smartech

There’s a lot of buzz around the new S5 MID from Viliv, which boasts impressive specs in a small package. To be more specific, you get tons of top-notch features, including a 1.33GHz Atom Z520 processor, 1GB of RAM, 60GB hard-drive, WiFi connection, integrated GPS navigation system and 1080p HD video support, adorned by a sleeky black 4.8-inch 800 x 480 touchscreen. Regretfully, we don’t have it in our hands yet, but the lucky guys at UMPC Fever have managed to take a close look at this great device and prepared an unboxing video to let us drool all over the place while watching it. Anyway, check it out after the break.

Update: The guys at JkkMobile, got their hands on the Viliv S5 UMPC and you get to see a detailed video right after the break.

[via UMPC Fever]

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Gigabyte unveils three new netbook models, to be officially introduced at CeBIT this week. The new line includes the “Booktop” M1022 version, which boasts a special dock that houses various essential outputs, together with the ability to vertically place your lappy on the desktop. Additionally you get a 10.1-inch display, 1.6GHz Atom N270 processor, 160GB HDD, 2GB of RAM, 6-cell battery and Windows XP onboard. The T1028 on the other hand, is a tablet netbook, packing the same specs as the M1022, only with the new N280 Atom CPU and the revolutionary GN40 chipset that aims to be the “next thing” within the netbooks world. The third, out of the three, is the ThinNote S1024 model which looks like a basic version, sporting the usual specs we’re all familiar with. Naturally, there’s no word on price or availability yet, but you can hit the link below for further details.

Update1: Gigabyte has officially uploaded specs and info about the new coming ThinNote S1024 and M1022 devices, so feel free to jump over and get your impression.

Update2: The guys at UMPCPortal have managed to put their hands on the T1028 Touchnote tablet netbook, which comes with an integrated 3G module inside. Check out the unboxing video after the break.

Update3: Checkout Gigabyte BookTop M1022unboxing video after the break [in German].

Update4: Looks like Gigabyte Booktop M1022 and TouchNote T1028 tablet PC are finally available Stateside, and can both be ordered on Amazon, for $449 and $599 respectively.

[via engadget Chinese]

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Word in the street says that Acer is about to launch a slim version of the popular Aspire One netbook. According to netbooknews.de the next model will apparently feature a chassis, sized at 0.95 inches thick, 10 inches wide, and 7.28 inches deep, while other specs will remain the same, with 1.6GHz Intel Atom N270 CPU, 1GB RAM, 3-cell battery, and 10.2-inch 1024 x 600 screen resolution. Other than that, we hear speculations that you might also get an integrated UMTS along with SSD drives inside, but we have no clear evidence to verify this information at this point. Stay tuned for more to come. There’s another picture after the break.

[via netbooknews.de]

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Cowon fanboys have been waiting to hear this one for quiet a while, as the Asian company gets official with the D2+ PMP, which is the newer version of the legendary D2 player. Although the latest version is set to be released in Korea only, we might expect global announcements in the future. Meanwhile, you should know the D2+ packs a 2.5-inch 320 × 240 touchscreen, along with an FM tuner, a microphone, SD / SDHC / MMC slot expansion, built-in DMB TV, USB 2.0 connectivity, a TV output and 4/8/16GB storage capacities to be compatible with MP3, WMA, OGG, WAV, FLAC, APE, MPEG4 or WMV files. Still no pricing details but the battery keeps providing great longevity, offering 10 hours of video and 52 hours of audio playback. Hit the link below to decide either choosing the Black, White, Blue, Pink or Gray flavors, at your choice.

Update1: The Cowon D2+ is now available to order in the US, priced exactly as the D2 model, which means, $139.99 for the 8GB version and $179.99 for the 16GB.

Update2: D2 owners might be interested knowing that the D2+ firmware can be forced onto the D2players, thanks to the TCCTool, which was created by Rockbox and originally designed to to load firmware on bricked Telechip based devices. To learn more about tweaking your old devices into the new interface log in here. Mind you, there is a risk involved so think twice, before acting.

