Did the slate UMPC die and nobody notice?
On a recent episode the two MobileTechRounders (Kevin Tofel and Matt Miller) and I had an unplanned discussion about the dearth of slate UMPCs being produced currently and that discussion touched a nerve with some bloggers (Warner Crocker) involved in the mobile tech scene. That’s understandable as the death of the slate is not something that those of us who cover them want to hear but that doesn’t change the way things are. I felt I shouldn’t leave the discussion as I did on the MoTR podcast but that I should get into the reasons why I stated that the slate is dead. It’s worthy of a good discussion for those who follow the UMPC world.
The slate UMPC is dead
I should make clear that my feeling that the slate is dead is referring more to the UMPC than the Tablet PC. I do think that there are fewer slate Tablets today but it’s pretty much been that way since the launch of the Tablet PC. Slate Tablet PCs have been mostly aimed at the vertical market from day one and outside of geeky enthusiasts that hasn’t changed much. There are still slates being produced by those OEMs who are known for slates, Tabletkiosk, Motion, Fujitsu and NEC being the main producers of them. These companies are doing fine selling the slates to vertical markets such as health care, the government and to casinos. These are not the markets I am referring to when I talk about the death of the slate. It’s the mainstream market, the only one that can produce the size of demand that would make a real difference for those companies who produce them.
History of the UMPC
Microsoft recognized a while back that a lifestyle PC with a slate form could make a splash in the mainstream consumer market. Remember the image of Bill Gates standing up and holding a mock-up of a six-inch slate PC he called the Haiku that wowed not only the audience but even mainstream media. It was clear from that demonstration and discussion that this little slate was groundbreaking in that it was a totally new concept, and the statements that it would one day be available for just hundreds of dollars grabbed everyone’s attention as that meant it could be a portable device that would appeal to the mainstream consumer. Those were heady days and when the viral marketing campaign kicked off the "Origami" it was clear that the device would be a mainstream consumer "lifestyle" device, a small and thin slate that could be used for a lot of the functions that people need like surf the web, email, IM and the like. Even though the Haiku and Origami were too far ahead of their time the excitement over such devices was genuine and widespread because it promised a device that was a radical change from the mobile computers that came before them such as the sub-notebook computer. This was the atmosphere that launched what we know today as the UMPC, but the excitement has waned in my opinion because the devices as envisioned have changed.
Why do current UMPCs differ from that ultra-mobile slate form that got everyone’s excitement ramped up? We have to look at the UMPC since the first generation was launched to understand that. Without exception the first released UMPCs were all slates of one type or another with a touch-screen to be used so users could interact with the interface using fingers. Sure they were much thicker, heavier and had worse battery life than the legendary Haiku but they were a good attempt to start the process to get there someday. Unfortunately the market didn’t understand the slate form and there was little if any attempt to show them that it could work for them. The manufacturers of them listened to the clueless market and as the second generation UMPCs started to roll out it was apparent that the decision had been made that the slate form was not desirable any longer. Every new UMPC released has a keyboard of some sort, from those awful thumb boards of the Q1 Ultra to the "full" keyboards of the Fujitsu u810. It has been becoming clearer that the market wants keyboards and that’s what they will get. There are no second generation UMPCs (and I am referring to new models and not just refreshes) that do not have integrated keyboards. Since UMPCs currently run the gamut in sizes, from 4-inch screens to 7-inch screens, that means that most of those keyboards are glorified thumb boards even though they have regular type keys. There are a number of these UMPCs that look like little notebook computers, and that’s nothing new.
UMPCs are not Haiku’s
The undersized UMPC with the integrated keyboard fails the original concept of the Haiku/ Origami for a number of reasons. First is the sub-standard keyboard I’ve mentioned and just as importantly is the thickness and weight penalty over slates. Every UMPC I have seen with a swivel screen and keyboard is at least half an inch thicker than a slate would be given the same capabilities. Thickness is a huge factor in usability and in the perception of the mainstream consumer. Thick and clunky = no want. The weight of convertibles is no doubt heavier than slate counterparts and that affects the comfort and hence the desirability to the consumer. Thinner and lighter = device I will carry with me. Since no slates are being produced then these convertibles are all the prospective consumer will see, and even if price points get down in the hundreds of dollars as originally predicted for the Origami I don’t believe they will appeal to the mainstream market. They are just little laptops after all, and the majority of consumers out there don’t want one. Slates can be used in far more venues than these little laptops, I know I have done it many times. You won’t pull out the little laptop standing in a big line at the DMV and tap out an email but you can ink one on a slate with no problem. You can use a little slate without notice to take notes in a meeting but you won’t pull out your clamshell and tap the keys to take notes as you will look silly quite frankly. No one will want to do this. I see a lot of people saying they have to have a keyboard because they can type faster than they can ink. I don’t dispute that but there are many times when typing is not possible and inking works fine. It’s about the mobility of the device, not the ink specifically. That’s what the original Haiku concept showed quite clearly that you could pull it out anywhere and write away. That’s what is important for UMPC-like devices.
