It’s funny how the mobile space goes — UMPCs hit the scene a couple of years ago and then all but died out. This year has seen a resurgence in the UMPC segment and today comes word from one of the first companies to produce them of two new models. TabletKiosk is introducing additions their long-running eo line, the a7330D and the TufTab a7230xd, both of which become available in October.

These two models are bringing some new life into the UMPC space with new components. They both have the Intel Atom onboard, which is not that unusual these days. What sets them apart from the pack, however, is the inclusion of dual digitizers. Both of these new UMPCs have both a resistive touch digitizer along with an active digitizer for pen use.

Both of these new UMPCs from TabletKiosk are available for pre-order, but the new features will not come cheap. The a7330D will set you back a cool $1,495 and the ruggedized TufTab $2,195. Tabletkiosk is aiming these UMPCs at vertical businesses, so they are not priced for the consumer market.

The ThinkPad x200 Tablet from Lenovo is the company’s first foray into the world of double digitizers. The x200 has both a Wacom active digitizer that works with a special pen for inking on the screen, and a two-finger touch digitizer for direct manipulation of the interface. Windows 7 has special features for touch input and Lenovo has pre-installed Windows 7 Pro on the x200 I am evaluating.

In the video you’ll see a brief tour around the convertible notebook, along with a demonstration of using the x200 in slate mode with touch. I show eReader for e-books, Zinio for reading magazines and the uBoard keyboard for quick text entry via touch.

Rumors about the alleged tablet from Apple are so rampant that the latest has it being made by Microsoft. Just kidding, of course, as it’s highly unlikely that Jobs would trust the Apple tablet to the folks in Redmond. What is being hinted at is a new tablet that is being prepared by Microsoft, overlooking the fact that they are the inventors of the Tablet PC. They don’t even talk about the Tablet PC, anymore, but who are we to question if they are going to make a new, popular model? I can see the commercials now — “I’m an iPad, I’m a TC.”

Forget the fact that MS doesn’t make mobile gadgets; well, there is that ZuneHD thing. The rumor has the company advertising for a new product manager who will help bring a tablet with Surface technology to the market. Multitouch, anyone?

The rumors about MS-branded hardware don’t end there. The not-so-secret project codenamed “Pink”, has MS still supposedly working on two smartphones under their own brand. Sure, they said they wouldn’t do it but who believes MS, anyway? Besides, if Microsoft won’t make Windows Mobile phones, who will?

I am having a good time running Windows 7 on a number of devices, but one of the things I miss from previous versions of Windows is how to optimize the interface for the small screen. I have been struggling in Windows 7, on touch-enabled devices in particular, due to the inability to make the scroll bars and other windows controls bigger. The min/max/close boxes on windows are just too tiny to tap with my finger on touch devices, and the scroll bars need to be wider to be useful. While surfing around the web this past weekend I stumbled across a free method to make these controls work much better with touch.

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Switching between ink and touch is seamless and useful. I heart this Tablet PC.

* Written on a Lenovo x200 TabletPC with multitouch.

I admit I opened up a can of worms when I voiced my opinion that a slate form is required for multitouch on a notebook to provide much benefit. The folks at Lenovo were listening and sent me the ThinkPad x200 Tablet PC to prove it. The x200 they sent me is the convertible notebook / Tablet PC that has a dual digitizer. The active digitizer works with the included pen for writing on the screen and the capacitive touch digitizer lets you work directly on the screen with fingertips. I’ve only had the x200 in my hands (literally) for a few hours but I feel safe to say it is the best Tablet PC I have used to date.

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It must be multi-touch week in the notebook world as another new one hits the street. Fujitsu has launched the LifeBook T5010, a convertible Tablet PC with a multi-touch screen. This must be a record —  it’s been ages since there have been two Tablet PCs announced at the same time. The T5010 doesn’t have sophisticated multi-touch like the Lenovo x200, it only senses two finger touches at the same time, while the x200 can sense four. That’s just nitpicking, however, as the T5010 is also a full Tablet PC like the x200.

The 13.3-inch Tablet PC is available with Windows Vista until October 22, after which it can be outfitted with Windows 7. It’s not cheap, starting at $1,759, but multi-touch Tablet PCs are never cheap. It is definitely looking like Tablet PC makers have been waiting for Windows 7 to get closer to release to get these dual digitizer-equipped devices out the door.

We don’t hear a lot of Tablet PC news these days but Lenovo has stepped into the void. They are adding a multi-touch option to the x200 Tablet PC and the T400s notebook. The x200 is also adding an outdoor screen option to make working outside possible with the Tablet PC.

Lenovo has been gracious enough to send me a loaner T400s with the new multi-touch screen and it is pretty impressive. It is possible to manipulate objects on the screen with four fingers, and two people can even touch the screen in a collaborative effort to make things happen. I’ll be covering this advanced multi-touch in the near future.

The new x200 and T400s will be available with Windows 7 to support the multi-touch features in October. They will be priced starting at $1,999 and $1,654 for the T400s and x200, respectively.

While the Gigabyte TouchNote T1028x convertible netbook hit other markets a while back, it’s just now finding its way to American shores. Brad Linder from Liliputing offers not one, but two videos that highlight this touchscreen convertible. The obligatory unboxing happens first, followed a device overview sequel. No word on whether or not Brad is aiming for a trilogy, but I suspect we’ll see more of this device in the future.

Although some might balk at the $698 price tag, I remember it wasn’t but a few years ago that a slightly smaller Fujitsu P1600 device would set you back more than $2,000. Aside from the price difference, Fujitsu offered stellar palm rejection software which made for a usable Tablet PC — no such inclusion on the T1028x, but it does offer a higher 1366×768 resolution.

Some might appreciate the ExpressCard/34 slot in addition to the usual port suspects. The keyboard looks quite nice in terms of size and layout as well, but personally, I’m no fan of mouse buttons to the sides of the trackpad. I’m looking forward to seeing how much run-time Brad can get from the T1028x with its massive 7650mAh battery that sticks out the back of the device.

Another Apple tablet rumor hit today, but this one offers an interesting twist. Scott Moritz believes that such a device will be subsidized by Verizon Wireless. AT&T’s network is struggling to keep up with the many Apple iPhone devices using it — Apple just reported another 5.2 million iPhones sold in the last fiscal quarter. If I were a decision-maker at Apple, I’d be keenly aware of how AT&T’s capacity woes reflect on my product. Luckily, I don’t need to be telling Apple what they already know. Why else might they be looking at another carrier for a web-capable product?

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