Several stories have appeared over the Internet that suggest HP are preparing something that sits between their iPAQ PDA series and their tablet PC's in the form of low cost UMPC or laptop known as the UMPC 2133 to be available from Spring.
Depending on which story you believe this device will be priced in the low cost notebook or ultra low cost laptop (ala EEE PC) bracket.
According to one story on
CNET Asia:
But digging deeper between the lines, we suspect the company's maiden voyage into this niche segment is likely to be competitively priced, much like the ASUS Eee PC. In fact, according to one HP staff, "you won't even need to consider this purchase. You'll buy it like a handphone without a thought".
I'm not as confident about the pricing, with a 9" screen and solid state disc (SSD) option it might simply be an entry into the executive notebook category with a price to match.
There's a gallery of pictures on the
engadget site which show's the impending device but also indicates that it doesn't have a touch screen, ergo it's not really a UMPC rather a small format laptop.
One thing seems for certain, we haven't seen the last of the product launches in the ultra small/low cost mobile computer sector. I'm waiting to get one free with a Happy Meal...
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