Only slates can be lifestyle devices
I mentioned that UMPCs should be lifestyle devices because that’s what got everyone so excited in the original viral marketing campaign. The Haiku could be taken anywhere because it’s a small, thin and light slate and pulled out whenever needed. Need to look up something on the web? Your Origami to the rescue. Need to video chat with a friend? Origami to the rescue. The list of lifestyle activities can go on and on with the slate because you have it with you. That’s the big difference between the slate and the convertible UMPC which is too thick, clunky and heavy to take with you everywhere. Or they are not fitting to be used as a clamshell in a lot of places so you just won’t take it with you. Sure you can swivel the screen around to a "slate" configuration but it’s too thick and clunky to do well, especially with the poor inking that touch-screens are providing on virtually all UMPCs today. So you don’t bring it with you when you’re heading to Junior’s ball game. True lifestyle devices like the iPhone are only such devices because you have them with you all the time. Today’s UMPCs fail that test miserably.
UMPCs are old technology
Today’s clamshell convertible UMPCs are not something new. How can I say that with a straight face? At their base level and primary usage configuration they are just little laptops and that is nothing new. Japan has been producing little laptops for over ten years, you may remember the Toshiba Libretto and the IBM PC110 which were revolutionary in their day ten years ago as little Windows-based laptops that were tiny and ultra-portable. Compare them carefully with the UMPCs being produced currently and you’ll find little difference. Sure the hardware has evolved so the UMPCs are more powerful than those older devices but that’s about it. The Japanese devices sold well in their native country but not anywhere else because they were expensive and quite frankly regular people didn’t want nor need one. That’s the same problem that clamshell UMPCs face today, most people don’t need one. You have probably seen articles on the web or comments in forums that say basically that, or ask the question "why do I need one"? Truth is regular consumers don’t need one for all the reasons covered in this article. A little slate however is a different situation. Sure UMPCs today often have swivel screens and touch-screens for interaction with the PC but like I’ve said regular people don’t care. The slate device done properly could change all that.
What’s coming down the road?
The look into the future is what concerns me, and why I am sharing this with you. We see no slate UMPCs coming up from anyone. I have tried to verify an upcoming slate UMPC with all the major players in this space and can’t find a single one making a slate. Everything that is being worked on in the UMPC space has a keyboard of some kind, so the emphasis is on keyboard entry and not slate functionality. That is very sad. This will continue with the appearance of low-cost laptops like the Asus EEE PC and the OLPC. They are good efforts to drive the cost of the device down to mainstream consumer levels but be aware these aren’t the lifestyle device that the slate UMPC could become. These devices have a totally different usage scenario and this will be overlooked by OEMs who just want to sell a lot of devices. Who can blame them for that? This is the reason why the slate device of our dreams is getting pushed further from the development plans of those who play in the mobile PC sandbox and that’s not good for the Haiku. There is likely only one company who might dabble in the lifestyle slate category and you know who that is. Apple of course, but I’m not going to get into that again.
Conclusion
When the Origami/ Haiku device was pitched in the beginning it excited me as a great platform for the slate PC that is always with you. A true lifestyle device that becomes such an integral part of the consumer’s day that it becomes as second nature to use as a cell phone. I am convinced that properly done a slate like the Haiku could become such a lifestyle device and reach the hundreds of millions of mainstream consumers globally. I believe it would be a great thing for those consumers too, adding benefits that improve the life of those consumers. This is why the lack of development being done in this area by UMPC producers is upsetting to me and makes me very sad. We’ll never get there with no one working in this area and the number of clunky devices appearing with keyboards shows my concern is well-founded. I am firmly convinced that convertible UMPC devices will never penetrate the mainstream consumer market and that is not only disturbing but a huge limiter in the potential market size for mobile devices. While the standard players are churning out cookie-cutter mini-laptops someone like Apple will come along and steal everyone’s thunder. That’s not a bad thing as long as it gets done, I believe that a slate mobile PC properly done is revolutionary so let’s just get it done. Drop the keyboards and get back on the Haiku track.
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..ok… if slates are sooo good, why aren’t u using one yourself?
So what about the hybrid like the new HTC Shift. I was ready to leap on this one, but the small hard drive and low res screen is dissapointing. Price point when it is launched in the US may overcome that. The Vye S37 looks promissing, but high price and poor ergo design compared to the Shift.
I guess for me the ideal would be a 7 inch Iphone form factor but running Vista. Apple has done amzing Ergo with the hardware, I wish a PC OEm would step up with a 5″ or 7″ screen version.
Slates UMPCs might have gotten more traction if they ran an operating system which had a touch optimized interface, and there were lots of touch optimized software available at launch.
Otherwise, UMPCs are running software which assume the user has a keyboard and a mouse. Is it any wonder that people wanted a keyboard and some sort of pointing device?
jkkmobile, I don’t use a UMPC for my daily machine, I use a full Tablet PC. This article is about the death of the slate UMPC. I’ll also bet that my HP 2710p convertible Tablet PC is thinner in slate mode than almost every convertible UMPC on the market.
Scott, hybrids are a different beast but still aren’t pure slates like I’m covering in this article.
JC, Vista is a great OS for Tablet functionality and can be run great with fingers or the pen. You don’t need a keyboard at all, contrary to what you might think.
the Q1Ultra is a slate, doent matter if they added a thumbpad because it didnt change the form factor (just filled in free space with buttons)as it’s not a slider or a convertible.
so no matter how you twist it to suite your negative theory, the Q1U is just as much a slate as the original UMPC’s. even if you try to say “they are now emphasizing typing over inking” (which isnt true) it still WOULDNT matter because the actual form factor is that of a slate.
This is a great discussion. One we all should have been having awhile ago.
Some Blogger.
