Yakumo Pocket PC hits the streets in Germany in April

[Andy Sjostrom]

<a href="http://www.vobis.de/presse/2002/13032002_3.html">http://www.vobis.de/presse/2002/13032002_3.html</a><br /><br />Vobis Microcomputer, a retail chain in Germany is about to bring a Pocket PC 2002 to market this spring. The brand name is Yakumo, according to Grieg Winter who sent in word about this! It will cost approximately EUR499, about US$440. The Pocket PC uses a 206MHz Intel StrongARM Processor, 64 MB RAM, 32 MB Flash ROM. It weighs in at 143 metric grams and measures 120.9 x 76.8 x 13.8 metric millimeters. (Use what ever stones, sticks or thumbs you'd like to convert that to US metrics!)<br /><br />Very cool to see the list of brands and manufacturers grow!<br /><br /><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/vobisppc.jpg" /><br />See a <a href="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/vobisppc_large.jpg">larger picture!</a>

[jpaq]

No D-Pad?

[entropy1980]

Probably why it's so cheap! :wink: Anybody else worried that any more of this un-innovative design is just going to stagnate the market?

[Thomas E.]

Looks Pretty, but why 206 Mhz when X-scale is comming, no D-pad and only 64 Mb. Would have liked to have seen at least 128 Mb internal. I guess thats why is so cheap, I wonder if we are going to see abunch of these low price units, which will not sell well and then all these companies will pull out saying that their is no market for the PocketPC.

[Jason Dunn]

I think you guys need to remember that you're power users, and you represent a small portion of the market - your needs and wants are very, very different from the average consumer or corporate user. Something to keep in mind when you're dissing a product. :D

[entropy1980]

I think you guys need to remember that you're power users, and you represent a small portion of the market - your needs and wants are very, very different from the average consumer or corporate user. Something to keep in mind when you're dissing a product. :D


True but a little thought put in the design goes a long way i mean this looks like the Royal DaVinci not a high-tech Pocket PC, looks aren't everything but if you plan on moving units it at least has to be somewhat appealing! Yeah I'm a power user but even budget conscience still have eyes! :lol:

[Jason Dunn]

While I can understand the design decisions behind this unit, the price is still too high - $440 is too expensive. If it was $350-$399, it would be more compelling.

[Marc Zimmermann]

Looks Pretty, but why 206 Mhz when X-scale is comming, no D-pad and only 64 Mb. Would have liked to have seen at least 128 Mb internal.


More memory means higher power drain. What are you stuffing your RAM with that couldn't be put on a storage card? 64MB RAM gives you about 50MB of storage... that should be enough for more than 90% of usage scenarios.

[Marc Zimmermann]

While I can understand the design decisions behind this unit, the price is still too high - $440 is too expensive. If it was $350-$399, it would be more compelling.


At least the price is going down, not up like with the other OEMs.

[CoffeeKid]

I think you guys need to remember that you're power users, and you represent a small portion of the market - your needs and wants are very, very different from the average consumer or corporate user. Something to keep in mind when you're dissing a product. :D


I'll never buy that argument - I think every manufacturer of every product on the planet should always strive for excellence in product design and innovation. One reason why I'm very critical (not to mention Jason!) of Palm is their lack of innovation as of late.

So when a PPC maker tosses out a product with ho hum design and zero innovation and it's explained away as "hey, remember you are power users, your demands are higher" is kind of, well, I don't wanna use the H word here because that's too strong, but... you know. Bottom line is, it is an excuse we should never accept, esp. since the device is so close in price point to products with the design and functionality we "power users" expect.

Me, I'm still waiting for that true killer product in the PPC arena. The iPaq was killer, but that was so almost 3 years ago now (it's been that long, right, since it was first buzzed?). The killer product for me is the one that incorporates all today's "power user" wants, with CF storage, secondary storage, gobs of memory, gobs of juice to spare, sleek and thin with a huge, bright, transflective screen, and gsm/gprs connectivity that can be ported to external devices.

The o2 comes sorta close, but so far what I've read about its battery life and the lack of ported gprs ability turns me off. No CF also turns me off from buying it.

The form factor of the new Danger PDA/phone looks enticing, but it would be better if it were a full PPC 2k2 device (or 2k3 device, with a decent wp app), full colour screen, cf card, and the aforementioned external-ported gprs connectivity.

If anyone reads the Tom Clancy(tm) branded "net force" books, set 10 years in the future, everyone uses a device very akin to the Danger product for communication and net surfing. We are heading that direction no doubt. Problem I have is, I want it NOW :lol:

[Jason Dunn]

I'll never buy that argument - I think every manufacturer of every product on the planet should always strive for excellence in product design and innovation.


What's your benchmark? You're comparing this product to the crop of current Pocket PCs like the iPAQ, right? By that comparison, yes, this is a "boring" product. But what will the potential buyers of a "cheap" Pocket PC compare it to? A Palm, a REX, a Casio BOSS, a paper daytimer. My point about "power users" is that we have different expectations and benchmarks that normal users do. We look at 1 Ghz desktops and think "Ho hum, that's so last year" - yet I know people still running ancient 400 mhz machines that would look at my desktop and drool - yet to me it's "old" and ready to be replaced.

Point is, you're looking for innovation from an OEM that cleary doesn't want to innovate - they want to sell a simple, low-cost Pocket PC. Nothing wrong with going after that market - it's just not the market you want to play in. :-)

Kinda' reminds me of the whole "Gnometomes suck because I'm not the kind of person to buy them" eh? :-)

[CoffeeKid]

What's your benchmark? You're comparing this product to the crop of current Pocket PCs like the iPAQ, right? By that comparison, yes, this is a "boring" product. But what will the potential buyers of a "cheap" Pocket PC compare it to? A Palm, a REX, a Casio BOSS, a paper daytimer.

I think the release of the $399 Toshiba kinda settles this argument about how "yesterday" this product is... 8)

Kinda' reminds me of the whole "Gnometomes suck because I'm not the kind of person to buy them" eh? :-)


Hey hey HEY hey hey! You know where I stand on that issue!!! :o

Seriously though, I don't see the comparison. To me, it's about innovation, or at least striking out and making something unique. I have lots of experience with OEM companies... just not in the PPC arena. :) Right now I've got one of only a half dozen (in the world) coffee roasters in my house... I'm writing an evaluation on it for the company and for a potential importer. The roaster is designed by an OEM company in Taiwan, a company that normally builds products for third party companies to their specs (including a company called Ronco), and lemme tell you, this coffee roaster absolutely reeks of innovation and new thinking.

I guess it comes as no surprise I don't have a lot of respect for "me too" companies :) That's why I absolutely love most Apple products, including the new iBook we just bought - I can barely stand the OS, but the hardware is just so BAM! And by the same token, the new Clies that Sony keeps rolling out constantly make me drool... and wish they did PPC.

Anyway, all I'm saying is this. If I make a stand on criticising a company like Palm for lack of innovation (a very justified stand, IMO), the same should apply to any ppc maker who is just doing a "me too" type product... no kind words - just questions as to why they aren't attempting to do better with the device than they have. If Palm sucks for doing it, then PPC makers suck for the same reasons :wink:

(enough smilies in this post ya think?)

[Jason Dunn]

I think the release of the $399 Toshiba kinda settles this argument about how "yesterday" this product is... 8)


No, but I think the $399 Toshiba underscores that several OEMs want to build cheaper Pocket PCs to go after the low-end market, and that the new Toshiba looks like it will kick the crap out of this one. :-D

The new Toshiba is sexy looking, but it has very similar specs to this model you're lambasting. :-)