UBiQUiO: The Next Big Thing?

[Jon Westfall]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.theunwired.net/?itemid=3274' target='_blank'>http://www.theunwired.net/?itemid=3274</a><br /><br /></div><i>"Have you ever heard of UBiQUiO? Me neither but maybe the company is worth to watch. At least their latest ultra slim Pocket PC Phone Edition with QWERTY keyboard, the UBiQUiO 501, is an interesting devices for all non-Smartphone users since it also features the traditional Pocket PC input through the 2.5" QVGA touch screen, allowing stylus control of menus and programs. The UBiQUiO 501 has a host of connectivity options to choose from. Bluetooth 1.2 with A2DP, it either connects to the internet using WiFi 802.11b or 802.11g or via GSM/GPRS 900/1800/1900 MHz networks (sorry - no EDGE or GSM 850 MHz). The 2 megapixel camera should provides a crisp and colorful imaging and the the 64 MB internal storage is extendable through miniSD cards"</i><br /><br /><img src=http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/westfall-UBiQUiO_501_small.jpg><br /><br />Inspired by HTC's success, other ODMs are emerging and while this one doesn't win any awards for "easiest to pronounce", the specs look fairly respectable. I really wish I knew why these ODMs all have an obsession with 64 MB of internal storage when 128 would be so much more luxurious!<br /><br /><b>Update:</b> The device now appears to be available from Expansys for <a href="http://www.expansys.com/product.asp?code=139977">pre-order</a> Any takers?

[isajoo]

kind of answered your own question....

IT IS A LUXURY.

just hope this comes out in canada.... but then agian, nothing good every comes here or for that matter from here either.

[Eugenia]

>no EDGE or GSM 850 MHz

This is a problem for me. Video-call would have been nice too.

>2.5" QVGA touch screen

Way too small for normal usage of the PocketPC. I have found that 2.7" is the absolute minimum you can go with the current non-vector UI.

[ADBrown]

Man, the bad hardware is everywhere these days. Slow processors, marginal memory, and stupid drawbacks like no EDGE or no 850 MHz. My X51v is almost a year old, and it's still by far the best hardware on the market.

[saru83]

very nice Form Factor &amp; Design but what the heck is these spec? cant compete with any phone in the market unless someone gets it just for the Form Factor..

[MitchellO]

This is a step further towards a WM5 M600i :D

I would consider this except for its lack of UMTS 2100Mhz. It looks alright, and a decent size.

[WyattEarp]

I really wish I knew why these ODMs all have an obsession with 64 MB of internal storage when 128 would be so much more luxurious!

It's the "persistent storage" Microsoft is touting and OEMs/ODMs trying to save money some where in the device. They make it seem as though 64MB is enough to run any program(s) you want. Since the so called "Smart Close" feature will shutdown any unused program that is running at the time. It may work in theory or in the lab but not in the real world. For example: 64MB minus what ever has to be put into RAM for the OS to run by default at startup and apps needing to run at startup. That leaves roughly 57MB depending on device type (smartphone, pocket pc or pocket pc phone edition) and manufacture. 57MB minus the "persistent storage" space taken up so it can take a snapshot of all your setting and save it to FlashROM. 40MB minus all your software you just added which still puts information in RAM. Wow, that leaves you with a whooping 30MB of RAM to run your apps.

Would 128MB of RAM really suck battery power so much that I'd find my PPC unuseable? No, it's just fine with not much difference in operational time. The whole memory configuation of PPCs is really bad and behind by todays standards. I've been a PDA user from before it was popular and it seems that as much as things change things stay the same. 64MB of RAM when I go my first PPC in 2000 and 6 years later its still the same with my current PPC. What's up with that?

Applications use up RAM and none of these people seem to think that users will have to run not only more than one application at a time but that none of the apps are memory intensive. It's really appauling at this point. ActiveSync, Bluetooth, File Explorer and Windows Media Player plus a few customization programs (WisBar, PocketPlus, etc) all running at the same time doesn't leave me with much room to do anything else. But I guess they don't do tests like that or do they and just don't care. I guess all PPCs would run just fine if we don't add software to them and save all our files to a memory card.

[Eriq Cook]

WM2003?

[Nurhisham Hussein]

I really wish I knew why these ODMs all have an obsession with 64 MB of internal storage when 128 would be so much more luxurious!

