Samsung prepping Q1 Ultra for May

Alrighty, we've got ourselves a release window for the Q1 Ultra; Samsung's busting this thing out in May, which means we have about a month to figure out if we're willing to sacrifice the slickness of the onscreen keyboard foisted upon us by 1st generation UMPCs with the actual convenience of being able to type. While that added width might look a tad frumpy, what's clear is that the specs and connectivity here are enough to melt the hardest of hearts -- for instance, that 1024 x 600 LED backlit LCD isn't going to hurt anyone's feelings. As it so happens, May will mark the one year anniversary of the Q1, oh how time flies when you're stuck in unproductive tablet / handheld limbo.

[HighDef Edition @ Apr 20th 2007 2:59PM]

Oh may Gosh. That thing looks sweet. I'm looking around for stuff that I could sell to be able to afford this in may.
Sadly :) my only option is becoming a Male Gigalo - so I'm lookig for a few good women.

[theChad @ Apr 20th 2007 3:00PM]

It's about time. I was wondering if we were ever going to see any of these new devices, or be stuck with the first gen while Intel was perpetually improving upon the platform.

[Bob E @ Apr 20th 2007 3:06PM]

I bought the first Q1 and was able to dump it on eBay as soon as I heard this was coming out...

My credit card is waiting for Q1 Ultra!

Thank you Samsung

[Rick Ludwig @ Apr 20th 2007 4:46PM]

Sorry to gripe about pricing, but a year ago we were all disappointed by the pricing. Intel came out and basically said "Prices are in the $1000 range now, but they'll be half that in a year."

Well, as Engadget pointed out, it's the 1 year anniversary, and still the lowest price UMPC is $899.

I'm not expecting a $300-400 model, but how about at least a nice $600 model? For the price of the current UMPCs I can get a full Tablet PC!!

[Brandson @ Apr 20th 2007 4:57PM]

For people excited about UMPC's I'm curious how do you plan to use one? They seem a bit too big to fit in a pocket and have batteries that don't last much longer than laptops. I guess if you're just carrying one around with a portable keyboard to take notes in classes, it could work since they are far lighter and smaller than the average laptop, but the tiny screen might be a bit tough to read after the 3rd hour of class. And you can't really play games on them. I'm not trying to bash them, cause they're obviously not supposed to be laptop or desktop replacements, I just want to know how they're typically used.

[Zo @ Apr 20th 2007 7:07PM]

UMPC are not for everyone. In my case I travel for business and usually just need Email, Word, PowerPoint and Excel as well as a GPS. UMPC's like OQO 02 are small enough to fit in a shirt pocket and get 6hrs of battery life with the extended battery. They are fine as DAP and most can play some less pixel intense games. A bluetooth fold up keyboard and mouse work when I am in meetings. GPS gets me around town and Outlook gives me all my contacts. That is how I use it. I have a friend who is an insurance claims adjuster and armed with a camera and his UMPC he is good to go all day.

[Cedric @ Apr 20th 2007 4:58PM]

For anyone who wonders who the girl is, she's Im Soo-jeong (http://www.hancinema.net/korean_Im_Soo-jeong.php), a Korean actress.

[Virtuous @ Apr 20th 2007 5:04PM]

I'm giving up on UMPCs. I already use Macs so I'll grab an iPhone when it's released.

[Jesse S @ Apr 20th 2007 8:52PM]

You do realize that the iphone has literally NO pda functions, no keyboard, no 3G...The list goes on and on.

[Virtuous @ Apr 20th 2007 11:03PM]

What do you mean no PDA functions? Calendar, contacts, email and web browsing are all standard features of the iPhone. Only some UMPCs come with integrated keyboards.

[Rick Ludwig @ Apr 20th 2007 5:09PM]

@Brandson

In today's world, Laptops are becoming desktop replacements, and the UMPC becomes the Laptop replacement. In other words, It's really about the portability of information on a mobile computer. My laptop is connected to an external monitor, an external disk drive and an external keyboard/mouse. I don't have a 'desktop' anymore. However, it gets tiresome connecting/unconnecting everything when I just want to have a computer with me when I go to a meeting, or go to Starbucks, or just want to surf the web in the living room instead of the office, or want to do simple Desktop tasks (that I would normally have the freedom to do on my laptop) without unhooking everything. Lazy? Partly, but it's a question of productivity and time (especially when you're working with 12 different apps open, then have to shut them down, eject all devices, set the screen back, unplug all devices and everything else, just to go to a half hour meeting where you need a electronic copy of a word document. The other part comes from having the package in a small, lite package that I don't need to carry a backpack for.

[Jill Mitchell @ Apr 23rd 2007 9:20AM]

I want one to hook up as my GPS in my car,
I want it for E-Mail / Internet use on Trips
and
I want it to download my pictures to on trips.
The fact that it's a real PC, and I could do some Photoshop work on my pictures while traveling is a bonus.
I think the Sony UX is too small, and this one without a kbd at all was a bit tricky (so I took it back), I WANT THIS ONE, and I WANT IT SOON !!!

