Todays & Tomorrows Technology

Kohjinsha’s SK3 UMPC, which we saw yesterday, has been officially launched in Japan. The 7-inch touchscreen SK3 gets an Intel Atom 1.33GHz processor paired with 1GB of RAM and a 60GB 1.8-inch 4,200rpm hard-drive; there’s also WiFi b/g/n, Bluetooth 2.0 and GPS.

As expected there are also dual cameras, a low-resolution webcam by the screen for video calls, and a 3-megapixel version presumably for still shots. Ports include ethernet 10/100, VGA, audio in/out, a microSD slot, two USB 2.0 ports, multiformat card reader and an ExpressCard 34 slot.

It’s also impressively smaller than its SC3 predecessor, at 193 x 132 x 30 mm, and weighing just 720g. Kohjinsha are suggesting 3.2hrs runtime from the 17Wh battery in the Jeita test, a test known to produce over-ambitious results. Steve from UMPC Portal (who, frankly, we trust about battery runtime estimates more than we ever did Jeita) is guesstimating at between 2 and 2.5hrs of real-world use, which is a real disappointment.

Still, we won’t argue with more options in the ultramobile touchscreen category, and we’ve a feeling Japanese customers won’t either when the Kohjinsha SK3 goes on sale there. It’s expected to be priced at the equivalent of around $733, including local taxes.

It’s ironic that what a year or two would’ve been called a UMPC (and, frankly, ignored by most people, tech writers included) is now called a touchscreen netbook and garners far more interest. Latest on the block is set to be the Kohjinsha SK3, an upgrade to the existing 7-inch SC3 UMPC. Among the changes are a new battery and upgraded cameras.
The SK3 has a convertible resistive touchscreen, a couple of inches smaller than that of the ASUS Eee PC T91, which folds flat onto the keyboard for portable slate use. Inside there’s the same 1.3GHz Menlow-platform processor – capable enough, we’ve seen, for Vista – though no word on whether there’s an SSD option this time around. WiFi has been upgraded, adding draft-n support, and there are still PCI Express, SD, VGA and ethernet connections, together with GPS.

According to UMPCPortal’s sources, the Kohjinsha SK3 will get its official announcement this week. No word on battery life from the newly-streamlined power pack, nor what sort of pricing we could expect.

We already knew the Viliv X70 would start from a terribly reasonable $599, but now we’ve heard from importers Dynamism that presales for the 7-inch UMPC will start at 1PM EST on July 6th. The first shipment of the Atom-based touchscreen handheld is expected on July 28th, and just to make sure every one of those gets a new home to go out to, there are a few tempting offers available to those who preorder.
The freebies are limited to the first 777 preorder customers. Those who go for the cheapest $599 Viliv X70 Express will automatically get an upgrade from the standard 1.2GHz Atom CPU to the 1.3GHz Atom Z520, together with a free car kit, leather pouch and screen-protector.

Meanwhile anyone going for the more expensive X70 Premium models – which have the 1.3GHz CPU as standard, with various SSD sizes from 32GB to 128GB and the choice of integrated 3G HSPA – will get a free standard battery, car kit, leather pouch and screen-protector. The Premium range starts from $729.

While the bigger SSDs and integrated 3G sound good, we’d still go for the base model X70 and pair it with a MiFi. After all, slot in a 16GB microSD card and you’ve got twice the solid-state storage, plus 3G connectivity for four other WiFi devices.

We're not so sure that being the "world's smallest Windows-based MID" is really a benefit for those who appreciate keys that are large enough to mash and screens that are large enough to see, but whatever the case, Compal seems pretty proud of its accomplishments here. Shown off along with scores of other me-too MIDs at Computex, the KAX15 is based around Intel's existing Menlow platform and sports the polarizing tilt-and-slide mechanism for unmasking the QWERTY keyboard. As for specs, we're told that it packs an 800 x 480 display and an 800MHz processor, but further details have yet to flow. There's a hands-on vid just past the break if you're somehow intrigued with shoving Windows in your left cargo pocket.

Archos is currently having an event in France, and while we're still expecting some sort of Android announcement, the company's leading off with the Archos 9, a nine-inch Windows 7 tablet. It's basically a netbook in tablet form, with an Atom Z515 processor, 80GB disk, Bluetooth, and dual DVB-T antennas -- yep, Archos has brought back the UMPC. No word on pricing or availability yet, we'll let you know.

Update: Sounds like a 1.2GHz processor -- not exactly a rocket, but probably adequate for a stripped-down Windows 7 build. We're also hearing September / October availability, in line with Windows 7, and a €450 ($633) pricetag.

Update 2: So much for our hopes -- the event is now over and no Android announcements were made. Charbax from techvideoblog (who is at the event) says we'll see more info on September 15.

Update 3: As you'd expect, ArchosLounge is on the scene and they've nabbed some hands-on pics. Check a couple after the break -- we think it looks sort of gigantic, but maybe that's what the world's been waiting for.

It’s had nowhere near the coverage of their S5 MID, but the Viliv X70 looks set to gain a whole lot more attention now that preorder pricing has started to emerge. Importer Dynamism is listing the X70 for $599; whether or not you think that’s good value for a 7-inch touchscreen UMPC with 6 days standby, it’s certainly well priced against the S5.

Pricing for the Viliv S5 - which has a smaller, 4.8-inch touchscreen - is also around $599. Your money gets you an X70 with an Intel Atom Z515 processor (running at 1.2GHz; the Atom Z520 1.3GHz CPU is an option) plus a 16GB SSD (compared to the S5’s 60GB HDD; the X70 can also get a 32GB SSD) and 1GB of RAM. Options include integrated HSPA and cables to hook the X70 up to a computer display or a TV via component.

While you lose out on pocketability with the X70, you gain on usable screen space. The resolution of both Viliv devices is the same - 1024 x 600 - but an extra couple of inches should make for less squinting. No word on pricing for the 32GB SSD or 32GB SSD/3G models, nor when any of them will begin shipping.