This is pretty much the same situation as ‘full’ sized slates. The numbers just aren’t there. So slates end up reserved for vertical markets while everyone else buys convertibles.
For the UMPC, it’s a combo of the same situation and emerging technologies.
After the first gen, people realized they were missing a keyboard. So most of the 2nd gen came with some sort of alternative keyboard entry. With the help of Menlow, MID’s, the bulkiness of Vista, 5″ devices are coming out which reduces the effectiveness of touch/inking further.
Now it’s about OLPC clones filling in the small form factor market using UMPC parts to provide cheap subnotebooks. The numbers are there so slates will end up in the backroom further.
The only new slate UMPC’s are the Samsung Q1U and Amtek T770. Asus is coming out with an ‘upgraded’ R2H but keeps the same design.
I mentioned a while ago UMPC’s as we know now are dead, but it’s not only because people don’t like slates.
I’m inking or thumbin’ just fine with my slate/slider UMPC, an OQO 02. best of both worlds at around 1″ thick & 1 lb.
uummmmmmmmm, what about the highly anticipated upcoming US700 & US701? they are both slates as well (US702 is convertible).
also the new Jensen nvx3000 is a slate.
well James, for someone who researched so well & found no upcoming slates, there have already been 4 mentioned in this thread alone.
Ti, the US 700 & 701 are indeed very nice looking and promising slates. These appeared in January of this year and still haven’t shown up anywhere for sale or with any real details, that I could find. They are supposedly going to be put out by an unknown Asian company and it’s not known if when they do get released if where they will be available or if they will support inking well. A slate without inking is near useless as mainstream consumers will not want to carry a keyboard with it. The Jensen looks really cool too but no word on whether it’s a concept or will ever ship. A trip to the Jensen web site just now has all of the info about the nvx3000 deleted or at least unavailable. Same comments about the inking apply here.
This article is not intended to be negative although some are interpreting it that way. It is simply a statement of the way things are now, like it or not.
Good bye, slate UMPC. Hello, slate MID.
Although, my favorite hand-held ‘slate’ is the N800, not part of Intel’s new MID push. I think I’ll like the N810 even more. :)
Hmmmm… well, aside from Apple, there’s Intel’s MID thingie.
Look, just face it, the current MS UI is crap, period. It works with desktop and mouse just fine (thank you, Apple!), but for just-screen, forget it. All MS has done with UMPC is, as the popular saying goes, put lipstick on a pig. It still snorts when you poke it too hard.
And if UMPCs are dying, well, blame Vista. I just fondled a Fuji U810 at J&R. Vista is just a horror on that.
Give the UMPC the UI it requires and people will take interest. Apple just didn’t transplant desktop OS X onto the iPhone. MS has had ADD with UMPC, as far as I’m concerned.
“It is simply a statement of the way things are now, like it or not.”
making generalized statements doesnt make you correct. we have brought facts, ignoring them wont make it go away.
do your fact checking!! both the US700′s have been announced for 1st quarter 08. the Jensen HAS just recently started going on sale & can be found at several retailers.
i dont know why anybody waste time proving you wrong, you will always ignore the facts people bring up. whats next, if the color is wrong does that make it not count also?
I think that a physical input method like a keypad is integral in the success of UMPC devices in general including slates. A thumbpad imo is a superior input method over inking especially on a touchscreen device but that doesn’t mean that slates have become useless. I agree that a touchscreen is very useful for navigation and drawing figures which cannot be done with keypads, but denying the user a physical key input is not going to go well with the mainstream. It’s all about progression, you can’t all at once expect the masses to adapt to “inking” and virtual keyboards of slates, you have to give them the secondary option that is a thumbpad or keyboard because that is what they are traditionally accustomed to.
My dream slate convertible would be like this MID which I’m dying to see released:
http://img136.imageshack.us/img136/8936/mid2am5.jpg
And it will be successful if it costs a third of an OQO 02.
The problem is, you can’t have your cake and eat it too. You’ve stated in the past that you want a high-resolution display on your portable system.
You’ve also stated that you can’t handle too high of a resolution on a small screen, such as the 4.5″ 1024×600 display on the Sony UX.
How does this tie in? It’s the TIP. Here I am, with this tiny keyboardless device, and an input system that obliterates my ability to read anything. In landscape mode, I only have a few lines of output. In portrait mode, my screen is too narrow. I lose both ways, because the resolution is too low. You can’t bump it up, and you can’t ditch Windows and still have a Haiku/Origami/whatever slate UMPC within Microsoft’s definition.
If you want it to work, you need to be able to write anywhere. You need context-sensitive input, and hell, you need a GUI metaphor that understands that you’re stuck on a touchscreen with no sense of an eraser, or a side button. You need a system that can read a stylus *or* a two-finger setup. You need the ability to right/left/middle click. You need the UI to work BEST with a stylus, not just to work.
Take a video player, for example. If you want touchscreen controls, you bring them up *when you touch the screen.* You display a few options, and swap button sets as needed. Want to tweak the balance? Pop up the balance slider. Volume? Volume slider. Brightness? Jog dial? The list goes on.
For a word processor/notepad, I should have the option for my ink to automatically convert to text. My web browser should scroll when I touch the screen, and zoom when I might be clicking on a link. If you take away my keyboard and mouse, you have to give me something *better,* not something almost good enough. Until I can exit standby, tap on an email ONCE, write a reply without correcting, or tapping “Insert” every few words, and send it out without having to click on a million and one tiny buttons/scrollbars on a system with too much chrome and not enough workable space, the UMPC slate just isn’t going anywhere.