[Cowon]

It’s a new day, It’s a new dawn and US-based company Trimble has a new UMPC device, which answers the name Yuma. This latest muscular unit sports a 7-inch sunlight readable touchscreen display, together with a surprising 1.6 GHz Intel Atom N270 CPU, 32GB HDD storage, 2 integrated cameras, a built-in GPS system and a rugged outdoor design. Aside from that, the Yuma comes with ExpressCard/SDIO slot expansions and WiFi/Bluetooth 2.0 connectivity, to let you handle your stuff perfectly on the go, as weight stands at merely 2.6 lb. No word on pricing, but shipment is set for April this year.

[Trimble]

If you’re in a search for a strong PMP device that will serve you in the field, Teclast might have the right solution for you, as the company has just introduced the M50HD player, which comes with a body, made of military-industrial zinc-magnesium alloy that can stand literally any weather conditions. In addition, it has a solid 4.3 inch 800 × 480 display with a “super tempered” Polysilicon glass panel. Other than that, the new M50HD boasts a TV output, up-to-date formats support like FLAC, RM, Xvid or Divx, and even 720P high definition videos, in case you’re into quality technology. Still no word on price or availability, but we like the idea of robust players with HD capabilities hanging in our sack.

[Teclast via DAPReview]

Like there’s no recession, Philips launches two new GoGear PMPs for the European market, as the GoGear Ariaz sports a 2-inch display, together with a built-in mic, an FM tuner, and 4GB, 8GB, or 16GB of storage capacities at your choice. Additionally, it has four-pad buttons to help you navigate through the menus, while some other clickable buttons are considered to be working with Touch technology. The GoGear Opus, from the other side, is the bigger between the two, boasting a 2.8-inch display, a mic, Bluetooth, an FM tuner with RDS technology, 8GB, 16GB, or 32GB capacities to choose from and integrated BBC iPlayer support. Still no word when exactly these two are about to be released (probably somewhere in April), but getting them, you’ll have to shell out €79 ($100) or €179 ($230) respectively.

Update: Moments before a Stateside release, Philips releases more info, as the Aria goes for $80 (8GB) or $100 (16GB), while the Opus will be available for $100 (8GB) and a 16GB version in plans. The ViBE, which carries a 1.5-inch display will be yours for either $50 (4GB) or $60 (8GB).

[via gmp3]

Rumors around the block state that Asus will be axing all 8.9-inch Eee PC netbooks in 2009. According to several reporters, Asustek’s president of Asia-Pacific division, Benson Lin, was quoted saying that the Taiwanese corporation has decided to continue in the path of 10-inches and 7-inches only, which means no more 8.9-inches for the masses. That makes us wonder why those two sizes – from one hand, the 10-inch version is so popular in terms of netbooks that Asus plans to sell 95% of this size at 2009, and from the other hand, the 7-inch version that has literally ignited the ultra-portable trend, is planned to take 5% of their sales, for 3G purposes and telecoms service operators use. In our opinion, Asus will have to comply with market needs and seems that we’re expected to see 12-inch devices in the near future, or even bigger, but it will surely exceed netbooks limits.

[via UMPC Fever]

The “Never Ending Meizu Story” continues to make splashes around the globe, as we hear that Meizu’s M8 revolutionary/clone smartphone is making a debut in China nowadays, coming up with either 8GB ($348) or 16GB ($421) versions, a 3.4-inch 720 x 480 touchscreen, Windows CE 6.0-powered OS, Built-in 3.2MP Camera and wide range of codecs support, including MP3, WMA, AAC, Ogg, FLAC, APE, AMR, MPEG-4, WMV, Divx, Xvid, H.264, or FLV. Battery wise, you can expect getting up to 21.5 hours of Audio and 7 hours of video, while using the M8 as a multimedia device. Otherwise it’s just another cellular unit, supporting WCDMA (3G), GSM EDGE 850/900/1800/1900 standards that will allow any user to speak all over the world. Mind you, according to Meizu, the 16GB model is currently “out of stock”, so stay tuned for more tales to be told.

