Speaking of slate UMPCs, how’s the design of this one?
OK, last slate post of the day as I try to keep the form factor alive. 
JKK of jkkmobile shot me a note this morning and he shares a slate concept design that he put together. In fact, this looks to be the beginning of a design series, so you might want to stay tuned for more.JKK envisions a relatively powerful tablet when compared to today’s traditional UMPCs. He’s thinking Intel Core 2 Solo CPU, 2 GB of RAM (I agree!), 120 GB hard drive, and seven-inch 1024 x 600 screen. The overall design is simple, elegant and looks very functional in my opinion. Unfortunately, I don’t think the market will support it. I’ve stayed silent on the “death of the slate UMPC” meme but for what it’s worth: slate UMPCs are a niche within a niche today. That could surely change, but the momentum has moved away from such a device, not towards it. That said, I’d be thrilled to see a device similar to what JKK has dreamed up.
GOOD! big processor, big memory, big disk
BAD! lots of power needed
ERGO: low battery life or BIG battery – heavy, awkward possibly
Neat concept but current battery technology scares me
..wiley
NW Houston
Well, while the high-powered slates are taking a hit right now, I think that in the long run, new technologies like Nokia’s Haptikos and the public interest in the iPhone may translate out to later improvements in technologies and interfaces that could benefit the slate tablet form factor unintentionally. Battery is a big concern, but hiding a big battery underneath a keyboard won’t work forever, which seems to be the current solution: “If the battery is too big, make it a convertible!” I think there’s hope for the slate form factor yet, but it may be Apple rumors and niches-within-niches for awhile still.
I’d say that looks simple and effective, not too many buttons, not too few. The only thing that worries me is the size, in the picture it looks like a machine that is big, but I think its just my perception. If the screen was say 7-8.5 inches, we’d have a winner
The only other concern is the battery life
how long will it go?!?
Still can’t help thinking that the ideal slate is a PDA form factor still waiting in the wings.
- 125mm X 62mm X 13mm
- 125mm (diag) transflective touch screen at the 1024 X 600 resolution
- Faster lean instruction set variable processor 600MHZ or better
- SSD secure data storage @ 32GB+
- 2 additional non interference SD slots (of some size TBD, more below)
- A/V out by way of a single standard port
- Transparent secondary display using embedded light sensing with positive feedback incorporated into a flip out/over/around cover that does yeoman work protecting the main display, keyboard, game pad, scanner for fingerprint recognition, business card OCR, cam P/U with lens, etc…
- Single non proprietary host/device interface charging port be it mini/micro/Mickey USB port
- Broad wireless support by way of incorporated module to fit local conditions – bring on the SD wireless/GPS/radio rcvr solutions, more please
- Honk’n battery pack that may be substituted for consumer battery options
- IR, One Remote to Rule them All Hahahahahahahahaha
Sounds like a load but each of the design elements and required components exist or are already in the pipeline.
The combined form factor is starting to gel with products like the N810, 7510 and more recent mobile phone and PDA offerings.
The large form factor vertical market slate is not dead, just not popular for obvious reasons.
i wanna see more of a slate tablet pc that is 12″~14″ and in widescreen as well
soda