It's the "persistent storage" Microsoft is touting and OEMs/ODMs trying to save money some where in the device.

Actually Jon's talking about ROM not RAM. But for what it's worth, I absolutely agree with you.

[MitchellO]

WM2003?

I'd say that is just an accident. If you look its got the two softkeys for WM5, so I doubt it has WM2003. If it does, they are REALLY stupid.

[mystickid]

I'm a bit incompetent as far as MHZ bands. If I import this phone here to USA, do you think I will get good reception with it on T-Mobile?

[ricksfiona]

There must be a sale on premanufacturered PPC Phone Edition hardware... Haven't we seen this configuration a million times before? This is sooo 2004!

[ADBrown]

I'm a bit incompetent as far as MHZ bands. If I import this phone here to USA, do you think I will get good reception with it on T-Mobile?

You will get all native T-Mobile coverage, but very little to none of their roaming coverage. T-Mobile's own network is entirely 1900 MHz, but of late they've been expanding with 850 MHz roaming agreements to increase coverage, since 850 MHz has better range and penetration.

[Menneisyys]

I really wish I knew why these ODMs all have an obsession with 64 MB of internal storage when 128 would be so much more luxurious!

Would 128MB of RAM really suck battery power so much that I'd find my PPC unuseable? No, it's just fine with not much difference in operational time.

That's right. While some (see the 128 vs 64 debates like the one at http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=346777 and at http://pocketpcmag.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=16847 ) say 128M RAM has too big a power consumttion, I'd say it's in no way the case, particularly with devices that have a much more power-hungry unit (in this case, the GSM radio).

For example, I'm doing some serious power consumption tests on my HTC Wizard to accurately measure the power consumption of the BT / IrDA unit and, so, far, have found that refreshing the (64M) RAM itself only results in 2.5% battery level decrease a day. With 128M RAM, it'd be double the value, which is FAR smaller than the power consumption of the radio. That is, even with 128M RAM, the availability would be 20 days (assuming everything else is switched off).

[Menneisyys]

BTW, no EDGE? No 3G / UMTS? No HSDPA? Is this some kind of a joke?!

[Darius Wey]

BTW, no EDGE? No 3G / UMTS? No HSDPA? Is this some kind of a joke?!

Agreed. It's a real shame, especially with more countries now rolling out 3G networks.

[Menneisyys]

Slow processors

Well, I wouldn't say TI OMAP's running at 195 (which can safely be overclocked to 240) MHz is that bad :) It IS slow in some (not all!) games (at 195 MHz) (in general, the speed is comparable to that of the iPAQ 36xx/37xx series, the former running PPC2k2), but is still perfectly usable in most everyday tasks.

It, on the other hand, does have stellar battery life, in which the 195 MHz TI OMAP Wizard and the 52 MHz XScale Universal is just not comparable. I need to recharge the latter at least once a day (or even twice), while only every second-third day the former. Both with extensive usage (as a BT modem and as a mail checker / web browser).

[Darius Wey]

Inspired by HTC's success, other ODMs are emerging and while this one doesn't win any awards for "easiest to pronounce", the specs look fairly respectable.

Actually, I think it's relatively easy to pronounce - it's a little like "ubiquitous", with a slightly different ending. What gets to me is the warped spelling. A mixture of upper and lower case letters is a typist's worst nightmare (unless you're 1337, of course). ;)

[Menneisyys]

I really wish I knew why these ODMs all have an obsession with 64 MB of internal storage when 128 would be so much more luxurious!

It's the "persistent storage" Microsoft is touting and OEMs/ODMs trying to save money some where in the device.

Actually Jon's talking about ROM not RAM. But for what it's worth, I absolutely agree with you.

I think the article / the manufacturer refers to the pre-WM5 meaning of the word "storage", when, in most cases, only the RAM size were given. In this case, "expandable with memory cards" is also OK (you can extend storage memory but can't extend program (dynamic) memory. If the manufacturer means "you can extend the dynamic RAM under WM5 with storage cards", then, they are certainly wrong.).

Also, I don't think any sensible hardware manufacturer would come out with a device with 64M Flash ROM.

That is, except for the two WM5 softbuttons, I'm really afraid of this device coming with WM2003SE (as can also be seen in the screen), which, in addition to the lack of anything faster than GPRS, is another stumbling block.

