Hasta La Gadget!

For those who’ve been dwelling on this planet long enough, you might just remember a category of mobile computers by the name of UMPCs. In particular, think Sony’s VAIO UX, the OQO devices and the elusive xpPhone. Alas, those Windows devices were — and probably still are — well ahead of their time no thanks to their battery life, bulkiness and sometimes cost; though for some bizarre reason, Fujitsu begs to differ. In fact, said company took one step further and released a hybrid device in Japan: the LOOX F-07C, a QWERTY slider phone that can switch between Symbian and Windows 7 at a click of a button. Interesting combination, right? Read on to find out how this weird device fares in real life.

Continue reading Fujitsu LOOX F-07C review

Fujitsu LOOX F-07C review originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 26 Aug 2011 10:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sony’s VAIO UX UMPC may have been a bit of a tough sell at $2,500 back in its heyday, but those still hanging onto one (or able to find one cheap) do now at least now have plenty of mods to consider if they’re looking to breath a bit of new life into the device. One of the latest is this makeshift contraption from YouTube user pochowandpoch, who cut a PS3 controller down to size and attached it directly to the UMPC — perhaps to tide him over until the PlayStation Vita. Great for typing or web browsing? Not so much. But it’s certainly far better than a touchscreen or pint-sized keyboard for a game of Metal Slug. Head on past the break for a trio of videos.

Continue reading Modder attaches PS3 controller to VAIO UX UMPC, forgoes PlayStation Certification

Modder attaches PS3 controller to VAIO UX UMPC, forgoes PlayStation Certification originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 19 Jul 2011 18:52:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jonney Shih has never been one to back down from his stance on anything, and in a recent sit-down with IDG News Service, the ASUS chairman delivered quite a few nuggets worth poring over. For starters, he played up (and subsequently downplayed) a “secret weapon” that would likely rival the iPad 2, but wouldn’t go so far as to confirm that said weapon would actually be a slate. His response to prying? “I think it’s best not to say now. You will have to wait until the launch.” He also noted that personal cloud computing was poised to boom, and didn’t leave much hope for the likes of webOS and QNX — he claims that there is only room for three OS camps to win, and those three slots are already occupied with Windows, Android and iOS. Finally, he took the opportunity to fling water on the 3DTV buzz, noting that he “doesn’t think that will prevail.” He did leave open the possibility for glasses-free options in handhelds to succeed, but beyond that, it’s safe to say he’s not much of a 3D advocate. Hit the source link for the full skinny, but don’t go digging for any extra details on his iPad 2 killer — something tells us you’ll be sorely disappointed.

ASUS chairman Jonney Shih promises ‘secret weapon’ to rival iPad 2, disses 3DTVs originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 04 Feb 2011 12:52:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Remember Panasonic’s Toughbook CF-U1? Yeah, so it’s been a while (2008, in fact) since it was unveiled and then reviewed, which is exactly why Panny thought the time had come to update the rugged UMPC. Its Toughbook U1 has the same magnesium alloy chassis — we’re told it’s still the most rugged Toughbook of them all — but has been updated with “enhanced sunlight viewability.” It’s no PixelQi display, but the TransflectivePlus screen can be cranked up to 6000 nits for checking e-mails and other pertinent information in the bright light of day. Internally, the U1 has acquired a newer 1.6GHz Atom Z530 processor, 2GB of RAM, and a larger 64GB SSD with Windows 7. The optional two megapixel front-facing camera has also been tweaked with better auto-focus and white balance features. However, the updates aren’t just hardware-based: screen icons have been enlarged, and there’s a new virtual right click button and larger virtual keyboard with a zoom mode. Of course, military grade doesn’t come cheap — the street price has been set at whopping $2,799. That still makes it one of the most expensive Atom device out there, but then again can you really put a price on something that’s Rammer-resistant? We didn’t think so.

Continue reading Panasonic Toughbook U1 gets new sunlight-viewable screen, still solid to its Atom core

Panasonic Toughbook U1 gets new sunlight-viewable screen, still solid to its Atom core originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 23 Sep 2010 09:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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At this point Toshiba’s dualscreen Libretto W105 shouldn’t need much of an introduction — or at least after glancing at the picture above we figure it won’t. It looks like a laptop straight out of the future. And it kind of is. It’s the sort of clamshell gadget we’ve seen rendered and rendered for years, but that’s never made it to market… until now that is. In celebration of Toshiba’s 25 years in the laptop business, the company’s gotten bolder than ever, and it hasn’t just created a gadget with two seven-inch capacitive touchscreens, but it’s actually brought it to market. Sure, it’s only available for a very limited run, and at a lofty $1,100, only die-hard gadget geeks are bound to fork over the cash. That said, it’s still one of the most intriguing devices we’ve seen all year, and that’s saying something. And it’s even more compelling when you consider that packs the parts of a 12- or 13-inch ultraportable, including an Intel Pentium processor, 2GB of RAM and a 64GB SSD and also runs Windows 7. But that’s exactly what’s wrong with the Libretto — it looks like the future, but it’s held back by modern day laptop parts and software. We’ve spent quite some time with the W105 — we typed half of this review on the bottom screen! — so you’ll want to hit the break to find out just what we’re talking about.

Continue reading Toshiba Libretto W105 review

Toshiba Libretto W105 review originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 08 Sep 2010 12:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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