UltraMobileGeek's 2007 Retrospective

Here's where I will post my favorite moments from 2007. I am going to focus on major events and add a little commentary for each. This post is parallel to a similar 2007 retrospective on TabletBlog.com with the "Coffee with ThoughtFix" and "Predictions" sections on the bottom identical. Starting at the top:

January at UltraMobileGeek:

• CES: TabletKiosk shows off new tablets and an eo docking station. The dock never came to be, sadly, but next-gen models superseded the need.
• CES: I talk to Agere about the BluOnyx bluetooth mobile server. Since then, Agere got bought out by LSI and the BluOnyx is still vapor.
• CES: Interviewed Len Kawell of Pepper Computer (makers of the PepperPad) for CarryPad.com. Pepper has been strangely silent lately. What's cooking over there?
• Review: Sprint's EVDO rev A. service and USB modem. This seems to have gone mainstream since then and the Novatel devices are much smaller!
• Vista. Oh boy.
  
• Initially, Vista was AWFUL. Just terrible.
• Origami Experience stank too.
• Over time - both got better with driver updates but new UMPCs are still required to take advantage of a Vista experience.

February:

• Editorial: Vista killed the Windows UMPC for at least a year. Here we are - nearly a year later - and we're still waiting for that one Windows UMPC that works exactly how it is supposed to - with the performance and battery life at acceptable levels.
• Hack: Measuring USB power draw.
• Interview: Samsung!
  
• Interview: Violet Blue

March:

• Kohjinsha SA-1
• Unboxing
• First looks
• Review
• TabletKiosk announces TufTab
• HTC Shift chatter starts strong. It's a shame what happened here. It had so much potential but, when cutting corners, cut the WRONG ones.

April:

• Editorial: Warranty and service - Beyond the Spec Sheet
  
• Hack: Homebrew SSD UMPC (using CF cards and an adapter)
• Editorial: First talks about Linux on UMPCs
  
• Samsung Q1b Unboxing - I still love the VIA chips in UMPCs. In my opinion, they provide the best power saving vs. performance balance.

May:

• Interviewing other UMPC bloggers. This is a MUST READ in the comments. Great people weighing in there.
• Editorial: How much mobile internet do you need?
• Announcements: Palm Foleo. Mercifully died before it was launched.

June:

• Giving Vista a second shot. Verdict: Better, but still not ideal.
  
• Q1b: Final notes before I sent the review unit back. Thanks again, VIA!
• Review: Jabra BT8010. Still my favorite headset but I notice how heavy it is after a while.

July:

• Blogging: I incorporate ThoughtFix into ThoughtFix LLC. Yay.
• Editorial: The Need for Mobile Broadband

August:

• HTC Shift: Decided it will be my 2nd generation UMPC - then changed my mind a couple months later.
• Review: TabletKiosk's VESA mounting plates for the eo. I think the "final fate" of my eo will be in this form: A wall mounted appliance for media. It's perfect for that in the long haul - especially if I can get Linux working on it.
• Hack: Internal hub and ReadyBoost! It shocked me how popular this article got.
• Review: Targus Universal Docking Station with video.

September:

• Slow month, but I did add an internal SD card reader to my eo!

October:

• I abandon Windows UMPC blogging until UMPC hardware can catch up with Windows' demands. Linux only until further notice!

November:

• Asus EeePC 701
• Speed Test Video: From "boxed" to "browsing"
• First Impressions
• Kernel recompiling guide
  
• Head to Head: Nokia N810 vs Asus EeePC

December:

• EeePC video Skype call with Kevin Tofel who is about the coolest guy ever.
  
• EeePC: Multiboot with Ubuntu/Windows XP (by switching SD cards)
• Review: Urban Tool slotBar UMPC hip case

Coffee with ThoughtFix
In 2007, I decided to make a series of video editorials entitled Coffee with ThoughtFix:

• Episode 1: Reply to Walt Mossberg's N800 review
• Episode 2: Power vs. Portability
• Episode 3: UMPCs as Media Center Extenders
  
• Episode 4: The Nokia N800 is not a phone
• Special Edition: iPod touch's "most advanced browser"
• Episode 5: Instant-On
  
• Episode 6: Bluetooth
• Episode 7: Linux vs. Windows Architecture
  
• Episode 8: Deploying Linux devices
  

2008 Predictions:

• More Linux embedded devices will hit the market and the Intel/Moblin devices will rely heavily on Nokia's experience with Hildon/maemo.
• The WiMAX Nokia Internet Tablet will be delayed but they will have working demos in early 2008 (they may even have them at CES) but won't be able to sell them until Sprint deploys the network.
• WiMAX, EVDO, or HSDPA will be an option in nearly every super-portable this year.
• Big-time developers will embrace embedded Linux systems more but 2008 will still not be the year of the Linux smartphone. Too many apps are still in perpetual beta and consumers won't trust their primary devices to run Linux yet.
  