[vicott]

Indead, this should be the device that is manufactured by TechFaith Wireless. I only had a brief glance at the device 2 months ago. It should be WM5 rather than WM2003SE if I'm not wrong. I think it's just a case of pasting the wrong screenshot into the product image. It's not the first time such blunders occur anyway. Remember the Pocket PC screenshot appearing on the Motorola Q? Anyway, here's a photo (http://www.ppcsg.com/index.php?showtopic=78495&amp;view=findpost&amp;p=535599) of the device at at another angle, taken 2 months ago.

[Eriq Cook]

WM2003?

I'd say that is just an accident. If you look its got the two softkeys for WM5, so I doubt it has WM2003. If it does, they are REALLY stupid.

I figured this. I don't expect them to actually ship w/WM2003 but geez, shouldn't their marketing department care about this?

[Jeff Song]

Man, the bad hardware is everywhere these days. Slow processors, marginal memory, and stupid drawbacks like no EDGE or no 850 MHz. My X51v is almost a year old, and it's still by far the best hardware on the market.

I sure do love calling people/texting/using cellular data on the axim without having to tether. Oh wait....

[MitchellO]

Man, the bad hardware is everywhere these days. Slow processors, marginal memory, and stupid drawbacks like no EDGE or no 850 MHz. My X51v is almost a year old, and it's still by far the best hardware on the market.

I sure do love calling people/texting/using cellular data on the axim without having to tether. Oh wait....

Lol. Yeah convergence is just so good. Its so much nice just to be able to pull out my phone/PDA and not have to establish bluetooth connections and whatnot just to check email. And the fact that I only have to carry around one device is great. Only one pocket used.

I am currently crossing my fingers for a device the size of my M600i with WM5 and WiFi. Then it would be perfect. Until then, it is pretty close with its excellent screen, thumboard, size and UMTS.

I am seriously considering dumping my 5G iPod and using the M600i as my MP3 player as well. I have an A2DP + AVRCP headset on the way so I will see how it goes. Good thing is the headset is really a small bluetooth transceiver with a 3.5mm jack. I can connect my good Sony earbuds to it :D

http://img168.imageshack.us/img168/4756/cimg6881smallyr8.jpg

[WyattEarp]

I really wish I knew why these ODMs all have an obsession with 64 MB of internal storage when 128 would be so much more luxurious!

It's the "persistent storage" Microsoft is touting and OEMs/ODMs trying to save money some where in the device.

Actually Jon's talking about ROM not RAM. But for what it's worth, I absolutely agree with you.

I know but understand that the implementation of "persistent storage" is directly portionate to the amount of RAM now present in PPCs running WM5. As stated in this post WM5 Good Education! (http://www.aximsite.com/boards/showthread.php?t=102947) (a must read if you haven't already) by SolSie on the Aximsite he make a statement "It also means that no one ever has to make a 128M RAM device again." It doesn't mean that we won't see any 128BM devices but as we can see right now that is the direction the OEMs/ODMs are taking.

My point was that an OEM could make for example a 1GB ROM PPC with 64MB of RAM. Great, but then you look at the the available RAM and see 30MB. That doesn't leave you much room to play with and IMO is really unfair to the consumer. OEMs and MS know that even a barebones PPC uses up RAM just to run itself. So why don't they say give us 64MB of user available RAM and add the extra for the default startup programs. Is it really that hard, even 96MB of RAm would balance things out. The same goes for ROM 128MB and all I get to use is 85MB. All this is a type of false advertising depending on how you look at it. You say it has 128MB but that is not what you get to use nor can you uninstall any of those built-in apps you never use to recoup some memory.

[Nurhisham Hussein]

Like I said, I agree with your thoughts on this - I'd love to see any WM5 devices with 128MB RAM. Open up any half decent document, photo, or database and watch your RAM go down - one remote access program I used gobbled up as much free RAM as I could give it, and worked faster the more it had. When working or studying, I'd have quite a few programs open, which also requires quite a bit of RAM. I have virtually nothing else in RAM except a couple of today screen plugins and Wisbar Advance, so to say that I no longer RAM for storage purposes (when we have large storage options in external cards) isn't true in my case. I read that blog post when it first came out - didn't agree with it then, dont agree with it now.

I'll admit to having been spoiled by having a 128MB device already, but I don't see an upgrade path for me. As for storage, I think I went down the same road you did and got a microdrive, though in my case it's 8GB, and yes it's almost always full.