[Via DAP Review]

First time we’ve been covering LG’s X120 netbook, we were excited to learn it will pack a designated Splashtop-powered “Smart ON” OS that was created exclusively by the company in order to enable fast bootup for the users. Now that the X120 becomes official, we’re glad to realise it will also have 3G HSPA connectivity inside, together with the usual 1.6GHz Atom processor, 10-inch WSVGA display and a 160GB hard drive. Other than that, it looks pretty much the same, in terms of specs, but seems like the 3G capabilities will force higher prices when this netbook comes out in Europe somewhere around March.

Update: LG has officially confirmed that the Japanese release will start at the end of March, while Europe and 20 other nations will get this one on April.

[Via Liliputing]

Only a month after releasing its unattractive Archos 10 netbook model, the French corporation is looking forward, announcing a new generation of ultra-portable Mini PCs, which is expected to be released somewhere in April this year. The fresh Archos 10S lineup packs a 20mm chassis together with 3.5G functions, 1GB of RAM and up to 160GB hard drive. In addition to the 10S version, Archos plans to release in 2009 a 9-inch tablet PC with a virtual keyboard plus handwriting recognition feature that will join Intel’s Menlow-based Atom Z5xx processor and the 160GB HDD. Further more, Archos claims that both new portable computers will support high-def video playback, VOD and digital TV, while revolutionary 9″ tablet is said to have even more stronger edition, powered by Intel’s Moorestone MID platform that will presumably make a debut in 2010.

Update1: Archos officially rolls out the 10S  Mini PC and the 9-inch Tablet PC, both to be available somewhere this Fall.  The new 10S netbook will apparently include a 0.866’’ Ultra-thin chassis, packing a 10.2-inch display, an Intel ATOM 1.6 Ghz CPU with 1 GB of RAM, and 80GB hard disk storage.  Price wasn’t given up to this point but we’ve added a new image to the post.

Update2: First video of the Archos 10S is finally up, courtesy of Charbax. Hit the break to take a look.

[Archos][PDF link]

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Nothing much to tell, but seems like Lenovo plans to launch its IdeaPad S20 netbook with a 12-inch display, somewhere this year. The rumored S20 will join the already-exist S10 version which carries a 10-inch frame, but screen size aside, the new model is expected to pack an Atom N280 processor instead of the N270 inside the S10. Additionally, the S20 will carry Intel’s GN40 chipset, together with the usual Windows XP onboard. Still no word on exact date release but looks like the bundle will be priced at around NT$20,000 (US$586). Stay tuned.

[via digitimes]

Most of our reports deal with advanced multideia players, the kind that have impressive touchscreens and top-notch features that combine wifi, GPS and huge storage capacities, but the low-end market is still there, producing new colorful devices, specially made for those who seek for pure music instead of complicated interfaces. Samsung’s DoReMi U5 is one of them, housing 4 lines OLED screen, along with 2/4/8GB of internal memory, FM tuner, built-in mic and battery that delivers up to 18 hours of audio playback. No hidden catch, no strings attached, just a simple USB thumb machine to hook and listen.

Update1: The U5 is now officially available for US residents, priced at $39.99.

Update2: May 6 2009 - Apparently, the U5 will have a new version in the coming weeks, that includes an integrated fitness program, to keep your calories on the safe side while listening to the band you like. Unfortunately, we have no other details, but we’re following the news to bring them for you ASAP.

[Via DAPReview]

We keep saying that media players future should hold GPS navigation systems, and apparantely Cowon thinks the same, as the Korean company officially announces the L3 PMP/PND release, without any pricing or availability details. Nevertheless, we do know the new L3 features 480MHz dual-core processor, a 7-inch 800 x 480 WVGA touchscreen, an FM tuner, 4GB of storage, 128MB of SDRAM and SD card slot. Naturally, this PMP-Navigation device includes a GPS system with Eco Drive module that indicates your fuel consumption on the go. Regretfully there’s no wifi inside, but you can still enjoy wide codecs support like MP3, WMA, ASF, WAV, OGG, AVI, ASF, and WMV files – all packed in 318g of solid sleek design.

