Thursday, 5 July 2007

Fujitsu LifeBook U1010 Takes “On the Go” Living Up a Notch

Fujitsu has launched its first ever ultra mobile PC (UMPC) series aimed at converging work, communication and entertainment on-the-go into one portable device...

Fujitsu has launched its first ever ultra mobile PC (UMPC) series aimed at converging work, communication and entertainment on-the-go into one portable device.

The futuristically-inspired Lifebook U1010 measures 5.6 inches and weighs just over half a kilogram. Although petite in frame, Fujitsu touts it as a “mini powerhouse” capable of handling multiple operations such as watching movies, surfing the Internet, listening to music, viewing and editing documents, instant messaging, video-conferencing and making Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) calls.

Arguably the world’s smallest in its class, the palm sized LifeBook U1010 has a swivel form factor that gives one the flexibility of using it as a hand-held, tablet or notebook PC. Its Palm Resistance touch screen allows you to navigate it in the absence of a stylus.

According to Hanson Yap, Product Manager for Fujitsu, the U1010 is targeted at the young, media centric and mobile prosumers--an agglutinate term for professional consumers.

“We have not only managed to create a fun product to cater to the leisure side of our consumers, we’ve also added a serious element to it – a mobile workstation for active professionals who are constantly on the move,” Yap was quoted as saying in a release.

Yap told SDA Asia that the U1010 is seen as a mobile complement to someone who already has another PC and will most probably be an alternative option to existing mobile tablet and notebook PCs and handhelds such as PDAs (personal digital assistant). Given that it may fuel the popularity of VoIP calls, Yap however, does not see the U1010 as a threat to the mobile phone market as he believes that a mobile phone has become more of a fashion statement today.

The Lifebook runs on Intel’s latest Ultra Mobile Platform 2007 which takes up 25 percent less power than previous Intel platforms which translates to lower power consumption thus optimizing battery life.

It also has a unique fingerprint sensor security feature that lets users encrypt sensitive files with a swipe of their finger thus eliminating the need to form any passwords.

Fujitsu U1010 is retailing at SGD 1988 and comes with Fujitsu’s standard three year warranty.