More on the Maker Faire
Engadget has some great pics up. Also, I forgot to mention Onomy Tilty Table.
Coca Cola Blak
I bought a 4 pack the other day and I’m just giving it a try now. Not bad. The taste is much lighter than regular Coke and it’s not as sweet. The coffee flavor mixes well. Almost like vanilla, but not overwhelmigly so. I’ll post again in a few days when I’ve finished the pack.
My First UMPC Hands On Experience
At the Maker Faire today, I visited the UMPC Experience Area in the Microsoft section of the Faire. When I arrived, there were only a few attendees near the UMPCs, so I got to spend about 20 minutes with the TabletKiosk eo prototype. Later, I spent a few minutes with the Founder and Samsung prototypes. I did not try the ASUS. Near the end of the day, I attended a 30 minute presentation on the UMPCs.
- All 3 devices seemed responsive and not sluggish at all during my interactions.
- The Touch Pack program launcher is very pleasant.
- DialKeys will take some getting used to, but I think it will be only slightly less usable than the treo keyboard.
- Attendees seemed a little skeptical, but impressed.
- The Founder UMPC is really thin compared to the Samsung and eo.
- I agree with JK when he says that you can rest your hand on the screen without it interfering with your writing. That’s nice!
- The screen zooming is faster than I expected and much more readable than I expected, although several control panels (touch optimizations, system) become blank grey windows at the scaled 1024 resolution.
- Browsing the web with the UMPC form factor was great.
- I like the touch point mouse embedded in the eo. I’m guessing that some old DirectX full screen games won’t respond well to the touch screen, so an external mouse or a touch point is going to be useful in those cases. The Samsung doesn’t have a similar feature.
The portrait mode, dual microphones, stereo speakers, CF slot and Ethernet port are clear advantages for the Samsung over the eo. The eo’s cradle option and touchpoint are its advantages. I don’t know how the 900mhz Celeron M (Samsung) compares to the 1 Ghz Via C7 Nano (eo) and I don’t know how the two graphics chipsets compare. If anyone has that information, please speak up. Also, there is no confirmation on the US price and date for the Samsung Q1.
For now, I’m really happy with my eo preorder. If the Samsung is a lot faster and only slightly more expensive, then I will be really bummed.
Update: I missed Robert Scoble at the Faire. Too bad – I would have congratulated him in person for being absolutely right about the UMPC.
Maker Faire San Mateo
I just got back from the first day of the Maker Faire in San Mateo, CA. It was a blast! If you weren’t there, I suggest you go tomorrow for the second day. Some highlights:
- Bruce Shapiro is showing his computer controlled stepper motor egg painters. Very cool. His ribbon dancer is also nice.
- Microsoft has a UMPC experience lab on site. Prototypes of the TabletKiosk eo, the Samsung Q1, the ASUS and the Founder are all there, along with really friendly staff.
- MAKE and MakingThings are announcing a USB interface device for homebrew projects. It will cost $150 and will be out in a couple months. It’ll be neat to see projects published in Make adopt that platform – project costs will decline! Prototypes are at the conference. I saw a poster for Don Overholt’s inexpensive USB interface, too, but I couldn’t find him. His is $50 and is available now.
- Graffiti Research Labs is there. Build LED Throwies for free to toss on their bus or pay $1 a piece to take them home.
- Other fun stuff: The Second Life booth, the Parallax Basic Stamp booth, the great presentations, the awesome people!!
John Tokash 