James,
I have to agree. I actually thought slates were dead, (or near dead stuck in verticals) before the UMPC. I thought that the initial UMPC’s actually gave full sized slates some hope. People like the UMPC idea but needed something bigger. Motion and TabletKiosk both released nice slates around the initial UMPC wave. Then as the UMPC hype moved toward keyboards, the resurrection of the slate seemed to die too.
One of the things the Q1 has really shown me is that I need access to a keyboard for some work. I don’t need it permanently attached.
Mark
I certainly agree with the article as I have been saying something like that here and other places for a while now. Those mini-me laptops are a dead end for UMPC’s and show a lack of imagination and creativity. MSoft has dropped the ball after giving us the vision. What they needed to do was give us a compact, fast, touch centric operating system. You can call it Windows Express or Origami but it was their responsibility to supply it. The beaucracy won out however and they just gave us Vista..
then as you point out Apple comes out with the vision with a touch interface but has yet to deliver on the hardware. Apple still has the chance to deliver on something close to Origami
and I hope they do so soon. Whether you are an Apple fan or not you have to admit they know how to implement a vision.
Maybe even UMPCs are dead. Vista & the new processors haven’t improved performance or battery life.
UMPCs were originally meant to be reference devices – web surfing, doc reading, info access – for which you don’t need a keyboard. But they aren’t cheap enough. For the sort of price you have to pay for an UMPC you want more, you expect it to replace a laptop & run productivity applications. For this sort of application a keyboard is necessary.
I would love to buy a slate UMPC for reference work and for note taking at meetings using inking, but apart from the R2H all have light touch screens and aren’t suitable for inking.
Hard to imagine that in the ‘second generation’ of UMPCs I effectively have a choice of one.
Would a slate meet my needs? – I’ll never know because none of the stores near me (UK) have atablet PC, never mind a UMPC for me to try out.
I swear I would buy a Haiku right now if the thing simply came with a dual mode (active and passive) digitizer like the one on the Lenovo X61. I do not want to write on a passive digitizer. The hard screen on a P1610 still loses too much functionality compared to an active digitizer and an active digitizer is useless to me when I was to navigate around the screen and interact with the UI with my finger. So we need the dual-mode digitizers.
In fact, I would be VERY content if they took a Q1U, and gave it a dual-mode digitizer. I would use the zero weight keyboard when I needed to do intermediate level typing (that keyboard is only good for shortcuts and one word typing!) and a BT keyboard for anything more involved than that.
UMPCs will fail because they are trying to make them into mini-laptops. They’re not and they never will be. The inherent compromise of size, weight, battery and processing power makes that impractical.
Instead, they should focus on a role and market them as such. For me, I would market it as a digital notebook that excels at sorting out all your notes for every student or executive out there and bundle it with OneNote 2007. I would show them how it can have all their music and video and last for hours and hours. But the dual-mode digitizer is key. It can be an entertainment device with the passive digitizer or it can be a productivity device with an active digitizer. It just can’t be both right now.
Until then, I have my Q1U with 2GB and the zero weight keyboard. That’s as close as I can get.
This is a bit of a silly post considering that ‘origami’ UMPCs (slates) never really lived in the consumer market anyway. Its hard to say that they died!
Steve
Silly, Steve? That’s a bit harsh. The article is clearly focusing on the lack of effort being poured into the advancement of slate UMPCs which is a direct change from the original Haiku/ Origami vision as stated. I don’t find that silly at all.
Bringing this subject up has been invaluable in shining the light back on the UMPC. Unfortunately some people have got so close to the issue that they forgot some of the original intent.
Mids & lack of full Vista support is a cop out. Microsoft, Intel, and upcoming UMPC manufacturers promised a fully mobile & lightweight PC capable of running any software under Winows XP and eventually Vista. Remember that?
I don’t expect the 1st couple of attempts to meet all the goals, but from what a lot of us 1st & 2nd early adopters have experienced, it is pretty darn close.
I predict all the UMPC wannabees will help promote the true UMPC form factor, but in the end consumers that buy in to these, even the iPhoney, will get their thrill then after awhile will start wanting to run full blown Windows or OSX software on them. Well guess what, that is what real UMPC’s are supposed to do from the get go, so they have not died, they are in waiting.
I still think the biggest problem has been poor marketing. How long have tablet pcs been around? Still, most people I know or meet have never heard of them. I have only seen a Tablet PC in a store one time and I stumbled upon it by accident. No one in the store could demo it for me.
UMPCs are suffering the same problem. Outside of the tech crowd that read blogs like this one, nobody has heard of UMPCs either slate or keyboard equipped. I pull out my M1400 or my Q1 and people don’t know what they are.
Before the OEMs give up on the slate design, I’d like to see a more intensive marketing effort.
Just my 2 cents worth.
Wow! Lots of posts, and that’s good, as we need to have a discussion on this part of mobility.
I’m not sure that I have ever been sure, at least since the viral campaign for Origami in February 2006, exactly whom MS and the makers were targeting. I thought the viral campaign firmly planted a flag in the consumer market. But since the devices have appeared on the market, they seem to have been all over the map.
With that in mind, I’m not sure that more marketing will help until the movers and shakers decide what the market is. And I’m not saying there aren’t multiple markets. However many actual markets there may be, I think neither Microsoft nor the makers have properly identified them.
