Has anyone seen this before? Its resemblance to Intel’s old T-swivel UMPC prototype and inclusion in a recent Korean article about the failings of UMPCs and MIDs, not to mention what sure looks like a small touchpad flanked by mouse buttons to me, suggest that the device is (at the very least) a UMPC/MID concept. And according to the image properties, which reveal that the photo was taken on June 3, the unit may have been mistaken for a bar of soap during Computex 2008 in Taipei. Other than that and what you can see for yourself in the picture, nothing else is known about the toyish-looking gadget.
If not for the touchpad and the UMPC/MID article, it would have been reasonable to assume that the device was a smartphone. It may still be one, of course, as that magnifying-glass symbol is probably where a Windows key should be, but your guess is as good as mine at this point.
Any ideas or a positive ID?
It does look large.
I’m pretty positive its a next-gen Sony Mylo.
The keyboard (plastic with letters underneath) is very Sony-like. The font of the keys is similar to that used on previous mylo’s and UMPC’s. And – its got a similar shape and size (when closed) as the mylo’s do now.
They currently come in black and white.
And that’s my call.
Hmm. I have both mylos (COM-1 and COM-2) and neither have raised plastic bubble-like letters like this. It does have a COM-1 look to it, but I’d be really surprised if the next mylo (if there is one) didn’t have a slider-style keyboard.
The touchpad is what really makes me think this has to be a UMPC/MID, as I can’t think of any device that has a touchpad but doesn’t have a full-blown Windows OS. Oh wait, the PocketSurfer2R has a touchpad…
That has got to be the most useless looking touchpad I have ever seen.
As for the device itself, it appears to be the illicit lovechild of a Centro, and HTC Modul, run over by a TI Scientific Calculator.
In short…ugly.
Z
I tried using Google Translate to translate the article from Korean. It’s too long to post here, but the gist of the article is that UMPCs are failing to sell because of the saturation of notebook computers and increasingly multi-functional cell phones in the market.
So we know with some certainty the mystery device must be a UMPC.
As for an ID on it, the only companies the article mentions directly are Samsung, LG, and Raon Digital so I’d say it’s either a current model or a prototype made by one of those three companies.
That Korean site was a repost of another article. I found the original article.
http://media.blogtimes.org/86
It’s definitely a prototype UMPC being shown at this Computex trade show in Taiwan.
No need to mince words, Z. Tell us how you really feel!
Nobody has notice about the Palm keyboard layout?
Search, symbols and custom keys are present´s, perhaps one of the Treo prototypes discarted or a new Palm OS NOVA device?
Who knows….
They took notice of that too at treocentral.com:http://treocentral.com/content/Stories/2235-1.htm
I highly doubt its a new Palm device, though we might see on January 8.
Anyway, the new n97 patent just posted about on Engadget is far more interesting to me.
http://www.engadget.com/2008/12/13/nokia-patent-app-suggests-n97s-form-factor-isnt-complicated-en/
I want the keyboard always available.
Links http://media.blogtimes.org/86
VA TE CATAAAAA….ELE EH GATU DEMAISSSSSS…=pp