Wednesday, May 02, 2007

CeBIT in Motion, Motion in CeBIT





While on the CeBIT floor I have been video interviewing exhibitors for CeBIT TV. I’ve spent time with IBM, Panasonic, WalletFlash and more. It is fun to do and often informative. On this occasion I chose to interview Motion for CeBIT TV but when we stopped filming I asked for one more take for the UberTablet Blog. Given that I had held the new Motion C5 in my hands while I was in Redmond I had always regretted not Vlogging it for you guys – so with a second chance at it I just couldn’t resist.

It’s short, its sweet, but at least you get another glimpse at these yet to be released products.
(Brett Gross is Motion’s Australian Representative)



See it on MyYouTube.com

19 comments:

RobMtl007 said...

Greetings Hugo

At Cebit Australia, are their any companies that are marketing new Mobile Internet devices?
Have they posted any videos on YouTube?

Regards Robert

Steven said...

Along the same lines as videos/podcasts...
Will we get to seeor hear your presentation at CeBit?

I enjoyed your videos at CeBit TV. That huge touchscreen must be remarkable.

Steven

skylar said...

Hi there Hugo, over the past couple of weeks i have come to be a huge fan of yours, as i am currently in the market for a tablet pc for university next September. I am looking for something that i can take notes on easily(i cant type for shit but i can write good which is why i want a tablet) i am currently trying to research on the motion computing LE1700 which i am very interested in although there is not much info on it other than what is on their site (which wont ship out of U.S. :( ), one thing that i was wondering about it, since you have seen it, does it have a stand on the back? so it can sit upright, and does it have bluetooth?, thanks alot

Sincerely,
Skylar Richardson

Hugo Gaston Ortega said...

hi RobmtI007.

Regrettably CeBIT Australia is not the melting pot of bleeding edge technologies. It was mostly crowded with Open Source folks (nothing wrong with that) and CRM Guys (nothing wrong with that either). My regret is that there was NOT enough mobile PCs and devices. In fact Craig Pringle and I both thought is was a little annoying to see this lack of mobile talk at CeBIT!!!

Hugo Gaston Ortega said...

Hi Steven,

WOW - nice question. I actually have recorded the entire talk and would welcome the opportuntiy to post it. I have to ask the CeBIY organisers if this is OK though and I will get back to you.

You want to here something funny? The massive TV at CeBIT that I recorded was actually damged on the final evening at CeBIT by a FORKLIFT! On the pull out the forklift actually killed the 103" Plasma. OUCH!

I will let you know if I can upload my talk. Thanks for asking?

Does anyone else wnat to see it?

Hugo Gaston Ortega said...

Hi Skylar,

It is a shame you are finding it hard to spend time with the LS1700. It is a lovely device and has lots of potential as a slate. It does NOT have an incorporated stand - but neither do any other Slates. It actually would not make sense given that Slate owner go from Portrait to Landscape to Portrait again the the Space of one working session.

I am sure it has bluetooth!

Where do you live? I will see if I can get you one for a loan. No promise but I can try. Give me Country and nearest Suburb only. (Don't post your full address here! LOL).

Al said...

I wouldn't mind seeing what was discussed over at CeBit Australia

oh and I'm sure you've seen this. Prehaps make a blogging about this post over at engadget...

http://www.engadget.com/2007/05/04/how-would-you-change-the-umpc/

Hugo Gaston Ortega said...

Hi Al,

I have shot off the email and will wait to see what CeBIT organisers say regarding my Speech.

With regards to Engadget I will be the first to admit that I do not join into main stream stuff. I read a handfull of the comments and woul suggest that the readers have a good hold of what UMPC could become - I like the Cup Holder suggestion. LOL.

As usual however it is always boring to read the mindless banter from fans of Apple gear. I happen to own a Apple Mac Dual Core G5. It rocks, it's sext and it beats Microsoft at many things. I don't however feel like dumping all over Microsoft as there is a whole lot I hate about my Apple too. For simple tasks it's more like driving a MacTruck to go to the corner shop for a carton of milk!

My UMPC improvement would focus on battery life and screen brightness. After that I would love Core2Duo but I belive this is not far away.

THanks for pointing out the post as I hadn't bothered reading it.

skylar said...

Hey
country: Canada
Province: Ontario
Major City: Toronto

thanks alot Hugo i really apprecciate this, although now i am also considering the fujitsu t4125 as it has a lot of features that i would like especially the hotswappable dvd-rom drive, and the fact that i can replace the drive with an extra battery is a huge plus - i have heard that they run a bit hot, i was wondering if you know if you can use it on your lap with out it getting uncomfortably hot? - thanks alot again

Sincerely
Skylar Richardson

Hugo Gaston Ortega said...

Hi Skylar,

In Canada I am a bit stuck. I'm not sure if Motion is focused there at all and I don't know who I could send you to. I will do some hunting and get back to you on this thread.

WRT the T4215 I stringly believe that it is a great machine. I have been recommending it for a long time as it has huge advantages over others. The modular bay accepts a hotswappable DVD RW, Battery and even a SATA HDD. WOW. It is a lot of value for money and well worth exploring. I owned one for several months and still see it as the best Tablet PC for a newcomer.

Let me know how you go and meanwhile I'll see what I can come up with regrding your motion in Canada.

(Have any of my Canadian readers seen Motion in Canada???)

Anonymous said...

Hugo, it's good to see you get enthusiastic about UMPCs but unfortunately they're already dead.