[via akihabaranews]

MSI is known for its white netbook devices all over the world, but with the new gray U120 edition, which packs the same specs as already-exist white/black  Wind U120 versions, it seems the company is trying to approach the business sector and the high-end markets. However, color changing alone won’t do the job, and without any hardware boosting MSI will continue to sell netbooks for private tech avids. Anyway, the new flavor is up for sale on Amazon for $349.99.

[via eeepc.net]

Compal officially announces a new PMP series, including the APA00 (black) and APA01(white), which both feature a 7-inch 800 x 480 LCD touchscreen together with an ARM Sigma Design EM8622L SoC, DVB-T digital TV, FM Tuner, 802.11g WiFi, an SD/MMC slot and up to 80GB HDD storage. The two players house uCLinux system and can easily handle MPEG, Xvid, WMV9, H.264 files additional to the HD support up to 1080i. You also get USB 2.0 connection and component / composite TV outputs, to hook your multimedia junk and watch it from the couch. Still no word on price or availability, but looks like PMPs with HD content support quickly become  part of our 2009 tech life.

[Via Pocketables]

It’s been a month since we last talked about the new iStation T3 PMP from Digital Cube, and moments before a world wide release, we get a chance to look at some teasing images that make us drool all over the place. Although we’ve already expressed our reservations, this 4.3-inch 480 x 272 device has a pretty impressive design and Battery that provides up to 18 hours of audio playback or 10 hours of video. Formats wise, the T3 supports codecs like MP3, WMA, Ogg, FLAC, APE, AC3, WAV, MPEG-4, AVI, Divx, Xvid, or WMV and can accommodate up to 32GB of storage – all for very competitive price tags. To see more, just hit the link below.

Update: Checkout the “walkthrough” video after the break.

[via AVING]

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Recent analysis shows that netbook devices have managed to push multimedia players out of public consensus, making them look dispensable in terms of video and internet usage. But technology is a dynamic thing and old-school PMPs might have a comeback, thanks to navigation capabilities that prove to be essential for many people nowadays. One of those players, that tries to make its way out is the M480 from APSI, which comes with a 4.8 inch 800 x 480 display, a 400 MHz OMAP2530 Dual Core processor, 30/60GB storage capacities and Windows CE 5.0 inside. It supports wide range of formats, including AVI, WMV, MP3, WAV, WMA, OGG, AC3, ASF, SWF, JPG, BMP, TIF, RAW, CXB, ZIP, PDF, PPT, and houses a TV output, USB 2.0 connection and battery that can deliver up to 7 hours of audio playback or 5 hours of video. However, the aforementioned features won’t be enough if 3D navigation system wasn’t there, and thankfully the M480 does have one, once you add the GPS cradle at the bottom of the player, allowing to demonstrate real-time 3D maps as your cars advance forward to a preset destination. Regretfully, no pricing or availability details to share, but stay tuned for more to come.

[via pmpinside]

For many of us, Gachapin (Dinosaur) and Mukku (Bigfoot) are totally strangers, but for the vast majority of Japanese kids they are huge TV stars, that conquer their screens for long hours. To leverage these characters, Kohjinsha and Bandai Creation have decided to bring the two into an ML-based netbook edition, boasting a vivid green chassis, combined with a whitish keyboard. Other than that, it’s just another regular netbook with Intel ATOM N270 processor inside, 1GB of RAM, 160GB HDD, 8.9-inch 1024 x 600 display, a 1.3 megapixel webcam, WiFi connection and the usual outputs. Interestingly, this new device will sport a 1Seg Digital TV Tuner, to let the children watch their heroes on the new lappy, rather than your telly. Still no word about price or availability but we like the idea of teenagers hanging with netbooks, instead of just books.

Update: Shockingly, you’ll have to spend ¥79,800 ($866) in order to get this one for your kids.

[via akihabaranews]

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Although it’s not the most responsive one we’ve ever seen, the guys at Netbook Mag were generous to share a cool step-by-step tutorial that explains how to install a touchscreen kit inside a Samsung NC10 netbook. The results are pretty neat and useful, but you can notice some minor problem within the clicking actions. Nevertheless, this detailed guide might be helpful to all of you – DIY afficionados – who seek for a top-notch touchscreen netbook on their disposal. Checkout the video and jump to the link to read the full process.

[via NetbookMag]