• This Linux push will mean there will be at least one major GPL lawsuit in the embedded device space - a result of companies not properly understanding the responsibilities of open-source development.
• Cloud storage will become mainstream - especially for media. Pressure from Orb, Slingbox, Rhapsody, WeBot, MP3tunes, and others will lead to iTunes and Microsoft offering their own brands of remote library storage.
  
• Bluetooth will get another revision or be replaced with an entirely new technology.
• A fully functional entertainment/Web 2.0 laptop form factor machine will hit the market for $200 and promptly sell out.
• Apple will offer something smaller than a Macbook but larger than an iPhone. Users will be excited at announcement and disappointed at launch.

Final thoughts on the year:
The UMPC state was exciting and strong in January until Vista dropped on to it with excessive CPU, memory, and storage demands. Nearly a year later, manufacturers are still fighting to find a balance between power and battery life and it's just not here quite yet. We hope to see more excitement come out of CES next week.

I want to thank everyone who made this year fantastic for me. This includes PR reps for keeping me informed, other UMPC bloggers, and the community as a whole. 2006 gave us the platform. 2007 gave us time to get some bugs shaken loose. 2008, if done properly, can get a super compact computer in each home, briefcase, or purse.

Still looking for a UMPC hip case?

Remember when I reviewed the Urban Tool gadget hip holster? Well here's another product of theirs: the slotBar:

Asus Eee Multiboot: XP and Ubuntu

The video shows it all: Use SD cards to switch your OS, Distro, or recovery. It's great.

gOS - Pretty cool

gOS is a Linux distribution that made quite a stir as it powered the $199 Everex GPC. It will also be powering the $399 Cloudbook laptop. I had the chance to chat with a development lead on IRC and like his thoughts and direction.

I decided to download it and take it for a spin on my Asus Eee PC. After all the fiddling I had to do to get it to work, I think it's a keeper.

gOS (Green OS, not Google OS) is currently Ubuntu 7.10 "Gutsy Gibbon" at its core, so all the known Eee Ubuntu drivers and hacks work. Once online, I preferred the interface and menu management to the Eee's Xandros. Since most of my use of the Eee is in web applications, the fast links to all my favorites (Gmail, Google Docs, Wikipedia, YouTube, Blogger, Facebook, etc.) at the bottom were handy. The array of built-in applications were comparable to Xandros, too.

The developer with whom I spoke said he's working on making installation nicer and polishing the whole user experience. I can't wait to see what happens with this one. Ubuntu is currently the leading desktop Linux distribution but gOS may be what's needed to get more Linux desktops and laptops on retail shelves next to the competitors.

The Best Gift...

(mirrored on tabletblog.com and ultramobilegeek.com)

Dear readers,
As you likely know by now, the mobile technology blogging community lost one of our shining stars last weekend. Marc Orchant was a fantastic blogger, a husband, father, friend, and an inspiration to many.

On December 22, 1988, Robert Gentleman (my father) passed away in a car accident. It was the hardest thing I ever had to live through - especially just before the holiday. The Orchant family is going through the same. My family continued on with the help of friends and community support.

Community support is of utmost importance at times like this.

A donation button has been set up to assist the Orchant family. If you ever wanted to contribute directly to any individual behind the mobile technology blogging community, now is the time. Thank you very much.

-- Daniel Gentleman
ThoughtFix

Eee PC and Xandros: No Thank You

Asus' preinstallation of Xandros on the Eee PC is easy to use but it's no good for people who want to go beyond the out-of-box experience. With that in mind, I'm ditching it.

From now on, it's Xubuntu all the way. I'd rather recompile everything against Asus-provided sources ONCE rather than have to hack around their installs, custom packages, and unionfs. The unionfs is the biggest pain in the butt. To remove it, an initrd needs to be built from scratch, an init script written by hand, and a tricky copy/migration.

