About
All items are copyright and belong to their original creators. I'm just sharing them here because I find them interesting.
If you want to get all of this automatically, add the feed to your favorite aggregator.
Accounts
Click here to check if anything new just came in.
June 13 2008
Gigabyte MID specs, price set
Shared by Josh Bancroft
Ouch. They've GOT to get the prices down on these things...
Intel's Mobile Internet Device (MID) spec was once said to be a distilled, consumer-oriented version of pricey ultramobile PCs (UMPC). The notion's wandered sort of back toward "expensive" since then: Gigabyte's M528 MID, with an 800MHz Atom CPU, 8GB flash drive and 3G modem, comes in at $750. In Taiwan money, that is.
That this is more expensive than some UMPCs should not really come as a shock to you. It's a case of plus ça change when it comes to trying to sell pocket PCs: just slap a new name on the pig every three years and you don't even have to bother with the lipstick.
The best case scenario, perhaps, is that it comes out like a kind of ballsy meld of an iPhone and a UMPC's best characteristics. In a poll at UMPCPortal—a site that attracts those inclined to buy such devices—most respondents said they wouldn't pay more than $500 for it. And why should they? In a few weeks, an iPhone will set us back a mere $200.
Perhaps software will make all the difference.
Gigabyte M528 MID Update: Official pricing and availability info. [UMPCportal, pic from Engadget]