Woadan
It’s not over till it’s over! The key factor for something to succeed it has to be affordable and umpcs have totally failed on this. Keep it away from Microsoft and there might be a chance! Salvation is at hand with Asus and the Eee PC. While it’s not a umpc of course the success of this well priced concept will lead to affordable slate and convertable tablet type PCs. My HTC Advantage is up for sale. I’ve just got my Asus Eee PC today and it is fabulous. Similar to the excitment of owning an early Palm Pilot – this is something special indeed. Sometime not to far away I’ll be queuing up to buy the new US $300 slate when it finally arrives. I’m dreaming of Apple design (OK it will cost a bit more) on such a device – what a fabulous thought.
Rather funnily I felt this was going to happen. On all of the forums, the slate users were being shouted down by those who wanted a thumb board or mini-keyboard until we stopped contributing to the debate. In my mind the divide had always been clear, work = keyboard & lifestyle = ink Crossover tasks would preferably be done in ink. As an early adopter I’ve been waiting for them to make these crossover tasks easier via a stylus, but the software hasn’t been there. I’m not a tech evangelist or tech blogger – I’m a real consumer – my needs are pretty similar to the mainstream because like most in the mainstream I have a PC at work and another PC/Mac at home, yet I still have a mobility need, and it makes sense that this mobility need takes advantage of my ability to write (something that can be achieved anywhere and anytime). My Q1 is good – but I still yearn for a lighter (slate), more processing power and longer battery life. 2/3 yrs on – I’m still waiting. Its a bit surreal really, I spend my time rather jealously looking at the developments being made in the minature laptop segment wondering why none of these things have traversed the divide. Why don’t we have a slate that has a SSD OS only drive? Or 8 hrs plus battery? I can help but wonder what an Asus EEE-like slate could be like.
The problem is the software. Windows, any variant, is not a tablet OS. There are mighty few apps written with any thought given to touch or ink. Its pathetic and its Microsoft’s fault. They did such a half-a**ed job with XP Tablet edition. Just a bunch of lipstick on the pig.
The only savior in this mess will be Apple. If the current unsubstantiated rumours of an iPad are true and if Apple puts as much thought into the OS as they did for the iPhone then there is hope. The difficulty here is still of the chicken and egg variety. If its a new OS there will be no apps. If it supports legacy apps it will be crippled by a non-tablet way of interaction.
What’s a touch fanboy to do???
Regards,
Alan
Woadan, great post.
I think the viral marketing let all of us techie types in on the secret. I just don’t think it did a great job letting the general consumer in on it. Case and point, I’m currently in a 2 day confernce with 20 people. 17 folks have laptops out and plugged in while we are in session. I’m using my M1400 slate. During the breaks, I’m getting tons of questions and doing demos. Everybody says the same thing, “I’ve never heard of these things.”
Somewhere along the way, the word just didn’t get out well enough.
Tate
All this discussion and the simplest thing is overlooked.
A slate is a slate and can only be a slate and only sells to those who want a slate. Here’s a hint, that market isn’t nearly as large as the number of people that are excited about borrowing a review unit to play with for free would lead you to believe.
A convertible is a thick slate and a normal laptop. It can sell to those who want a slate, those who want a laptop and those who want both.
Guess which one has the bigger market and sales?
Of course, more to the point, what makes anyone think that there’s a real market out there for a $800-$900 device that requires a purse/”gadget bag” to carry?
The simple fact of the matter is you can’t have your cake and eat it, too. You can’t have a device that runs programs designed for a box on your desk fit in your pocket. By the time your pocket device has caught up, the desk device has gained an even bigger lead and now software is being written with those capabilities in mind.
Don’t get me wrong, I love to dream about and discuss this stuff as much as anyone else, but let’s be realistic. Enjoy what’s out there, push for advancements, but blaming the “death” of a device that never had a chance in the first place on your pie-in-the-sky expectations is too far IMO.
I agree that the pure slate is dead but there are still some models that retain the clean slate look. Even if I can only think of one in the UMPC category. This clean look is for me one of the most important features next to slim design, battery life and low weight.
The Shift is a slider but when it is in slate mode the screen looks a lot like a pure slate. With few buttons and an clean design. It is designwise closer to a slate than the Samsung Q1.
HP seems to get this but they unfortunately don’t make UMPCs even if the TX1000 is close.
Nokia also gets this with a design that is cleaner even if the N810 is not a pure slate.
Everyone was asking for a keyboard and now they have one, i’m constantly thinking about the bloggers that ask for one because they are writers, i have a bt keyboard and only used it to go to the umpc bios. I think a better OS (touch/ink interface) is what we need, and i don’t really think it is that hard there are lot of os costumizers i bet they could costumize windows looks to feel better for slates. Gestures and a different navigation would help too. i don’t ink that much because of my language, portuguese and my letter is ugly. but yes i like slates i miss a better way of transporting it to, companies should be thinking about that it’s not just hardware, and that’s why everyone would love a apple umpc, because they would think about everything. also i would like to let the ideia of the modular umpc. one that when i got home i could conect it to a dock with another processor and more ram. iphone showed you don’t need a keyboard.
