MTube: 2.8" VGA pocketable Linux prototype

UltraMobileLife shares a pic of a new VIA-based handheld called the MTube. At this point, it's simply a prototype out of Taiwan's Science and Technology Advisory Group, but it shows where ultraportables could be headed in the future. The MTube offers a 2.8-inch VGA touchscreen and runs on Linux with a 1 GHz VIA CPU under the hood. 8 GB of storage is nice but four-hour battery life is something that would need improvement if the MTube is planned for all day carrying around the town. And why wouldn't you carry it all day: it's pocketable at just 8.5 x 8.5 x 2 cm, weighs 150g and includes WiMAX for connectivity. Plans call for commercial production in 2009, so there's still time for plenty of changes... stay tuned!

Comments

[Don't Panic!]

I'd love one (I'm a gadgaholic :)) but the screen is just to small for prolonged use. Anything under 3.5 inches is hard on the eyes when you're in MS Word or Excel. Browsings not to bad at that size though.

[Rodfather]

It's a chumby clone.

[Chris K]

I've got to wonder, with properly aggressive power management, isn't four hours enough?

Could you actually USE such a device for four hours in a single day? I know I don't need even the fastest, most advanced mobile terminal for more than a couple of hours a day. (Technically, if it's more responsive, I'll use it for even less time, since it will have all the data I want as fast as I can handle it.)

[Evren Esat Özkan]

@Rodfather
Such a device witha a much longer battery life could be very usefull. an ip phone via wimax, a media player, internet browser, online tv, voice activated personal asistant... practicaly anything which you can expect from a pc/pda/pmp.
But personaly I prefer bigger screens with keyboards. I want an "Eee Tablet PC with 10inch screen" :)

[Evren Esat Özkan]

Sorry, actualy I replied to "Chris K" but confused the order of author names.