Take a look at the Intel MID platform (due for release mid-2008) and the Nokia Internet Tablets (available today) - these are the future for sub-laptop devices, not the current UMPCs with their dependence on Windows XP/Vista which are not the ideal OSes for devices with screens smaller than 1024x800 resolution.

The current UMPC devices are too big, too heavy, too expensive and don't sit well between the ultra small Nokia/MID devices and a lightweight laptop. They don't offer sufficiently compelling reasons to exist, and will disappear sooner rather than later.

Al said...

I don't agree with that article at all. There are a few comments that were made that were spot on however I believe that the overall arguments are wrong.

The talk of UMPC being dead is far from true. There are quite a few people out there who are using their UMPCs for GeoTagging, GPS usage in car, as well as doing school work.

MIDs are handy however they cannot compare to a UMPC. That particular device will be tailored specifically to Internet only usage which will greatly hinder its use. I guess that you can consider the Nokia N800 the first MID device. Its $300, has a very small amount of RAM, and runs a version of linux.

For users like myself (just bought a Q1), and others...they are not going to just want a device for internet only.

You can argue that you can use the internet ie) google docs / excel, and other programs to do work ect, however these devices will appeal to a different market group.

In the article it stated that Intel would not give up entirely on the UMPC branded idea. All Intel is doing is creating another product group which already exsists in the likes of the N800.

So UMPC is not dead. The possibilities for these devices are just opening up! I know when I get my Q1 it'll be nice to be able to connect my cell via bluetooth and browse the web from anywhere, even when a WiFi Connection is not present. Will I be able to do that with a MID. Probably not. Will photoshop, or GPS applications run on a MID.... those are the questions you have to ask.

Different devices being marketed to different target groups!
;)

Hugo Gaston Ortega said...

Hi Milhouse,

I'm sorry mate but in my humble opinion it is the MID which is destined to receive a brutal DEATH. You won't see me become the UberMID.Blog and you definitely won't hear be proclaim the death of UMPC. Because this is my blog allow me give express my opinion.

MIDs will spike in sales very rapidly. They will surpass UMPC sales almost instantly, if not overnight. They will continue on that curve for a period of about 18 months before the Ultra Mobile platforms (hailing from Microsoft Origami, and Haiku, styled inspiration) will come back to the forefront. MIDs will spike because Intel is so dedicated to them. They will come to a quick demise because users will want more from their Pocket Internet Device (PIDs - LOL).

The reason a UMPC came to existence was not only the Internet but more over the need to provide true handheld PCs to the market place. The fact that applications can be installed, removed and manipulated on a UMPC make them far more appealing than a MID will ever be. So once the demand for an increased level of interaction by users, on theirs MIDs, is addressed by manufacturers…hasn’t a MID become a UMPC anyway?!?!

The way I see the argument is a little more lateral than most. MIDs have their place as a Personal Assistant. UMPC have their place as a desktop replacement! I can see myself carrying a “MID/phone thing” and a “UMPC thing” as my mobile office.

When these MIDs finally rollout they will promote Web Based Applications but you need to see clearly that this alone is not enough, i.e. when you give someone internet you also give someone email. When they have email they often want copy/past, manipulation, attachments and Word Processing. Surely it is obvious that MIDs will remain MIDs until the need for them to be more functional turns them back into a UMPC...THE IRONY!!!

People will buy MIDs in droves and the inevitable winner will be the user. However, as this user becomes empowered so too will they increase their knowledge – and MIDs will become futile if left as Internet only. Don't forget that a PC was never promoted for the mainstream either. IBM was famously quoted as stating the worldwide market for Personal Computers was only a handful of devices; Tablet PC is still seen as somewhat the same. Now the influence appears minimal but eventually the natural interaction of Digital Pen will be so appealing that consumers will demand it and as they do the user will also demands more functionality than internet only.

Great comment Star, but I’m afraid there is not enough truth in that article for me. In fact the Journo even agrees with me: “While MIDs will be more affordable, come in a smaller package and offer more connectivity options than today’s UMPCs, they will be far less capable in terms of processing power and storage capabilities.”

Anonymous said...

Skylar, you will be glad to know that you can easily order a Motion tablet in Canada.

Through no other than Dell.ca. Go to Dell.ca and click Tvs, software and accessories and choose Home and Office. Then you will see the category handhelds and Tablet PCs, then click on Tablet PCs. They have the LE1600 and you could call them to see if they could get the LE1700. Other than that I would call Motion directly.

Cheers to a fellow Canadian!

Elo

skylar said...

elo,

i will most definitely look into that ...and yeah, canada rules!, anyways thanks a lot

Sincerely
Skylar Richardson

RobMtl007 said...

Greetings:

In Canada, Motion Tablets are being marketed by the Synnex Company.

Now if only I could find out who in Canada would Market Mobile Internet Devices that would be great!!!

Here is the link to Synnex Company http://www.synnex.ca/

Regards Robert

Hugo Gaston Ortega said...

Lifestyle:

I think you got a great blog!! Thank you for that. I'm definitely going to add u to my favorite :)
I hope you can visit my blog at Thaer Money.

3:44 AM


Hugo Ortega said...

Thank you LifeStyle.

If I get a chance I will look but regrettably I rarely get time to look at all the blogs I am sent to. Good luck!

(I deleted your hyperlink for the conenience of other readers. Thank you.)

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Hugo Gaston Ortega said...

WOW -I'm honored. From the math I can asses that at least 4 people submitted a vote!?!?! Not sure how you collate the votes really or why on earth you chose me, but thank you.