Astone's UltraMobilePC Surf

Looking at Astone's latest ads in PC Buyer's Guide, I notice they're building public interest on their own version of the Via Openbook MiniNote (I blogged about Via opening up the reference design for manufacturers).

As announced in the ad, the Astone unit will be powered by a C-7M processor clocked at 1.6 GHz, pumped with 2GB of RAM and have 60GB of storage. It will have an 8.9 " LCD screen, similar to the HP Mini-Note's. Connectivity options include the now standard 10/100 Ethernet, 802.11 b/g WiFi and Bluetooth. The unit will also have a built-in card reader, 3 USB ports and a VGA out connector for outputting to a larger monitor.

Aside from a slight difference in specs, it's very much like the reference design opened up by Via. In case you've forgotten, here are images of that reference design:

Via Introduces OpenBook Mini-Note

Via introduced the latest iteration of it's OpenBook series of ultra-mobile PCs, the OpenBook Mini-note. The reference design has an uncanny resemblance to the form factor of the HP 2133 Mini-Note, with the exception of the faster processor. Both designs share the 8.9" LCD screen configuration, with the Mini-note upping the ante by having provisions for built-in broadband connectivity to WiMAX, EV-DO, W-CDMA, or HSDPA services in addition to the now standard WiFi through a factory-configurable device module.

The Mini-note will be powered by a 1.6 GHz VIA C7-M ULV processor and will accommodate up to 2GBs of RAM. This is an offshoot perhaps of the decision to make it capable of supporting Windows Vista. Though the VIA VX800 Digital Media IGP chipset it has for video isn't the most powerful in the mobile computing space, it will certainly be enough to support DirectX 9.0 3D graphics up to a resolution of 1024x600. That being said, I would opine that it would comfortably work with MPEG-2, MPEG-4, WMV9, VCI and DiVX for the multi-media entertainment needs of prospective owners.

It would be exciting to see what final product OEM's and ODM's could produce from the reference design.

MSI Titan 700 SFF Solution

Not to be outdone in the small form factor (SFF) side of things, MSI has released its own entry into the low-power "green machine" market. Compared directly to the Zonbu Desktop Mini, the Titan 700 ups the ante by including a DVI output, a DVD Dual-RW drive, a 120GB 2.5" hard drive and 1GB of RAM. This is (in my opinion) as close to having a full desktop in a small form factor that still saves on power consumption. It's a bit pricey though, as to be expected. That may change as similar machines come to market. As it stands, this machine is definitely worth the money.

Incidentally, I found out about this product after reading a post on Net Traveller (you can read the article here). There also posts on the GameRoom Blog, Slash Gear and Engadget about it, mostly based on MSI's announcements.

Back to the Titan 700. If your into the nitty-gritty, the specs are listed in detail below:

MB Specification
PCB Size	. Mini-ITX form factor, 170mmx170mm
CPU	. VIA C7D (V4 Bus) NanoBGA2 , 2.0GHz
Chipset	. North Bridge: VIA CN700 . South Bridge: VIA VT 8237R+
Memory	. DDR-2 400/533 SDRAM (1GB Max) . 1 DIMMs DDRII memory slot
LAN	. Realtek RTL-8110SC LAN 1Gb
Audio	. AC97 CODEC by VIA VT1618, 5.1 channel audio output
IDE	. Support Ultra DMA 66/100/133 mode
SATA	. Support two SATAII 150MB/sec device
DVI	. VIA , VT 1632AG
TV-Out	. S-Video output by VIA VT1622AG
Barebone Specification
Front I/O	. AC97 Mic-in x 1, Headphone-out x 1 , USB2.0 x 2
Rear I/O	. PS2 x 2 (1 for Keyboard,1 for Mouse), Serial Port x 2, D-Sub15 VGA x 1, Mic-in x 1/ Line-in x 1 /Line-out x 1(5.1 channel), RJ45 LAN x1, USB2.0 x 2, TV Out x1, DVI x 1
Power Supply	60Watt Adapter, Active PFC
Driver Bay	Support NB Slim ODD x1 and 2.5" HDD (Hidden )
Dimension	70mm(H) x 185mm(W) x 240mm(D) (with Bezel) ; Volume ,3.1 Liter
System Configuration
ODD	. slim type, SATA Supermulti DVD Dual RW
HDD	. 2.5", SATA HDD 120GB
DDR2	. 1GB DDR2, 533 MHz

Cloudbook Max Announced

Ars Technica broke the news that Everex announced the 2nd-generation to follow the Cloudbook. The 10-incher they're calling the Cloudbook MAX is a bit larger than its older brethren. It does up the ante as well when it comes to connectivity. It will have an embedded mobile WiMAX chip which will allow access to Sprint's XOHM broadband service. Other hardware highlights would be the 1.6GHz VIA C7-M Processor ULV, 1GB DDR2 533MHz SDRAM (up to 2GB), 80GB Hard Disk Drive, 8.9"WVGA TFT Display (1024 x 600 supported). The unit will ship with Windows Vista Home Basic.

