Right USB for UMPC

The one thing I hated most about USB cables since laptops, and more recently mobile PCs were invented, was the need for such long bits of cable at the connector side. I have looked and looked for a solution to turn the cable at right angles but never felt happy with what I saw or found�until now that is.

Recently I found the �Wapy Gender� USB kit. Now I know the name is awful but the product is to die for. There are two in a pack (left and right) and both rotate their little USB port clockwise and anticlockwise. What this means is that the options are endless for mounting USB devices now and the cables can be neatly removed away from the perpendicular eye saw we are so accustom to!

SWEET!!!

My Q1U gets HSDPA

Excitedly I have just got my Q1U-V back from an engineer friend�the welding, bending, mending type of angineer, and I am happy to report that it is HSDPA enabled now!

Now for some of you this may sound like a bit of a �what tha!� but for me it is very exciting as the Samsung Q1U has never been available in Australia with the HSDPA chip. Why you might ask? Well the reason is that we have our own very very stringent set of Telecommunications Standards Downunder called the A-Tick. Not only does this A-Tick Standard have to be passed, but it seems as though without the might of one of the �big boys� behind you (Telcos) you won�t even get the A-Tick any way. The only workaround therefore is to retro fit a locally an A-Ticked modem to the Samsung after it lands in the Country�and that�s just what we did.

The modem is the Sierra mini PCI Express HSDPA modem. It works perfectly and I must admit it makes the Q1U a entirely different experience (in a good way).

Naked Q1U with HSDPA modem (Middle/Top)

Merry Christmas and Happy 2008

Dear uberTablet Family,





It is awesome having you guys and girls with me. I look forward to providing lots of fun (and info) in 2008 and wish the best for you, your families and loved ones.





I am pumped for an exciting year ahead of UMPC action and will do everything humanly possible to tell it "my way"! We will speak soon!

My Sydney, Australia!

Some people have all the Christmas'

Man this week has been fun...and then this! I must have been nice this year! (not Naughty!)

WiBrain...Why Brain??? Unboxing video soon...

OQO with HSDPA and SSD in Australia

I�ve been blessed more often than I care to remember with great devices, by great manufacturers. I�ve had several �first of� in the World but I am afraid none of them (maybe the HTC Shift comes close) were as exciting as this. Obviously I am ont first in the world but first in Australia/New Zealand is good enough for me given that�s where I spend my time.

Given that I have decided NOT to use a HTC Shift as my primary device then this delivery by the FedEX man is e2xcellent! LOL. The OQO e2 has been my favorite UMPC for some time but now with the addition of a 32GB Solid State Disk (SSD) and HSDPA (3G) I am a total convert.

Today, arriving ahead of schedule I might add, I received my OQO e2 and yes it is the SSD model, yes it has HSDPA, and as I like it�it is the Vista Business!!! So stay tuned while I get to know her this weekend and feedback on my thoughts. For now I can tell you that the 1.6GHz (improvement over the 1.5 GHz) VIA processor, and SSD combo, is noticeably faster than my previous 02.

I�m in geek eutopia!

HSDPA SSD OQO doing its thing

...with Mr. 02 watching nervously!

NB. I know many of you will ask so here is why I did not go for the Shift:

• Battery life in Vista POOR
• There is no way to communicate between Windows Mobile 6 and Vista, i.e. when my emails come in, and get replied to, on WM6 the process does not get duplicated on Windows Vista. POOR.
• The device is portable but I am starting to believe that these bigger devices struggle to be considered mobile�(thoughts???)

There�s more but I will leave it for another post.

32GB SSD HDD for my Slate

Scary pyjama pants I know!

Being a geek is not a choice, it�s a way of life. As I contemplate not geeking out I often find myself philosophising about my next geekish quest. Inadvertently what I create is a conundrum of �do I?� or �don�t I�?� If ask my wife she would probably have a very certain point of view. If I ask your partner we would probably get the same. The fact remains however that once you�ve been bit, you�ve been bit!

What�s my latest infection? SSD!

While I sit here waiting for my SSD HSDPA OQO I have managed to obtain a 2.5� SATA 32GB SSD Hard Drive made by Transcend. The part number is: TS32GBSSD25S. The fact that the SSD HDD is SATA, and the fact that it is 2.5� (and not the UMPC friendly 1.8�) means that I have decided to trial it in my TabletKiosk i440D Slate PC. As shown here.

I�ll keep you posted on my thoughts. As we speak I have removed the spinning HDD the Sahara came with and holding the two in hand feels remarkably different. One of them, with all its shinny bits and pieces feels solid and valuable, the other, with its plastic and veneers feels lifeless and cheap. (Truth be told the later should be far more impressive than anything I have ever explored.)

Still Q1U-ing around town

Living in a 5� world is a rewarding experience. Coming down from a 12.1� wide screen Tablet PC (my Toshiba R400) there are obvious losses in productivity but ultimately the gains far outweigh this. I still remember traveling in June this year and feeling confident with my decision to go small; and this time was no different.

As I lay in my Hotel for the night I surfed from the lounge chairs, from the bed, from the mini bar and even from the toilet (you know you�re guilty of it too). On this occasion however I did not plug in an external keyboard but rather I chose to use the keyboard on my OQO only, which proved to be more than OK.

Thinking back on this road trip there were some memorable UMPC moments which predominantly revolved around visiting with the Brisbane SBS User Group. It was a great opportunity to meet some of the local fanatics and impart some of my stuff too. I rocked up with no less than eight UMPC ranging from OQO to EVERUN, and Q1U to SunPad. The "funnest" moment was when I was showcasing the Q1U�s multi camera array. Here is the photo I took using the Q1U:

Photography: Samsung Q1U-V

So I am back in Sydney now and getting to know all the UMPC I missed while I was away. I am spending plenty of time with the Fujitsu U1010 and am getting particularly fond of the SunPad too. My next trip is to Adelaide (but there may even be a New Zealand trip too) all before Christmas. So I will do what I can to find relevant info to share.

LUV YAs