CeBIT 2007: Exclusive video of Samsung's new Ultramobile PC

By Dave Stevenson in Hanover

Posted on 15 Mar 2007 at 14:47

Samsung has announced a radical update to its Q1 Ultramobile PC on the first day of CeBIT 2007.

PC Pro was given worldwide exclusive access to the UMPC shortly after the press conference - click below to watch the first video preview of the new device.

Dubbed the Q1 Ultra, the new model boasts a range of hardware and software updates that Samsung hopes will make the UMPC concept palatable to a wider audience.

S. H. Kim, Samsung's President of Computing, admitted that users had described the previous model as 'frustrating', but claimed the new model - which has a higher resolution screen, HSDPA wireless and a hardware QWERTY keyboard - would prove the popularity of the UMPC concept.

Alongside Kim was Microsoft vice president, Bill Mitchell. He said that Samsung and Microsoft were 'deeply committed' to the UMPC format, but, like Kim, admitted that the first verson of Microsoft's Origami software was 'modest'.

But Oscar Koenders, Product Unit Manager at Microsoft, described the progression of the UMPC under Windows Vista as 'incredible'. Microsoft has redesigned its Origami software layer, providing a touchscreen application reminiscent of Windows Media Center, designed to be operated quickly with the pad of a finger, rather than a stylus.

Among the changes are a QWERTY keyboard, split in two, with half on either side of the screen. Samsung has also added HSDPA compatibility and a pair of cameras, one for humble chat duties and another for slightly more serious photography. The system is also running under a new Intel mobile CPU. The new processor was described by a Samsung product manager as being 'under wraps', but the preview version we saw was running at 800MHz.

Pricing and exact specifications are yet to be announced, but it's expected that the new version will cost roughly the same as its predecessor, at around £1,200.

Visit www.pcpro.co.uk/html/cebit/ to view our full coverage of the show.