SmartCaddie gets pricing, send off from Microsoft brass

Sure, the PBJ SmartCaddie may be nothing more than the Japanese version of the TabletKiosk eo (or is it the other way around?), but its official launch this week was reason enough for Microsoft to fly Bill Mitchell, father of the "ultramobile lifestyle PC" concept, out to Japan for the event. To drive the point home, Mitchell emphasized that the Japanese market is crucial to the success of the UMPC platform. Microsoft also showed off some homegrown apps for the Japanese market, including one designed to teach schoolchildren kanji, which will be tested this month with a group of third graders. As for the SmartCaddie itself, specs are in line with what we've already seen for the TabletKiosk, including a Via C7-M ULV at 1 GHz, 512MB RAM, 40GB hard drive and a thoroughly unimpressive battery life of 2.5 hours. The Japanese price will be ¥99,800 or about $848, putting it roughly in line with the TabletKiosk's $900 US price. Based on this and other pricing information we've seen, it seems safe to say that we're not going to see a first-gen UMPC for under $800, and that some will hit the market for over a grand, making Mitchell's dream of a $500 box something that will have to wait for future versions -- or Overstock.com if the platform doesn't make it past 1.0.

[pete7steps @ Apr 4th 2006 10:58AM]

I think this will miss the mark. I need disk-less webpad, along the lines of the Nokia770, but with about three times the screen real estate, more memory, an SD card slot and a $400 price tag. Then someone can develop a VNC client for it and I would have access to everything.

[Dale @ Apr 4th 2006 10:59AM]

Jeez . . what a bunch of goons. They are the only three people in the world who will ever be holding those DOA clunckboxes.

[Martin Jones @ Apr 4th 2006 11:53AM]

Pete7steps: I think you might be right. It's definatley going to be interesting to watch what happens.
We wrote an article about UMPC's and wether they'll take off or not on our site - http://www.hightechhomemag.com/blog.php?id=89

[tracy @ Apr 4th 2006 12:25PM]

pete7steps you are right, they need to think of it as an extension product rather than a whole new endpoint. i think all the storage should be on a flashdrive and it would boot from sd. then you can update/replace/clone the OS with absolute ease. no hard drive, no more than a 1ghz via ulv or maybe a geode but keep it cheap.

that guy on the right needs to lay off the morning martinis. and nothing says TOOL quite like pinstripes

[Mike @ Apr 4th 2006 12:33PM]

Which one is Bill Mitchell?

[Steve @ Apr 4th 2006 12:33PM]

Sad thing is, with pricing up near a grand, UMPC's will wither and die on the shelf for the most part. Sure the geeks might buy a few but for these things to be acceptable to the public in general, they need to be in the 500 dollar range and not a penny more. I know if I spending the kind of scratch they they want for these, I'm probably going to spend the extra few hundred and get a laptop. Too bad I was looking forwad to UMPC's as a handy tool to carry around, but not at almost $1000.

[Steve @ Apr 4th 2006 12:42PM]

Talk to me when these things are $500 which is about what they're worth. Pfft, almost a grand or more after taxes. Are they TRYING to make sure people don't buy UMPC,s or are they just stupid? Sure geeks and early adoptors might fork over for them but for someone like me, if I'm going to spend a grand then I'll just spend the extra few hundred and get a laptop. My guess is that they know that a $500 UMPC would kill the palm market, I mean why spen 4 or 500 on a crappy 4 gig Lifedrive when I can carry a whole XP PC? Call me crazy but I think that they're pricing these things right out of the market before they even get going.

[SPOT SUCKS @ Apr 4th 2006 12:43PM]

I think that Bill Mitchell is a smug jerk. Good job on the latest doorstop Bill!! This is the same guy that keeps pushing that great SPOT watch idea out there - "pay for information you are already getting".

This Smart Caddie reminds me an awful lot of the great Smart Display program. Another great idea from the mind of Bill Mitchell? What has he ever done that has been successful?? It seems that if this guy is attached to anything, it is the kiss of death.

I would agree that he is "the father of the ultramobile lifestyle PC" - if by "ultramobile" you mean that every project that he has been attached to has moved in and out of retail channels in record speed. Add this one to his ever growing list of accomplishments.

[calculusballer @ Apr 4th 2006 2:04PM]

Man, some of you are crabs today!

[detroityianni @ Apr 4th 2006 3:29PM]

the guy on the right looks like he just got a killer lapdance.

[Layne @ Apr 4th 2006 4:18PM]

The same ODM makes the TabletKiosk and PBJ, Inc. The TabletKiosk will be sold in the US and the PBJ, Inc will be sold in Japan.

[reefdiver @ Apr 4th 2006 9:27PM]

UMPC's are going to be a hit. Students will take them to school - much easier than a notebook that they refuse to carry. Novels and school books on UMPC's will be read on it (forget the dedicated book readers). Schools may actually start requiring them and do tests etc on them. There will be docking stations for your car -you'll have a navigation system, MP3 jukebox, maybe wireless skype phone ability, your grocery list, an external USB2 dvd player, and even USB radio's you can record from. Don't forget to plug it into the docking station by your bed where it can be an alarm clock and wake you up to the weather webstite.

[Brian @ Apr 4th 2006 9:49PM]

Watch this video http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/umpc/videos/umpc.asx If these are the best examples of the usage scenarios Microsoft can come up with, then this thing is doomed.

Watching the video, it looks like the UMPC is a device made for sitting around on your couch impressing your friends with a "cool gadget" that is a solution to a problem that doesn't exist.

[Bumpermeat @ Apr 5th 2006 11:11AM]

Brian's right. It's a solution to a problem that doesn't exist. Anyone remember web-pads? Weren't they supposed to be the greatest thing since sliced bread? And where are they now? In the dustbin of electronics history.

[Ima Pseudonym @ Apr 5th 2006 1:42PM]

Too expensive. May have a chance once they get down to $400 or so..

In most cases, the few buyers will be those who are willing to pay for both a laptop and one of these. Otherwise, usually a laptop for approximately the same price will be chosen.