[WyattEarp]

I hear ya. If it wasn't for my 2GB SD which I use for my files and non-essential apps and the 4GB microdrive which is mainly media content and backup storage I'd have things scattered around the many SD cards I own like before. I too have also been spoiled as my former iPAQ had native 128MB and soon my curent one will too. I only hope device manufacturers will see the light. Until then I'll just be sending my iPAQ into PPC Techs for a memory upgrade and enjoy the extra RAM as it should have been.

Anyway, it's nice to see more converged devices but with spec like these I'll be sticking with my two device setup for a while longer.

[MitchellO]

I too have also been spoiled as my former iPAQ had native 128MB and soon my curent one will too. I only hope device manufacturers will see the light. Until then I'll just be sending my iPAQ into PPC Techs for a memory upgrade and enjoy the extra RAM as it should have been.

I found it strange that they only put 64MB of RAM into the hx4700. It was such a step back from the h5550's 128MB RAM.

[DaleReeck]

Technically, WM5 should only need to power the RAM and ROM when the device is on. Since the memory contents are kept intact in WM5 when the unit loses all battery power (unlike WM3, which must power its memory even when off), 128MB's extra power drain over 64MB should be even less of a factor, no? I'm not sure how that works, but it seems logical.

It seems like 64 vs 128 is just an excuse to save a few dollars during manufacture - none of those savings of course being passed on to us ;)

[Nurhisham Hussein]

Technically, WM5 should only need to power the RAM and ROM when the device is on.

I'm afraid you are mistaken - there is no difference between WM5 and WM2003SE with regard to power management when the device is on or in suspend mode. RAM will continue to be powered for either OS in either mode.

The difference is when you deliberately switch off a WM5 device, which you obviously cannot do with WM2003SE or earlier.

[MitchellO]

Yeah, without power to the RAM, every time you turned your device on it would be like soft-reseting it. While the RAM does not store user data like programs and files, it does contain the operating system (loaded from the ROM at bootup), as well as all the currently running programs (loaded at execution).

The main benefit of using ROM as storage is that if there is no power to the RAM, user data is maintained. This allows the device to be either completely deactivated (clearing the RAM, but using no power) or have the battery run flat, without looking your data. There isn't really any power saving by using this arrangement (which should have been used from the beginning.

[WyattEarp]

I too have also been spoiled as my former iPAQ had native 128MB and soon my curent one will too. I only hope device manufacturers will see the light. Until then I'll just be sending my iPAQ into PPC Techs for a memory upgrade and enjoy the extra RAM as it should have been.

I found it strange that they only put 64MB of RAM into the hx4700. It was such a step back from the h5550's 128MB RAM.

It is in a way. my h5555 has 128/48 setup vs my 4700's 64/128 memory setup. It is more of a configuration reversal. It should have had more but I guess HP isn't thinging like that. It would have be even better with more RAM.

[julianfong]

:D Some more idea with this device.
http://www.pocketpc.hk/modules/AMS/article.php?storyid=24
http://www.pocketpc.hk/images/501-.jpg

I have asked eXpansys before. This 501 should be arrived in Sept.

[ADBrown]

Man, the bad hardware is everywhere these days. Slow processors, marginal memory, and stupid drawbacks like no EDGE or no 850 MHz. My X51v is almost a year old, and it's still by far the best hardware on the market.

I sure do love calling people/texting/using cellular data on the axim without having to tether. Oh wait....

Actually, I love having a processor fast enough to watch video without reencoding, having more than 50 MB of internal storage, using my dual expansion slots to provide many gigs of capacity, getting online FAST with WiFi, viewing my large VGA screen, having a 3D accelerator chip, wiring it to a big-screen monitor, all with exceptional battery life on both my PPC and my phone. Don't you? Oh, right--you don't have most of those features. :devilboy:

[bnycastro]

I like the form factor landscape qwerty wm5ppc phone ed. the specs not too much. I hope this suceeds so that a 2nd generation will come out with better specs [i.e. Wizard -> Hermes]. Still sticking with my Exec for now. :mrgreen:

[JKingGrim]

Man I would love to have this device to replace my 6700. I'm so jealous of GSM. You guys get all the cool phones. We occasionally get the ugly version of your phones. Any change of a CDMA version of this phone with EV and a tad faster processor (st least treo 700wx speed). How big is the battery on this thing?