I had an appointment early this afternoon and once that was over I stopped in the local brew shop for some caffeine to get some work done. I decided small and light was the order of the day, so today I’ve got the loaner Viliv S7 convertible UMPC along for the ride. It’s working pretty well — I’m even getting used to the super-small keyboard. I am touch typing, although slowly and surely. I decided to snap a pic of the rig before the Droid decides to screw up the auto-focus again.

It’s not often these days that I get to write about a new slate tablet powered by Microsoft Windows, so I’m going to savor this for a while. I’m talking about the eviGroup Pad that Steve just added to the database over at UMPC Portal. I’d say the Pad is an evolutionary upgrade to the Samsung Q1UP that I still have, although that ol’ gal now runs Android 1.6 for the moment, not Windows. EviGroup’s Pad, selling for 599 euros ($885), is essentially composed of netbook guts tucked into a 10.6″ slate tablet with a 1024 x 600 resistive touchscreen. It runs Windows 7 Home Premium, so all of the Tablet PC functions are there, but it will be a challenge to use them effectively without an active digitizer. Here’s a rundown on the specs for those pining for an updated UMPC:

• Intel Atom N270 – 1.6GHz
• 1 GB of RAM in a single slot — it should take a 2GB memory module
• 2.5″ 160GB hard drive
• Integrated 802.11a/b/g Wi-Fi, 3G, but no Bluetooth (a huge omission, in my opinion)
• Microphone and 0.3-megapixel webcam
• Weight of 990 grams, or right around 2 pounds
• VGA out and three USB ports

EviGroup estimates the actual battery life in real-world conditions to be around 3 to 3.5 hours, although they do say if you stress the Pad out with lots of YouTube vids on full brightness over 3G, that figure will drop to around 2 to 2.5 hours. You know, depending on the components used for the Pad, you could always try to install Mac OS X and make your own Apple slate tablet. Hmm…this type of project has been done before.

I’ve been admiring the ARCHOS Internet Tablet with Android from afar lately. A current Android device is appealing, but I’m on the fence between adding a CDMA Android phone that I can swap with my Pre or simply getting a standalone Android unit. That’s when it hit me — why not repurpose my Samsung Q1UP to run Android to get a feel for such a device? I did just that over the weekend, thanks to the community at Android-x86. I found a port of Android 1.6 that’s really geared for netbooks like the original Eee PC 701 and got it working on my UMPC. You can run the port from a Live CD or USB drive, so you don’t have to remove your current operating system.

My first impressions — Android is blazing on a 1.33GHz Intel Core Solo, just like you’d expect. It seems like the battery lasts longer on a charge as well, but I haven’t had time to really test that theory. Of course, this ported implementation isn’t perfect on my device. In fact, there’s enough that’s not working for me to say: only do this for fun right now. I can work on the web over Wi-Fi and the built-in keyboard and mouse work great. No touchscreen yet though, nor any sound or Bluetooth either. The biggest killer that I’m focused on solving? No buttons map to the Menu screen in Android. I’m talking to developers on that because it’s completely limiting my usage. Oh and so is the lack of persistent data storage among other glitches. Have I scared you away yet?

Even with the problems, this has me leaning towards a non-phone Android device. I already have two phones and there are times I’d like to use the browser on a bigger screen on the couch or in a coffee shop. I don’t need the pocketable web because I already have that in my phones. Hmmm….. decisions, decisions.

Image Credit: Pocketables

Those engineers at Kohjinsha can’t be getting much sleep these days. First they out a dual display netbook and now they’re following it up with a mini-tablet UMPC. Pocketables caught up with the news out of CEATEC which shows a 4.8-inch Atom device running Windows XP. But while the PA series — Kohji’s name, not mine — looks like a baby notebook with the keyboard, the screen scan swivel and fold like a traditional Tablet PC.

The PA series weighs in at just over 14 ounces, so it’s not quite a pound for toting around. Unfortunately, there’s not much else that’s groundbreaking here in terms of features or specifications: a lowly 512MB of RAM, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, 1.3GHz Atom, 32GB SSD and an optical mouse is similar to what we’ve seen for nearly a year now. A more attractive or svelte package could have excited people a bit more, but maybe this more concept than final product.

I’ve shown the Viliv S7 UMPC on video before, but felt it was worth it to show off the touch interface that Viliv is installing on its UMPCs. The MID touch interface is a program launcher and UMPC control that’s designed to be operated totally by touch. In this video you will see the interface, along with some special Viliv utilities including media players and the FastWeb browser.

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.

If you’ve been lusting after either the Viliv S5 or X70 devices that James has been teasing you with, there’s yet another vendor offering the devices stateside. Laptoping eye-spied them both over at NewEgg, and my quick browsing shows quite the assortment of available models and options. All three X70EX editions are appearing: Express P, Premium P and Premium 3GP. The differing prices — $599, $729, and $879 — range with choice of CPU speed, SSD capacity and inclusion of integrated HSPA 3G radio. All have the 7-inch touchscreen, Windows XP Home (not XP Tablet Edition), 1GB of memory, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, card reader, 1.3-megapixel webcam, integrated microphone and stereo speakers. Oh, and a solid five hours or so of battery life. Much of what’s offered here is or was available in my old Samsung Q1U-P device, but of course, that was more expensive, thicker and heavier due to the larger battery size.

The smaller, 4.8-inch display S5 is also squatting on NewEgg’s site — the same three model names as the X70EX are there for $549, $599 and $799. Again, the base feature set is pretty standard with the options coming in for a 1.33GHz CPU over a 1.2GHz unit, hard drive or SSD and integrated 3G. NewEgg is offering some special extras on some configurations: a case, extra battery or other accessory.

It’s been over three years since the original Origami Project concept, but in my opinion, the S5 and X70EX are what we were hoping for back then. I’m curious if folks agree. Assuming you do, it makes you wonder about the original concept to begin with since these devices are generally still considered niche products. Then again, they can be found at Amazon, Buy.com and other mainstream sites these days, too. Maybe we hoped for too much three years ago? Or maybe we’re all still a little ahead of our time. I feel better thinking of it that way.

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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Yes, screen size matters and I am in a unique position to demonstrate that old adage. I have so many gadgets in Mobile Tech Manor that it occurred to me that I can show many different screen sizes on devices.

The devices, screen sizes and resolution as shown in the video:

• Viliv S5 UMPC, 5-inch, 1024×600
• Viliv S7 UMPC, 7-inch, 1024×600
• Lenovo S10-2 netbook, 10-inch, 1024×600
• Lenovo S12 netbook, 12-inch, 1280×800
• Apple MacBook, 13-inch, 1280×800
• Lenovo ThinkPad T400s, 14-inch, 1440×900

It is interesting that all devices from 5 inches through 10 inches have the same resolution, so things appearing on-screen vary from tiny to quite large. All of the notebooks, netbooks and UMPCs shown in the video are running either Windows XP or Windows 7.

It’s only been at Mobile Tech Manor for a few hours and I’m already getting pinged for a video of the Viliv S7 UMPC. The S7 is a small laptop with a 7-inch swivel screen that can be used as a slate. It is roughly the size of the original (and small) EEE PC and this configuration has integrated 3G (HSPA) and a 32 GB SSD. This video gives a tour around the device and shows the screen in all its swiveling glory. There will be more comprehensive coverage of the Viliv S7 to come, meanwhile enjoy the show.