Gigabyte MID M528. Very nice... 800mhz Atom. If it provides similar battery life to the N810 I think we have a winner. Ubuntu Mobile = Win

http://www.umpcportal.com/products/product.php?id=170

Just out of curiosity, have you actually used Ubuntu Mobile? I've been hearing from various people that it isn't really ready yet and that neither is Intel's Moblin. And yes, that Gigabyte MID looks really nice. If they can hit a similar battery life to the N8x0 and a reasonable price point they'll have a real winner on their hands I think. I'll believe that when I see it though...

I've used the Ubuntu Mobile interface. It's slow and flashy and nothing more to it, similar to the methodology that Canola2 delivers to us in terms of interface. It's rather hard to believe that an x86 device could deliver the same battery life at comparable settings.

There is a video at UMPC Portal. GUI interface does seem slow, and the web browser could not be demonstrated because site WiFi was down. Launch about June in Europe for about 700 Euros, with 4GB flash, GPS, a 3 MPixel camera, WiFi and 3G networking. There was no mention of battery life.

depending on speed and battery issues, I might be interested in it.

Personally I think this is shaping up pretty well. Those who have seen it say that it impresses more than the N810. Here is a longer video, mainly chat but lots of comments on the physical layout, keyboard quality, and so on.

http://www.umpcportal.com/modules/ne...p?storyid=1304

And it runs Mobile Ubuntu. Said already, I know, but worth repeating.

Ubuntu mobile really isn't done yet but I imagine it will progress faster than the glacial speed of IT OS. 2D and 3D hardware acceleration out of the gate, and power usage is down to 25mw at idle... Quite impressive.

I look forward to the Intel MIDs this year.

Yeah, but at 700 Euros? That's pricey. That's a little over $1000 USD. I don't think it's worth more than 2 N810s. Plus, it's not like 3G has great coverage all over the US yet, and it's certainly not at a price point I could afford, so that's not such a huge advantage from my perspective.

The reason I got an N810 was because of the excellent battery life, which beats the M528's estimated 3-4 hours, and it's actually pocketable. But it's already on the large side of pocketability, I wouldn't want to be driving around with anything larger than an N810 in my pocket. Then again I live in Arizona with its 117F summers and can't wear a jacket all year round with big pockets for my gadgets =P

I'm not worried about 3G coverage. I wont be playing high data-rate games, or doing anything along those lines, on my NIT-like device. For me, it's for those moments when I'm out but need to suddenly get access to my servers, or something along those lines. In that situation, 3G is a bonus, not a necessity. I'll be fine with EDGE for ssh and basic things.

Further, since I switched from an N800 to an N810, battery life is ... odd. I can start with 9days/6hours, leave it in the pelican case over night (shut down), and in the morning it's out of battery. And, where the N800 pretty routinely got the number of hours of battery life that it estimated, the N810 seems to never get that many hours of battery life.

Last, I haven't carried either of my NITs in a pocket. I'm too paranoid about it getting damaged if I bump into something a little too hard, it accidentally falling out, etc. So I carry mine in a Pelican case, and the Pelican case is in a Maxpedition bag. I'm pretty sure this device will fit that situation just fine :-)


But, what the intel MIDs have going for them are:

1) x86 compatibility (I know, that has some power issues, but it really does expand some horizons)
2) most seem to be using more generic Linux distributions (such as Ubuntu Mobile); as much as I like Maemo, I wish it was being adopted by more other organizations
3) when I look at the ergonomic choices that are being made in the physical design of most MIDs, compared to the N810, I like the MIDs better. Especially the EB MIMD ... I wish someone would just decide to manufacture that damn thing.

A bit more video action here
http://www.umpcportal.com/modules/ne...p?storyid=1323

Apart from a few built quality niggles concerning the slider keyboard action, this looks like it will be worth waiting for.

Me too, there was a video of a working model running VoIP very successfully, apart from that news has been very quiet.

Ubuntu Mobile should be worth waiting for too.