So we finally had the chance to lay palms to Meizu’s M8 prototype. Better yet, we set it up side by side with it’s muse, the Apple iPhone. Let’s be clear, the prototype is not functional by any stretch of the imagination. It simply turns on and then slaps up one of three images representing the home screen, dialer, or media player depending upon which of the three physical buttons you press along the bottom of the main display. The capacitive touch panel does not work at all. While the physical components may or may not be in place, this is clearly a very early engineering sample. Having said that, Meizu claims that the hardware is complete and final — they are only working on their Meizu OS tweaks to the Windows CE 6.0 base. However, the GUI and icon designs are pretty much locked in at this point with only minor changes expected before this hits China this August for a to be determined price. Unfortunately, Meizu is still working on their international deployment strategy (duh, they’re looking to sign up distributors at CeBIT) so they are not willing to commit to any dates or prices. Gotta say, for all our justifiable M8 bashing, the mini One felt good in the hand and the additional hard buttons, 720 x 480 pixel display, 3 megapixel camera and likely el cheapo price tag have once again perked our interests. Still, it’s a long way from it’s original 3G HSDPA and kitchen-sink roots and a bit too late (GSM/EDGE in 6 months, Puh-leeze) at this point to be anything more than a novelty outside of China. Nevertheless, the development lifecycle has been fun to watch. Click through for the main features and specifications expected at launch.

Update: Video now available, also of the UI.
Gallery: Meizu M8 mini One vs. iPhone

    

So here are the final specs and features now expected at launch:

• quad-band GSM/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900
• Bluetooth 2.0+EDR
• 802.11b/g WiFi
• 3.4-inch 720 x 480 capacitive touch LTPS TFT-LCD
• 3 megapixel autofocus camera
• 667MHz ARM11 processor
• WinCE 6.0 based Meizu OS
• H/W encoder/decoder
• 107 x 59 x 11.9-mm
• 8GB of 16GB of flash NAND
• TV-out
• phone, music, video, camera, internet browser
• automatic backlight and display orientation adjustment

We showed you quite a bit of the 9-inch Eee PC from ASUS yesterday, but they wouldn’t let us turn it on. Now that CeBIT has officially begun, however, ASUS is lighting up those pixels loud and proud. ASUS tells us the screen is 1024 x 600, and it looks to be almost the exact same pixel density as the 7-inch version. The computer was being shown in both Linux and Windows XP versions, so it looks like you’ll be able to have your choice of OS when the 9-incher is released later this year.

Gallery: ASUS’ 9-inch Eee PC

    

from engadget

If you’re still confused about this whole UMPC vs. MID debate, perhaps Gigabyte can help. The company is launching a pair mobile devices at CeBIT, the VIA-based UMPC M700 and the Centrino Atom (Menlow) powered M528 MID. The latter device is running on the exact same reference design Aigo is using for its MID, and the Linux OS seemed altered but certainly of the same stock — and still really half-baked. Specs include an 800MHz Menlow chip, 512MB of RAM, 4GB SSD storage, 4.8-inch 800 x 480 touchscreen, GPS, Bluetooth 3.0 and a 3 megapixel camera. HSDPA is easily added via a mini card option that plugs in via USB. The M700 (pictured) is a tad more ambitious, with a VIA C7-M 1.2GHz processor, Windows Vista Home Premium, 2GB of RAM, a 1.8-inch 40GB / 60GB HDD and a 1024 x 600 7-inch touchscreen. There’s no hardware keyboard, but you can type via a UMPC-style software keyboard, and real kicker here is a dock for the computer that lets the M700 power a desktop setup, complete with disc drive. No word on price or release date for either of these.

Gallery: Gigabyte’s new M700 UMPC and M528 MID

    

from engadget

If the bargain priced Cloudbook was just a touch too small for your tastes, open wide for Everex’s 15.4-inch VA1500V. Available now at NewEgg, this 5.3-pound rig features a 1.5GHz VIA C7-M processor, WXGA+ (1,440 x 900) resolution panel, half a gig of DDR2 RAM, a 60GB 5400RPM hard drive, DVD combo drive and a lackluster integrated graphics set. As expected, you’ll also find the firm’s gOS v2 “Rocket” operating system, an Ethernet port, 802.11b/g WiFi, three USB ports, VGA out, audio in / out and a 3-cell Li-ion sure to last an eternity. Still, you can’t kvetch too loudly for $399.99, now can you?

[Via Laptoping]

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from engadget

What will it be, the good or the bad news first? How ’bout the good. After an initial rebuff, we finally managed to grab some photos of that exclusive T-Mobile MDA compact IV. You remember: 7.2Mbps HSDPA, GPS, VGA resolution screen, WiFi and 4GB of on-board storage. It’ll also launch “mit neuestem Microsoft Betriebssytem” which we can safely assume is Windows Mobile 6.1 at this point. Oh yes, and the bad news. It’s only a plastic dummy and our photographs were restricted by a glass cube. Still, this is as close as most of you will get for a long, long time.

Gallery: MDA Compact IV

    

from engadget

AMD’s deliverance of two 45-nanometer CPUs wasn’t the only thing new from the company today, as now we’re getting wind of an all new motherboard GPU that’s DirectX10 compatible. The AMD 780 Series is hailed as “the industry’s most advanced” mobo GPU, and is slated to be “widely available” in a variety of boards in Q2. Essentially, AMD’s hoping the chip will enable casual gamers to join in on the fun without having to fork out big bucks for pricey discrete graphics cards, but for those that eventually do pick up such a device, the ATI Hybrid Graphics technology ensures that the power from both will be harnessed in order to boost overall performance.

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from engadget