HP UMPC coming this spring?

Over a seafood dinner with HP management last Friday, the PC maker offered more than just aorta-clogging cuisine. In an informal chit-chat session, we learned that HP is readying its first UMPC which may hit the market in late spring.

Spec-wise, it disclosed… absolutely nothing. But digging deeper between the lines, we suspect the company’s maiden voyage into this niche segment is likely to be competitively priced, much like the ASUS Eee PC. In fact, according to one HP staff, “you won’t even need to consider this purchase. You’ll buy it like a handphone without a thought”. At this price range, we reckon it is unlikely to be a convertible tablet PC like the LifeBook U1010. Claiming that its UMPC will address several issues plaguing the current crop of pocketable portables, we were told that one of the key areas of improvement will be in battery life, though again no specific numbers were mentioned.

HP staffers also mentioned that this product has great potential as a lifestyle accessory, catering to professionals as well as youths. Again, we read between the lines that it is likely to be exceptionally portable and no larger than 10 inches. In the personalization department, the Palo Alto company mentioned laptop skins, so it may be possible that HP may offer custom skins for its first UMPC.

The only thing for certain is that HP is gearing for an official launch within the next few months. So for those of you contemplating a UMPC, you may want to wait just a little longer.

Thanks to CNet Asia

Asus Eee PC 901 is just 15 days away…

Revealed just yesterday,
the Intel Atom-powered Asus Eee PC 901 is expected to be launched at
Computex on June 3rd, on the same day MSI is set to release its Wind
low-cost notebooks. Featuring a little bit of bling courtesy of some
metal inserts and Bluetooth support, but basically the same hardware
specs (Atom excluded), the Eee PC 901 is said to retail at about $650
or $649 in its Windows XP version. The 901’s cost is $100 higher than
that of the Celeron M-boasting Eee PC 900 so the “low-cost”
characteristic is already dead and gone. Hopefully the Eee PC 901 with
Linux pre-installed will be cheaper.

News source: Asus Eee PC 901

Will Developers Turn the iPhone Into a Gaming Platform?

Is Apple finally getting serious about games? Could be. When Apple unveiled its platform for letting outside developers create software for the iPhone and iPod touch last week, some of the first programs shown were games from Electronic Arts and Sega. More game developers seem likely to hop on the Apple cart, since the iPhone and its cousin the iPod touch are both tremendously popular and fairly powerful mobile computers. What’s really cool is that the games won’t be sold on traditional cartridges or discs, but will be available solely as downloadable files.

iPhone’s Future Has No Room for Small Minds

Now that the Apple iPhone has full enterprise support and an amazing business model that developers will flock to, those with feet of clay and small minds are dragging out every possible excuse to avoid one core idea: The iPhone is the best smartphone on the planet, and it’s going to become a major force in the mobile phone world. It’s like watching kids squirm when they don’t want to take a bath before bedtime. What’s being noticed now is that Apple is winning big and that the iPhone is poised to become the next major mobile computing platform.

Details on Archos 606, SFR 3G+ plan revealed

We’d already heard about Archos’ deal with France’s SFR to build 3G+ into upcoming players, but the folks at PC INPact have now turned up what appears to be some of the firmest details yet of those plans, and the first player to support ‘em. That player is supposedly the Archos 606, which is described as being the same size as the Archos 605, but with a screen 1-2 centimeters bigger and a casing that’s entirely black (it’s also said to boast a 30GB hard drive). Unfortunately, there’s no official pictures of the device just yet, but the folks at Archos Lounge have put together the mockup above to feed the speculation in the meantime. As for SFR’s plans, it’ll apparently offer three different subscription options coming in at €14.90, €19.90, and €29.90 a month ($22 to $46), each of which will let you purchase the device for €249, €199, or €149 ($380, $305, or $230), respectively, or you can simply the player without a plan for €290, or about $460.

Warm up those thumbs, Logitech’s diNovo Mini is now shipping

Logitech’s diNovo Mini Bluetooth thumboard is finally ready to rock your living living room with its QWERTY keys, dashing looks, awkward translucent lid and unadulterated convenience. You can now pick it up from your favorite online retailer for about $150, and use it with your PC, PS3 or just for pretend.

100,000 SDK Downloads Foretell Glut of iPhone Apps

Three months ahead of its official launch, the test version of iPhone’s Software Development Kit is luring developers by the thousands — tens of thousands, actually. More than 100,000 developers downloaded the beta version of the iPhone 2.0 software, which bears the enterprise-supporting SDK, in the first four days it was available, Apple said Wednesday. Reaction to the launch has been “incredible,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of worldwide product marketing.