About the purse/gadget bag commentary.
i’m allways seeing people in the subway with big laptops in a bag or whatever you call it. isn’t it the same?? isn’t it better if you walk around with a smaller bag? i just don’t get that purse comment. maybe you only use desktops, that’s so masculine. i believe those who like the umpc ideia believe there is more to computers then desktops and big laptops with panoramic screens LOL or even litle laptops.
@ Keith: Surely you’re not saying that there are more typists than writers?
The truism that everyone gets a computer to fit their own uses, is one that I feverently subscribe to. But I’m yet to find a person who has given up writing altogether!
In any case this is not a keyboard vs ink battle – and in some respects I think that typists need to step out of the “its got Windows where’s my keyboard” box for a second to appreciate this. Ink-ers will happily concede that typing is quicker and all the keys are really efficient for programing a number of functions. What typists need to concede is that all of these points aside – inking/touch is a far better mobility solution. Why? Because there is zero ‘set-up’ cost. No need to find a space to lay a device on lap, or learn how to type on a thumboard proficiently – just switch on and then you use a skill you were taught as a child.
James.
You are making a big deal over an issue that doesnt exist and thats why I think its silly. The core of your post is that slate UMPCs are dead right? Or was the title a mistake?
The reason I think you are silly to make a deal out of this is that slate UMPCs never got off the ground in the consumer market. In the first year of UMPCs there were something like 5 slate-based UMPCs. What sort of a sample is that to base any sort of analysis on? Not only were there only 5 devices, it was a brand new market. It still is.
Its highly likely that UMPCs (5-7″ devices running productivity OS’s) will never make it in the consumer market because the new and arguably the most mobile generation are adapting to use input methods that give them mobility and capability on mobile phones. They are flexible and i think that’s an important lesson to learn for everyone. But lets wait a bit before we start declaring slate UMPCs dead. Engineering needs to advance. Operating systems need to improve and ever OEM needs to asses the impact of higher-powered and more capabile feature phones. (Ipod etc.)
You’ll get your slate UMPC but it will take time and it won’t be labeled ‘UMPC’ thats for sure but it will be as a result of the great momentum created by Origami.
Slate UMPCs aren’t dead. Lets all remain positive.
Regards
Steve.
Steve, the whole purpose of my article was to get a discussion going to show OEMs not to forget the dream that started the UMPC, and that dream did exist. I am not saying keyboards are bad or slates are the only thing, I am simply stating to OEMs not to forget the dream of the small lifestyle slate that will revolutionize mobile computing when someone puts it out properly, no matter who does it. I felt the need for the article was to show those OEMs that they need to not forget the slate along with any other type of UMPC they produce. If you don’t think the OEMs need reminding look at Fujitsu- they produce more slate Tablet PCs than anyone but decided their first foray into the UMPC world would not be a slate. That’s the kind of thing that triggered this article. Maybe I had a knee-jerk reaction to your terming my work as silly.
well someone had to light the fire again, thanks James.
From what I’ve seen & as much a part of is that the whole Origami UMPC movement was about mobile computing, preferably on a Wintel platform per the sponsors promoting the concept, and hiding in the background a desire for an ultra compact but full blown PC.
I have been interested in the latter since trying one of the original Toshiba Portege a very long time ago, and sadly disappointed with an HP Jornada Pocket PC.
Once I learned about the wireless mobile & tablet features of the UMPC, that extended the potential even further for an ultra compact PC.
I would be just as happy with a pure slate but the slide out thumb keyboard/trackstick mouse of the OQO 02 just amped it up even more for me. Either way, the full potential of the UMPC has yet to be realized for the general public, but I truely believe it will catch on.
Visibility is key so while the manufacturers & store fronts drop the ball it is up to us UMPC owners to continue with what we are doing, using them in our everyday life and take the time to share your experience with others.
My everyday PC has been a full sized slate for the last three plus years. As one whose job consists of reviewing, editing, note taking, and annotating (rather than document creation) it was perfect except that it weighed 3 pounds (more on that later).
I rarely plugged in they USB keyboard (the last time was when I needed to go into the BIOS). I found that XP Tablet recognized my handwriting so well that a keyboard was unnecessary except for URLs and, for that, the on screen keyboard available in XP Tablet was sufficient. The ability to interact with the screen using a pen is something that takes getting used to but once you do, it is far more productive. It is also far less intrusive than a laptop in meetings since it does not require that you be sitting at the table nor does it fill the meeting with clicking noise.
My only complaint was that 3 pounds was too heavy so I was thrilled with the UMPC concept. Unfortunately, most of the UMPCs seemed more geared to cell phone users rather than PC users in that they emphasized fat finger navigation and on screen keyboards rather than inking. This is especially unfortunate because Vista’s inking capabilities exceed even those of XP Tablet.
I eventually settled on an OQO Model 02 and I take it everywhere. I don’t need a purse (although it does try to drag my pants down to teenager levels) and it’s size and weight mean that I can hold it and the battery will give out before my wrist will. I find that inking is very doable for my uses although given the limited screen real estate I do have to scroll around much more.
If you are interested in a UMPC for an enhanced internet experience then perhaps the current crop of soft touch UMPCs with a flip up, down, or out keyboard will suit you. For business use, however, I think the only UMPCs that make sense are those that support inking.
About the purse/handbag comment and inking vs typing, I’m referring to the convenience of a slate UMPCs vs convertibles:
If you’re still carrying it around by hand/shoulder and not just in your pocket, how is it noticeably more convenient than a convertible or even a normal thin and light laptop? Are those extra ounces and tenths of an inch really that noticeable once you get past the psychosematic enjoyment of your new toy?
