News Week of December 30, 2007

Tablet PC & UMPC Community Gathering @ CES 2008

Cheeseburger Las Vegas
Miracle Mile Shops at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino
Las Vegas, Nevada (Yahoo! Maps, Google Maps)

Enthusiasts, users, OEMs, ISVs, IHVs are invited to attend the fifth Tablet PC & UMPC Community Gathering. The annual gathering takes place during 2008 International CES. It has been an excellent place for people to share information about new products, tips on existing products, and enjoy meeting people involved in the community.

Giveaways:
Companies have offered to give products away in random drawings. Examples of items at last year's event: Otterbox rugged case, Motion Computing LE1600 Tablet PC, TabletKiosk t-shirts, and more! If your company is interested, please email Lora to make arrangements.

Food & Sodas sponsored by Microsoft, JKOnTheRun, and TabletLawyer. Alcohloic drinks available at your own expense.   (Source: Lora Heiny)
Posted Friday, January 4, 2008 by ChrisD
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OQO e2 ultra-mobile PC with HSDPA

HP Pavilion tx2000z Review

The overall design of the tx2000z hasn't changed much from that of its predecessor. You've still got a 5.1-pound system that's heavier than most of the competition, and the heft against your forearms might be too much to put up with over an extended period of time. Granted, the system loads an optical drive and a sizable extended battery, but the 4.8-pound Fujitsu LifeBook T4210 and the 4.7-pound Toshiba Portégé M400 series are both lighter tablets that also load optical drives. If you can live without an optical drive, the 4.4-pound Lenovo ThinkPad X61 Tablet or the 3.9-pound Fujitsu LifeBook T2010 are easier to carry despite their huge batteries.

The fit and finish aren't as subtle as those of the ThinkPad X61 Tablet or the Fujitsu T2010. There's a noticeable gap between the lid and the base of the tx2000z, making the machine look thicker than it should. The tablet's glossy finish and the In-Mold Decorated (IMD) patterns are sexy and very much consistent with the rest of the Pavilion line. You can tell that HP spent a lot of time and energy on the full-size keyboard, but the mouse buttons are tough to press. The surface of the touchpad is covered with a grid of small indentations, so you can feel where it begins and ends—a nice touch. There's even a dedicated button right under the keyboard that lets you disable the touchpad.  (Source: Cisco Cheng, PC Magazine)

HP tx2000 Tablet PC Release and Our First Look Review

That is right, HP finally updated the tx1000. Welcome the tx2000 Tablet PC. It has the same design as its predecessor, but now has an active digitizer and touchscreen. We were lucky enough to get our hands on one and bring you this first look review. I have to say I am quite impressed with this 12.1-inch tablet. We received a pre-production unit too and it's still near perfect.

The HP tx2000.  (Source: Tiffany Boggs, TabletPCReview.com)

GottaBeMoible.com December InkShow and Podcast Roundup

We’ve turned a corner into another year, and the New Year promises to bring lots more GBM InkShow, Shortcut, and Podcat goodness. But before we head off down the path of that New Year, let’s take a look back at the December goodies we left under your Christmas tree.

We covered a range of topics from Inking with a Bamboo Tablet, to the Fujisu U810, and a pen and paper note taking system, Capturx. So, set back, and enjoy whatever holiday leftovers you’ve still got in the fridge, and cue up a GBM InkShow, or a podcast, or a shortcut.  (Source: Warner Crocker, GottaBeMobile)

Axiotron®’S Highly Anticipated And Award-Winning Modbook™ Ships To Consumers Today;

Winner of Macworld Expo’s 2007 Best of Show Award, Axiotron’s High-End Slate-Style Modbook Integrates the Apple macbook® Computer’s Speed, Power, Usability and Elegance With Advanced Pen-Sensitive Tablet Computer Functionality To Give Design Professionals And Mac Enthusiasts The World’s Only Tablet Mac® Solution.

El Segundo, California - Axiotron, Inc., a leading proprietary high-tech hardware solution provider, announced today that its flagship product, the Modbook, the first fully functional Apple-authorized tablet Mac solution, is now shipping to consumers.

The only Mac-based tablet computer on the market, Axiotron’s Modbook seamlessly integrates a state-of-the-art Wacom digitized pen-sensitive LCD slate-style display with Apple MacBook’s legendary ease of use and design sensibility, giving artists and design-oriented professionals enhanced onscreen writing and drawing functionality when they need it most.

“After introducing the product earlier in the year, we have experienced a tremendous amount of positive response to the Modbook as its exclusive modular design and superior functionality provide the best tablet solution on the market for artists and designers,” said Andreas Haas, President of Axiotron. “The Modbook’s recent designation as an Apple-authorized product has allowed us to better meet the needs of our extremely patient customers and we are proud to be able to ship a product that resets the bar for Mac users everywhere.”

Named Best of Show at Macworld 2007, Axiotron’s Modbook melds Apple MacBook’s speed, power, superior strength and elegance with Wacom’s leading digitizer technology to provide an unparalleled 512 levels of pressure sensitivity for a fast, accurate and intuitive user experience. Offering twice the pen sensitivity and control of any tablet PC on the market, the Modbook gives artists and design oriented professionals the increased freedom, flexibility and precision control to create and edit digital art using a variety of specially designed pen tips that are included with each Modbook.

A perfect blend of style and functionality, each Modbook comes pre-installed with Mac OS X Leopard™, the award winning OS X’s built-in Inkwell® handwriting recognition, a 2.0 GHz or 2.2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, a built-in iSight® camera and an integrated 24x DVD Combo drive or 8x DVD SuperDrive. Also, every Modbook features a built-in Global Positioning System (GPS).

In addition to all of the features of the powerful Apple MacBook base system, the Axiotron Modbook’s largest-in-class wide angle 13.3" widescreen display offers wider viewing angles and a higher contrast ratio, resulting in darker blacks and more vivid, saturated colors while maintaining the same resolution and aspect ratio of the original MacBook display.

Providing superior structural strength for almost every situation, both the Modbook’s top shell and the interior display frame are built from top grade, aircraft quality magnesium alloy. A triple layer of metal plating – nickel over copper and topped with chrome – results in an extremely scratch resistant and aesthetically pleasing surface, and is available in standard satin or optional mirror finish.

Axiotron will showcase the Modbook at the upcoming Macworld Expo 2008 (Booth # S-408) with a host of hands-on mini-seminars conducted by renowned comic book artist Kody Chamberlain, Emmy award-winning animator Shannon Tindle, award-winning photographer Caesar Lima, acclaimed architectural designer Matthew Brewster and Cal State Fullerton design professor Bryan Cantley. Additionally, the Modbook’s broad range of application functionality will be highlighted at Axiotron’s in-booth vendor stations featuring representatives from Microsoft®, Adobe®, Corel®, Autodesk®, Circus Ponies™ Software, Edge Health Solutions, GPSNavX™ and Vision Objects®.

The Modbook has a manufacturer’s suggested retail price of $2,290 and is available in the United States and Canada exclusively through Axiotron Authorized Resellers (AAR).   (Source: Press Release)