I bought the HP Stream 8 with 3G and the first video and first-impressions are ready for you. The video is below and if you’re interested in a truly mobile PC (that is a handheld PC with mobile internet) then you’ll need to watch this and think about this new class of sub-$200 3G-enabled Windows tablets. It’s an incredible deal when you think about it because it was only a few years ago when we were forced to pay many hundreds of dollars more for a 3G/4G-enabled PC. Manufacturers only had cellular options on business-class devices and those options were always $100 or more. The HP Stream 8 not only has 3G included but includes a small amount of data free every month. 200MB goes quickly on a PC but you can add more or put your own SIM card in and really start to enjoy the benefits of Connected Standby. Using a Skype-in number, this tablet could be a phone. Using a turn-by-turn navigation program, an always-online navigation unit. It’s a mobile hotspot, a great social networking tool and when Windows 10 launches there’ll be a whole new life injected into it. It comes with one year of Office365 Personal, 1TB of OneDrive (1 year uploading, always available) and 60 Skype call-out minutes per month.
I’ve just ordered the HP Stream 8 5900ng 8-inch Windows tablet because of an amazing European 3G deal. The HP Stream 8 5900ng includes an unlocked 3G module and comes with 200MB of Europe-roaming data per month for 2 years. You can top-up on a regular or one-off basis. According to information on the HP Germany website, USA is included from the 1st Feb 2015. Is this the ultra-mobile PC deal of the year? My company just paid €149 after entering an offer code and taking into account the sales-tax rebate. Office 365 is also included in the deal. Even without Office 365 this the best 3G-enabled ultra-mobile PC deal I’ve ever seen in Europe.
New ground is being broken in the Windows laptop world today as HP announces the HP Stream 11 and HP Stream 13 low-cost Windows 8 laptops. Built around the Baytrail-M platforms we see an many recent Chromebooks (and possibly using exactly the same motherboard) these Windows laptops will go head-to-head with Chromebooks such as the ASUS C300. In order to sweeten the deal, which to many is already going to look attractive to many mainstream users, HP have announced that the Stream 13 comes with free 3G data. 200MB from T-Mobile won’t cover everyone’s needs but we’re sure that top-up packages will be available. The price: $249 with a 7hr 45 min battery life.
Fancy 70WH of battery in your Ultrabook? For those that don’t know how significant this is, it’s the best battery capacity we’ve seen so far in the 11.6” segment and it beats nearly all other Ultrabooks. Only the Fujisu U772 has more, but not by much. The Fujitsu Stylistic Q702 doesn’t stop there. I’ve unboxed and I’m impressed at the specs, ports and capability. There’s another first here too. Matt capacative touchscreen with digitizer!
Since 2006 I’ve owned three swivel-screen laptops and one of them, the Gigabyte Touchnote, became completely ingrained in my mobile computing life. The Lenovo Twist is a similar size and weight but it offers quite a bit more. We’re talking about a useful and desktop-capable Core i5 CPU, 4GB of RAM, a 500GB hybrid HDD and 5-point capacitive touch. This little Ultrabook Convertible is running Windows 8 and also includes a great set of ports. To top it off there’s an IPS display. Out of the box it’s an extremely exciting form factor and it looks and feels both stylish and strong. My first thoughts were ‘I need this Ultrabook.’ After 4 hours of testing I’m still very positive but there are a couple of things that are annoying me.
Thanks to Lenovo I’ve got the Lenovo Thinkpad X1 Carbon here. It’s a high-end productivity and security-focused Ultrabook and the first Ultrabook I’ve tested with 3G capability. A 256GB SSD and a VPro-capable Core i5-3427U 1.8Ghz CPU along with 8GB of RAM make for an impressive set of specs. The setup being tested here comes with Win 7 Pro a fingerprint reader and has a list price of €2276 although it’s available for around 1800-1900 Euros on the ‘street.’
At HiBlue, the focus is on the next generation of smart cameras – cameras that are fully converged with a mobile operating system and communication options that we see on smartphones. The devices haven’t hit the market yet but they’re coming. For some they’ll be an exciting and creative enhancement to photography but to others, they may not be the best solution.
The case against Smart Cameras say they are too converged and that a modular solution of dedicated camera and separate smartphone or tablet-based app/communication hub is better. Eye-Fi have been promoting this type of solution for a while now and separating the camera and ‘smart’ device’ is also the core of the Samsung Smart Camera strategy for the time being. So what’s the real deal? What are the advantages and disadvantages of the next generation of smart cameras?
This is a little embarrassing for Intel, the company that sells phones, Ultrabooks and wireless modules. The first carrier-subsidized Ultrabooks turns out to be a nothing more than an Ultrabook and a mobile 3G hotspot. Sprint have teamed the Lenovo U310 with a choice of mobile hotspot hardware instead of making an effort to find and offer a true 3G solution like the Toshiba Portege Z830/Z930.