This is how the EeePC unionfs works:

The default Xandros OS and software is on one partition and the user gets another partition. They're mounted on top of each other (think "shuffling a deck of cards") using unionfs so that all preinstalled files are "read only." From a recovery standpoint, that's fantastic. It means that a user can NEVER break critical OS files and will always be able to wipe the slate clean in case of file corruption. However - if the user upgrades OpenOffice, Skype, Firefox, or other preinstalled software, the factory copies are not overwritten. They're simply ignored and the newer files (copied into the user space) are used.

If the OS and applications were 1.5 GB of a 40 GB hard drive, this wouldn't be a big deal. There is still plenty of "wiggle room." However, the Eee has only 4GB TOTAL meaning redundant copies of software will sit in unrecoverable storage space. Uninstalling any factory apps will not regain storage space either. Again: If all I wanted to do was use the Eee for what it does out of the box, I wouldn't mind. I want more, though. With that, I'm going to Xubuntu.

An Eeeuser.com forum member built a Xubuntu installation .ISO with the Xubuntu hacks preinstalled. I am testing that now and will send my report to that user. I'm going to volunteer to assist in a comprehensive tear-down of his changes beta test for him and blog about it here.

Marc Orchant - You will be missed.

I got the official news through GottaBeMobile. Marc Orchant, after suffering a major heart attack last week, passed away today. This is not the place for obituaries as I will leave that to his family. I am going to say only one bit of eulogy:

I am not really a religious man. When asked about heaven, reincarnation, or cosmic awakening, I answer that I simply do not know. I am sure of one thing: Immortality is secured in what you do in this life. After every conversation, you leave part of yourself with someone and take part of them with you. Everything you write gives something to the reader. Everything you create and accomplish, for better or worse, gives something to the lives of the next generation.

With that, I have to say that Marc's immortality is the wisdom, insight, and discussions he has shared. All of us - his readers and fans - are enriched by his contribution to our lives. Whether we agreed or disagreed with his point of view, he kept us thinking and discussing. While we cannot look forward to his next thoughtful essay or brilliant editorial, we will take what he gave us and continue to make it part of our lives. In that, Marc Orchant will live forever.

Farewell, Marc.

Coffee with ThoughtFix 8 - Deploying Linux Devices

I've watched a good handful of Linux devices hit the market and have spent hours in community forums. I hope these five tips are among the top ten that others would suggest. I don't know if any OEMs will watch this - but opening it up for consumer discussion (that's you and me!) never hurts. Enjoy!

UMPC or Asus Case

Looking for a case for your UMPC, microlaptop, or Asus Eee PC? Try a portable DVD player case!


This one fits "up to 10 inch" portable DVDs and has plenty of space for the AC adapter and other accessories. It cost about $20 and even has the included straps to attach it to the back of your car seat to entertain back passengers.

Asus Eee Skype Video Calling - with special guest!

Friend and fellow mobile technology blogger Kevin Tofel of JKOnTheRun agreed to help me demo a Skype call on the Asus Eee 701 PC. We each have one, installed the beta, ran the webcam power trick (as Ars Technica explained it) and called each other. Here's the video:



It is a beta and is in a rather ... special ... environment on the Eee PC so there were some stability issues. We speculate about them while discussing it. Kevin and I reference two of his videos:

• Video capture test
• Eee PC: 10-year-old's review (Excellent video)

Those are only two bits of his extensive coverage on the device. It's funny - we used to use the Internet over the phone and now we use the phone over the Internet. This is just waiting for a Yakov Smirnoff joke.

Thank you again, fellow coffee-fanatic blogger!

To Marc Orchant, friends, and family.

My thoughts and best wishes are with Marc Orchant and his family and friends. For those who do not know - Marc suffered a heart attack on Sunday morning.

I'll try to keep this brief. Marc and Family: Along with many others, I have been enriched by your wisdom and insight. I join my fellow bloggers and community members in wishing for a full and speedy recovery. If there's anything I can do to help from way out here in Phoenix, I'm at your disposal.

Mac OS X on the Asus Eee: Don't Bother

There's no good reason to try to put Mac OS X (Tiger or Leopard) on your Asus Eee PC. I spent days hacking and tweaking ISOs, burning, testing, and poking at a variety of drivers and there are two things I could not overcome. Look at the pictures.

How's ThoughtFix doing?

I know I started ultramobilegeek a good seven months or so after tabletblog.com, but I posted a near-two-year roundup over there.

Blogging: Best Hobby EVER.