Next up: do I think more people type than write? No. But I do think it’s more convenient to have both available, rather than one, leaving the user open to choose which is more convenient for them at that moment. Sure they can have an external keyboard and stand at home or work (or in their purse/gadget bag ;-) ), but why not just attach it to the computer so you never have to worry about forgetting it?
Basically my point is this: why would anyone other than slate purists choose a slate PC over a convertible?
And I’d argue that the iPhone does very little to support the slate PC cause, considering it’s easily pocketable, has a faster processor and better battery life than its competition, and does not support inking or any kind of pen input for that matter.
And FWIW I personally think the future of mobile computing is in pocketable Android-based smartphones with OpenOffice, Web 2.0 capable browsers and dual input 4″ touchscreens. Make it WVGA, give it 5-10 gigs of internal storage and use a slide & tilt or swivel screen. Pocketable, powerful, flexible.
To Keith and others making the mistake: If it’s a slate, that means no physical KB.
The issue with inking, I think, is twofold.
First, it’s a paradigm shift. In a back-banded way of course. We all learned to write before we learned to type. But our PCs and Macs always had a KB. So when it lacks one our pack animal mentality shouts “Outcast! Unclean! Blasphemer!” We need to understand that going in, and resist the urge to run away.
The second thing we need to remember is that while inking is not perfect, it is also by no stretch of the imagination in bad shape.
Common problems with inking, such as incorrect word completion or inappropriate completions, are what kill inking.
I’m not sure if it is at the application level or OS level, or a combination of both, and it doesn’t matter-it just needs to be fixed wherever it is causing or contributing to the problem.
The device needs to know I’m typing a password, so no auto-completes, no spaces. (And I need to be on my best writing behavior.) Ditto for passwords, URLs, and anything else where an extraneous space or an auto-complete is anathema.
I used to take my Motion LE 1600 in to work. (I am currently unemployed.) When asked why I used it, I said it helps me be more productive. And it did, in many ways. But when you have to peck at an on-screen KB to sign in to networked resources, it doesn’t look like you’re being more productive. (Never mind that Journal and One Note notes are very useful, especially when you record a 2-hour meeting in One Note and put it up on the network drive.)
No, it isn’t that inking is so horrible. It’s that it is so tantalizingly close, yet so frustratingly far from what it needs to be to keep the average user engaged and interested in it.
I sometimes find myself touching the LCD screens on my workstation or conventional laptop by mistake, especially after switching from the slate to them. But just as often I find myself talking/cursing at my Q1 or LE1600 when what should be simple becomes impossible. Fixing the contextual sensitivity of the OS and/or apps would nicely and quietly put that to bed.
Woadan
Professional Curmudgeon
James.
We’re in a period at the end of the year and where focus is on sales and development is going on in the background. There are two UMPC platforms on the way out and three new platforms on the way in. A lot of OEMs have skipped McCaslin to wait for Menlow/Mobile-ITX/AMD and we’ve already heard that there are a lot of OEMs building UMPCs. (remember the list given at IDF?)
Wait until CES, CeBIT, Computex. You’ll see more than you can blog about!!!
Regards
Steve.
Woadan, although spoiled wih a nice thumbkb, I find it hard to shift my paradigm to inking outside of Journal & OneNote different from your complaint.
The auto stuff in TIP actually works well for me once I realized I could always rewrite or select from the other “guesses”. Using TIP to ink text into text input fields is a nice integration with non ink applications but it is like trying to talk to a pretty woman through an interpreter.
It would be nice for text fields using common Windows GUI controls including web pages to polymorphism text entry into pen input when the screen senses it, using some of the TIP input characteristics in the process.
That would make inking more human natural. I still have not taken the time to learn pen gestures for screen manipulation but if it is not naturally intuative without traing, it is not really that intuative, but still I need to learn because I know it will help with the tablet experience.
In the end I’d like to have more human interaction that tablets including UMPC’s promote well, but the OS & software needs to blend it in better in behaviour & auto intelligence.
Opus, I think you and I might be saying the same thing, just using different words. (A friend of mine would say we’re circling the wagons with our discussion.)
I keep hoping that when I comment about these things that someone will point out some obscure menu I have yet to discover, after which I will be in the land of milk and honey. But alas, it doesn’t appear that I am unblissfully ignorant of some functionality.
I don’t mind the auto-completions when I’m not entering a username, password, or URL. It is because they have to be letter perfect, including spaces (or more to the point, the lack thereof), that the inking experience is less than positive.
Woadan
Woadan-
What is the difference between a slate PC and a convertible tablet flipped to slate form other than a little bit of thickness and weight?
The discussion of which is better, inking or typing, is up to the individual user (I type faster and more accurately than I write, and much more legibly, making reliable OCR near impossible; I’m sure the opposite is true for some others), but how is being limited to one or the other better than having a choice? That is the question that the slate supporters continue to avoid.
I’m a car fanatic as well as a tech fanatic, so the picture that keeps coming to mind is of a convertible with a retractable top vs a car that has no roof at all.
Keith, do you mean other than an inherently heavier and thicker device? Isn’t the whole discussion centered around mobility?
If somebody tried inking, as in gave it a chance, then concluded that having a keyboard was the way to go, then I’d give their belief some credence.
