I can't speak for everyone, but this is what I hope to see the UMPC become:
- Instant-on or nearly so. UMPCs are designed for people on the go and a fast boot feature would bolster the "convenience" factor, thereby making UMPCs more desirable.
- 4 hours of battery life as a standard - more if possible.
- 1024x800 resolution or better. 800x480 was relatively low but usable two years ago, but users want to do away with horizontal scrolling entirely if possible.
- A break-down and redesign of Vista or Linux specifically with touch and portability in mind. The Start button and Search feature are good for the desktop but is inconvenient for slate users.
- Seamless UMPC/Laptop/Desktop conversion. If users are going to fork over $1100 for a super-mobile device, it'd better be able to be used comfortably in any form factor.
What do you think would revive the UMPC?
9 comments:
i have to somewhat disagree with you there. but i think most of the disagreement comes from the unclear definition of what a umpc is. are the eeepc and similar machines umpc's? if so , then the price for entry has definately tumbled and we are seeing just the start of that. in that case i think the umpc has really taken off , and all that needs to be done wityh these machines is an upgrade in specifications as parts get cheaper.
i also dont find the dispaly resolution to be a problem on my umpc. i am more comfortable with a 480*800 than anything higher.the only shortcomings of my own umpc is a lck of keyboard , which most umpc makers have fixed..and battery life. i would be happy with a 10 hour battery..:) .
Instant-on (and off) would be nice. Even better would be always available. I would like to see two processors - one x86 that's Vista capable and one minimal processor that can beep when I have an appointment and display my calendar and phonebook instantly.
I disagree about battery life. I wouldn't mind seeing a big heavy battery for you as an option but if OQO found a way to double battery life I'd want them to make the battery half as thick and keep the same power rating. Still, for long flights and all day meetings, it would be nice to be able to hot swap a new battery in without shutting down the UMPC.
I can barely read the screen at 800x480 so I wouldn't want it any finer. Plus, I'd rather use the processing power for something other than the additional pixels.
You are dead on with the OS design. In addition to touch and portability I would add small screens. All dialog boxes should have scroll bars in them if they can't be resized. I'm tired of zooming out to find the buttons at the bottom of a control panel.
As far as your last point, I don't want to wait for seamless, I just wish the seams were ironed out a bit more. Ultimately, I'd like to see my PC modularized. I want a processor module that I can take with me and plug into a little screen and a little disk. When I get to my desk I want to plug the processor and disk modules into my desktop which has three other processor plugged in and a big disk, screen, keyboard, and mouse. But I'm not holding my breath.
I would like to add thin and light. About as thin as the iPod touch. We are so close to a perfect device I can feel it.
Second wave is already there. EeePC, Cloudbook, OLPC XO. TabletPCs will return as third wave
instant on using a X86? unless someone does a radical redesign of the boot sequence, not likely...
interface? i would basically slap the maemo interface (or something similar) on the machine as a ui thats designed for pen or finger can also be operated by the mouse, but the reverse is rarely the case.
seamless conversion? i would go with the design that acer used on their first tablet. rather then a rotating hinge it used a kind of arm that allowed the screen to do a 180 and drop back down over the keys. hell, it kinda looked like the arm that HP put on one of their recent laptops so that the screen can raised over the keyboard when in cramped quarters.
battery life? not likely to happen much there unless one can do something the drain of wireless connections and displays it seems...
A better input system. Touch screens are nice for pressing UI buttons, but suck for entering text. On-screen keyboards are frustratingly slow to use.
A system where you could handwrite into boxes, and it was stored exactly as you wrote it - no misread handwriting or having to learn a new way of writing. Just record what I scribble into the textboxes and show it back to me.
I'd actually rather just use a small laptop with a 1024x768 screen or better. UMPCs and PDAs and the N800 all fail in various ways because people try and use them like laptops or desktop PCs.
Palm got it right with their PalmPilots. Everyone else got it wrong and started trying to cram a PC into something you could carry.
Greetings Dan:
This may be a longshot I'm aiming for so here it goes.
I'm looking for a Custom UMPC builder.
I have found a company here in Montreal Canada that can design me the casing.
But I'm still looking for someone or a company that could put toegther the insides of a UMPC, motherboard, LCD screen, slideout keyboard, etc.
Dan is there such a person or company in USA or Canada?
Regards Robert
Dan - are you aware of the Wibrain B1L that they have just announced for Korea? Standard B1 with Linux. I expect more on this from CEBIT. It will be interesting to see Ubuntu Mobile on this for under $900.
I agree with your main points, Dan...using lil' Fujitsu U810 now...it's great but would be even better with instant-on or almost instant-on...
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