Ars Technica does caution that Everex may have jumped the gun when they announced this, as the Cloudbook MAX is set to launch sometime early 2009. I'm thinking along the same lines. I'm also wondering about their choice of operating systems for this unit. Vista would run slow on a machine this spartan. Wouldn't it make for a better user experience if they just ship it with an updated version (hence, snappier) of gOS Linux? We are talking of a 2009 launch date, so that may change with time.

UMPC's Hit the Philippines

On my way home I bought a copy of the latest PC Buyer's Guide. It's a month old, but as things go this magazine's always late to arrive on store shelves. Anyway, I was gladly surprised that local brands have been eagerly tailgaiting the success of the Asus Eee PC. They've come out with their own UMPCs.

I have been writing a lot about UMPCs lately because of my personal interest in low-power devices. I've always envied geeks in the US, specifically because new products frequently grace their shores earlier than Asian countries. The Asus Eee PC started a different trend, launching first in Taiwan, where Asus is considered as superstar computer company. And so it's success in the Philippines has opened the doors wide for other brands to get in on the UMPC bandwagon.

Two of these brands are Redfox and Astone. I've known Redfox for years. I started seeing motherboards under that brand as early as my freshman year in college. It was only after I built my first PC some 5 years ago that I realized that Redfox was actually a brand that went to ODMs and OEMs for the actual manufacture of their products. I've since used 2 Redfox motherboards and 1 Redfox ATX case to build machines. My current machine uses what's called the Biostar NF61S Micro in other countries. Astone is another brand that has successfully made a good break in the local PC and gadget market. I currently have an ATX case that's sold under their brand.

Now back to UMPCs. Redfox has 2 entries to the Philippine UMPC segment. The Wizbook 800 and the Wizbook. The specs are as follows:

WizBook 800

• Processor: AMD Geode LX700 L1 & L2 cache 128kb, 400Mhz
• Memory: 256 MB
• Hard Drive: 20GB Nandflash
• Display: 8" WXGA TFT Screen
• Lan: RJ-45
• Modem: 802.11b/g wireless PCMCIA slot
• Battery: 2200mAh
• Weight: Under 1.2 Kg
• Other : SD/MMC/MS CARD reader, DC in 12V, 2xUSB slot, microphone input

WizBook

• Processor: AMD Geode LX800 L1 & L2 cache 128kb, 500Mhz
• Memory: 512 MB
• Hard Drive: 60GB Nandflash
• Display: 10.2" WXGA TFT Screen
• Lan: RJ-45
• Modem: 802.11b/g wireless PCMCIA slot
• Battery: 2200mAh
• Weight: Under 1.2 Kg
• Other : SD/MMC/MS CARD reader, DC in 12V, 2xUSB slot, microphone input

Astone's entry is interestingly an ODM version of the Everex Cloudbook. They've chosen to call it the using a rather boring misnomer "Astone UMPC". Feature for feature, it's relatively the same as the Cloudbook except for one minor detail -- Astone's UMPC has a touchscreen. That feature was omitted from the Cloudbook even if that was a feature in the reference design that Via had from the ODM (more about the differences in a previous post).

• Processor: VIA C7-M ULV 1.2Ghz (FSB400) on-board
• Chipset: VX700
• Graphics: integrated VX700
• Audio: VT1708A, with 2 internal 1.5W built-in speaker
• Memory: 1GB DDR 667
• HDD: 30GB (1.8" HDD)
• Monitor: 7" LCD Touch Screen with Handwriting capability, WVGA 800x400
• LAN: 10 Base-T/100 Base TX LAN
• Bluetooth: Yes, USB interface
• Modem: none
• Wireless LAN: Yes, IEEE 802.11b/g, USB 2.0 mini card
• Battery: 4-cell 2200mAh
• I/O: DVi-I, USB 2x, mic-in/Array Mic 1x, Headphone out/Line-out 1x, RJ45 1x
• Webcam: Yes, built-in 0.3MP Camera
• Card Reader: Yes, 4-in-1 (for SD, MMC, MS, MS Pro)
• Dimension: 9.1" x 6.7" x 1.16" (230x171x29.4mm)
• Weight: 0.97kg

The Wizbook 800 is priced at Php 17,000 on the street. The 10.2" Wizbook foes for about Php 3,000 more. Now the Astone UMPC is priced a bit more heftier at Php 24,000. All do not ship with an OS, which in the Philippines translates to something like, "humiram ka ng CD sa kaibigan mo". Now some may interpret that as illegal, unless what you're talking about is getting an Ubuntu CD. Go get Ubuntu if your planning on getting one of these babies. And do me a favor and hint me in on how they run on Linux! :-)

HP Mini-Note (HP 2133) Released

PC World had posted a product review of the HP 2133. The rest of blogosphere was quiet though. I barely managed to find a press release. I've been watching out for the release of this product because it belongs to a new class of computing hardware. These devices (UMPC's and net-connected devices) optimize power consumption, portability and cost. I was surprised that there wasn't much press about the launch. Oh, well. It's the Engadget effect. They break news about upcoming products that by the time the thing actually launches the hype is almost over.

It's listed on Amazon.com now, by the way: Mini-Note PC C7-M 1.2GHz 120GB