However, most of the people who have insisted that a keyboard be present are rejecting the slate concept because it has no keyboard, not because they tried inking and found it to be lacking. In other words, the paradigm shift the lack of keyboard represented is what was rejected, not inking itself.
As for what “slate supporters” are avoiding: I think we are simply avoiding keyboards. If in doing so we are annoying to those who can’t or won’t step away from a keyboard, well, that’s their affair.
The issue isn’t one of choices or limits. If you think having a keyboard gives you choices, then so be it. I think not having a keyboard is freedom of a sort, and as such, is less limiting than having one is.
See? It’s all a matter of perspective.
We may both agree that inking as an experience is in need of improvement. The difference is, I don’t want to throw the baby out with the bathwater.
Woadan
I never said I think slates should be abandoned, I just don’t think they’ll ever have the marketshare that some people think they deserve. As James said, it’s a niche within a niche.
The difference in weight and thickness between slates and convertibles of similar size and specifications is minimal, I don’t see any great gain in mobility from that. You’re still carrying device large that will need it’s own case/bag but light enough to not be a nuisance.
If a slate is what you want for your own personal use, and that’s all you want, more power to you! I hope there are always great ones out there for you. But don’t be surprised when convertible PCs vastly outsell them, and don’t blame it solely on UIs that don’t take full advantage of the inking possibility. Convertibles are light enough, thin enough, and are quite simply better at more usage scenarios because they are more adaptable than a normal laptop or slate.
I think there are many use cases for slate UMPC’s, but as some have commented they are not being marketed or having much visabilty.
Add to that an expensive price in the eyes of a consumer especially when they don’t also see a DVD/CD drive and yes, the keyboard thry are use to. There is no compelling reason that is made obvious to them not to have a keyboard, plus most of them have not really dropped down to a comfortable purchase price.
Biggest problem I see though is the initial out of the box experience. In most cases the OS is not optimized or drivers working properly; desktop & software not prepared & arranged efficiently where the new consumer can easily jump into the UMPC experience, even the software provided does not work well in the UMPC’s environment such as screen resolution or performance. The latest Origami Experience shell for Vista crashes if you rotate the screen.
Despite some of us having the patience or tenacity to be able to tweak these gems, the common consumer should not have to go through that.
Package & market the slate UMPC properly, and it will flourish.
a umpc is not intended to ba a productive pc
people allways say i can’t be productive in it. you don’t need to. there are already computers excellent doing that. what is missing is a really portable pc. i don’t believe it can be pocketable cause the screen would be too small and for small screens you have pda, and now you read ppl complaining about the small screens of these new umpc. how can you have a good web experience in such small screens?
and you don’t need the keyboard, at least a real one cause it’s not meant for you to write a lot, want to write a lot? use a bt kb.
a umpc is halfway beetween a pc and a pda and that is the problem ppl want it to be a true pc and a true pda, it’s not, it’s half it’s the missing machine beetween your not that portable computer and the too tiny phone/pda screen.
with a new type of machine you need a new type of software. even for buyers to understand that it’s not a true pc and it’s not a phone/pda.
I’ll say again if apple come to the umpc market it will be a slate, and it will be wonderfull.
Keith, how useful is a keyboard when the screen size is 7″ diagonal?
I’m not against there being both convertibles and slates in the UMPC market. I in fact embrace the thought.
However, I worry that small keyboards will be looked down upon by Average Joe User and UMPC convertibles will suffer just as slates have.
The user experience needs to be improved all around.
Woadan
Edgar, I do not believe that it is accurate to say that a UMPC “is not intended to ba a productive pc”.
If you want to do some light web-surfing, or email, it is a very productive device. The Q1s, which have the embedded media player, are also very productive media players. (I don’t see too many users trading in their iPods for a Q1, however.)
I know of some photographers who have an interest in UMPCs as transfer devices for their craft. Once a digital roll of film is full, transfer its contents to the UMPC.
I know Frank Garcia uses his UMPCs to program using Visual Studio.
I could go on, but I think the point that UMPCs can be and are useful has been made. And thankfully so, as their price would be ridiculous if they were only glorified iPods or Zunes.
Woadan
Considering all the time I’ve spent touch-typing notes on HPCs like the Compaq C140 and HP Jornada 720. Both are (admittedly bulky) pocketable devices, so I don’t believe for a second that a convertible UMPC’s keyboard can’t do just as well.
PS do any other Windows Mobile users dearly miss Outline formatting in Word and curse loudly with every new WM release that leaves it out? WinCE supported it from the get go, made for the perfect note taking device in high school history classes, why o why did they take it out?!
Ketih,
WinCE : PDAs :: Slates : Tablets
Might as well ask for the GI Joe with the kung-fu grip and fuzzy hair back.
Woadan
Ketih,
WinCE : PDAs :: Slates : Tablets
Might as well ask for the GI Joe with the kung-fu grip and fuzzy hair back.
Woadan
Maybe there’s still hope with the R50A from Asus. No QWERTY keyboard! http://jkkmobile.blogspot.com/2007/11/asus-r50a-umpc-official-info.html
UMPC’s are the wrong form factor plain and simple for a mainstream computer that runs full windows. That technology could be mainstream if they used the old handheld form factors like the Psion 5mx which enabled easy touch type input in a coat sized computer. Adding the full windows and now you have for the first time a true pocket laptop.
You say Japan has been making small notebooks but none have ever been jacket size so they are not really small enough to be mobile.
Alex, are you Primaz???
Woadan