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