close that I almost feel that they are there just to tease and torment me. It hurts. Just like reading the recent update to the detailed specifications of the S-XGen portable PC.
A 520Mhz XScale processor will drive Windows Mobile. 128Mb RAM and 20Gb disk will support this. USB2.0, WiFi, Cellular, Bluetooth and Ethernet provide an extensive comms array and SD and CF slots provide removable storage capability. Its got a removable, folding keyboard, audio connectors, stereo speakers and a docking port.
Its about the size of the Vega I’m testing at the moment and also has a similar sized 4.25″ transflective (daylight readable) screen and according to the specs sheet here - 8 hour battery life! It even has a camera.
The bit I don’t like and something that demotes the device to PDA or Smartphone status in my book is that the screen resolution is a measly 470 x 270.
So despite this device having enough power to provide a very decent video and browsing experience, you’ll be messing around with WAP and mobile versions of websites or cursor keys for a less-than satisfactory experience. Web-based applications access is growing and growing. I read all my RSS feeds (news and info), check my mail and do my browsing via a browser. If its less than 800 pixels wide, I might as well do it on my Smartphone at 320×240.
Lets hope that they revise that spec before the launch at CES in Las Vegas (Jan 2007.)
In the meantime, there’s a video available on the SLWF website which shows off the nice engineering. I really like the fold-away keyboard.
If it had a 640 wide screen, I might consider it for the database and label it a UMPC but at 470×270 it stays outside in the rain.
Steve / Chippy.
