The barrage of Atom-based mobile PCs starts here
Intel's marketing campaign for its low-power 45nm processor, Atom, kicked off yesterday and has now been followed by the first Atom-based UMPC from Sharp.
The device, pictured below, is Sharp's D4 WS016SH UMPC. We'll break the bad news first; this UMPC will be Japan only when it lands in June. It'll be available from Japanese PHS operator, Willcom, at around ¥128,600 (approximately £644).
The good news is, you won't find Windows Vista on a QWERTY-capable device of these proportions anywhere else. The Sharp UMPC measures in at just 3.3 x 7.4 x 1.0in and weighs just 470g.
The 5in LED-backlit touchscreen offers a reasonable resolution of 1024x600 but is accompanied by only mono sound.
Powering Sharp's UMPC is a 1.3GHz Intel Atom processor, namely the Z520, offering a 533MHz FSB and 512K of L2 cache. The chip's TDP of 2.0W will be to thank for the yet-unknown battery life, but expect better battery performance than the current range of UMPCs.
The device looks the part, and packs Intel's latest technology, but it isn't all good news. Sharp has opted to run Windows Vista Home Premium on the D4 UMPC and the 1.3GHz Atom processor, coupled with a lacklustre 1GiB of RAM will find it difficult to cope with Microsoft's demanding operating system. Had the D4 opted to run Windows XP, it may have provided the performance we all demand.
Rounding off the specification is a 1.8in 40GiB hard disk, a 2 megapixel camera, Bluetooth 2.0, a microSD slot and an integrated TV tuner.
If you think consumers are being bombarded by low-cost notebooks, just wait until Intel's Atom finally begins to ship. It'll be raining UMPCs and MIDs, Sharp's D4 is the first of many.