[demo @ Apr 20th 2007 9:06PM]

Maybe it's just me, but doesn't that man look JUST like satoru iwata?

[John @ Apr 20th 2007 9:09PM]

It's too bad the full article this is linked to is on a website that requires paid memebership to view anything.

[Jeff Lewis @ Apr 21st 2007 7:58AM]

You can't seriously compare an iPhone to a PDA, let alone to a UMPC.

The iPhone is a phone with a browser and some minimal PDA functions - like a very basic Treo with less software. But UNLIKE a Treo, you can't just go out and write your own apps; Apple's made it very clear they're going to tightly control who gets to make software for the iPhone, going so far as to say that they'll let third-party developers develop software FOR THEM.

Meanwhile, over on the PDA side, PalmOS and Windows Mobile lets anyone develop what they want, which has led to a rich ecosystem of applications in almost every category. With the merging of PDA and phone functions - people can write phone voice and data applications that extend the capability of these PDA/Phones in almost any direction desired. The Symbian 60, 90 and UIQ environments allow the growing range of Symbian based smartphones to do the same.

Windows Mobile supports .Net Compact Framework that allows for fast, easy and reliable development of applications.

Simply put - the iPhone may end up being a nice phone - but it's no PDA, at least not by modern standards.

And that's just the PDA side.

UMPCs run Windows XP or Windows Vista. Other similar slate devices such as the Nokia line of internet slates run Linux. These are also wide open for development, and in the case of the UMPC, you're running the full Windows environment, which means you can run almost any off the shelf Windows app.

Much like Windows Mobile, Windows Tablet PC software makes using a slate very effective even without a keyboard. The handwriting recognition is amazing and even if you don't want to use that, there are lots of apps for Tablet PC that let you run in pure ink mode. Since this is a full Windows PC, it's easy to find compact, lightweight USB keyboards to use then you need to do a lot of entry.

But the model for these devices isn't to be your main computer - it's to be the light, compact system you take with you all the time. It's not going to fit in your pocket (although some are actually small enough that they will), but it will fit into your shoulder bag or pack pack without destroying your back or taking up the entire space.

The iPhone doesn't even exist in this domain. If Apple were to come out with a small, tablet form factor Mac, then we'd be talking competition, but the iPhone is like the iPod - tons of hype, lots of style, somewhat less substance - and surprisingly for a company so acclaimed for 'innovation' - behind the curve on features.

[Virtuous @ Apr 21st 2007 3:06PM]

The iPhone should fullfill my basic mobile needs as well as or better than any current smartphone. My basic needs consist of email, web browsing, PDF viewing and Office document viewing. None of the devices I currently own completely satisfies my needs. I rotate between a T-Mobile MDA, Treo 600, Sony Clie NX-70V and Nokia N-Gage QD.

I can compare the iPhone with any device I choose to.

[Norman @ May 1st 2007 5:30AM]

Three Questions
1 What is the correct name for this UMPC? Samsung Q1 Ultra Utra Mobile Personal Computer! Samsung have confussed the issue by not giving this version a new name. They now have three other flavours of the old Q1 in the stores.
2 Will the new Q1 Ultra UMPC fit into the existng Q1 UMPC external Key Board?
3 Will the new Q1 Ultra UMPC fit into the old Q1 UMPC Organizer?

[carcomptoy @ May 7th 2007 2:40PM]

Um the iPhone can't read PDA files, nor can it read much less edit Office documents.

[Don\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'t Panic! @ Apr 23rd 2007 11:08AM]

The external USB keyboard will work fine but the Organizer case should not work because while there is an extra inch on either side of the current Q1 models when snapped into the current case the snaps are not adjustable so the wider Q1 Ultra wouldn;t fit without some modding. I'm not even going to attempt to clarify the naming convention here but if I did I'd say you were right Norman.

[Don't Panic! @ Apr 23rd 2007 3:50PM]

I was wrong about the width. According to UMPCPortal the Q1 Ultra is the same width as the current Q1 models. The diffence is in height and depth.

Q1: 228/140/27 mm w/h/d
Q1 Ultra: 228/124/24 mm w/h/d

I'm pretty sure the 3 mm depth difference wouldn't cause a problem with the naps but the 16 mm height difference will definitely cause an issue.

[Dennis C @ May 1st 2007 8:41PM]

Here it is 1 May any word on the Ultra in the wild? I stopped yesterday on the way home at a Best Buy and they didn't have any. The young man wasn't aware of any in back waiting for release.

[Dennis C @ May 4th 2007 7:11PM]

I'm hearing the release is next week. Can anyone confirm?

[Tom @ Jun 26th 2007 11:25PM]

I think they meant May 2008!