Network World Magazine calls the Fujitsu U810 “attractive to healthcare professionals” and possibly the “Ultimate Mobile Device”. From what I can see, it’s one the first attractively priced little UMPC (Ultra-Mobile PC) that’s plenty loaded with possibilities.
Ever since Microsoft unveiled project Origami we have seen a steady flow of UMPC’s that seem like products in search of a market. When Network World’s Keith Shaw commented that the U810 had specific application to healthcare professionals it struck a cord with me. Perhaps they have finally arrived at the right mix of size, weight, functionality, performance, and battery life to meet a specific mass-market need. UMPC’s have been too small for comfort, too power-hungry to last, and too expensive to matter.
I still love the vision of UMPC’s and I wish I had one at my side on a daily basis. There’s only so much you can do with a smartphone or PDA, and only so many places you want to lug your laptop.
If a UMPC can provide reasonable computing on the go, decent web browsing, and decent presentation support, then it’s a clearly exciting thing for any mobile work force – especially sales people, travelers, and healthcare professionals.
The video below details how cool the U810 can be. It’s a teeny laptop. It’s also a teeny tablet PC – for sketching, filling out forms, and giving one-to-one presentations. And if you need an amazing tablet application to inspire you into the possibilities of tablet PC’s, check out this video I found on Robert Scoble’s blog.
I’m even more enamored with the HTC Shift below , a device that has many of the same attributes as the U810 but doesn’t have the great quote in Network World Magazine. A demo video of THAT device is below. I hope to have one of these in my hands very soon and I’ll give you a quick download. Retailers: these devices may be the perfect device to ship to every one of your stores. Clerks can use them around the store for guidance on shelf arrangements and product signage. Then can use it to complete training programs. They can use it to verify the correct price on the website that day. They can even use it to show a customer how a product is supposed to be used. It’s a lot lighter than a laptop, easier to stow, cheaper to replace, and (presumably) harder to break.
So I like the looks of the U810, and I love the looks of the Shift. I guess I’ll have to order two. To go. And don’t bother to wrap them – I’ll eat them here.