[Jonathan Sundy @ Mar 7th 2007 11:23AM]

Do I stand alone in my belief that the UMPC platform should NOT have a keyboard??

The device needs to be distinct from a tablet pc, and there are a couple ways it can do that and still serve a very important purpose. It needs to be small, as small as possible with as big a screen as possible, 7" seems to be the nice median.
All input should be with a stylus and fingers.

What these really need to be targeted at is students. Using the pen input you could have a completely digital notebook, plus the internet at your disposal for reasearch as needed. And hell, eventually eBook textbooks.

I really think they are going in the wrong direction with these devices. They need to hit the $500 they talked about with 6 - 8 hr of battery life for a full class day. Then you could get colleges to subsidize them for students to use and they would really take off.
Unfortunately, as I'm sure this is a forbearer of things to come, there will be little purpose for this over a 12" tablet that will be much faster and just a bit bigger, and hell maybe cheaper :/

[Todd Kelman @ Mar 12th 2007 9:51PM]

Jonathan,

You're not alone in your desire for a lack of keyboard. Currently, the smallest form factor that has a truly usable keyboard is the Fujistu P1610 - the rest of the devices (UMPCs included) that have "alternate" keyboard implementations (split, buttons, membrane, etc.) simply don't provide enough bang for the real-estate buck that the keyboard requires. One of the biggest issues is that the operating systems and applications currently available just aren't efficient or effective enough in handwriting input to make people forget about the perceived need for a keyboard. Great strides in this area, combined with *very* low cost and effective docking solutions will be necessary to properly address the current niche.

-todd